[Arkinsaw]

There is even some question about why the plane even crashed -- there is a strong possibility (as someone else alluded to in this thread) that the "pilot" simply lost control of the aircraft, either as a result of the distraction of the passenger uprising or as a result of his poor flying skills.

Thats a pretty odd and narrow definition of success.

I would ask this:
a) if, as you said, the pilot lost contol of the aircraft due to the passenger uprising and crashed it, did that thwart the terrorists plans for that day? Hasn't thwarting of the terrorists plan been the measure of success since the day it happened?

b) you mentioned the pilots "poor flying skills". Are you suggesting that the pilot might have just happened to lose control of the aircraft at the same time as a passenger uprising and that this was coincidence and had nothing to do with the passenger uprising going on other than time of occurrence?

[TomB]

You make some good points.

There are some people here whose cynicism rises to pathological levels.