I finally got to watch the entire tape. It’s ambiguous, and can’t be nailed down as a frogman. But I rule out a frogman for another reason: the physics of flight vs swimming underwater. There is no way that a plane, even with a cooperating pilot, can bring the plane to rest “on a mark” where a diver can be waiting underwater. In movies, yes. In reality, NO FRICKING WAY. Not unless they had about 50 divers in a grid pattern every 100 yards for a 1/2 mile in all directions.
A belly-landing plane hitting the water at 100 mph (+ or -) might land anywhere in a half mile radius. A frogman swims at under 2 mph. The only way to get a frogman to that exact spot would be by another aircraft/helo, an inflatable boat with a motor, or have those 50 frogmen all waiting underwater.
Nobody saw a mystery helicopter or zodiac dropping a frogman. I rule out a waiting frogman underwater. It would easy in a movie, it happens every time. In reality, the plane would land so far from the frogman he’d never get there in time. And a frogman assassin would be 100% in black. He would not have a yellow ANYTHING on him.
This doesn’t mean I don’t believe that Fuddy might have been murdered to silence her forever. But the more likely way to do it would be to pay the pilot a ton of cash to do the belly landing, and make sure that Fuddy doesn’t get out alive. In the confusion of the ditching and exiting the aircraft, it would be easy for a conspirator to simply pull Fuddy underwater by grabbing her at the waist or shoulders.
I could find 20 airplane pilot-SEALs who would be physically capable of ditching the plane and drowning Fuddy for a million dollars. Morally, that’s another question. Physically, it’s very possible.
The pilot reports an undiagnosed and untreated concussion, so he can say, “I don’t remember nuttin, bruddah.” Keep an eye on his finances over the next several years. If he suddenly owns a villa in Costa Rica....
If anyone wants to demonstrate that to themselves, try this experiment:
1. Toss a hula hoop into a pond 50 feet from shore.
2. Try skipping stones such that the first skip is not in the hoop and the last impact, where the stone sinks rather than skipping again, is in the hoop.
could have had a underwater Sea Doo propulsion device.
“In the confusion of the ditching and exiting the aircraft, it would be easy for a conspirator to simply pull Fuddy underwater by grabbing her at the waist or shoulders.”
A proper autopsy would have detected death by drowning due to water in the lungs which was either absent or the autopsy report was fudged!
Hi Travis - I concur that the video is ambiguous.
Two questions about the improbability of plane and frogman meeting up...
What if the diver had popped smoke/dye or other signals prior to the approach of the ‘stricken’ aircraft? Does that change the situation?
Thanks in advance,