Al-Qaeda 'shot down' plane (3 generations of American family killed July 19th)

South African Press Assoc. ^ | 7/27/03

[truthandlife]

An Islamic website on Sunday carried a statement attributed to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network claiming responsibility for a plane crash in Kenya that left 12 Americans and two South Africans dead.

The statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified, said the plane was hit "head on" with a ground-to-air SAM-7 missile.

It was apparently fired by followers of Mohammed Atef, the Egyptian national suspected of being Bin Laden's number two.

The statement said three CIA agents were on board the plane searching for Mujahedeen positions on the Kenyan border.

It also promised the Iraqi people the "arrival, very soon, of a present from Osama bin Laden to (US President George W) Bush and his band".

Kenyan officials said the light aircraft crashed into Mount Kenya amid thick clouds on July 19, and that the 12 Americans killed in the crash were members of the same extended family, including two grandparents.

[Angelus Errare]

This sounds like BS to me, but Mohammed Atef's death isn't one of the reasons why. He had his own bodyguard detatchment within al-Qaeda and they likely had access to all of the cool toys, like SAM-7s.

[freeperfromnj]

I think this is likely 100% BS

After reading logical freeper input and given the location of the plane when it went down, it probably is. WND is carrying the same article out of Dubai -- I don't know if that makes it more or less credible. Given the intelligence controversies of late, I think it's a good idea to investigate it any way -- especially since it contains a threat to GW and since we know they tried to take out an Israeli plane using the same method in the same area. Also, I doubt these Islamist fanatics who put this story out even know the literal meaning of the phrase "head on" as we know it.

[ought-six]

If a missile took down this aircraft there would be forensic evidence of it. A missile blast would leave a signature such as chemical residue. It is not so difficult to have that confirmed.

[HardStarboard]

>>>Bullshit. The SA-7 is an IR seeker. It does not hit an aircraft "head-on." <<<

IR seekers go for the spot with the most heat relative to the surrounding area. I believe that this was a prop plane - with heat from the cylinders and exhaust manifolds concentrated in the front of the plane.

[HardStarboard]

>>>The statement said three CIA agents were on board the plane searching for Mujahedeen positions on the Kenyan border. <<<

AQ ain't too smart! Now we have every reason to search the Kenyan border areas....particularlly if we didn't know they were there before.

On the other hand...this could be disinformation....tough job the CIA has!!

[Semper911]

Ahh it's nice to see the mighty fall. From knocking down buildings with hijacked jets to taking credit for minor crashes in the African desert in 2 short years.

This should be a lesson to everybody that thinks the war on terror isn't going well.

I agree, wholeheartedly. Except AQ was and never will be "mighty". They are (were?) just a ragtag bunch of radicals.

And BTW, as I recall, AQ never takes credit for anything.

[Semper911]

Make that "AQ never was and never will be..."

[1ofmanyfree]

BTTT

Right you are, myprecious...

"There are probably many "plane accidents" that should be investigated - starting with TWA 800 and the one that went down in Queens."


Where was the “all over it” media then? They weren’t. They swallowed the Clintoon/Reno/FBI/NTSB line and whimpered off, staying well shy of the hard tough questions. Like, what about the large number of eye witnesses on shore the FBI agents worked so hard to convince with the usual control technique... nothing to see here, move along... no, you did not see a surface to air missile? Probably just fireworks Ma’am. Move along. You saw nothing.

1 of Many Free

[Vigilantcitizen]

"I'll make a few calls."

Thanks for the ping. Keep us updated.

Prayers for the family.

[PsyOp]

There's an SA-7 SAM. But it's a shoulder fired heat seeker. It wouldn't hit a plane head on.

Not necessarily true. The IR locks onto the greatest heat source. On a jet aircraft this usually the exaust cone. Smaller aircraft with reciprocating engines still generate enough heat through the engine nacelle for an SA-7 to lock on from the front and below, but is often dispersed due to prop-wash. This means the missle will probably guide, but will not have a pinpoint target (thus missing a nacelle,but hitting the plane). Even a sunlight reflection from a windshield could produce a lock if the shooters were lucky.

Where a heat-seeking missle strikes an aircraft has to do with the type and location of the engin and the direction from which it is fired. It does not take great amounts of heat, and the hottest source wins, which is why flares works so well as a defensive measure.

The report that it hit the plane head-on, is not enough to dismiss the report. Only to raise cautionary red-flags.

[mabelkitty]

I suspected this. However, I would have thought a pilot intentionally crashed. Not unlike all the plane crashes we have had in the past, that all of a sudden we no longer seem to have now. Coincidence? I highly doubt it.