Two passengers with names linked to Islamic terrorism were on the Air France flight which crashed with the loss of 228 lives, it has emerged.Islamic terrorists? Maybe France needs to open a new page with them as well.
French secret servicemen established the connection while working through the list of those who boarded the doomed Airbus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 31 May.
Flight AF447 crashed in the mid-Atlantic en route to Paris during a violent storm.
While it is certain that there were computer malfunctions, terrorism has not been ruled out.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
5 comments:
FROM CAROL HERMAN
There's a good chance there was a "microwave burst." Because all the electronics stopped working. It took more than 20 minutes for the plane to hit the water; while none of the on-board systems functioned.
Oh, and no one used a cell phone. Or a laptop. So, something happened that destroyed electronic communications.
Before 9/11, an Eygptian airliner dove into the ocean. Killing all on board. This was a "test."
The Airbus disaster is probably also "just a test." Even if we're not told; the FBI was called in. And, it took American naval resources to find the black box.
France also has a large population of Pakistanis. When there are news reports of their restive muslims, they're usually not talking about north africans, as much as they are referring to their "asians." With strong ties to engineering know-how.
It's amazing to me how stories can be "capped." (But for how long does this remain a secret? I've read stuff on DEBKA I haven't seen anywhere else.)
Very occasionally Debka gets it right, but I would remind you of the scare they caused last year that was totally false.
I work in the flight training department of a major airline, and I have a little info that has not been made public yet. The A330 fleet is equipped with pitot tubes of 3 different standards 2 from Thales (AA and BA), and one from Goodrich. The latest Thales std BA was developed to increase water drainage. AF447 had the older std AA. That said, frozen pitot tubes is something crews train for extensively. The signs of it would be obvious to the crew and they would follow whatever procedure AF has for this condition. I can say at this point in the investigation that the data does not suggest loss of electrical power (ECAMS would not be able to transmit). The last ECAMS transmition has not been made pulic, and it has not been explained. I won't speculate publicly but it may make things interesting. That is, if it is released.
Alright, electrical failure. If lightning, or anything else caused dual generator failure there are still 3 batteries, plus the APU. OK said failure also took out all 3 batteries, possible, and with no power, APU can't be started. but we're not done yet. There is a hydraulic driven standby generator that could provide electrical power to start the APU. But what if all 3 hydraulic systems lost pressure (anybody keeping score of the unlikelyness so far)? There is still the RAT (ram air turbine) that is mechanically deployed to provide pressure to the hydraulics, and drive the standby generator. So, not impossible, but I need more to buy into this.
And lastly, why is this stuff kept "secret". Because every public statement is going to wind up in court. Right, or wrong, the technical people pass their findings on to the lawyers, who decide what is to be released to the public. Then, public relations people decide how it is going to be presented. I received a report about 2 weeks after the AA587 crash that basically stated the FO wanked the peddals. The NTSB report came out about a year later. The civil investigation only ended about 6 months ago. Some things shouldn't be released. Such as the circumstances behind the Denver 737 "uncommanded rudder travel" It was the FOs approach, she was pregnant with the captains child, he was in the restroom, he wouldn't divorce his wife, and she was receiving counciling for depression. The failure has never been duplicated under controlled circumstances, but hey, the planes have been modified with an additional PCU, and rudder travel limiter so everyone can feel safe.
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