Showing posts with label airliner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label airliner. Show all posts

Friday, July 18, 2014

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17: This Time it's Over Land


(From Reuters, used w/o permission)
("Debris is pictured at the site of Thursday's Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash, near the village of Grabovo in the Donetsk region July 18, 2014."
(Reuters))

The good news is that nobody, as far as I have heard, is claiming what happened to Malaysia Airlines MH17 as a glorious victory or heroic act. Remarkably, the outfits most likely to have shot another airliner out of the sky are saying 'it wasn't us.'

They may be right.

Killing nearly three hundred folks whose greatest offense seems to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time isn't good public relations. Not these days.

People, 'Important' and Otherwise



(From Valentyn Ogirenko, via Reuters, used w/o permission.)
"People light candles at the Dutch embassy for victims of Malaysia Airlines MH17, which crashed in eastern Ukraine, in Kiev July 17, 2014"
(Reuters))

More than half of the folks killed yesterday lived in the Netherlands. That's no surprise, since they were traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

At least one body went through someone's roof, but happily nobody on the ground was killed: as far as I have heard. Folks working for Malaysia Airlines and the various governments involved are probably still trying to sort out who was actually on the flight. So far, it looks like folks from 11 countries won't be going home. Not alive, anyway:
  • Dutch: 189
  • Malaysian: 44
    • Including 15 crew, 2 infants)
  • Australian: 27
  • Indonesian: 12
    • Including 1 infant
  • United Kingdom: 9
  • Belgium: 4
  • Germany: 4
  • Philippines: 3
  • New Zealand: 1
  • Canadian: 1
  • American: 1
    (Zachary Stieber, Epoch Times (July 17, 2014))
News coverage, understandably, concentrates on what folks with titles are saying: and on the "important" folks who stopped living yesterday. I found one news service that gave a list of the folks who have been tentatively identified as being on MH17. Instead of breaking out the names by country, as they did, I've put the names in alphabetical order, by 'first name.' The article didn't give names for some of the children:
  • Ahmad Hakimi Bin Hanapi
  • Albert Rizk
  • Ali Md Salim
  • Andrei Anghel
  • Angeline Premila Rajandaran
  • Azrina Binti Yakob
  • Ben Pocock
  • Bujanto Gunawan
  • Cameron Dalziel
  • Chong Yee Pheng
  • Darryl Dwight Gunawan
  • Dora Shamila Binti Kassim
  • Elaine Teoh
  • Emiel Mahler
  • Eugene Choo Jin Leong
  • Frankie Davison
  • Glenn Thomas
  • Hamfazlin Sham Binti Mohamed Arifin
  • Irene Gunawan
  • Jill Guard
  • Joep Lange
  • John Alder
  • Jolette Nuesink
  • Karlijn Keijzer
  • Lee Hui Pin
  • Liam Davison
  • Liam Sweeney
  • Liliane Derden
  • Lucie van Mens
  • Maree Rizk
  • Martine de Schutter
  • Mastura Binti Mustafa
  • Mohd Ghafar Bin Abu Bakar
  • Muhamad Firdaus Bin Abdul Rahim
  • Nick Norris
    • Grandchild Evie
    • Grandchild Mo
    • Grandchild Otis
  • Peter Nuesink
    • Nuesink child
    • Nuesink child
  • Pim de Kuijer
  • Puan Sri Siti Amirah
  • Quinn Lucas Schansman
  • Richard Mayne
  • Roger Guard
  • Sanjid Singh Sandhu
  • Shaikh Mohd Noor Bin Mahmood
  • Shazana Salleh
  • Sherryl Shania Gunawa
  • Sister Philomene Tiernan
  • Wan Amran Bin Wan Hussin
  • Willem Witteveen
    (Zachary Stieber, Epoch Times (July 17, 2014))
By any reasonable standard, this is a very sad situation for many families.

Now, some 'big picture' stuff.

World Leaders, Families, and Today's World


"World leaders demand answers after airliner downed over Ukraine with 298 dead"
Anton Zverev, Reuters (July 18, 2014)

"U.S. President Barack Obama demanded Russia stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine after the downing of a Malaysian airline by a surface-to-air missile he said was fired from rebel territory raised the prospect of more sanctions on Moscow.

"At least one American was among the almost 300 killed, he said, a revelation that raises the stakes in a pivotal incident in deteriorating relations between Russia and the West....

"...But, noting the global impact of the crash, with victims from 11 countries across four continents, he said the stakes were high for Europe, a clear call for it to follow the more robust sanctions on Russia already imposed by Washington.

"Russia, whom Obama said was letting the rebels bring in weapons, has expressed anger at implications it was to blame, saying people should not prejudge the outcome of the inquiry.

"There were no survivors from the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, a Boeing 777. The United Nations said 80 of the 298 aboard were children. The deadliest attack on a commercial airliner, it scattered bodies over miles of rebel-held territory near the border with Russia...."
As far as I can tell: some folks in Ukraine who were doing well in their 'good old days' want to get back in power; at least some Russian leaders want Ukraine back in Russian hands; and quite a few Ukrainians want to run their own country.

I'm inclined to sympathize with my counterparts in Ukraine: 'unimportant' folks who want to raise their families; vote in elections that aren't rigged; and live without having their 'betters' deciding what they should buy, and who they should deal with.

The situation in Ukraine is not simple. Folks have been living there for nearly three dozen millennia. About a thousand years back, from the time of Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь to Ярослав Мудрий's death, descendants of the Væringjar ruled the most powerful state in Europe. Things went downhill after that, and that's another topic.

The point is that, after tens of thousands of years: Ukraine has a rich cultural, economic, political, and religious heritage: and no shortage of soreheads, in which respect they resemble people everywhere.

There's a lively blame game going on, but all I can be sure of today is that nearly three hundred people are dead.

I think it's possible, perhaps even likely, that this massive tragedy was an accident of sorts. Some trigger-happy fool or paranoid field commander may have mistaken the airliner for something else: a guided missile, flock of birds, whatever.

I don't know what happened. Ukrainians may lose their country — again. And a whole lot of families are mourning.

I do know that this isn't the world I grew up in. In some ways, it's better. We still have petty tyrants, clueless leaders, a scattering of wise people, and the usual assortment of oddballs. But I think many folks have realized that John Donne was right: we're all connected, part of humanity.

The Other Malaysia Airlines Disaster



(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)
"Missing Malaysia plane: What we know"
BBC News (June 26, 2014)

"Mystery continues to surround the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March.
"Investigators have identified a new search area 1,800km (1,100 miles) off the west coast of Australia, covering an area of some 60,000 sq km.

"The latest zone is some 1,000km south west of the area which was extensively searched with underwater surveying equipment in April.

"Work will resume in August and take up to a year to complete.

"Malaysian authorities, assisted by international aviation and satellite experts, are continuing their attempts to piece together the plane's final hours and explain what happened to its 239 passengers and crew. Some preliminary details were released on 1 May in a short report...."
Today's information technology isn't universally loved, putting it mildly. Some folks I know complain about social media: in, ironically, social media. I like living in the Information Age, because today's tech helps me find nuggets of wisdom in the mountains of gibberish.

Folks can still get 'lost without a trace,' but many aircraft now 'talk' to satellites and ground stations: independently of the human pilots: giving technophobes something to fear, and searchers something to work with.

