Replies

And just how do they plan on explaining away the hijack code picked up by the tower? How are we ever going to fight global terrorism if we can't get a straight answer when two planes crash simultaneously in a fashion eerily reminiscent of 9/11? Just because it didn't happen in the U.S. doesn't mean we ought to dismiss it. If they managed to pull it off with two planes in Russia who's to say they can't do it here.

Russian Emergencies Ministry personnel inspect the crash site of a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger plane near Zelenovka village, some 140 km from Russia's southern town of Rostov-on-Don, August 25, 2004. The plane, carrying 46 people including eight crew, crashed soon after it sent out a hijack alert message late Tuesday evening. Two Russian passenger planes crashed almost simultaneously late on Tuesday, killing all 89 people on board in what investigators said was either a terrorist attack or simply a mysterious coincidence.

Agreed. I look forward to hearing their explanations about the plane code signal. The authorities should probably say nothing at all rather than that nonsense about everything never being terrorism right off the bat. They probably prefer saying nothing and are peeved that info gets out to the media anyway.

We can all understand that they are trying to prevent panic and keep airliners solvent. But what they sometimes say -- especially in this Russian case -- is silly.

And while it is true that saying "no comment" for awhile would not dampen the panic factor as much as ruling out terrorism almost from the get-go, at least people could better decide for themselves the risks they want to take and at least we would respect the authorities' pronouncements following such events. I really do not believe anyone buys what they say anymore...even the sleepiest Sheeple.

Here you go, freeperfromnj. Excerpts of an article from this morning:

***

"Officials made conflicting statements about whether the signal from the other jet indicated a hijacking or another severe problem on the aircraft.

The Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies later quoted an unnamed law enforcement source as saying that the signal was an SOS and that no other signals were sent.

Oleg Yermolov, deputy director of the Interstate Aviation Committee, said that it is impossible to judge what is behind the signal, which merely indicates "a dangerous situation onboard" and can be triggered by the crew during a hijacking or a potentially catastrophic technical problem.

Sibir airlines, however, seemed to hint at foul play, saying on its Web site that it "does not rule out the theory of a terrorist attack."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040825/D84M9S800.html