Looks authentic to me.
Posted on 02/02/2005 10:33:52 AM PST by areafiftyone
London _ The British military transport plane that crashed in Iraq, killing all 10 servicemen on board, was equipped with anti-missile protection, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday.
Investigators probing the downing of the Hercules C-130K north of Baghdad at the weekend are studying a videotape from guerrillas that appears to suggest the plane was shot down, a spokesman said. The tape shows a missile being fired and the flaming wreckage of a plane, but there is no footage of a missile actually hitting the plane.
``The investigation will be complex, it may take some time to establish the exact cause of the crash,'' Prime Minister Tony Blair told lawmakers in the House of Commons. ``It would be wrong for anyone at this point to speculate.''
The Ministry of Defence spokesman said the Hercules had been carrying a defensive aids suite, which an expert said was equipment designed to protect against surface-to-air missiles.
A defensive aids suite would likely include an infrared countermeasures system and other technology for diverting tracking missiles, as well as chaff and flares, said Damian Kemp, aviation editor at Jane's Defence Weekly.
Mr Kemp cast doubt on the authenticity of the guerrilla video broadcast by Arab TV station Al-Jazeera on Monday. It showed a finger pressing a button on a white box with wires, and then images of two missiles or rockets flying up into the air. The video did not show any impact with a plane. Instead, it cut to footage of people in street clothes walking through a plane's wreckage burning on the ground.
Al-Jazeera said the television station received the video from ``the Green Brigade'', purportedly part of the ``the 1920 Revolution Brigade, a military wing of the National Islamic Resistance in Iraq''.
``Most surface-to-air missiles would be struggling to hit anything at that distance,'' Mr Kemp said. British media have widely reported that the Hercules was flying at an altitude of 5,000m, although defence officials have refused to confirm that.
``And for surface-to-surface missiles, firing at a small, moving target, it would be tricky stuff. Which is why we believe that video footage is not totally kosher,'' Mr Kemp added.
However, he said he believed the wreckage in the video was that of a Hercules C-130K, based on images of an engine, a ladder and a floor panel. He added that the aircraft had an ``exemplary'' safety record, and that he wasn't aware of any others having crashed in Iraq.
Several British newspaper speculated yesterday that explosive cargo may have caused the plane to crash. The Independent and The Times reported that investigators were considering the possibility that the Hercules was transporting explosives, perhaps anti-tank weapons, that blew up.
Asked what cargo the Hercules was carrying, the Ministry of Defence spokesman said only that the flight was transporting people. The ministry refused to comment on a report in The Sun that the plane issued a mayday call shortly before crashing. AP
Looks authentic to me.
Well, isn't this the way all man-portable missiles are fired?
Like I posted yesterday. The terrorists have jumped the shark. I have seen several news stories on TV where homicide bombers have been thwarted by Iraqi civilians. The Iraqis are now seeing Iraq as their country and it their liberty being threatened not buy the US but these terrorist asshats. I see this escalating to where there will be some mob justice perpetrated on these assholes. I would like to see THEIR bodies dragged and drawn and quartered on the street.
I can see that happening too.
It showed a finger pressing a button on a white box with wires,
Looks authentic to me too. The Ford Tempo is vehicle of choice for insurgents.
Can we see a Terrorist with a pancake on his head?
Thank You.
Har!
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