These "handshakes" give searchers more information about Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 than they'd have had in my 'good old days.'

That globe, from BBC News, shows several "handshakes." The last full handshake happened at 08:11. (0:11 GMT) An event recorded a few minutes later, at 8:19, may have been a partial handshake: a request from the aircraft to log on. That request may have happened while the airliner's communications system was rebooting.

Eventually, airlines and global traffic control systems may keep lines of communications open throughout a flight: giving an airliner's avionics a chance to ask for help, if something happens to the humans on board. And that's another topic.

Related posts:
In the news:
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Monday, April 21, 2014

San Jose to Maui in a Wheel Well: Dumb Luck and Airport Security

First, the good news: the teen is alive, and apparently in good health.

Now, the not-so-good news: a 16-year-old walked or ran to an airliner at Mineta San Jose International Airport, climbed into a wheel well, and wasn't spotted until the flight arrived at Kahului Airport in Maui.

Incredible Good Luck

According to the news, at least one expert is skeptical about the account: although it's hard to see how or why someone would concoct the tale: along with the supporting evidence. My guess is that a teen actually got into the wheel well: and had what my culture calls incredible good luck. I put an excerpt from the San Jose Mercury News at the end of this post. 1

I'm inclined to agree with airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes: "No security program is 100 percent." (San Jose Mercury News)

That said, I sincerely hope that folks responsible for airport security will take a long, hard, look at what happened: and what would lower the odds of a repeat performance.

Aside from a desire to keep addled adolescents alive, I'd prefer that nobody be able to reach an airliner and sneak something on board. Distressing as inadvertently killing someone with too little common sense is: allowing someone to plant an explosive device, killing dozens to hundreds of folks, is worse. My opinion.

I'll grant that no system is perfect. Airports have long fence lines, this teen arrived at night: and apparently managed to cross the perimeter without getting spotted on a security camera: "...but that there is surveillance footage of 'an unidentified person walking on the airport ramp and approaching' the plane...." (San Jose Mercury News)

Bottom line? I'm very glad that I don't need to travel by air.

Poikilothermic Protection

A quick science lesson. Most of this will be review, unless you slept through high school biology. Some critters are poikilotherms: their body temperature goes up or down, generally in step with their environment. Humans aren't like that. We usually maintain a fairly steady internal temperature: or our bodies die trying. Once in a while, though, we survive drowning — or sneaking into a wheel well — when our bodies go into a sort of hibernation mode, using a lot less oxygen than usual.

In the news:
Somewhat-related posts:
1 Excerpt from the news:
"Stowaway: San Jose airport security scrutinized after boy's flight to Maui in plane's wheel well"
Mark Gomez and Robert Salonga, San Jose Mercury News (April 21, 2014)

"Authorities say a 16-year-old Santa Clara boy is 'lucky to be alive' after he ran away from home, clandestinely scaled a fence at Mineta San Jose International Airport, and hid inside the wheel well of a plane flying from California to Hawaii in a case that has shone a harsh spotlight on airport security beyond the terminals.

"And according to the FBI, the teen apparently chose his destination at random.

" 'He ran for the nearest plane. This was not a well planned thing,' said Special Agent Tom Simon, spokesman for the FBI's Honolulu office. 'Just a runaway kid with a bad idea.'...

"...That the boy apparently survived -- hours, unpressurized, at altitudes up to 38,000 feet -- literally puts him in rarefied air, as several similar stowaways in the past have died from frigid temperatures, lack of oxygen or being ejected from the plane as the landing gear is lowered.

"The last known person to survive as a stowaway in a flight at least that long was Fidel Maruhi, who in 2000 also hitched a ride in a wheel well from Tahiti to Los Angeles, a seven-plus-hour and 4,000-mile trip where the temperature dropped to nearly minus-50 degrees Fahrenheit. He also reportedly blacked out just after takeoff and survived despite his body temperature dropping to fatal levels....

"...[aviation consultant Jim] Nance went on to say that it would be rare for someone to remain conscious at peak-flight altitudes for more than a few seconds and prolonged exposure would lead to brain death. He also said that without protective gear, the odds of surviving the low temperatures and winds blowing through the wheel well are slim.

"Slim perhaps, but not impossible, according to Federal Aviation Administration study commissioned in 1996 to explore the rare cases when stowaways survived flights in wheel wells. For some of the survivors, the study stated, the cold temperatures caused them to become poikilothermic, akin to a hibernation state where the body's heart and respiratory rates decreased significantly to adjust to the environment...."
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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Questions; Speculation; and a Few Facts


(From AP, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
"Messages of support for those aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 lie in the viewing gallery at Kuala Lumpur airport"

Sadly, the facts I posted with a prayer request Monday is still true:
  • Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on shortly after takeoff.
  • The 239 folks on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are still missing.
  • The flight left Kuala Lumpur at 16:41 GMT, March 7; and was expected in Beijing at 22:30 GMT.
  • No trace of the airliner, or the people on board, has been confirmed.
  • Folks on MH370 included artists, children, and at least one engineer.
  • Their homes were in China, Malaysia, and other countries.
  • Their family, friends, and associates are understandably concerned.
  • I suggest prayer: for the missing people, searchers, and all connected with this situation.
If you're new to this blog, and still reading, I'd better explain why I mention prayer in this context. I'm a Catholic, living in the United States. I take my faith very seriously, which doesn't mean what you may have read about 'religious people.'

I've been over this before:
Now, about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

"Deliberately Diverted"


(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)
"Missing Malaysia Airlines plane 'deliberately diverted' "
BBC News, (March 15, 2014)

"The communications systems of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were deliberately disabled, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has said.

"According to satellite and radar evidence, he said, the plane then changed course and could have continued flying for a further seven hours.

"He said the 'movements are consistent with the deliberate action of someone on the plane'....

"Mr Razak told a news conference that new satellite evidence shows 'with a high degree of certainty' that the one of the aircraft's communications systems - the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System - was disabled just before it had reached the east coast of Malaysia.

"ACARS is a service that allows computers aboard the plane to 'talk' to computers on the ground, relaying in-flight information about the health of its systems...."
The good news is that investigators seem to have learned from blunders made after the London/Glasgow car bombings, and accusations of Steven Hatfill and Richard Jewell.

No official has said "terrorists did it," as far as I know. Granted, the Malaysian Prime Minister came close.

He may be right. Whatever happened to Flight MH370 is looking more like a deliberate act, and less like an accident.

Lithium Batteries, Signals, and Questions


(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)

Some folks suggested that a shipment of lithium batteries on the airliner might have caught fire. causing a crash. A few cargo aircraft did go down after lithium batteries ignited: but that probably didn't happen to MH370.

Someone turned the aircraft's ACARS off: but either couldn't stop some of the Boeing 777-200ER's automated systems from pinging: or didn't realize that today's aircraft "talk" to the global information network on their own.

Either way, 'I'm alive' signals kept coming from Flight MH370 several hours after it disappeared from radar.

It's remotely possible that Flight MH370's transponder just happened to fail before the airliner just happened to start an unscheduled turn:
"...near the cross-over point between Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic controllers, the plane's transponder - which emits an identifying signal - was switched off, he said.

"According to a military radar, the aircraft then turned and flew back over Malaysia before heading in a north-west direction...."
(BBC News)
But I think it's much less unlikely that someone wanted MH370 to disappear: and has, so far, succeeded.

