Posted on 11/16/2001 1:24:12 PM PST by callisto
A videotape that could show exactly what happened to American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed three minutes after taking off from New York's JFK airport on Monday, is in the hands of the FBI -- but the bureau has thus far declined to release it.
New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Tom Kelly confirmed to the Daily News Friday that the agency has given surveillance videotapes from Cross Bay Blvd. and Marine Parkway bridges to the FBI.
"One tape captures the plane taking off from JFK," the News said.
Cross Bay Blvd. and Marine Parkway traverse Jamaica Bay, where the plane's vertical stabilizer was discovered intact after the crash.
Dozens of eyewitnesses have told media outlets they saw an explosion and/or a fire at the juncture of Flt. 587's wing and fusilage moments before it began to break up, losing its tail first, then both its engines.
Catastrophic engine failure, which was first suspected to have caused the explosion, was ruled out Tuesday after NTSB investigators examined the engines and found no evidence of mechanical failure.
Since discovering the engines were working properly, NTSB spokeswoman Marion Blakely -- along with most media outlets -- have quietly dropped references to witness accounts of a midair explosion.
The NTSB now says that wind turbulence from another plane is the most likely cause of the crash. One former jumbo jet veteran pilot was highly skeptical of the turbulence theory.
"If wind turbulence caused that accident, I'll never fly again," Barry Schiff, who flew 747's for TWA, told the New York Post.
But a videotape showing the exact sequence of Flt. 587's break-up could clear up any mystery, showing whether or not the break-up was caused by an explosion or by turbulence.
It's not clear why the FBI has not yet released the MTA video -- or even commented on what it shows. It's also not clear why the Flt. 587 video was not turned over to the NTSB instead of the FBI, which had reportedly adopted a secondary role in the wake of NTSB claims that the crash was an accident.
When an Air France Concorde jetliner crashed after catching fire on takeoff from a rural French airport last year, an amatuer video of the accident was released within 48 hours.
Calls to the FBI's New York office and to MTA spokesman Kelly were not returned by presstime.
And, yes, newbies that hew to the government line ARE suspect: many are government disruption employees. Take a few positions against the official dupe line and then you won't be seen that way.
One characteristic of them is that they write replies such as "one of them, huh . . ." instead of answering the argument of the post.
I don't have the hard data to make that determination!!! (Am I first FReeper to admit that?)
Only know what I was told. Stew said it was junk, as far as little things went, everything from coat hooks to coffee makers always broke. Is that sign of lack of attention to detail, perhaps.
On other hand United pilot liked it, especially the side stick. Virgin pilot who flew the Airbus widebody to Orient liked it, but said 747-400 is better
(TIN-FOIL HAT: On.)
Osama bin Laden first attempted to destroy the World Trade Center in 1993 but the Clinton administration failed to go after him and capture him. Apparently, they didn't want to risk the complications of an international incident.
TWA 800 involved a terrorist using a Stinger anti-aircraft missile. If that news got out, people would ask why bin Laden hadn't been captured yet, and there would be a national scandal. So the Clinton administration covered it up.
Today, we have AA 587 crashing under circumstances very similar to TWA 800. If it turns out that there is evidence that 587 was hit by a terrorist missile, then of course it becomes very obvious to draw the line back to 800, and people start to say, "Cover Up!" and the Clinton House of Cards collapses.
The Bush administration is not behind the current cover-up. Rather, the cover-up is being perpetrated by the bureaucrats within the NSTB and FBI who are Clinton-era holdovers. Their fingerprints are on the 800 cover-up, so they want to cover up 587 as well.
Bush is far too trusting of these people, forgetting what they did to Waco and what they didn't do in preventing September 11. At some point, if he doesn't act to flush these people out of their respective agencies and appoint new blood, the current President must be held responsible for the sins of the previous President.
(TIN-FOIL HAT: Off.)
They tell me, at this point the damage has been done.
Sabotage or accident, those who were going to, have already changed or abandoned their travel plans.
They tell me that the uncertainty of what happened is worse than knowing either way. They're in the business. They ought to know.
But they also tell me that people are asking point blank, is my flight an A300, and if it is they want to reschedule.
Either cause is not comforting.
And you can call me naive if you want, but Bush is not evil and duplicitous like Clinton is. These folks heading these agencies are not Clinton's lackies. They are Bush's appointees. A coverup would have to involve this President and his people, and I don't accept that.
I remain open to being persuaded otherwise, but I've seen nothing yet to persuade me.
I think we could both agree that Bill Clinton was the worst possible person to inspire any confidence in institution of goverment. His legacy is that a significant part of the public has a total distrust of authority at all levels, because of the corrupt way that he used the power of government to further his own selfish agenda, and his total contempt for the rule of law.
Talk about paranoia............
Compare this to TWA 800. If the Navy shot it down by accident, the NTSB could be reasonably sure it wouldn't happen again.
My man, I agree with what you've written. I voted for Bush. I am so glad he's President now. But I'm still going to keep my antennae up about this. My tinfoil hat's on very snug. ;-)
I'm not saying the government isn't trying to stop terrorism. It's just that the beauty of a mechanical failure explanation is, there're so many ways for a plane to go down that way: we've heard bird ingestion, engine failure, wake turbulence so far with this one. And it doesn't embarrass homeland security as much. I'm just answering your question, not alleging that I'm convinced that this is what the government is doing.
Wow. You must be psychic as well as a know it all!
I'm a New Yorker. It's amazing how you seem to know every article I've ever read! How can you know what every witness has said here in New York?? It's truely amazing !!
I caught that too...one has to be on the lookout in media scripts for words like that one. I heard the main lady from the NTSB this AM state that they had to enlarge the image of the plane from a "dot" to see what details were there, if any. I'm hoping that is the only reason for the Feds to have to have the tape. I would think that they have better labs equipped for the work than the NTSB.
I'm waiting for the woman in the Bronx who saw the ghosts of John Lindsey, Fiorello LaGuardia, Ceasar Chavez and Abe Beam all working together at the last moments to try to save the doomed plane!!! In fact I expect her to be the lead story on Fox 5 News tonight.
I would remind you that New York is the city where, in a one car subway accident, 460 people claimed they were injured in the accident, and each had a witness to backup their story when they sued for "damages"!
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