Posted on 04/18/2002 9:06:38 AM PDT by Bommer
Just reported that a small engine plane crashed into a Skyscraper in Milan Italy
"He wasn't able to land so he swung toward the city, something he absolutely shouldn't have done," said Alfredo Roma, head of Italy's civil aviation authority.
The Swiss pilot of the Rockwell Commander A112 plane was identified by Italian civil aviation officials as Luigi Fasulo, 75, who was well-known to people at Magadino Airport, near Locarno, Switzerland, local TSI television said.
Of course people speculate - ESPECIALLY here on FR.
It is certainly not crazy to ask questions and to seek answers, clarifications, and to think about possibilities of what occurred - ESPECIALLY SINCE WE ARE AT WAR! This means that there is an enemy (or enemies) who want to kill people - especially people allied with the USA. If we doubt this we are crazy.
There is perfect justification, IMHO, for questioning the information being given out (especially since there have been several different types of planes named as being involved in the crash - from the "official sources" and since the age of the pilot has been given differently several times and the fact of a copilot has been mentioned and then discounted and then mentioned again, etc, etc, etc.)
Finally, in a war, we know that not all information given out is the truth. I accept that and don't argue with anyone who might want to deny OBL's gang and those allied with him a propaganda push with this event - if there should be more to it than just a damaged plane being out of control and hitting a skyscraper.
So, I really don't argue with that "strategy".
It's just that it is an old habit to want to get to the truth - for many here at Free Republic - and we, as a nation, have had many experiences time and time again when the truth - and justice - were officially obstructed - and that was definitely during a time when there was no excuse for such "coverups". So, again, searching for truth and facts is NOT - to me - anything other than normal behavior.
What about suicide? People do it all the time. Perhaps he had cancer and wanted to end it all before it ate him up. You reach a certain age, and your facing a horrible death, you might be surprised. This way your family gets money out of it as well. It's a much more simple explanation than terrorists, and it has happened before. I can put forth theories as well as anybody, but I am an engineer by training, and I look for simple solutions first.
I would rank them thusly:
1)Malfunction, cockpit fills up with smoke, pilot can't see, perhaps looks at instruments and where airport was located, tries to level the plane (as most pilots would) and perhaps skyscraper was in direction of airport and he would never have seen it.
2)Suicide - He's older, perhaps a terminal illness, this way his family gets money since it's an "accident"
3)Malfunction, followed by an elderly pilot having a heart attack from the stress while trying to land the plane on a nearby road or whatever, and the auto-pilot kicking in for some reason (and I believe most level the aircraft and then began to climb, and even then it's not a steep steep climb)
4)Terrorists.
If this wasn't a terrorist attack, I'll eat my hat!
10 posted on 4/18/02 4:07 PM Central by mikegi
For anyone else : This may be an accident. The Italian government may be telling the 100% pure truth. Or they may have evidence that this was indeed a terrorist attack, and they're trying to prevent a race war within their borders. The problem is this : ALL governments are so dishonest, so prone to "disinformation" , so apt to lie for the sake of power, politics, profits, that it's impossible anymore to know when they're telling the truth, when they're concealing, when they're planting false rumors, or when they're out and out lying. And that's what spurs speculation such as we see on this thread.
Here's the blurb from that thread:
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
Italy
March 27, 2002
This Public Announcement is being issued to alert U.S. citizens because of a possible threat to U.S. citizens in the cities of Venice, Florence, Milan and Verona on Easter Sunday from extremist groups. This Public Announcement expires on April 25, 2002.
As stated in the Department of State's Worldwide Caution dated March 17, 2002, the U.S. Government continues to receive credible reports that extremists are planning additional terrorist actions against U.S. interests. The U.S. Government has learned that a possible threat exists to U.S. citizens in the cities of Venice, Florence, Milan and Verona on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2002, from extremist groups.
These groups do not distinguish between official and civilian targets. Civilian targets may include facilities where Americans and the general public are usually known to congregate or visit, such as clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools or outdoor recreation events. Americans should increase their security awareness and avoid large crowds.
Who knows if there is a connection here? Maybe not, maybe so.
Until they have the body of the dead pilot and fully examine the plane - there won't be full facts known. But, even then, it's very possible we won't be given the facts after that analysis.
Let's see if the OBL gang stands up and takes a bow.....even that would not tell us this is legitimately their handiwork. They might just be trying to use something that was such a convenient coincidence.
It's just so hard to know the truth these days......
I was simply posting an "update" made by mikegi on another thread.
and a link to that thread....
Damn.
Which hasn't been confirmed by anyone else watching and contradicts all other reports so far.
What? Osama is always talking about profits, business, oil prices. And religion--from Osama's himself:
"The entire West, with the exception of a few countries, supports this unfair, barbaric campaign, although there is no evidence of the involvement of the people of Afghanistan in what happened in America.The people of Afghanistan had nothing to do with this matter. The campaign, however, continues to unjustly annihilate the villagers and civilians, children, women, and innocent people.
The positions of the two sides are very clear. Mass demonstrations have spread from the farthest point in the eastern part of the Islamic world to the farthest point in the western part of the Islamic world, and from Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan to the Arab world and Nigeria and Mauritania.
This clearly indicates the nature of this war. This war is fundamentally religious. The people of the East are Muslims. They sympathized with Muslims against the people of the West, who are the crusaders.
Those who try to cover this crystal clear fact, which the entire world has admitted, are deceiving the Islamic nation.
They are trying to deflect the attention of the Islamic nation from the truth of this conflict.
This fact is proven in the book of God Almighty and in the teachings of our messenger, may God's peace and blessings be upon him.
Under no circumstances should we forget this enmity between us and the infidels. For, the enmity is based on creed.
Muslims must stand together We must be loyal to the believers and those who believe that there is no God but Allah.
We should also renounce the atheists and infidels. It suffices me to seek God's help against them.
God says: "Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with thee unless thou follow their form of religion."
It is a question of faith, not a war against terrorism, as Bush and Blair try to depict it...
From the horse's mouth himself.
Obviously a possibility, but flying into a building and killing a bunch of other people sort of takes away the honor of it. Why not just crash into a field? So I'm not sure this is a more "simple" theory than terrorism.
I would rank them thusly: 1)Malfunction, cockpit fills up with smoke, pilot can't see, perhaps looks at instruments and where airport was located, tries to level the plane (as most pilots would) and perhaps skyscraper was in direction of airport and he would never have seen it.
The plane was old, so definitely possible. I don't recall ever hearing of anything like this before, so to me unlikely. Planes hit buildings very, very, very rarely, so again, I don't see this as necessarily as more "simple" an explanation than terrorism.
3)Malfunction, followed by an elderly pilot having a heart attack from the stress while trying to land the plane on a nearby road or whatever, and the auto-pilot kicking in for some reason (and I believe most level the aircraft and then began to climb, and even then it's not a steep steep climb)
No way autopilot's at settings that would cause level flight at that altitude. Highly, highly unlikely, and much more complicated than terrorism.
4)Terrorists.
Far and away the explanation that squares best with the evidence as we know it. Far and away the most likely explanation. Certainly not the only possibility.
Recall for a moment how the shoe-bomber story advanced--developing from routine and innocent, to an Queda guy with enough explosives to blow up the plane with ease--over the holidays, then you'll see the template for how this is going to develop.
exactly...
I was posting this for information only - not making any statement or 'warranty' as to it's authenticity, or accuracy.
Again... DAMN!
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