Egypt

maplesyrup · January 4, 2004

Egyptian Red Sea plane crash, was it just an accident? Egypt says no, but it seems awfully quick for Egypt to make an accessment like that. Was there a distress call from the pilot?

'Red Sea plane crash kills 148, Egypt and France rule out terrorism'

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040103/1/3h167.html

'On October 31, 1999, an EgyptAir Boeing 767 crashed off the US Atlantic coast, killing all 217 people on board. Egypt denies US assertions it was deliberately caused by the co-pilot.'

Morgan · January 4, 2004

This crash is very suspicious indeed.

1. The Egyptians were too quick to claim "mechanical" problems were the cause especially in light of the fact that the plane just had maintenance done in Norway and had passed routine mechanical and safety checks in Venice before it left Italy.

2. Tony Blair and his family were vacationing at the Sharm-el-Sheik resort, meeting place for earlier discussions about the "roadmap" for peace between Israel and Palestine.

3. Egypt and the Palestinians had a public spat at the end of December about the Egyptian envoy being attacked while on a peace-effort visit there.

4. The weather was clear.

5. There was no distress signal.

6. Very small pieces of debris.

Egyptian jet chartered by mainly French tourists crashes into Red Sea, FOX News, Jan.03/03

Flash Airlines (search) Flight FSH604 took off from the popular tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheik bound for Paris after a stopover in Cairo. The weather was clear at the time.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said there were 133 French tourists on the flight. One Japanese, one Moroccan, and 13 Egyptian crew members also were on the flight, Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafeeq said.

The airplane underwent maintenance checks in Norway and the most recent showed no problems, officials said. A Venice airport official said on condition of anonymity the plane underwent routine mechanical and safety checks before leaving Italy and nothing abnormal was noted.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was visiting the popular resort, issued a statement of condolence. Sharm el-Sheik, which is about 300 miles southeast of Cairo on the Sinai peninsula, has been the site of several meetings on peace in the Middle East, including one in June in which President Bush met with regional leaders about the so-called "road map" toward creating a Palestinian state.

And a blogger's take on the crash:

Eight reasons why the Egyptian plane crash might have been terrorism

KrustyKidd · January 4, 2004

I wouldn't be too quick to claim terrorism. I scanned an aviation forum last night. Seems Flash Air is not a tightly run ship. I would wait a bit before throwing anything out.

Morgan · January 6, 2004

Strange news coming out of the ME. Is this terrorist's claim credible? The group promises an attack against Air France because France outlawed the Islamic headscarf in public schools...

Yemeni terrorist claims his group caused Egyptian airliner crash Jan.05/03 Albawaba.com

A man claiming to represent an Islamic group in Yemen said on Monday the Egyptian charter plane that crashed Saturday was brought down in an "attack" by the group's members, in a telephone call to AFP. The caller also warned that his group would launch an attack "soon" against Air France "if France does not go back on its decision to prohibit the Islamic headscarf" in state schools.

KrustyKidd · January 6, 2004

Well the Arabic Apostle had better let us know how he did it before the black boxes do, otherwise he will not have accomplished a damm thing.

As for what really might have downed the aircraft, let's look at a prior Flash Air flight:

FLASH AIR STORY

Swiss had warned Egypt airline's planes weren't safe
January 5, 2004

BY TOBY HARNDEN AND HENRY SAMUEL

Advertisement

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt -- France admitted Sunday night it had been warned by Switzerland in 2002 about the safety of aircraft owned by the Egyptian company whose jet crashed in the Red Sea on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Nour, the Flash Air chairman, confirmed reports that a Flash plane's engine caught fire while flying over Greece recently.

Flash Air chief pilot Hassan Mounir said such incidents aren't unusual. ''It's normal,'' he said. ''You can have an engine fire in flight.''

LOL, OK. For awhile I thought that airplanes were NOT supposed to have engines burning, people screaming and being ripped into shreds. Silly me.

The caller also warned that his group would launch an attack "soon" against Air France "if France does not go back on its decision to prohibit the Islamic headscarf" in state schools.

What happened to Arab unity, the interference of the Great Satan, freeing Iraq, and so on and forth? Seems to me that the caller was merely taking advantage of the situation more than anything.

Morgan · January 7, 2004

KrustyKidd said:

What happened to Arab unity, the interference of the Great Satan, freeing Iraq, and so on and forth?

KK, according to some folks, France is pretty evil for what it's done with the hijab. Who would have thought?Iranians condemn France over hijab, Al Jazeera, Jan.04/04

Thousands of Muslim worshippers shouted "death to France" during Friday prayers in Tehran after a sermon denounced a French plan to ban the hijab in schools .Ayat Allah Ahmad Jannati called on Islamic countries to "threaten France with cancelling contracts and to reconsider their relations with France" over the issue. In a subsequent speech, French President Jacques Chirac came out in favour of the ban, which he wants written into law by the start of the next academic year. But Jannati assured worshippers that all that was necessary was "a roar from Muslims, and the French would back off".

But I guess the Yemeni terrorists misunderstood Ayat Jannati's comments that all that was necessary for France to flip over was a loud roar. He didn't mean a plane crash...

KrustyKidd · January 7, 2004

Oh wow! So now does that mean that thong underwear and bikinis are in fashion on the Streets of Tehran when worn by Westerners? Or does it only work one way?