Speculation

It's possible that one or both pilots decided to take the airliner off its route. Someone else could have taken over control of the airliner. Or maybe the disappearance of Flight MH370 is the result of an incredible string of coincidences.

My guess is that someone wanted the airliner to disappear.

Maybe Flight MH370's Boeing 777 was supposed to be the weapon in a 9/11-style attack on a target in India, or another country within the airliner's range. If that's the case, we may eventually learn that people on Flight MH370 followed the example of passengers on United Airlines Flight 93.

As attacks in Mumbai and elsewhere show, America isn't the only place hated by some folks.

Or maybe this is a case of Grand Theft Airliner: with kidnapping thrown in for good measure. That might make for a good action movie, along the lines of "Thunderball" and "Airport," but I don't think it's likely.

I would like to hope that the passengers and crew of Flight MH370 are still alive: in life rafts, near a crash-landing in the Himalayas, or even as hostages. But a fear that they are dead.

Maybe someday, years from now, we'll know what happened. Today, we have very little information, a vast array of rumors, and a great many questions.

Profiling and Memory

If investigators find evidence that one or both pilots of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went rogue, I think profiling of pilots and air crews should be reconsidered.

"Profiling" today is a little like sex was supposed to be in Victorian England. It's something we're not supposed to think about: but do, anyway. I'm not enthusiastic about profiling, racial or otherwise, because it can be an excuse for exercising blind prejudice.

It's not always 'the other guy' who gets hurt. I strongly suspect that Richard Jewell would not have been punished for discovering a bomb, if he hadn't been an overweight white guy. There's the well-publicized sort of profiling that confuses Mexicans, Arabs, and terrorist. That, in my considered opinion, is daft: and wrong.

As a member of a religious minority, I see a very real danger in official sanctions against individuals based on their beliefs. We have enough trouble with individuals who attack Americans who aren't sufficiently "American." (A Catholic Citizen in America (November 25, 2010; April 19, 2011))

That said, it is possible that lives could be saved by not letting pilots with suicidal ambitions fly aircraft.

Finally, although I think it's very unlikely, Flight MH370 may have gotten lost because of some accident.

Remembering Air France 447:
In the news:
Background:
Excerpts from the news:
"Search for Malaysia Airline plane widens, becomes more difficult"
Ed Payne, Chelsea J. Carter, Jim Clancy, CNN (March 16, 2014)

"Nine days in, things have gotten a whole lot more difficult in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

" 'This is a significant recalibration of the search,' Malaysia's acting Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Sunday. 'The number of countries involved in the search and rescue operation has increased from 14 to 25, which brings new challenges of coordination and diplomacy to the search effort.'

"The new developments come as U.S. intelligence officials are leaning toward the theory that 'those in the cockpit' -- the captain and co-pilot of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 -- were responsible for the mysterious disappearance of the commercial jetliner, a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the latest thinking told CNN.

"What we know about the cockpit crew

"The official emphasized no final conclusions have been drawn and all the internal intelligence discussions are based on preliminary assessments of what is known to date.

"Other scenarios could still emerge. The notion of a hijacking has not been ruled out, the official said Saturday.

"The Boeing 777-200 ER disappeared on March 8, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The airline's CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said Sunday the missing passenger jet took off with its normal amount of fuel needed for the route, and did not have extra fuel on board that could have extended its range...."
"Missing Malaysia Airlines plane 'deliberately diverted' "
BBC News, (March 15, 2014)

"The communications systems of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were deliberately disabled, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has said.

"According to satellite and radar evidence, he said, the plane then changed course and could have continued flying for a further seven hours.

"He said the 'movements are consistent with the deliberate action of someone on the plane'....

"...The flight left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 00:40 local time (16:40 GMT) on 8 March and disappeared off air traffic controllers' screens at about 01:20.

"Mr Razak told a news conference that new satellite evidence shows 'with a high degree of certainty' that the one of the aircraft's communications systems - the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System - was disabled just before it had reached the east coast of Malaysia.

"ACARS is a service that allows computers aboard the plane to 'talk' to computers on the ground, relaying in-flight information about the health of its systems.

"Shortly afterwards, near the cross-over point between Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic controllers, the plane's transponder - which emits an identifying signal - was switched off, he said.

"According to a military radar, the aircraft then turned and flew back over Malaysia before heading in a north-west direction.

"A satellite was able to pick up a signal from the plane until 08:11 local time - more than seven hours after it lost radar contact - although it was unable to give a precise location, Mr Razak said...."
"Satellite Firm Says Its Data Could Offer Location of Missing Flight"
Chris Buckley, Nicola Clark, The New York Times (March 14, 2014)

"As the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet expanded into the vastness of the Indian Ocean, a satellite communications company confirmed on Friday that it had recorded electronic 'keep alive' ping signals from the plane after it disappeared, and said those signals could be analyzed to help estimate its location.

"The information from the company, Inmarsat, could prove to be a valuable break in the frustrating search for the plane with 239 people aboard that mysteriously disappeared from radar screens a week ago, now hunted by a multinational array of ships and planes that have fanned out for thousands of square miles.

"Until now, that search has turned up false leads: oil slicks, chunks of foam, life vests and other debris unconnected to the vanished plane.

"But a series of electronic pings sent by the aircraft could help the search, which is shifting focus from the confines of the Gulf of Thailand and nearby waters to include the Indian Ocean on the western side of Malaysia.

"Investigators also are looking at the possibility that a shipment of lithium batteries in the cargo hold may have caught fire and felled the aircraft. A senior American official who had been briefed on the contents listed on the plane's cargo manifest said a 'significant load' of lithium batteries had been aboard — raising suspicions because of previous cargo-plane crashes attributed to lithium battery shipments, which can overheat and cause intense fires. But that possibility is inconsistent with information that the plane may have kept flying for hours after it vanished."
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Thursday, June 20, 2013

TWA Flight 800, Assumptions, and Facts

I'm quite certain that hundreds of people died when TWA Flight 800 exploded off the Long Island shore.

Until late Tuesday, I was also fairly certain that a fuel-air explosion in one of the airliner's tanks caused the explosion.

'It Made a Good Story'

Ronald Reagan's "trust, but verify" quote apparently is from a Russian proverb: "Доверяй, но проверяй." I think it's good advice. I like to trust folks, but have been around long enough to realize that what some sincerely believe is not accurate: and a few folks deliberately lie.

The official explanation for TWA Flight 800's abrupt conclusion made sense, given what had been published about the incident. Jet fuel is notoriously easy to ignite, and accidents happen.

I was impressed at how many folks seemed convinced that they'd seen something heading toward the jet, or reported something else that wasn't consistent with an internal explosion. But eyewitness testimony is not particularly reliable.

Eyewitness Testimony?

For example, I saw "SAVING PRIVATE YARN" on a theater marquee downtown. I'd been driving by, not paying attention to the sign, and was past the theater when the words filtered into the parts of my mind that weren't driving.

That was a really odd title for a movie, so I drove around the block and took a look. "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" was playing. I'm not particularly dyslexic: but I am a very fast reader. Something in my brain had taken the letters from "Ryan," and put them together as a word I'm more familiar with.

The point is that I'd 'witnessed' and remembered something that wasn't, quite, there.

