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Russians still probing cause of plane booms
Russian emergency workers searched heaps of twisted metal and tall grass Wednesday for clues about what caused two airliners to plunge to earth within minutes of each other, killing all 89 people aboard. Officials said one jet sent a hijack distress signal. Flight recorders from both planes were found and taken to Moscow for investigation, ITAR-TASS, a Russian news agency, reported, indicating the question of what caused the twin disasters soon could be answered. Russian security authorities said explosives specialists were still working at the scene of the crashes. They reported that terrorism remained a possible cause, although there was no evidence so far that terrorists were behind the tragedies.
| Except that they lost two aircraft virtually simultaneously. How many aircraft did they lose in the previous hour? |
Federal Security Service spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko said investigators were still questioning airport officials and airline and security employees at Domodedovo Airport, from where both flights left 45 minutes apart. Former National Transportation Safety Board vice chairman Bob Francis said coincidence was always possible but seemed highly unlikely.
| Yeah. Maybe they were struck by meteorites... |
"There are obviously things that can lead to accidents. ... The likelihood that you can have things lead to two accidents ... at the same time ... that's a pretty heavy coincidence," said Francis, who was involved in investigating the 1996 crash of TWA flight 800 off the Long Island coast. The former director of security of the Israeli Airport Authority said the time of the crashes suggested terrorism. "The timing indicates that this is probably a coordinated attack," Rafi Ron told The Associated Press. "There was probably something on board that led the pilots to push the distress signal or submit a verbal signal. In my assumption, that must have been the result of a terrorist being on board." Neither Francis nor Ron had independent information about the crashes.
| With two going at the same time, I think you start from the assumption that it was terrorism and then if that's disproved move on to other explanations, like flocks of very high-flying geese, ground crew incompetence, or the hairy eyeball... |
Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-08-26 |
