[Finalapproach29er]

What does fog matter after you takeoff? Who cares? At 7 min. past takeoff they're likely 5000+ feet. No mountains to slam into,no pyramids that high.

Interesting thesis about the missle/boat. There has been talk of Mubarek grooming his son as successor.

I doubt that sits well with many fanatics.

[Gorons]

You mentioned Mubarek grooming his son as successor:

Egypt president Mubarak says won't bequeath power to son
Ha'aretz, Israel - Jan 1, 2004 - ... The regime of Egypt is a republican regime and there is no inheritance of power," Mubarak said in a telephone interview broadcast on state television ...

Mubarak rules out hereditary succession - Al-Jazeera - Assad visits Egypt as the American noose tightens around Syria - Cairo Times ...

Mubarak: My son will not take over presidency - Middle East Online ...

All those bylines dated Jan 1, 2004...

[Central Scrutiniser]

Actually, fog matters a whole bunch. The worst ever plane crash, between 2 747-200's on the runway at Tenerife was partially due to fog. Also responsible for that crash was poor crew dynamics (in the KLM plane) poor communications from the tower to the KLM plane, fog (the Pan Am plane was on the active runway rolling to the take off position- no taxiways, fog obscured the end of the runway), terrorism (a bomb went off at Palma de Mallorca which closed the runway causing both planes to divert to PMI), fatigue (The PA crew had been flying over 12 hours) and problems in the airport tower.

Do some reading on plane crashes, oftentimes there are several factors. Did you know that the 737 has a bad record with rudder pedal problems? The USAir crash in Pittsburg and a United crash at Colorado Springs were due to rudder problems.....

Waaaay too early to pin a cause on this flight. Just remember, planes crash, and its always a tradgedy, no matter who is on board.

[11B3]

Having lived right next to Sharm for six months (stationed there), I can't imagine fog having anything to do with this. If they were on final approach, yes, but taking off?? No.

Upon our arrival in Sharm on C-141s, the pilots brought us down in evasive maneuver fashion: Starting at 10,000' AGL, point the nose straight down and do a corkscrew until 1000' AGL. Made all of the officers hurl. After nearly 30 hours of sitting backwards with no windows, it was pretty cool. There was an intel report warning of possible SAM use by terrorists. THAT WAS 15 YEARS AGO!!

Sharm sits on the point of the Sinai, basically. There is an island visible in the distance as well, that the aircraft would possibly have passed over. No boat required for a SAM-7, IMHO. 737-300s are pretty safe - even if you grenade one engine on takeoff a competent pilot can recover. Rudder failure is another story, but the ADs have been out there for how long now?