I was willing to believe that the NTSB was right, and eyewitnesses remembered things in a curiously consistent, but inaccurate, way.

That was then, this is now.

Another Good Story

Maybe the eyewitnesses were right.
"...A group of former investigators ... argue that new evidence shows that an external force, from something such as a rocket or missile, may have brought down the Boeing 747 minutes after it left New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"The petition claims 'new analyses of the FAA radar evidence demonstrate that the explosion that caused the crash did not result from a low-velocity fuel-air explosion as the NTSB has determined. Rather, it was caused by a detonation or high-velocity explosion.' ...

"People have come forward, 'all saying the same thing: that there was an external force -- not from the center wing tank, there's no evidence of that -- but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane,' ...."
(Los Angeles Times)

"... 'We don't know who fired the missile,' said Jim Speer, an accident investigator for the Airline Pilots Association, one of a half-dozen experts seeking a new review of the probe. 'But we have a lot more confidence that it was a missile.'..."
(FoxNews.com)
I put more, and longer, excerpts from the news are at the end of this post.1 They're interesting in several ways, and I'll get back to that.

Rip roaring good action-adventure stories can involve government conspiracies. There can be a good reason for keeping quiet about something monumentally newsworthy. Keeping something like "Independence Day's" undercover study of a crashed spaceship might be best kept quiet: if the only advantage humanity had was that the space-alien aggressors didn't realize that we knew they existed.

In general, though, I think it's a good idea to be open about why an airliner explodes. Particularly if there are people inside it at the time.

Obviously - - - This is Unsettling

Some folks seem to believe that 'the government' never tells the truth. Others seem equally convinced that the nation's leadership can do no wrong. Folks believing either extreme can be liberal, conservative, or simply crazy: depending on the individual, and who's in White House at the time.

TWA Flight 800 went down during the Clinton administration, which may or may not be involved in the disconnect between eyewitness accounts, the official explanation, and what some investigators are saying. Then again, maybe not. I really don't know.

I am very concerned that some of the folks involved in studying the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 are, 17 years later, saying that the investigation was botched: at best. "It's obvious that the truth was not allowed to be pursued...." When a professional who has retired - and doesn't have to worry about continued employment - says that, I'm quite willing to take the claim seriously.

News, Opinion, and Facts

Like I've said before: it's important to study the news, not just read it. Journalists are supposed to be be accurate, and 'unbiased.' However, it seems easy to mistake assumptions for facts. Particularly if 'everybody knows' that some unconsidered assumption is a fact.

On top of human shortcomings, like preconceived notions, news outlets inevitably have an editorial 'slant:' an attitude which they've found tends to attract more readers or viewers. Provided that reporters and editors don't deliberately lie, I accept this as part of the social and economic realities we deal with: and a reason to think about what we read.

Finally, I am not at all comfortable with the situation that we seem to have: where the NTSB is deciding whether or not the NTSB investigation of TWA Flight 800 should be reviewed.

In the news:
Related posts:
1 Excerpts from the news:
"What brought down TWA Flight 800? Group wants investigation reopened"
Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times (June 19, 2013)

"Federal officials are weighing a request to reopen the investigation of the 1996 explosion and crash of TWA Flight 800 that went down off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 people aboard.

"A group of former investigators, interviewed in a documentary to be released next month, have petitioned the National Transportation Safety Board for the new probe. They argue that new evidence shows that an external force, from something such as a rocket or missile, may have brought down the Boeing 747 minutes after it left New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"The petition claims 'new analyses of the FAA radar evidence demonstrate that the explosion that caused the crash did not result from a low-velocity fuel-air explosion as the NTSB has determined. Rather, it was caused by a detonation or high-velocity explosion.'

"The theory of such a strike was heavily investigated by the FBI and other agencies at the time and found to be unsupported. The NTSB eventually determined that a center fuel tank had exploded when an electrical short-circuit caused a spark.

"Tom Stalcup, a coproducer of the documentary to be aired on the cable TV premium channel Epix next month, told CNN's morning show 'New Day' that there was radar and other evidence for an external explosion.

"People have come forward, 'all saying the same thing: that there was an external force -- not from the center wing tank, there's no evidence of that -- but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane,' Stalcup told the cable news program...."
"Filmmaker asserts new evidence on crash of TWA Flight 800"
Mike M. Ahlers, CNN (June 19, 2013)

"A documentary on the 1996 explosion that brought down TWA Flight 800 offers 'solid proof that there was an external detonation,' its co-producer said Wednesday.

" 'Of course, everyone knows about the eyewitness statements, but we also have corroborating information from the radar data, and the radar data shows a(n) asymmetric explosion coming out of that plane -- something that didn't happen in the official theory,' Tom Stalcup told CNN's 'New Day.'

"A number of people have come forward, 'all saying the same thing: that there was an external force -- not from the center wing tank, there's no evidence of that -- but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane,' Stalcup said.

"He cited 'corroborating information from the radar data' and complained that 'not one single eyewitness was allowed to testify -- that's unheard of.'

" 'The family members need to know what happened to their loved ones,' he said.

"Asked why such information might have been suppressed, Stalcup said, 'That's a question that should be answered when this investigation gets reopened.'..."
"Former investigators of TWA Flight 800 want new probe"
USA Today (June 19, 2013)
"Former investigators of the TWA Flight 800 crash off Long Island are calling on the National Transportation Safety Board to re-examine the case.

"The retired investigators claim that findings were 'falsified.' A documentary on the subject is coming out in July.

"The 1996 crash of the Paris-bound flight killed 230 people.

"Initial speculation ranged from maintenance problems to a bomb and even a meteorite. Some critics theorized that a Navy missile accidentally brought down the jetliner.

"The NTSB concluded that Flight 800 was destroyed by a center fuel tank explosion, probably caused by a spark from a short-circuit in the wiring...."
"Investigators want missile theory probed in '96 TWA Flight 800 crash"
FoxNews.com (June 19, 2013)

"A handful of aviation experts, including a number of investigators who were part of the original probe of TWA Flight 800, have come forward in a new documentary to say evidence points to a missile as the cause of the crash off the coast of Long Island 17 years ago.

"The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after takeoff from JFK Airport, killing all 230 people aboard. In the weeks that followed, the plane was reassembled in a hangar from parts retrieved from the sea. But the cause of the crash was not identified immediately, and after authorities said the crash was caused by static electricity ignited fuel fumes, many skeptics cast doubt on the theory. Adding to the controversy were multiple eyewitness accounts of a fireball going up from the ground and hitting the plane before it went down, accounts which the FBI dismissed at the time.

"The half-dozen investigators whose charges will be fleshed out in a documentary set to air July 17 - the anniversary of the crash - say they were never allowed to get at the truth. But they are confident a missile brought down the plane.

" 'We don't know who fired the missile,' said Jim Speer, an accident investigator for the Airline Pilots Association, one of a half-dozen experts seeking a new review of the probe. 'But we have a lot more confidence that it was a missile.'

"The group is comprised of people who worked for the National Transportation Safety Board, TWA and the Airline Pilots Association, all of whom have since retired. All six say that the evidence shows the plane was brought down by a projectile traveling at a high speed.

" 'It all fits like a glove,' said Tom Stalcup, a physicist who is considered one of the foremost independent researchers and participated in the documentary, said during a press conference on Wednesday. 'It is what it is and all the evidence is there.'

