It's not a test. SA-7's simply don't hit their targets often, if ever. They weren't good when new, and they certainly aren't good after being more than a decade past their useful shelf lives.
Posted on 12/02/2005 1:28:17 PM PST by Babu
FBI agents and Homeland Security officials spent the weekend investigating the report of a possible missile fired at an American Airlines plane taking off from Los Angeles International Airport.
Sources tell ABC News the pilot of American Airlines Flight 621, en route to Chicago, radioed air traffic controllers after takeoff from LAX. He told them a missile had been fired at the aircraft and missed.
The plane was over water when the pilot said he saw a smoke trail pass by the cockpit.
FBI agents believe it was a flare or a bottle rocket, but say they may never know if that's what it actually was.
It's not a test. SA-7's simply don't hit their targets often, if ever. They weren't good when new, and they certainly aren't good after being more than a decade past their useful shelf lives.
wonder if the Capt. was a military pilot??
Thanks Gramma! I'm glad the word is finally spreading around. 'Bout time!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1529700/posts?page=1,50
Some guy shines a laser at a plane and they find him and put him through the Ringer.
Someone shoots a projectile of somesort at a jetliner and it's just a bottle rocket or flare, there's no need for alarm.
THAT makes sense.
Kids rockets can reach a mile.
The amateur rocket altitude record is something like 77 miles (last I checked). These things are Mach 2+ and with a guidance system could easily down an airplane.
*The north side has a waterway and marina, and the south side has an oil refinery. Neither place where someone could set up a model rocket launcher without being seen.*
*The problem is, if this event occured at 6000 feet, the aircraft would have to be far from shore at that point. I would guess an outbound aircraft out of LAX would have to be 10 miles out/off shore, or so before reaching an altitude of 6000 feet.*
You are both wrong. I grew up there and know the area well. Between the runways and the ocean is a long, sandy hill parallel to the beach. Roads on both, beach and airport, sides of the hill. The long hill used to be covered with houses, and a Nike anti-aircraft radar site. City kicked out all the homeowners that lived under the flight path and bulldozed the houses. If you get through the fences, you have a lot of room to scurry around, only visible from the air. Would actually be a splendid place for an ambush, rightunder the climbing plane. Dunno what security LAX runs to keep people out.
As for 6000 feet, one of the newer mondo-powered airliners can climb like a scalded cat. Lifting off well before the end of the runway, I'd wager they can reach 5-6k feet not far from the beach, possibly less than 0.5 miles out.
Your on. Bet you a cup of coffee.
Does anyone have the flight passenger list? Was anybody of importance on the flight? Food for thought?
That is about as beliveable as a center fuel tank explosion.
Use a little imagination, guys. It was a short in the wiring of the bottle rocket.
And if they'd made it to 5K feet that would also imply they were well out over the water, over the outermost reaches of Santa Monica Bay, probably at a similar longitude as Pt. Dume or thereabouts. Where'd the device come from? Too far down range from any of the Channel Islands. Someone mentioned Pt. Dume itself - possible. Or a boat?
I get the impression the jet was well out over the water, already making the big turn to approach the eastbound airway. They were at 5 or 6K feet. There are not as many boats out that far.
Exactly. Also, many pleasure boaters don't get that far out there, especially with the rougher seas this time of year. I've been out there in 20 foot seas.
"We hates da Dodgers" .... LOL!
I would say that westbound departing planes are at least a few thousand feet up by the time they hit the shore.
Yes, you can fly under the planes. It's called the shoreline route and is done by many private aircraft.
There is another route that let's you fly right over LAX north and southbound. This is the VFR corridor and is an amazing sight.
Well in this case that's about a half mile or so. 2 or 3k in just a half mile after lift off must be an E-ticket. Amazing. They look so big going over Vista Del Mar.
As someone with a decent amount of experience in commercial aviation, this whole story sounds fishy to me.
First of all, AA621 isn't even a flight out of LAX, nor does it head to Chicago. Its routing is Minneapolis-Dallas-Orange County!
Secondly, when a flight is taking off to the west from LAX (as they nearly do), they are at about three thousand when climbing over Dockweiler Beach. Then when the flight is 5-10 miles over the Pacific, it will turn east. But, the departure patterns out of LAX, depending on traffic are fairly unpredictable. LAX is a well-secured airport, even on off-airport locations, they patrol often, and if there was a missle fired during the day--a lot of people would see it even if the a/c was over the ocean.
AA flights to Chicago are operated with smaller, single-aisle aircraft (below 200 seats). A follower of the religion-of-peace I don't think would waste his missle on a smaller, quickly-ascending target when he has 747s, A340s, and 777s departing all-day from LAX to aim at.
Thanks. I find that rather funny.
What's the spacing limit, clear weather, between aircraft on final approach at lax? I heard it was reduced to a half mile.
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