Posted on 07/16/2008 5:27:30 PM PDT by Hal1950
You can almost touch the planes as they roar over Point Shirley in Winthrop on their way to Logan Airport. The passengers were checked for explosives before they got on, however, a growing concern is what could happen away from the airport: Terrorist firing a shoulder launched-missile just outside the airport's property. The light weight weapons are becoming and more available on the black market, as many as 150,000 are believed to be in circulation and can easily bring down a plane.
But now American Airlines is flying with new defensive technology on some of its New York to Los Angeles flights.
Developed in New Hampshire by defense contractor, BAE Systems, the cross country passenger jets are now equipped with a laser deterrent system mounted on the plane's belly. It can identify and misdirect an incoming missile. It's being tested for Homeland Security.
(Excerpt) Read more at wbztv.com ...
TWA 800’s true memorial?
I’d really like a system that detects and destroys the missile, back tracks it’s trajectory and creates a smoking crater.
But I’m sure some killjoy will point out it’s too expensive...
Funny you’d say that.
Just today (FINALLY) they’ve decided to provide nitrogen inerting of jet aircraft fuel tanks.
It’s not a new technology, Parker Hannifin presented just such a system to the FAA in the late 60’s
I wouldn’t mind it, but it is too impractical to place onto EVERY commercial plane currently flying.
The flare/chaff systems that protect military aircraft may be easier to put in place as they have had lots of testing and refining.
It doesn’t even need to be on every A/C. they just need to introduce enough uncertainty in the minds of the terrorist that they’ll try something else. Or nothing.
No, no, no! Such weaponry might offend muslim sensibilities. We don’t need more weapons, we need more empathy for muslims! /libdim/Obama (redundant)
Thing is, if they were serious about doing it, they’d launch several simultaneously at the same plane, from different positions.
I was thinking more of a coördinated massive attack, Like 9/11 was supposed to be.
They hadn’t planned on the passengers on FLT 93 taking back the plane, nor did the imagine we could ground everything immediately.
There were dozens of reports of groups of swarthy looking passengers deplaning, leaving the airport (and their luggage) behind, and simply melting away.
9/11 was supposed to be a much bigger blow.
TWA 800 was NOT the victim of a missile - except to the conspiracy theorists.
And where, exactly, are these dozens of reports?
This actually isn't true. The warheads are quite small, and most full-sized airliners are going to survive hits.
This is a classic case of mis-application of resources. The mind-boggling multibillion dollar cost of installing these on every airliner would be far better spent hiring more translators, intelligence agents, etc. to monitor people that might attempt to acquire and use such weapons.
It's sort of interesting, the same sort of people that would support this would be the same people that would mock a few million dollars spent on trying to ID asteroids heading for Earth.
The proof being that they grounded all the Airbus A-300 series for a wiring check?
Oh wait. That never happened. Especially odd given that the friction level between france and the US was higher than usual, and Airbus was in a bidding war with Boeing for several major world wide contracts.
I don’t know that it was the missile that scores of widely separated witnesses reported, the one that was caught on a security camera and in a wedding video.
But I do know it wasn’t a spark induced explosion.
Totally wrong official response for that.
Down the memory hole.
I remember them from actually hearing of them while it was happening. Then the story vanished.
BTW, go to Obama’s web site and see if you can find his statements that The Surge wasn’t working.
They never happened. You don’t remember them.
Still, having the jihadists think that they can’t successfully attack a passenger plane is a good thing...
Big hole punched through plane (inward on one side, outward on the other side).
Residue found on what was left of seats in that section consistent with chemicals used in missile propellants.
Never before and never after reported explosion in a fuel tank of ANY aircraft.
Scores of witnesses that saw something leave a trail rising from the water to where the aircraft was. Several were retired government and military folks.
The dumbest-ass flight re-creation presentation of a 747 that has lost a huge nose and front section (aerodynamics be damned), continuing to climb over several thousand feet until it finally decides to arc downwards.
Sure guy, you gotta be right.
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