"Hank Hughes, a retired senior accident investigator for NTSB, said probers were not allowed to seek answers once the FBI took over the crime scene. 'We just want to see the truth come out,' Hughes said. 'We don't have hidden agendas. The only thing we are looking for is the truth.'

"Speer, who says he found explosive residue on a part from the right wing which also had three holes, agreed.

" 'It's obvious that the truth was not allowed to be pursued,' said Speer. 'A majority of people working in that hanger did not feel as if the evidence was properly being handled.'

"The NTSB said it will review the petition...."
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

So: He Set His Shoe on Fire? Excitement on Flight 663

Updated (11:27 p.m. Central Time, April 7, 2010)
"No Explosives Found in Denver Flight Scare"
FOXNews (April 7, 2010)

"A Qatari diplomat trying to sneak a smoke in an airplane bathroom sparked a bomb scare Wednesday night on a flight from Washington to Denver, with fighter jets scrambled and law enforcement put on high alert, officials said.

"A source confirmed to Fox News that the suspect is Mohammed Al-Madadi, a diplomat in the Qatar embassy in Washington.

"No explosives were found on Al-Madadi and officials do not believe he was trying to harm anyone, according to senior law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The sources asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation...."
Okay - this makes a little more sense. Except for folks who are convinced that almost everything is some sort of conspiracy.

My confidence in the BBC is a little shaken by this - although they did put 'shoe bomb' in single quotes for their headline.

The flurry of reports around the world is a pretty good reminder to study the news - and remember that reporters and editors get excited sometimes, too.
You can't make up this sort of thing, folks:
" 'Shoe bomb' attempt on US plane"
BBC (April 8, 2010) (I know: It's almost 10:00 p.m., Central - it's tomorrow on the other side of the Atlantic)

"A man has been detained after he tried to set fire to his shoes on a US flight, reports say.

"The man was subdued on United flight 663 from Washington Reagan airport to Denver, ABC news reported...."

"...AN ABC report identified the suspect as a Qatari diplomat stationed at the country's Washington embassy."
An Australian publication was a little less restrained:
"Qatari diplomat tried to light shoe bomb on US jet: report"
The Sydney Morning Herald (April 8, 2010)

"US federal air marshals have subdued a Qatari diplomat who tried to detonate a shoe bomb aboard a flight from Washington to Denver, US media reported.

"Authorities have identified the passenger as Mohammed al-Modadi, who has full diplomatic immunity as the third secretary and vice-consul of the Qatari embassy in Washington, ABC News reported...."
I'm waiting for the formal complaint at the United Nations, about the gross insensitivity of those Americans.

And an explanation that setting fire to your shoes is part of the rich cultural heritage of Qatar.

Or, not.

Seriously? My guess is that Qatar will want some sort of apology for the way their diplomat was mistreated - and may get it.

I've written about diplomatic immunity before. Including this excerpt from December 25, 2009:
"We're between news cycles right now, in terms of "diplomatic immunity." They don't come often - but I expect, in a few years, or maybe a decade or so, to start reading about shenanigans in New York City, or another major city, of diplomats who realize that they
  • "Don't have to have their chauffeurs obey the traffic and parking regulations that commoners do
  • "Can hit people if they want to:
    • "Reporters
    • "Waiters
    • "Ugly, common, unimportant people
"You get the picture.

"Not all diplomats are like that, of course. Most, I trust, understand what 'diplomatic immunity' is for: and don't use it as a sort of 'get out of jail free' card.

"But diplomats are human beings. And, some human beings are jerks.

"And a jerk with diplomatic immunity - or any sense of entitlement - gets to be a big jerk mighty fast...."
I see I didn't do much of a job, discussing what diplomatic immunity is for. Briefly, over-simplifying it: Without diplomatic immunity, diplomats would be at the mercy of whoever is running the country they're in. They could be arrested for having their ties on crooked, or wearing the wrong color shirt, or whatever. I rather hope that an American government wouldn't pull a stunt like that - but it's not inconceivable. And some other countries are not quite as picky as America is, about how they use their law enforcement. And not all police forces are just like America's. (February 19, 2010)

Diplomatic immunity isn't anything new. And, although it won't stop a petty king or goofy dictator from acting badly - it does encourage decent behavior.

Then, now and again, you get a diplomat who is a jerk. Or, possibly, this time, a wannabe martyr/terrorist.

As to why Mohammed al-Modadi set his shoe on fire? I have no idea. Maybe it really was a bomb. Maybe he thought Mickey Mouse was inside - and that it was his duty to destroy the infidel. (See "Mickey Mouse Must Die! Agent of Satan Targeted by Saudi Cleric" (September 19, 2008)) Maybe it really is a cherished Qatari custom - but I doubt it.Related posts:
A tip of the hat to ZephyrK9, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this latest bit of lunacy.
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Monday, December 28, 2009

"The System Worked" - Napolitano and an Unscripted Interview

As I've written fairly often, this isn't a political blog. I'm not dedicated to the premise that one politico, or one party, is always right; and that everybody else is always wrong.

That's not the same as having no opinions, though.

I think that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano goofed recently. Big time. It's the sort of thing that can happen to anybody - particularly when trying to think on your feet.

"And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked."

The New York Times was kind enough to point out Ms. Napolitano's take on what she said yesterday, on CNN. Yesterday, it sounded like she thought that the system handled the little incident on Northwest Flight 253 over the Christmas weekend very well.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano now says that her remark - "And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked." - was taken out of context.

Fair enough. That sentence comes from a much longer interview on CNN's "State of the Union With John King." Candy Crowley was the host for this interview. As of this afternoon (December 28, 2009), CNN has a transcript of the interview online. Before making up your own mind, I suggest reading the whole transcript. Here's an excerpt:
"...Joining us now from San Francisco is homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano.

"(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

"CROWLEY: Secretary Napolitano, thank you so much for joining us. If I am about to get on a plane today in the U.S. or headed toward the U.S., I think my big question is, is this part of a larger plot, or do you think this is a lone wolf?

"NAPOLITANO: Well, right now, we have no indication that it's part of anything larger, but obviously the investigation continues. And we have instituted more screening and what we call mitigation measures at airports. So I would advise you during this heavy holiday season just to arrive a bit early, and to know that we are going to be doing different things at different airports. So don't expect to do the same thing at one airport when you transfer through to another airport.

"But the traveling public -- this is my message for you, Candy. The traveling public is very, very safe in this air environment. And while we continue to investigate the source of this incident, I think the traveling public should be confident in what we are doing now.

"CROWLEY: So, just to finish up on the question-- I do want to talk to you about security measures -- but do you think -- has there been any evidence of the Al Qaida ties that this suspect has been claiming?

"NAPOLITANO: Right now, that is part of the criminal justice investigation that is ongoing, and I think it would be inappropriate to speculate as to whether or not he has such ties.

"What we are focused on is making sure that the air environment remains safe, that people are confident when they travel. And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action. Within literally an hour to 90 minutes of the incident occurring, all 128 flights in the air had been notified to take some special measures in light of what had occurred on the Northwest Airlines flight. We instituted new measures on the ground and at screening areas, both here in the United States and in Europe, where this flight originated.

