[Patton@Bastogne]

Turkey should have lodged a diplomatic protest ... NOT shot down a USSR combat fighter aircraft ... and killed the two-man crew ... does the 2016 election get suspended over a US-USSR minor war ?

[Patton@Bastogne]

describe “minor” ...

[Travis McGee]

They were only in Turkish air space for two or three seconds, if that.

It had to be a timed "set up" shot, with an operator looking at a radar picture with his finger on a button.

This was nothing like an incursion where an escort aircraft is sent out. There was no time.

Reminds me of an ambush or a trap, ready and waiting. Jets making many sorties probably brush that spur on normal in-out flight path routing. Probably a few times they touched it or crossed it. So the Turks (and maybe the Americans, offshore on navy ships, possibly) had the real-time radar imagery, knew the flight patterns, and set up a missile ambush.

IMHO.

If you looked at the past 2 weeks radar for that zone, I'll bet it is near a normal takeoff and landing flight path.

[terycarl]

Turkey should have lodged a diplomatic protest ... NOT shot down a USSR combat fighter aircraft ... and killed the two-man crew ... does the 2016 election get suspended over a US-USSR minor war ?

I agree...the USSR does not exist...it is Russia but they were warned, more than once.....they need to be aware that they are not invulnerable and that there are rules which even they must follow. The fate of the two pilots is very upsetting and should not have happened and their government should be held accountable for them (they won't be).