Top Russian Official: Plane Terror Likely

[jayfish]

Top Russian Official: Plane Terror Likely

<SNIP>
MOSCOW (AP) - A top Russian official acknowledged on Thursday what many citizens already suspected - that terrorism was the most likely cause of two jetliners crashing minutes apart, a feeling reflected in a newspaper headline warning that "Russia now has a Sept. 11."

Just a day after officials stressed there were many possibilities besides terrorism, presidential envoy Vladimir Yakovlev told Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency that the main theory "all the same remains terrorism."

He said the planes' flight recorders had not provided any clues to the disaster.

Additionally, Transport Minister Igor Levitin confirmed Sibir airlines' report that its crew activated an emergency signal shortly before the plane disappeared from radar screens. Visiting the site of the crash, he said, however, that details were slim because "no verbal confirmation from the crew was received" saying what the problem was.


Officials previously said there was no indication of trouble from a Volga-Aviaexpress airliner that also crashed late Tuesday, although people on the ground reported hearing a series of explosions.
</SNIP>

I don't know about anyone else but something is bothering me? Why wasn't the USA put on alert as soon as this happened or shortly thereafter? Given the MO of AQ to stage simultaneous or near simultaneous attacks should the alarms have gone off? Even if it were for 24 hours until we found out what was going on? Isn't it better to be safe than sorry? This seemed more a credible threat then all of the hopped-up chatter ever. I think this is an important question to have answered.


Jay

[karlrschneider]

1. I can't help wondering if maybe gasoline instead of jet fuel might have

been put into the tanks, either by accident or design. I've been kinda out of the loop since Tuesday, did they depart at near the same time?
Wierd...if it's a coinky-dink, it's a damnably strange one. :eyes:

[Gyre]

2. Not so damnably strange

when they're an entire nation of drunks.

Gyre

[Lizzie Borden]

15. Hey!

That was pretty rude. I've got friends there who don't drink at all.

[Lizzie Borden]

16. Hey!

That was pretty rude. I've got friends there who don't drink at all.

[jayfish]

5. No Conspiracy Theory's Here.

I don't know what went wrong with those planes. But we knew shortly thereafter that a alert signal had been sent from one of them.

Missing Russia Plane Has Sent Hijack Alert-I'fax


All I'm saying is that it might have been prudent to raise the alert level for a real reason for once.

Jay

[BonjourUSA]

13. The error of fuel seems to be the best rendition

the tanks likely have been filled with fuel for propeller plane

[unfrigginreal]

3. Why would they put us on alert?

The perps were probably FOB's. It gets terror in the headlines without having to trot out Ridge, who's rapidly becoming a joke.

[Maple]

4. Fuel contamination likely

but claiming it's terrorism allows them to trash Chechnya, so it's much more convenient to say that.

[jayfish]

6. But We Did Not Know That At The Time. -NT-

Jay

[ECH1969]

7. They know it is terrorism but can't say it until the weekend

"Next week (after the poll) things will clear up," quoted an unnamed FSB member of the investigation team as saying. "Until then, let the disasters be blamed, say, on technical fault or poor quality fuel. This is dictated by the situation."

http://tinylink.com/?sk0thmTjZo
----------------------------------------------------

It is terrorism, and they know it. They are just waiting until after the election this weekend to drop the bombshell on their public and the world. They are already calling this Russia's 911 in their major newspapers.

This is all going to blow up this weekend.

[Sufi Marmot]

8. If it was fuel contamination....

1) Why were only two planes, from two different airlines, affected?

2) Why did both planes go down within 10 minutes of each other?

3) Both planes took off from Domodedovo - how did one plane make it only ~150 miles away (Tula) whereas the other made it ~650 miles away (Rostov on the Don) before crashing?


-SM, who still suspects malfeasance

[ECH1969]

10. No it is not

One passanger on both planes was Chechnyan as they announced on Fox and CNN, and they have yet to find their bodies.

Like I said before they won't say it was terrorism until after the election this weekend.

[BonjourUSA]

14. Just because kerozene is heavier than gasoline.

The tanks are never empty. And when the kerozene totally has been used, the gasoline blasted the jet engines

[Sufi Marmot]

18. Aren't kerosene and gasoline at least partially miscible?

And I still don't understand why, if fuel was a problem, the pilots didn't at least have time to radio that the engines were out or on fire. The article linked above states that the black boxes cut out immediately and recorded no obvious clues as to the nature of the catastrophe... :shrug:

Also - are the fueling systems for airplanes (ie. the nozzles and hoses) even compatible with those for fueling the airport service vehicles?)

-SM

[ECH1969]

19. This quote below says it all

"Next week (after the poll) things will clear up," quoted an unnamed FSB member of the investigation team as saying. "Until then, let the disasters be blamed, say, on technical fault or poor quality fuel. This is dictated by the situation."

http://tinylink.com/?sk0thmTjZo

[MichiganVote]

9. Oh well. We're all safer now, Father Bush told me so.

[ECH1969]

11. Well to be honest

Russian airport security is a joke. Which is one of the few things I don't blame Bush for.

[Aidoneus]

12. With claims like this, evidence is nice to have

Unfortunately for the officials trying to beat this familiar drum, there isn't any that actually suggests their claims.

[ECH1969]

17. Woman Bomber Eyed In Crash

CBS/AP) A top Russian official acknowledged Thursday what many citizens already suspected — that terrorism was the most likely cause of two jetliners crashing minutes apart, a feeling reflected in a newspaper headline warning that "Russia now has a Sept. 11."

CBS News has learned that investigators believe a woman suicide bomber may have been the cause of one of the crashes.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/24/world/main638203.shtml

[Aidoneus]

20. so they want to finger the Black Widows

I knew that already. There are claims, but nothing presented in support of them.

[hypatia]

21. The Russians probably sabotaged

the planes themselves just to blame it on Chechnya. Bastards. Probably taking orders from Bush in exchange for an oil deal.

[stegosaurus]

22. Following Bush's lead...

Following Bush's lead, the Russians have decided to respond to this attack by invading and occupying Costa Rica.