"So the whole process of making sure that we respond properly, correctly and effectively went very smoothly...."
(CNN) [emphasis mine]
Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano was rather clearly referring to actions of Flight 253's passengers and crew when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's wearable bomb failed to detonate properly, when she said: "And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked." That, and the way that the official system took no more than an hour and a half to let 128 other flights know that someone had tried to bring down an airliner.

For a large bureaucracy, that's doing pretty well.

As I wrote yesterday, it would have been nice if Mr. Abdulmutallab hadn't been allowed on the Northewest Flight 253 in the first place.

But, as it turned out, the bomb sewn into Abdulmutallab's underwear didn't detonate properly. He survived - and is out of the hospital now, I read - and everybody else survived, too.

So, if the homeland security system consisted entirely of alert passengers and flight crews; relied on terrorists having defective weapons; a certain amount of luck; and letting other flights know, after an attack, that there might be a terrorist on their airliners, too - then yes, the system worked very well.

Assuming that there's a reason for maintaining comparatively massive databases on possible and known terrorists - not so much.

And, now that there's been some criticism of her statement on CNN, Secretary Napolitano has clarified what she meant:
"...Ms. Napolitano said Monday on NBC'S 'Today' that her remark the day before — “the system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days” — had been taken out of context. 'Our system did not work in this instance,' she said. 'No one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way.'..."
(The New York Times)
"An extensive review is under way." If that review includes identifying what went wrong, and fixing the problem: good news. Note, please: identifying what went wrong, not finding someone to blame; and fixing the problem, not condemning someone in an effort to make critics feel better.

Related posts: In the news:
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Sunday, December 27, 2009

Northwest Flight 253: Near Miss on Christmas Weekend

Northwest Flight 253, the airliner with Delta markings on the outside and a wannabe martyr on the inside, had a very close call this Christmas weekend.

News reports are filled with "allegedly" and statements from 'unnamed sources,' but the general outline of what happened is fairly clear.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, got seat 19A and, when the airliner was in American airspace, ignited a device that was sewn into his underwear.

These days, when airline passengers hear a series of pops and see smoke and flames coming from a fellow-passenger, there'll be more than a casual interest taken. Happily, Jasper Schuringa and others dealt with the fire, and made sure that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab didn't have any more unpleasant surprises for them.

It looks like this was a near miss. Mr. Abdulmutallab had either done his homework quite well, or had good advice.
"...A former Homeland Security official told Fox News that Abdulmutallab's seat selection does not appear to be accidental, and that he was sitting in one of the two most vulnerable parts of the plane. The suspect was sitting in seat 19A, which is over the fuel tanks, atop the wing and next to the skin of the aircraft.

"There is a high likelihood an explosion could be accelerated by the fuel tank, the official said — and that it could damage the plane's structure and puncture the skin, bringing down the aircraft...."
(FOXNews)
An affidavit says that the device Mr. Abdulmutallab was carrying, and tried with limited success to set off, contained PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, which The New York Times says is a substance used by Richard "shoe bomb" Reid, back in 2001. According to Reuters and, for what it's worth, a comment to a New York Times article, Reid used TATP, or triacetone triperoxide. Well, I supposed Reid could have tried using both substances.

Northwest Flight 253: Uneventful, With One Exception

"...Passenger accounts and law enforcement officials describe the events around the Christmas Day attack this way:

"On December 24, Abdulmutallab traveled from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then on to Detroit with an explosive device attached to his body.

"Part of the device contained PETN, or pentaerythritol, and was hidden in a condom or condom-like bag just below Abdulmutallab's torso. ... Abdulmutallab also had a syringe filled with liquid.

"As the plane approached Detroit, Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom for 20 minutes. When he returned to his seat, he complained of an upset stomach and covered himself with a blanket.

"Passengers heard a popping noise, similar to a firecracker. They smelled an odor, and some passengers saw Abdulmutallab's pant leg and the wall of the airplane on fire. Passengers and the flight crew used blankets and fire extinguishers to quell the flames. They restrained Abdulmutallab, who later told a flight attendant he had an 'explosive device' in his pocket. He was seen holding a partially melted syringe...."
(FOXNews)

"They're all Muslims"? Hardly

There's a certain intellectual convenience to sorting humanity out into a few simple categories, and deciding that one or two of the groups are to blame for just about everything. When I was growing up, it was 'the commies' for quite a few Americans. Since then, it's been the military-industrial complex, big oil, and - more recently - Islam. (January 14, 2009)

I don't buy it.

In this case, since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab apparently told investigators that he's connected with Al Qaeda, it looks like the airline-disaster-that-wasn't is connected with Islamic terrorism.

But that doesn't mean that all Muslims are terrorists. Any more than the KKK burning crosses a few decades back proves that all Christians are racists. It's simpler to see the world that way - but I don't think it's more accurate.

Wannabe Terrorist Outed by His Father

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, deserves a great deal of credit, I think. I've got four surviving children, and may have some idea as to what an emotional wrench it would be, to tell authorities that I believed one of them was likely to commit a crime. Or, in the case of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab's son, an act of terror.

Hats off to Alhaji Umaru Mutallab: that sort of thing takes guts.
"...Mr. Abdulmutallab's name was not unknown to American authorities. His father, a prominent Nigerian banker, recently told officials at the United States Embassy in Nigeria that he was concerned about his son's increasingly extremist religious views.

"As a result of his father's warning, federal authorities in Washington opened an investigative file and Mr. Abdulmutallab's name ended up in the American intelligence community's central repository of information on known or suspected international terrorists...."
(The New York Times)

Somebody Oughta Done Something!

Monday morning quarterbacking, 20-20 hindsight, whatever you want to call it, seems to be part of human nature. After something's happened, there's seldom a shortage of people who know what should have been done - and would have, presumably, if only they'd have been in charge.

People who actually hold responsible positions have the same limitations that everyone else has: they don't know what's happened, until it happens. In this case, nobody can go back to the loading gate for Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam and stop Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from boarding.

That's already happened.

It's possible that someone dropped the ball - seriously - on the warning that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father gave. President Obama's doing what an executive should do under the circumstances:
"...[White House press secretary Robert] Gibbs said the President, who is vacationing in Hawaii, aims 'to ensure that there is no clog in the bureaucratic plumbing of information that might be gathered.'..."
(New York Daily News)
From the sounds of it, quite a few members of Congress want to get their names involved with probes of what happened, too. When Capitol Hill gets done with them, the people getting investigated may feel like they've been targeted by mad plumbers with Roto-Rooters.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's background is emerging, too: although coverage seems to be fairly matter-of-fact, with headlines like "Sources: Terror suspect is son of bank executive, attended college" (CNN)

Two and a half years ago, the scion of a well-to-do family turning to terrorism would have been, I think, more puzzling. As I wrote, back in 2007:
"...When someone wearing explosive underwear was somehow related to poor people, the mass-murder-suicide perpetrator looked a lot like a revolutionary in the class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

"When a doctor pops out of a flaming jeep in an air terminal, things get complicated...."
(July 3, 2007)

Bottom Line: Nobody Killed, and A Whole Lot of Review to Do

I'm no fan, as a rule, of hot-shot Congressional investigations. (March 22, 2009) There's a strong whiff of politics and grandstanding in too many of them. And, too often, an appalling degree of cluelessness.

