[eno_]

That is a possibility, but I think the whole "shoulder-fired SAM" thing is a red herring:

If it was terrorists, they were in a boat.

If they were in a boat, they could carry all but the largest SAMs - no need for it to have been a man-portable missile. Look how much high explosive was used against the Cole.

If it was a larger SAM, issues of range and enough explosive to break a 747 in two are moot.

Terrorists - al Quaida specifically - had access to larger SAMs from Afganistan and possibly Iraq, Iran, North Korea, etc. The main constraint is how self-contained the missile system is: They could probably not use one with complex ground-based radar guidance.

[shamusotoole]

My money has always been on the 30-35 Kt. "mystery" track as the source of the "mechanical problem" that doomed all those poor folks. Any idea what happened to the next half- hour of radar tracks? Did it turn back toward the coast or did it continue South-easterly? Or, do you think this is a "red herring?"