Posted on 09/18/2001 2:07:47 PM PDT by newzjunkey
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:49:19 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON -- The FBI is investigating the possibility that suicide hijackers were on board a fifth transcontinental airline flight last Tuesday, one that was cancelled just minutes before its scheduled 8:10 a.m. departure from Boston due to a mechanical problem, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Federal agents are searching for an undetermined number of passengers who were on board American Airlines Flight 43, according to one source familiar with the passenger manifest. The flight was to have departed Boston 25 minutes after American Flight 11, which struck New York's World Trade Center, this source said.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I went to the NTSB web site just now to see what is posted there. In the past I was able to see at least an preliminary notice about a crash within 1 day. The list ends at 9-10 . . .
One of the very first things that I noticed was ther VERY low load factors. These planes were flying with 20% of passenger capacity. I thinkk they may have selected an early Tuesday intentionally. It might be easier to move about the aircraft and take over if the plane isn't crowded and has a more relaxed atmosphere.
I still think their attack was more symbolic than anything. I don't think they were as concerned in killing people as in making a scene. The WTC was the Mecca of free enterprise; the American way.
I'm also not so sure that they were in the know about the president's whereabouts, at least not when they were going through the process of buying tickets to these flights. I don't know when they had actually purchased the tickets but the info is out there. I'm sure the authorities know.
One last thing that I thought about: The concern over AF-1 as a target may have been symbolic as well. Perhaps they weren't all that concerned in hitting the actual plane. It may have been their way of saying that the President was the target. He is, symbolically, AF-1. He was wise to scramble. Also, I doubt if they could actually catch AF-1, particularly when he had fighter cover.
OK, one last thing; As I recall, in the WTC, it was the center core of steel columns that carried the brunt of the structural weight. Any hopes of cutting through the middle would have been pretty far-fetched. The plane would have sheered to pieces before doing very much damage to the supports. It was, as others stated, the heat that softened the steel and eventually brought the building down. Whether that was the plan or not is debatable. That it happened is tragic.
I'm all for holding terrorists responsible and killing them all, but we many Americans here of foreign (recently) ancestry that unfortunately will suffer from misguided attacks.
I don't think the WTC builders had counted on the sort of hits they got. They were expecting an accidental (likely indirect) airplane hit, not the piledriver slams the buildings took. And of course, not with full gas tanks.
My theory is that the terrorist pilots were ahead of schedule, and were supposed to have hit at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m., when the buildings, mezzanine below them, and plaza around them would have been filled with upwards of 150,000 people. But they couldn't wait, because they knew that if they waited until then, they would be shot down.
That theory explains why other terrorist cells were stuck on the ground, in planes at Logan and JFK that were cancelled, due to the news of the WTC hits.
See also:
I believe that because of the 1993 bombing in the Tower, people were still leery of staying in the building even though some supervisors said it was safe. I would have left too. Because of that decision, many, many more people made it out alive.
When you figure it could have been 50-75,000 people, 5,000 was surely a miracle. Of course, if my loved-one was one of the 5,000 maybe I wouldn't feel that way.
I heard original reports here of 11 hijacked planes. That was wild early speculation.
Yup. The center weight bearing feature was somewhat innovative. People came from far and wide to view it, so I heard.
If you have seen the reports of the path of the flight, they had to be coming back to the metro DC area to do damage. Why else would they turn around at Cleveland, and head back south across Pittsburgh? Both have downtown areas, both have tall buildings. Pittsburgh has the USX Towers at 64 stories. The plane went down about 8 minutes east of downtown Pittsburgh. Did the passengers realize where they were? Did they know they where away from a major population center? Did they learn of the local from the 911 operator? Did the hijackers get confused and think they were at Camp David? And most importantly, are there others out there, with their plans ready just waiting for their time? Scary, scary times.
There's some kind of beer ad out where the Devil is shown shivering in a frozen over Hell saying something like "Something has gone wrong here."
I think the 19 Mohammedans are definitely muttering something like that today. As the teens say, "Get used to it."
I am throughly convinced that there was some very sophisticated engineers behind the planning of this attack. I do think the terrorist did hit the buildings at the desired height and speed.
In closing I would to say our strikes of retribution will kill some innocents. I much prefer killing their innocents than they killing ours. The goverment or goverments that gave support to these terrorists must be elimintated (killed) so that any other country that considers supporting terrorists knows they will be destroyed if found out.
They did the same things on the planes--they sliced the flight attendants' throats to get the passengers' attention and shock them into passivity and then they told them that they were going to die--that is what makes these people so evil--they have no souls and no feelings.
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