Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- FBI agents and Homeland Security officials have been investigating the report of a possible missile fired at an American Airlines plane taking off from Los Angeles International Airport. Sources told ABC News in Los Angeles that 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...

Investigators in Texas say a flying object that narrowly missed a Continental Express plane last month may have been a large model rocket. The jet's pilot and co-pilot spotted the object and a long white vapor trail shortly after they took off from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport on May 29. The plane was bound for Greenville, South Carolina. Pilots spotted the object at roughly 16,000 feet (4,900 meters). It was about 5 feet (1.5 meters) to 7 feet (2 meters) long. It barely missed the passenger jet, passing just 100 feet below it. Liberty County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Ken...

Transcript of American flight 612 We may never know if it was a missile, a flare or something else that the pilot of American Airlines flight 612 saw come up from the sea after takeoff from LAX last November. In March, Brian Ross, Jill Rackmill and Eric Longabardi at ABC News reported Sen. Barbara Boxer saying that authorities "cannot rule out the fact that it was a shoulder-fired missile." ABC News obtained unedited audiotapes of the radio exchange between the pilot and air traffic control that didn't make it onto the air; here is a partial transcript: ....

Shoulder-Fired Missiles Pose Serious Threat to Passenger Jets U.S. Planes Have No Defense Against Cheap, Widely Available Weapons By BRIAN ROSS, JILL RACKMILL and ERIC LONGABARDI March 27, 2006 — - The potential target: an American commercial jet. The potential weapon: a shoulder-to-air missile that terrorists fire at the jet on takeoff. Worldwide, at least 24 civilian aircraft have been brought down by shoulder-fired missiles, and more than 500 people have been killed. And experts say that shoulder-to-air missiles can be bought for only a few thousand dollars on the black market. But U.S. commercial aircraft still have no defense...

The rumor mill started humming Monday morning, Nov. 28, after ABC Radio aired the following report: FBI and Homeland Security agents spent part of the weekend investigating the report of a possible missile fired at a plane leaving Los Angeles international airport. ABC's Alex Stone has the details. ... the pilots radioed air-traffic controllers saying what appeared to be a rocket had been fired at the aircraft and missed as American Airlines Flight 621 was climbing over the water. It had just taken off from LAX. The plane was enroute to Chicago ... When it landed, FBI agents spoke with...