Air France 447 - Casting doubt on weather as culprit (coverup?)

weather.com ^ | 6/5/09 | weather

[milwguy]

new analysis of the weather in the vicinity at the time of the crash appears to cast doubt on earlier reports that the plane encountered severe thunderstorms, lightning and wind gusts. Though there were storms, they were almost certainly less intense than those sometimes encountered above the United States, and lightning was at least 150 miles away, said Greg Forbes, severe-weather expert for the Weather Channel.

Forbes said an examination of weather data for Sunday, including satellite images, indicated updrafts of perhaps 20 mph, far from the initial reports of 100 mph.

"I wouldn't expect it to be enough to break apart the plane," Forbes said.

Meanwhile, even more doubt was placed on the lightning strike theory when the World-Wide Lightning Network (WWLLN) announced that they did not detect lightning anywhere near the suspected crash area for an hour or more on either side of the event.

[Robe]

events forced the crew of Flight 447 to fly the jet manually, a difficult task on an Airbus traveling at high altitude near its maximum speed

I've over 14,000 hours in aircraft from a J-3 Cub to F-4's to 747's.

If I was introduced to an aiplane that was "a difficult task to fly manually while traveling at high altitude and near its maximum speed

I would slowly turn and walk away

This is a totally absurd statement

[drypowder]

Caution, Tin Foil Hat Moment! There has been no wreckage debris found belonging to the missing Air France plane. If that is truly the case could the plane have been hijacked (stolen) and phony debris scattered to make it appear as though it crashed? Considering the premature report that lightening caused it to crash does in itself raise serious question regarding the latest weather data. If the plane was hijacked (stolen), by whom and for what purpose. Mmmm, sadly there is no need to ask about the passengers if it was hijacked. If the plane is still in one piece somewhere it will probably be loaded with high explosives and one can use their imagination for the outcome of that.

[VRWCTexan]

IMHO Post No 33 may have a point - any self-respecting terrorist group that had managed to come of with a new method of implanting an explosive device on board an aircraft undetected would not necessarily rush to the Internet or media - rather lay back and use the same method on multiple concurrent aircraft first - poke fun all you wish only time will tell .... Personally I hope I'm totally wrong since I will be flying on several international trips over the next two months into and out of South America

[fatima]

This is crazy.Every news story changes every 5 minutes.Sounds like a coverup.

[JBCiejka]

My only thought that might make sense regarding terrorism is a lone terrorist like the pilot of that plane that went down several years ago, with the co-pilot praising Allah and taking it straight down.

I also considered carbon monoxide posioning which could have killed everyone, like the plane of the golfer a while back, and if the plane was struck by lightning it could disengage the electrical system, and it went straight down.

[fatima]

I was thinking the same thing.

[DeusExMachina05]

Cant have the muzzies blowing up planes when Obama is going overseas to make nice nice...can we?

[Big_Monkey]

After 9/11, Al Quaeda didn’t claim credit for dozens of months. Bin Laden finally admitted, on video, that the attacks went better than they could have possibly imagined or planned.

[usafsk]

Oxygen starvation killed Payne Stewart, Greek passengers in another incident.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

There are any number of reasons for not claiming a successful attack right away. People sitting around waiting for terrorists to follow some non-existent playbook to the letter are in for a rude awakening.

[Big_Monkey]

"4 8 15 16 23 42"

Everything's not about you, Hurley.

[mad_as_he$$]

Oh but in the end it will be!

[GovernmentShrinker]

Possibly. But I still can’t figure out why they wouldn’t choose a flight that was full of their enemies for their first go at it.

[Big_Monkey]

"IMHO Flight 800 (supposed exploding fuel tank) was a cover-up of a terrorist missile hit..."

MANPADs are heat-seeking missiles. In other words, they target the engines. And, contrary to what you see in the movies, most times it's not a catastrophic explosion that brings the aircraft down, it's just a lack of thrust, or loss of control because of hydraulic problems. When they do miss the engine directly, they usually hit the wings, not the center of the fuselage. Essentially, with big, multi-engine aircraft, shoulder-fired missiles just aren't that effective.

Lastly, at 16K feet the TWA would have been just outside the operational limits of the Stinger II, which is the American-designed, German Built most sophisticated MANPAD out there. For the other Chinese, Pakistani or half a dozen other country's equipment, the plane would most likely have been too high to be hit by a shoulder fired missile.

[milwguy]

The point of this article is it DIRECTLY contradicts the other articles claims of 100 mph updrafts, violetn thunerstorms AND lightning in the area. Go to the link of the article and you will see a Brazlian who tracked lightning strikes that night and shows there were none in the area of the plane.

[Big_Monkey]

"Oh but in the end it will be!"

Over 1K people have read this thread, but it appears only you and I are the only "Lost" fans.

[Godwin1]

Well, no one knows what happened. But I was surprised at a US TV report—”I think it was CNN—suggesting that no one with terror ties had been aboard the plane. This report was broadcast the day following the disaster, when security officials could not have possibly vetted the passenger list. Then, a day or two later, I read a partial passenger list in Rio's Jornal do Brasil newspaper. The list included about 100 passengers, the balance of the names withheld because authorities had not yet spoken with next of kin. Among the 100 passengers were two male Moroccans and a female Turkish citizen. The Turkish passenger was a university professor and probably OK. The two Moroccans were described as “veterinarians.” I would like to know more about them. “Profiling Muslims?” You are darned right I am.

[GovernmentShrinker]

The only “claims” of 100 mph updrafts I’ve seen were simply assertions that updrafts of that speed have historically been detected in thunderstorms in the area where this plane was flying — not that updrafts of such great speed had actually been documented during THIS flight. “100 mph updrafts” were cited as a possible cause/factor in this disaster, not cited as events which had actually been documented as occurring while this particular flight passed through the area. That some random Brazilian wasn’t personally able to detect lightning strikes in a location far from any detection equipment is hardly evidence that was no lightning there.

[lump in the melting pot]

I know I’m reaching here, but... if it’s a trial run, and the idea is not to arouse suspicion and not claim credit, then a ‘neutral’ target is better, precisely because people’s minds turn away from the terrorism option. Heck, there’s probably some Canada geese being waterboarded right now to confess their allegiance to al-qaida and conspiracy to bring that USAir plane down into the Hudson. On the other hand, “who would want to hurt Brazilians & French, that makes no sense...”

Gonna go sit in the corner w/ my foil hat on now