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Group of pilots disputes question official version of 9/11
The Portugal News ^ | 8/3/02 | The Portugal News

Posted on 08/29/2002 1:41:13 PM PDT by DrLiberty

September 11 - US Government accused

A Portugal-based investigative journalist has presented THE NEWS with version of the September 11th attacks that has to date failed to attract the attention of the international press. The report, compiled by an independent inquiry into the September 11th, World Trade Centre attack, warns the American public that the government’s official version of events does not stand up to scrutiny.

A group of military and civilian US pilots, under the chairmanship of Colonel Donn de Grand, after deliberating non-stop for 72 hours, has concluded that the flight crews of the four passenger airliners, involved in the September 11th tragedy, had no control over their aircraft.

In a detailed press communiqué the inquiry stated: “The so-called terrorist attack was in fact a superbly executed military operation carried out against the USA, requiring the utmost professional military skill in command, communications and control. It was flawless in timing, in the choice of selected aircraft to be used as guided missiles and in the coordinated delivery of those missiles to their pre-selected targets.”

The report seriously questions whether or not the suspect hijackers, supposedly trained on Cessna light aircraft, could have located a target dead-on 200 miles from take off point. It further throws into doubt their ability to master the intricacies of the instrument flight rules (IFR) in the 45 minutes from take off to the point of impact. Colonel de Grand said that it would be impossible for novices to have taken control of the four aircraft and orchestrated such a terrible act requiring military precision of the highest order.

A member of the inquiry team, a US Air Force officer who flew over 100 sorties during the Vietnam war, told the press conference: “Those birds (commercial airliners) either had a crack fighter pilot in the left seat, or they were being manoeuvred by remote control.”

In evidence given to the enquiry, Captain Kent Hill (retd.) of the US Air Force, and friend of Chic Burlingame, the pilot of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, stated that the US had on several occasions flown an unmanned aircraft, similar in size to a Boeing 737, across the Pacific from Edwards Air Force base in California to South Australia. According to Hill it had flown on a pre programmed flight path under the control of a pilot in an outside station.

Hill also quoted Bob Ayling, former British Airways boss, in an interview given to the London Economist on September 20th, 2001. Ayling admitted that it was now possible to control an aircraft in flight from either the ground or in the air. This was confirmed by expert witnesses at the inquiry who testified that airliners could be controlled by electro-magnetic pulse or radio frequency instrumentation from command and control platforms based either in the air or at ground level.

All members of the inquiry team agreed that even if guns were held to their heads none of them would fly a plane into a building. Their reaction would be to ditch the plane into a river or a field, thereby safeguarding the lives of those on the ground.

A further question raised by the inquiry was why none of the pilots concerned had alerted ground control. It stated that all pilots are trained to punch a four-digit code into the flight control’s transponder to warn ground control crews of a hijacking - but this did not happen.

During the press conference Captain Hill maintained that the four airliners must have been choreographed by an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). This system can engage several aircraft simultaneously by knocking out their on-board flight controls. He said that all the evidence points to the fact that the pilots and their crews had not taken any evasive action to resist the supposed hijackers. They had not attempted any sudden changes in flight path or nose-dive procedures - which led him to believe that they had no control over their aircraft.

THE NEWS, in an attempt to further substantiate the potential veracity of these findings, spoke to an Algarve-based airline pilot, who has more than 20 years of experience in flying passenger planes, to seek his views. Captain Colin McHattie, currently flying with Cathay Pacific, agreed with the independent commission’s findings. However, he explained that while it is possible to fly a plane from the ground, the installation of the necessary equipment is a time-consuming process, and needs extensive planning. THE NEWS will publish a full interview with Captain McHattie in next week’s edition.

The FBI also came in for criticism for the various pieces of contradictory evidence it has published regarding the suspects. Questions are now being asked as to how incorrect information was given out regarding the ID cards of the suspects, and the seat numbers they supposedly occupied after boarding the flights.

None of the suspects named by the FBI appeared on any of the official passenger lists. A further point was how the FBI had managed to retrieve the passport of one of the suspects amid the molten and twisted remains of thousands of tons of steel and rubble brought about by the Twin Towers collapse.

