NO SIGNS OF ENGINE FAILURE!

FOX News

[Snardius]

Sounds like we've gone from suspecting "Fowl play" to suspecting foul play...

groan...

[CJinVA]

Depends on what their definition of "Engine Failure" is.

[phasma proeliator]

there you go with those fonts again... ;)

[pgkdan]

...the pilots knew they were in trouble minutes before the plane crashed.

Minutes??? They only took off 4 minutes before they crashed.

[dawn53]

They talked about vibration noises. If a missile hit, wouldn't there be a impact noise or sensation.

[Jennifer in Florida]

They are saying the voice recorder has the pilots stating there was an "air frame rattle." Somebody clue me in to what this is.

[lugsoul]

by Abdul?

[rit]

OK folks. Now we are making progress. The next question is:
If the plane was ascending at 250+ knots, then following laws of trajectory, at which point did the engines actually separate from the plane? Remember, both fell within 2 blocks of the crash site. Given their close proximity, would then have both separated at the same time, within seconds of each other, ...etc?

[dormee]

Yep, and the AP said the pilots knew "within 2 minutes" of the crash that they were in trouble.

[Dog Gone]

If this is correct, then it's down to a fuel tank problem (do these planes even have a center fuel tank?) or terrorism. I can't think of any other possibilities, other than a seagull biting off the tail as mentioned above.

[oc-flyfish]

Nothing on Drudge yet...

[Aliska]

You are hereby nominated for the most clever play on words award of the year ;-):

Sounds like we've gone from suspecting "Fowl play" to suspecting foul play...

Good one!

[is_is]

Airframe rattle....very simnlar to having a out of balance wheel and driving with your door ajar.....makes a rattling vibration throughout the car....

[AgThorn]

So the engines didn't fail, and there were no birds ingested in the engines .... this could only mean one thing! Birds with tools!!! But is that possible? Nah!!

[EggsAckley]

So, where are all of the "wait and see, you conspiracy kooks" people from this mornings long thread?
Hmmmm, it'll be interesting to see if any of them show up here.

[BushMeister]

I Can't Stand It I Know You Planned It
I'm Gonna Set It Straight, This Watergate
I Can't Stand Rocking When I'm In Here
Because Your Crystal Ball Ain't So Crystal Clear
So While You Sit Back and Wonder Why
I Got This F***ing Thorn In My Side
Oh My, It's A Mirage
I'm Tellin' Y'all It's Sabotage

[Cool Guy]

I would think along the lines of, sabatoge before take-off, on-board explosives or just a good ole SAM.

[Dog]

Planes dont fall apart in mid-air..

hmmmmm!

[classygreeneyedblonde]

Right now, to me, it is extremely mysterious. I find the evidence perplexing," says Bernard Loeb, the retired chief aviation investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board

However, it's unheard of that two engines would break loose at or about the same time. Jet and engine manufacturers go to great lengths to ensure that catastrophic engine failures cannot cause a crash.

Similarly, jets are designed with so much strength that even when the wings or tail fins are damaged, they almost never break loose before crashing, investigators say.

It doesn't sound like the typical thing," says Kevin Darcy, the former lead accident investigator at Boeing who is now an aviation consultant.

Whenever engines break off a jet, investigators focus on possible failures within the engine. The CF6 engines on American's A300 fleet have recently drawn the attention of safety regulators

In fact, one engine specialist who asked not to be identified, said modern, high-power engines like the CF6 have failed so rarely in flight that investigators have little idea what would happen to a jet if one came apart.

Investigators also say it seems unlikely that failures violent enough to shake each engine loose from the aircraft could strike both at about the same time.

Though federal officials went out of their way to say no evidence suggested sabotage, officials say privately that they cannot rule it out. It is possible, safety experts say, that a bomb or a missile downed the jet. In the past, terrorists have attempted to shoot down jets using small handheld missiles. Loeb says an explosion at the rear of the jet could have caused the tail section to break free.