Still, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - under ideal conditions - would not have been allowed on Northwest Flight 253 with that bomb. And it looks like, somewhere between an American embassy and a boarding gate, his father's warning got misplaced. Or misinterpreted. Or something.

I applaud people involved with intelligence and security when they head off incidents like this. When it looks like someone dropped the ball: I hope the problem is found - and corrected.

Next time, the wannabe martyr's bomb may work the way it was supposed to.

Related posts: In the news:
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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Euronews, " 'Dustbin' Airline," Cultures, and the War on Terror

Two air disasters involving an Airbus are in the news again today. Neither seems to be connected with terrorism, and - thankfully - there don't seem to be rumors about Al Qaeda, the CIA, or anyone else being to blame.

There's something interesting going on, not just in the unfolding accounts of how and why Air France Flight 447 and Yemenia Flight 626 ended, but in the way the accounts are presented.

What We Know, What We may Never Know

Air France Flight 447 apparently hit the ocean intact, according to an early report.
"... "The plane went straight down ... towards the surface of the water, very very fast," air accident investigator Alain Bouillard said.

"Based on visual study of the physical remains of the Airbus A330 that have been recovered, "we were able to see that the plane hit the surface of the water flat. Therefore everything was pushed upwards -- everthing [!] was pushed from the bottom to the top" of the plane, he said.

"The 228 people killed in the crash 'had no time to prepare,' he said.

"But Bouillard said he did not have autopsy results from the bodies recovered, and did not know why no one lived through the crash.

" 'I don't know why nobody survived,' he said. 'I don't know the intensity of the impact. Perhaps we will find out from the autopsies. Perhaps we will never know.'..." (CNN)
Yemenia Flight 626 crashed more recently, and there haven't, as far as I can tell, been any official statements, preliminary or otherwise, about what's known. Weather Graphics has a pretty good summary of what's known, what's assumed, and what's speculated: together with a rather detailed analysis of weather conditions in the area at the time of the crash.

What may become a rather lively discussion over who's to blame for what is developing:
"French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has refuted Comoran Vice-President Idi Nadhoim's claims that France had failed to inform Comoros of a ban on the Yemenia Airbus A310 which crashed off the Indian Ocean archipelago on Tuesday.

"French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner responded Wednesday to criticisms levelled by the Comoran vice-president and transport minister, Idi Nadhoim, that Paris had failed to inform Comoros on the record of the Yemenia Airbus A310 that crashed Tuesday.

"The plane was banned from flying to our country, everybody knew it,' said Kouchner during a visit to Senegal. 'Everybody knew it in the Comoros, everybody.'..." (France 24)

Cultural Differences, Attitudes, and the War on Terror

I've made the point before, that in my view the war on terror is at least as much a matter of conflicting cultural values, as it is of ideological or religious differences.

Technology of the late Industrial Age, coupled with a lucrative trade in petroleum, brought people in cultures which had been out of the loop for centuries - or millennia - into contact with the outside world.

Then the dawn of the Information Age brought Barbies, Mickey Mouse, and bikinis into the homes of people whose customs were ancient when Abraham moved out of Ur.

I remember the shock and disgust expressed by parents and religious leaders, when rock and roll was new in American culture: and that was a reaction to something which was developing in their own culture.

In a way, it's no wonder that some people in the Middle East have gone a little crazy. Fast-forwarding through several thousand years of change could be a bit stressful.
France and Comoros: He Said / She Said
There's nothing unusual, I think, about the dialog starting between France and Comoros, over who dropped the ball on maintenance. We saw something like that happen in America a few months ago, when the Peanut Corporation of America made the mistake of poisoning its end users. (Apathetic Lemming of the North) It's human nature to deny fault, even when the prudent course of action would be to make a full disclosure and make the best of a bad situation. My view.
"Dustbin" Airline: Prejudice or Inclusion?
What jumped out at me this morning was euronews' use of " 'dustbin' airline" in their headline.

What struck me a as a rather harsh pejorative term could indicate quite a few things, including:
  • A rather traditional view of foreigners and other 'inferior races'
  • Inclusion and acceptance of non-Europeans to the point where editors felt comfortable insulting their institutions
I've noticed that, for many people, there's a sort of scale of insultability. At one end are the utter outsiders: people who one isn't allowed to kill these days, but who simply aren't, well, proper. At the other, members of your own family, and close friends.

This isn't a universal rule, by any means, but I think you may find it a bit familiar:
  • Utter outsiders
    • These people, and anything connected with them, may be insulted freely
    • Examples:
      • Commies
      • Capitalist pigs
      • Strip mall developers
  • Regular folks
    • They should be treated with some degree of courtesy, since insulting them may hurt their feelings - and their feelings matter
    • Examples:
      • Neighbors
      • Fellow-citizens
      • Members of your car pool, economic class, whatever
  • Close friends and family
    • These folks are so close to you, and you know each other so well, that it's safe to insult (some) of their possessions and qualities
Using this scale, that "dustbin" comment puts Comorans in the category of either 'utter outsiders' or 'close friends and family.'

I rather hope it's the latter. Western civilization has enough problems, without reviving attitudes that were wrong in the 19th and 20th centuries, and self-destructive in the 21st.

Related posts: In the news: Background:
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Sunday, April 27, 2008

Pilot's Laptop Missing: Yes, It's a Big Deal

I just ran into this story, going over last week's news: "Pilot's Missing Laptop Causes Airport Security Scare" (ABC 7 News (April 24, 2008)).

"A pilot's laptop, filled with top secret security information was reported missing at Dulles Airport and the ripple effects were felt across the country." Quite a ripple, too: 17 airports changed their access codes - fast.

Those codes would have given someone - anyone - access from the gate to the plane, and the pavement below the plane. These days, that could be a very bad thing.

The odds are that the laptop had been stored in an overhead compartment, one that passengers had access to, and then stolen.

There's the usual talk of 'cracking down' and penalizing people who lose data like this, but I'm not sure that's the right approach.

This time, the pilot reported, promptly, that the laptop had gone missing.

Would anyone be more likely to make a report like that, knowing that it would cost them money, and maybe their career?

I think it would be better to include common sense and situational awareness in pilot training.
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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Man Prays on Plane, Removed: Racial Profiling?

A strangely-dressed man refused to move from the back of a airliner in New York City. Carrying what appeared to be a book, he continued praying as flight attendants ordered him to take his seat.

He appeared to be praying.

The man was finally removed from the airliner.

He's a member of both an ethnic and a religious minority.

Racial profiling? Ethnic stereotyping run amok?

I doubt it. The man is an Orthodox Jew, whose habits of prayer were a very bad match for airline regulations. And, in my view, common sense. Although I accept the possibility that some delay led to him being in an airliner about to take off at the exact moment when he absolutely had to start praying.

So far, I haven't noticed the Anti-Defamation League, or any other advocacy group, popping up with cries of abuse and profiling. Even though, in common with Muslims who have been ejected from airliners for peculiar behavior, he was dressed funny and acting oddly.

This situation is different, of course. The praying man's not Muslim. If he were, I suspect that we'd have another case like the incredible flying imams of Minnesota.

It's early days, though. Maybe groups like the ADL just take longer to start talking to the press about 'racial profiling.'

