Posted on 11/12/2001 1:40:55 PM PST by copycat
The latest from government bureaucrats like Pataki, and their willing accomplices here at FR is that "Since the pilot dumped his fuel, it must have been an accident."
Unfortunately for those who would argue this theory, we have already learned that there were NO distress calls or unusual communications of any kind.
Pilots wwould dump fuel if they had a mechanical failure and planned to return to the airport. What are the odds that a pilot would dump his fuel and NOT decide to inform the tower of his decision? (Corollary question...How easy is it to radio the tower of trouble?)
In addition, eyewitness accounts clearly state that the right wing of the plane was seen to explode and take out the tail. An accident? I think not...
I heard a witness say he saw part of the wing around the engine disintegrate and strike the tail... the "combat hole" in the tail was caused by debris from the wing.
Then wait while the rest of us explore the possibilities. Your opinions are welcome but your characterizations of those who disagree with you are not.
Yes, that makes sense. (And I believe there _are_ crashes where that is the accepted cause.) But at least _one_ of 587's engines fell onto a gas station lot. The engine looks remarkably intact. It doesn't look like it was torn apart at all. (Although there does appear to be a hole in it, it doesn't appear to be a jagged, large hole.) I haven't seen photos of the other engine, but reports are that it is also fell intact into somebody's yard of some such thing and is still recognizable as an engine.
If there were a rotor mishap bad enough to chop up the plane, would we expect to see the engines intact and their housings intact?
Mark W.
How about an airframe rupture followed by fierce aerodynamic pressures.
Read posts #11 and #13.
I didn't say they should have radioed. In fact, I believe that they exploded and COULD NOT call. I merely said that no distress call is inconsistent with a fuel dump. If you have time to dump fuel, you have time to radio your intent to return to field.
My only purpose is to DEBUNK the fuel dump story. Heck, Pataki is already backing off it as I understand.
Okay, and could I get a quart of that snake oil the other fella' was selling?
I addressed that on the original post, but reading comprehension is an individual talent. As peter jennings said, some do it well and some don't.
I would expect any communications gear to be voice activated, but I hear that a pilot must push ONE BUTTON ON THE STICK to radio a Mayday. IMHO, the facts indicate that this plane went down so fast that there was no time to even radio. (Certainly not enough to dump fuel)
It seems clear that the plane either failed catastophically or exploded. Either it blew apart on its' own, or someone blew it. Combined with bin Ladens' statements that "Muslims should stay out of planes and tall buildings, I feel the terrorist angle is more likely than an engine taking out a wing and a tail.
If anyone still thinks this is nutty, so be it.
Thank you for your adult tone.
You are welcome to disagree, but you offer nothing to back this disagreement. From witnesses and behavior of the plane it is pretty obvious an engine disintegrated... Unfortunately it is a model of engine that has a known problem with failure and disintegration, and often that happens right at or following takeoff... It also just happens to be one of the most used engines on the planet, this particular engine was also from reports so far nearly at the end of its service life.
You want us to believe a bomb went off in the engine or that a missle hit the planes engine which then lead to its failure? Engine disintegrates on take off, damaging its wing and the plane.. causing wing it was part of to lose lift, wing stalls, plane banks sharply that direction, and plane enters nose dive. Witnesses clearly have stated that engine was destroyed, not holes in fueselage (which would be what you would see with a bomb in passenger compartment or in luggage compartment). It is just not bloody likely they planted a bomb inside an engine. More likely was a natural disintegration of an engine in a design that unfortunately is known sadly to have this defect.
Then wait while the rest of us explore the possibilities.
Do you seriously believe you will get farther ahead by running off in the wrong direction? The only real result is that you will produce an emotional investment in whatever theory you think is correct and have to resort to conspiracy theories to explain away inconvenient facts -- a scenario that you could have avoided by waiting until more facts were available in the first place.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.