Posted on 11/02/2015 5:53:03 PM PST by amorphous
Earlier today, we highlighted commentary from Russia’s Kogalymavia (the airline operating the ill-fated Airbus A321 which crashed in the Sinai Peninsula) where officials said human and technical factors weren’t responsible for the mid-air disaster which killed 224 people.
IS Sinai took credit for “destroying†the plane but it wasn’t immediately clear what the contention was in terms of just how the group went about sabotaging the flight. Subsequently, a series of analysts and commentators opined that there was simply no way the militants could have possessed the technology or the expertise to shoot down a plane flying at 31,000 feet, but as Kogalymavia put it, “a plane cannot simply disintegrate.â€
In short, it seems as though something exploded, and while we can’t know for sure whether someone detonated on board or whether, as former NTSB investigator Alan Diehl told CNN, "final destruction" of the plane was the result of "aerodynamic forces or some other type of G-forces,†the circumstances are exceptionally suspicious especially given where the plane was flying and the current rather “tense†relationship between Moscow and Sunni extremists.
Now, the US has apparently ruled out the possibility that a projectile hit the plane but satellite imagery depicts a “heat flash†at the time of the crash which indicates “some kind of explosion on the aircraft itself, either a fuel tank or a bomb.†Here’s NBC:
While many have speculated that a missile may have struck a Russian commercial airliner that went down over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, U.S. officials are now saying satellite imagery doesn't back up that theory.
A senior defense official told NBC News late Monday that an American infrared satellite detected a heat flash at the same time and in the same vicinity over the Sinai where the Russian passenger plane crashed.
According to the official, U.S. intelligence analysts believe it could have been some kind of explosion on the aircraft itself, either a fuel tank or a bomb, but that there's no indication that a surface-to-air missile brought the plane down.
That same infrared satellite would have been able to track the heat trail of a missile from the ground.
"The speculation that this plane was brought down by a missile is off the table," the official said.
A second senior U.S. defense official also confirmed the surveillance satellite detected a "flash or explosion" in the air over the Sinai at the same time.
According to the official, "the plane disintegrated at a very high altitude," when, as the infrared satellite indicates, "there was an explosion of some kind."
That official also stressed "there is no evidence a missile of any kind brought down the plane"
We'd be remiss if we didn't note that the video released by ISIS which purports to depict the plane exploding in mid-air doesn't appear to show any kind of missile, but rather seems to suggest that someone on the ground knew the exact time when the aircraft was set to explode.
To be clear, there's always the possibility that this is a coincidence and that the explosion which brought down the plane wasn't terror related, but given the circumstances, you certainly can't blame anyone for suspecting the worst and as we noted earlier, the Sinai Peninsula is well within the range of Russia's warplanes flying from Latakia:
This is what I think until better information comes forth to change my opinion.
31,000 feet is just the vertical distance. If there is any horizontal component, it makes it even less likely.
Exactly. That’s like saying a .22 will go over a mile. While true, intentionally hitting something at that range is extraordinarily unlikely.
Um, the basis of the OP is just such an infrared signature.
And man potable missiles now are WAY more effective than during GWI or GWII.
But you may be (and probably are) right. That means a bomb or mechanical failure. I doubt the latter.
Um, the basis of the OP is just such an infrared signature.
And man potable missiles now are WAY more effective than during GWI or GWII.
But you may be (and probably are) right. That means a bomb or mechanical failure. I doubt the latter.
That was reported earlier, but not confirmed. It turned out to be incorrect.
Isis has released infra red video.
"We'd be remiss if we didn't note the video released by ISIS which purports to depict the plane exploding in mid-air doesn't appear to show any kind of missile, but rather seems to suggest someone on the ground knew the exact time when the aircraft was set to explode."
It was reported in the media that an Egyptian official stated that the pilot declared he had technical problems and was asking for clearance to descend and land immediately (emergency landing).
The Russians have declared this not to be true.
No one in Egypt is saying anything.
Here's the ATC who originally reported it.
(just kidding about the photo. The rest is true.)
Uh oh. The unnamed senior official ran to NBC in panic mode because Omugabe provided the missile.
SomeONE??? So we have a suicide bomber, or did they mean to say someTHING?
Well that settles it then. They wouldn’t lie, manipulate or exaggerate.
Yeah. They must have tried to stir the fuel tanks.
Missile and Obama Admin protecting Hillary’s sale of stinger-type technology to terrorists?
Remember the jihads were planning on sewing up bombs inside themselves.
I was going to do a TWA-800 fuel tank spoof, but obviously you folks don't need me to tell you what they're already looking at as an excuse.
Well hell, it worked last time.
BTW, if 18-yr old memory serves correctly, the technology of the OP’s article’s report (IR signal via satellite intercept,) is worthy of, or was worthy of being on Hillary Rotten Clinton (Her Thighness’s) un class email.... Though was at a time TS-SCI-TK...
The seeker heads are a bit more effective, but the rocket motors aren’t. The IR seeker head on even the latest Stingers can’t even *see* the exhaust of a commercial high bypass turbine engine of the type on the Airbus A320 beyond about 15-20 thousand feet and it certainly can’t get IR off the fuselage at that distance.
Not a missile unless it was a rather large truck or track mounted system - and we didn’t provide any of those to ISIS.
To get to a plane flying this high, we’re talking about a missile about 8 feet long and about a foot in diameter, weighing a couple hundred pounds and requiring a launching framework that’s most of a ton. It’s not man portable.
The article says that a satellite detected the heat signature of the plane exploding, but saw no heat signature indicating a missile.
Your Reynold's Wrap Stetson is a perfect fit.
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