But, I doubt it.
Information from
"Praying passenger is removed from plane at JFK"
USA Today (April 17, 2008)
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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Common Sense Knows No Boundaries: Neither does Bureaucratic Vindictiveness

This post does not relate directly to the War on Terror. It is, however, a tribute to common sense and individual responsibility.
"The Man Who Saved the World by Doing Nothing"

The remarkable tale of Stanislav Petrov. If you're alive, you probably have Mr. Petrov to thank.

Without his common sense and willingness to think, back in 1983, the Soviet Union might have launched a 'counter-attack' to an American nuclear strike that never happened.

The Soviets had recently shot down Korean Air Flight 007, killing hundreds of people, including an American congressman. Soviet leadership seems to have thought that America would launch a nuclear attack as a result. Psychologists call that sort of thing "projection."

And yes, the account of Stanislav Petrov's good sense, and the price he paid for saving the world, seems to be true.
I contrasted Soviet and American responses in "Six Years Ago, Tomorrow: Remembering 9/11" (September 10, 2007). People who honestly believe that America is an imperialistic, militaristic, warmonger oppressor with no regard for human life might benefit from comparing the fates of Korea Air Flights 007 and 85.
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Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Unintended Consequences: The Boeing 787 Dreamliner

There's good news, and bad news, about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. And, it's the same news:
  • Good news: The Dreamliner's control system is so sophisticated and so integrated that passengers can plug in their laptops and connect to the world
  • Bad news: The Dreamliner's control system could be hacked
According to The Times (UK): "The technology used by the new generation of aircraft is now so advanced that aviation officials fear that terrorists could use it to fly the plane."

The FAA says it won't certify Boeing's Dreamliner until data connections in the cabin don't allow someone with a laptop to hack into the airliner's control system. A ZDNet blog (cited below) brings up a very good question: How did Boeing, six years after the 9/11 attack, let the Dreamliner get this close to rollout with a potentially-lethal glitch?

There's a slightly technical discussion of the Boeing 787 control system issue at "Boeing 787 at risk of in-flight hacking" ZDNet, January 5, 2008.
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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

U.S. Airlines Repaired Overseas, TSA Terror Report Overdue

Oh, Great: Business as usual in Washington.

Congress told the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) to write regulations about U.S. airliners being repaired overseas. Four years ago. The TSA was told to do a lot of other things, too, like figure out ways to protect against IEDs.

Now, with national elections just over a year away, our leaders in Congress are angry: very angry. How, they ask on camera, can this be?

Here's a reasonable guess: Congress is better at giving orders than giving resources to get the orders done; and the TSA is a bureaucracy, and so nearly incompetent at dealing with a new situation.

I don't think that who's right and who's wrong in Washington is anywhere near as important as American officials realizing that there's a war on.

"Another War-on-Terror Blog" isn't political, but politicos are inextricably tangled in decisions in all countries. And that means that, sooner or later, the issue of how - and whether - to keep religious loons from killing Americans and other infidels (1), will rub against the political world.

(1) Yes, I know that quite a number of Americans are Muslims. But I get the impression that outfits like the Taliban and Al Qaeda lump all Yankees together.
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Saturday, September 1, 2007

If You Hear Someone Speaking Arabic, GET A GRIP!

The good news is that news media doesn't seem to have gotten excited about the six men who were speaking Arabic, and the woman with concerns about her children.

The bad news is that a planeful of passengers had to stay in San Diego overnight.

Judging from what's in the news, American Airlines Flight 590 was carrying six guys who had been training Iraq-bound Marines. A woman with her two kids was also on the plane.

She apparently heard them speaking Arabic, and reported her concerns to airport security. The security officers told her that they weren't suspicious, and let them board. After hearing them "clunking around" in the airplane's restroom, the woman and her kids left the plane.

The International Herald reports that "Airline spokesman Tim Wagner said earlier this week only that the 'incident' that began in the departure lounge had been ongoing and the flight crew felt it needed to be resolved on the ground."

Between airport security and local law enforcement, the snafu was resolved. But by that time the airport's outgoing-flight services were shut down.

What had started as a red eye flight became an overnight stay for the passengers and crew of Flight 590.

The woman with the kids said, "I do feel very bad but I was just protecting my tiny little family," to The San Diego Union-Tribune on Friday. "All I could think of was 9/11."

Understandable.

One of six "Iraqis" questioned is David Al Watan, 30, of Dearborn, Michigan. He says he's embarrassed, and had no idea there was a problem until the plane returned to the to the terminal. "Everyone who didn't look like us went off and did whatever they wanted," said Al Watan, who apparently fled Iraq in 1991 and is now a U.S. citizen. He says he loves his adopted country. "I would die for it," he told a newspaper.

The group now has a lawyer, who says they want an apology from the airline.

Also understandable.

"They can't just assume someone has a bomb strapped to them just because they are Arabic," the group's attorney said.

Sounds reasonable to me.

This foul-up was discussed on FreeRepublic.com. the Free Republic post was reasonable enough. Some of the comments were, in my opinion, not:
  • "After 9/11, who doesn't know that Americans have a problem with sharing a plane flight with a group of Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern types. Prejudice? You bet, but in deference to our national painful memories, they should have shown far more tact if they were Iraqis Americans."
  • "sounds like cair fear.

    "one passenger reported an issue so they removed that passenger and then when they left they had a unrelated mechanical issue."
    (I have not found reference to a "mechanical issue" in published reports. The poster may be referring to remarks by Irene McCormack, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Harbor Police, who said that planes returning to the gate is unusual, and that returns are usually for medical or mechanical problems, or a disturbance. (cbs2chicago.com))
  • "Iraqi Americans?
    The subtle injection of race-by association by the reporter seems to have escaped everyone.
    "What the hell is an Iraqi-American? If they are muslims, that is a useless meaningless phrase.

    "They were muslims being their usual stupid, arrogant, self-important selves."
Free Republic wasn't the only place where people were upset. "It is one thing to flag suspicious behavior, but to flag a global language? We are deplaning people for who they are, not what they do," said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Chicago.

I can understand Mr. Rehab's position. His job is to raise and maintain awareness of unfair treatment of Muslims in America, real or apparent.

It's harder to wrap my mind around "muslims being their usual stupid, arrogant, self-important selves." However, this crude statement illustrates something that Muslim apologists should pay attention to. From Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to the Flying Imams, enough Muslims have 'just happened' to be offensive for unsophisticated infidels to assume that all Muslims are self-righteous prigs. It's not true, of course.

The unpleasant reality is that Muslim fanatics are trying to destroy American culture and institutions: and any Americans who are not sufficiently Islamic, or who simply get in the way.

Some Americans find it difficult to be tolerant toward these activities and beliefs.

Rational self-preservation is a correct response to the threat of the Jihad against the west.

Overly-broad, ignorant generalizations about all Muslims, or everyone who speaks Arabic, is foolish.

Implied claims of racism aren't the most sensible thing to do, either. Unless the intent is to whip up even-stronger anti-Muslim/anti-Arab statements and acts: which in turn could be used as support of the initial claims of bias.

Bottom line: With the exception of a few people who support al Qaeda or similar jihadist organizations, everyone in a country which is either non-Islamic, or insufficiently Islamic, is in danger.

Rational steps need to be taken to deal with that danger.

But, being suspicious of everyone who looks Middle Eastern and/or speaks Arabic is not rational.

Information and quotes for this post are from:
Breitbart.com
International Herald Tribune
FreeRepublic.com
cbs2chicago.com

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.