Dr. Paul Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury, and presently Senior Research Fellow at Stamford University, has lent his support to the independent inquiry findings. He also claims that Osama Bin Laden was not responsible for September 11th. The doctor has challenged President Bush to make public the so-called “irrefutable evidence” incriminating Bin Laden.

Colonel Donn de Grand said that if President Bush is lying it would not be the first time that the American people had been mislead by its government. He cited the recently published official government archives describing President Roosevelt’s duplicity in deceiving Americans about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, which triggered the US entry into WWll.

He also highlighted the role of the country’s government in misleading its citizens in respect of the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, and the events that brought about the Spanish American war in the late 19th, century. “Whilst considering who committed this act of war on September 11th,” he said, “albeit Russia, China, an Islamic country or NATO, we must also consider that the enemy may well be within the gates.

“Not for the first time the American public might be being mislead, by those with ulterior motives, into lending its support to a war, this time against Iraq, that has no bearing whatsoever on the interests of the people of the USA.”

So far the mainstream American news media has failed to publish or broadcast any details regarding the independent inquiry. Similarly, the White House, whilst having received a copy of the report, has remained silent on its findings.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cheese; moose; tinfoil; usedfood
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This conclusion has been seconded by a UK columnist for the UK Daily Mail, John Carlin.

http://the-news.net/cgi-bin/story.pl?title=UK%20press%20back%20THE%20NEWS%20on%20Sep%2011%20attack&edition=666

1 posted on 08/29/2002 1:41:13 PM PDT by DrLiberty
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To: DrLiberty
And the moon is made of cheese.
2 posted on 08/29/2002 1:44:53 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: DrLiberty
bump
3 posted on 08/29/2002 1:45:03 PM PDT by WhiskeyPapa
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To: DrLiberty
Heeebully Beeebully! Ya'll got yerselves a reee-port.

This dopey article is wrong on so many issues I'm thinking that somebody remotely controlled the reporter's typewriter just to make him look like an idiot.

Do they have typewriters in Portugal?

4 posted on 08/29/2002 1:46:57 PM PDT by dead
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To: DrLiberty
"after deliberating non-stop for 72 hours"

That was the clincher for me. Sheesh. This belongs over on the American hating DU webshiite....

5 posted on 08/29/2002 1:47:00 PM PDT by eureka!
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To: DrLiberty
He said that all the evidence points to the fact that the pilots and their crews had not taken any evasive action to resist the supposed hijackers. They had not attempted any sudden changes in flight path or nose-dive procedures - which led him to believe that they had no control over their aircraft.

Perhaps the pilots were dead before it occurred to them that the planes were doomed and they should take those actions.

6 posted on 08/29/2002 1:48:30 PM PDT by syriacus
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To: Republican Wildcat
And the moon is made of cheese.

Yes, and a 737 has nowhere near the range to get from Edwards (Los Angeles area) to South Australia....hell, even 747's have been known to have to come to ground for fuel before they even get as far as Sydney...and southern Oz is another hour beyond.

7 posted on 08/29/2002 1:49:46 PM PDT by ErnBatavia
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To: dead
Care to list any of these many things that were wrong about the article or are you just going to be a nattering nabob?
8 posted on 08/29/2002 1:50:24 PM PDT by DrLiberty
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To: DrLiberty
During the press conference Captain Hill maintained that the four airliners must have been choreographed by an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS).

Oh yeah, they had one of those.

Idiots.

9 posted on 08/29/2002 1:52:04 PM PDT by AppyPappy
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To: Poohbah
Here's another version of that "remote control" B.S.
10 posted on 08/29/2002 1:52:23 PM PDT by dighton
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To: WhiskeyPapa
The report seriously questions whether or not the suspect hijackers, supposedly trained on Cessna light aircraft, could have located a target dead-on 200 miles from take off point.

GPS. Flight Management Systems. Simulators.

Actually, the two WTC hijackers nearly collided over the water while on the "final approach" to the Twin Towers. They weren't THAT good.

It further throws into doubt their ability to master the intricacies of the instrument flight rules (IFR) in the 45 minutes from take off to the point of impact.

