[chemainus]

The spin keeps adding on....see what lie will pass muster then leak little addenda to it as the lie takes hold...

[jammer]

You are exactly right. I am laughing at the contortions these people are going through. But then I think of how deluded people are and get sad again.

An aviation consultant said the plane could have been weakened by the earlier encounter.

Yes. And the Wizard of Oz COULD have buzzed them, weakening the bolts/rivets. But, assuming it wasn't the Wizard (which is about as likely), does that mean that we should never fly a plane that has been in turbulence? Are planes now disposable, like HP Printers?

The implications of this are horrific. Terrorist acts occur rarely (especially now that we let them do anal probes on passengers), but turbulence is really common.