Al Qaeda Takes Responsibility for Downing Flight AA-587

28 May 2004 - Al Qaeda lists successes since 9/11 on Global Islamic Media; Includes 2001 downing of American Airlines flight 587 that went down over Queens

In a stunning revelation to the Global Islamic Media Group this morning, Al Qaeda has revealed that they were responsible for the downing of American Airlines flight 587 over Queens in November 2001.

The article, published this morning on Global Islamic Media's Yahoogroup, lists the successes that Al Qaeda has achieved since the attack on America in September 2001. Al Qaeda has previously claimed credit for all of the other attacks on the list. The cause of the AA flight 587 crash is still listed by the FAA as accidental, with no indications of terrorism.

Downing of the American Airlines plane over the Queens district of New York (City) on the 26th day of Shaban in the (Islamic) year 1422, equivalent to November 12th, 2001, killing 265 passengers as well as residents of that district. Bali nightclub attack in Indonesia that killed more than 200. Attack on Djerba, Tunisia Jewish temple, killing 20 German Jews. Attack at Faylakah in Kuwait. Attack on the French tanker Limburgh in Yemen. Attacks on Mombasa in Kenya against Jewish tourists, who were attacked in the their hotel, and the unsuccessful attack on the El Al airline with two missiles. Attack on the Marriott Hotel in the Indonesian capital Attacks in eastern of Riyadh, on residential districts where Americans and other westerners live Electrical power blockouts in the northern portions of America and the southern areas of Canada Electrical power blackouts in Great Britain. Attacks in Istanbul against the Jewish synagogues. Attachs in Istanbul battles against the British bank and the British consulate, in which the British consul was killed. Battle of Badr Riyadh in the residential complex Attack on the United Nations building in Baghdad in which Sirgo Des Milo, Kofi Annan's envoy, was killed Attacks in Nasserya against the Italian forces Attacks in Casablanca Attempted assassination of a dangerous ally of America, Pervez Musharraf Attacks in Madrid against three trains, killing 200 and injuring more than 1500 injured,

No shocker there. The plane separated both engines and the tail during takeoff. The Feds stated it was due to turbulence from the flight that left 2:45 minutes ahead of it. First of all the turbulence after 2:45 minutes would be negligable. Secondly, separating both engines and the tail would not be a primary failure mode for a plane subject to turbulence.

No, the "Feds" did not say it was wake turbulence. What they said is that when the aircraft encountered wake turbulence, the First Officer at the controls, incorrectly implimented violent hard rudder movements - side to side rapidly. American Airlines had been teaching this to their pilots and has since stopped because the NTSB, FAA and safety experts told them it was ridiculous in large aircraft to do. As for 2.75 minutes - the time between a "heavy" and any aircraft following is considered 5 minutes. The wake of a heavy falls at 500 feet per minute. That means that 1,500 feet below the path on a calm day within 3 minutes of a heavy is a dangerous place to be - BUT it was not wake that did it - it was the REPONSE to the wake.

I am an airline pilot and an instructor. The FAA came by our training centers after the accident to make sure we weren't teaching such silly wake escape manuevers to our pilots (we weren't - we were taught that moving a 30 foot tall rudder with 3,000 psi should be done SLOWLY).

Yes they were inspected and modifications put into force:

Link

"Yesterday's action incorporates several recent recommendations Boeing sent out to airlines operating 747s. Under Boeing's voluntary program, 250 aircraft have been inspected "with no significant problems found," said Boeing spokeswoman Kirsti Dunn.

Although the proposed rule requires only a one-time inspection, McSweeny said the agency plans to eventually require repeat inspections of the center fuel tank components. Currently, the inside of the tank is not part of aircraft-maintenance programs.

"We do not believe one time is enough," McSweeny said of the inspections.

The rules proposed yesterday would also require that a flame arrester -- a series of screens that could snuff out a spark -- be installed on a pipe leading to the scavenge pump, which removes residual fuel, in the center tank. McSweeny said the FAA believes it's possible for components of the pump to separate and cause a spark.

The FAA also is preparing to issue directives that would require airlines to separate fuel-measuring system wires outside the tank from other high-voltage wires. "We are working on a final action," McSweeny said. ....

I don't claim to know whether the below is true or not, but it reminds me of the cavalier dismissal of missile reports for the crash of TWA 800.

From Newsmax Dec 3, 2001:

"Two eyewitnesses to the Nov. 12 crash of American Airlines Flight 587 said over the weekend that investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board are wrong to focus on potential structural defects as the cause of the disaster - insisting instead that the plane's tail came off over New York's Jamaica Bay only after it exploded in a fireball. "It was after the explosion," eyewitness Tom Lynch, a retired firefighter, told the New York Post. "I'm telling you, the tail was there until the second explosion." "No tail fell off, not before the explosion. I swear to that," Lynch told the paper's Steve Dunleavy.

The eyewitness said there was absolutely no doubt about what he saw. "I had my head up taking in that beautiful, clear day and was staring straight at the plane. It made a bank turn and suddenly there was an explosion, orange and black, on the right-hand side of the fuselage. It was a small explosion, about half the size of a car." He continued: "The plane kept on going straight for about two or three seconds as if nothing had happened, then vwoof' - the second, big explosion on the right wing, orange and black. It was only then that the plane fell apart. It was after the explosion and I'm telling you, the tail was there until the second explosion."

Lynch, who lives near the Belle Harbor, N.Y., crash site, said he knew 13 others who also saw the explosion and/or fire. One, retired police lieutenant Jim Conrad, told Dunleavy: "I saw exactly what Tom saw. I was near a stoplight at the Marine Parkway Bridge. First, the small explosion. The plane kept on going, tail intact, then the big explosion and the plane nose-dived. The first thing I said was, 'The bastards did it again.'" Lynch said he's tried to contact the FBI and the NTSB but they weren't interested in his story. Ditto Sens. Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton and his congressional representative, Anthony Weiner, who also gave him the brush-off.

"I got no response from anyone," he said. Last week NewsMax.com asked New York state's newly appointed public security czar, James Kallstrom, why a traffic surveillance video that reportedly captured Flight 587's midair breakup has not been publicly released. "I have not seen the tape. I heard some mention of it. But I've not seen the tape and I really have no knowledge of it," Kallstrom said. "Why it hasn't been released, I suspect, is because the investigation is ongoing. But I don't know the answer to that."

Witness Richard Kvies and a friend were sitting in Howard beach near the airport having a coffee outside while waiting to watch the Concorde take off. They were looking to the south and the airplane was traveling from Kvies's left to his right (east to west) and clilmbing slightly. He observed the aircraft for about thirty seconds. A bright yellow flash of light, very much like a camera flash, appeared where the right wing met the fuselage.

The size of the flash was approximately the width of the fuselage from top to bottom. The plane stopped its forward and upward progress and descended vertically while maintaining its same attitude. A stream of white smoke rose vertically as it fell from the location where the flash had appeared. Richard is a special forces Vietnam veteran and a retired N.Y. City police officer. Richard expressed the view that it looked like some type of armament hit the aircraft. Kieves was one of the callers to 911 to report the crash."

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