They weren't "in the system," i.e., flying according to IFR. The day was VMC (visual meteorological conditions), or severe clear. Just because commercial airlines are required to fly under IFR doesn't mean that a hijacker of a commercial airline is gonna follow the rules! Sheesh.

A further question raised by the inquiry was why none of the pilots concerned had alerted ground control. It stated that all pilots are trained to punch a four-digit code into the flight control’s transponder to warn ground control crews of a hijacking - but this did not happen.

Because they were dead.

And for good measure, I'm sure the hijackers either popped the circuit breakers for the transponder or just turned it off.

11 posted on 08/29/2002 1:52:33 PM PDT by bootless
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To: DrLiberty
They didn't HAVE an AWACs. It is completely possible they took over the aircraft when they got to NYC.
12 posted on 08/29/2002 1:53:09 PM PDT by AppyPappy
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To: DrLiberty
Roosevelt’s duplicity in deceiving Americans about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, which triggered the US entry into WWll.

So..this writer thinks we should not have gone to war with Japan at the time we did? Does he think Roosevelt planned the attack on Pearl Harbor with the Japanese?

At any rate, if we delayed declaring war after Pearl Harbor, we might have lost the war with Japan.

13 posted on 08/29/2002 1:54:20 PM PDT by syriacus
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To: ErnBatavia
Nevetheless, the test (using whatever aircraft) was done over the Pacific. That has been verified. And it is possible.
14 posted on 08/29/2002 1:54:39 PM PDT by DrLiberty
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To: DrLiberty
So it was a conspiracy of the military-industrial complex to justify a war with Iraq?
I threw one of my wife's friends out my house for spouting such anti-American, Leftist BS.
15 posted on 08/29/2002 1:57:45 PM PDT by Spruce
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To: DrLiberty
The fact it is possible means nothing.
16 posted on 08/29/2002 1:58:07 PM PDT by AppyPappy
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To: DrLiberty
Oh it's possible - but I don't think with a 737.
17 posted on 08/29/2002 1:59:05 PM PDT by ErnBatavia
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To: dighton
A group of military and civilian US pilots, under the chairmanship of Colonel Donn de Grand, after deliberating non-stop for 72 hours, has concluded that the flight crews of the four passenger airliners, involved in the September 11th tragedy, had no control over their aircraft.

Yup. I always make my best and most informed judgements on three days' worth of sleep deficit.

18 posted on 08/29/2002 1:59:27 PM PDT by Poohbah
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To: DrLiberty
Ten bucks says this thread - much like the one about Dubya being the master of disguise - doesn't make it to 5:00 Central time either.
19 posted on 08/29/2002 1:59:38 PM PDT by Xenalyte
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To: DrLiberty
Bunk!

1. There were calls from flight 93 describing the hijacking. Unless, of course, the military had some Arabs with knives as patsies to pretend to take over the plane.

2. Flight 77 (Pentagon) took a round-about course in the DC area. No reason to do that if it is controlled from the ground. The pilot was looking for a target, and I don't think that it was originally the Pentagon.

3. It isn't that difficult to fly a plane. Pilots earn the big bucks safely landing a plane in a driving rainstorm with a nasty cross wind. Flying on a perfectly clear day when you don't give a damn about flight lanes or clearing your flight into the 2nd and 3rd tallest buildings in the country with air traffic control isn't hard.

He said that all the evidence points to the fact that the pilots and their crews had not taken any evasive action to resist the supposed hijackers. They had not attempted any sudden changes in flight path or nose-dive procedures - which led him to believe that they had no control over their aircraft.

4. Before 9/11, the rule was "If a hijacker wants the plane, he gets the plane. No reason for people to die just to prevent him from going to Cuba." You just let the nice Arab man have the plane and let the authorities on the ground worry about getting the passengers and crew out safely. It wasn't until September 12 that the rule became "Anyone who tries to take the plane will die. If that means everyone else dies too, then so be it." (Except, of course, you can't arm the pilots. That would be dangerous for the passengers.)

Idiots!!

20 posted on 08/29/2002 2:00:08 PM PDT by KarlInOhio
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