French divers caught trying to modify black box from red sea crash area!

[Berzerker]

Who caught 'em, Egyptian divers?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Somehow, I don't see the radio not having a battery backup.

There are many reasons to electric failures. If there's a break in the circuit somewhere, backup could well be useless.

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
What happened to all that fuel?

In the fuel tanks?

[The Mad Monk]

You're suggesting the tanks remained intact?

[Sikander]

Originally posted by DAVOUT
Cannot be too suspicious when the French are involved.

The fact that the divers where on the spot 5 minutes (according to My Wife Hates CIV) after the crash tells VOLUMES.

It's nice to find another who knows the value of a well-made tinfoil hat.

[Saint Marcus]

Hows about that the airline had been banned from swiss airspace cos it was dangerous.

there was a report here that the Swiss ban had something to do with money, not safety.

[Spiffor]

The French government was very eager to say it was not a terror attack, as is usual in such a situation. According to our great conservatives, the role of a Statesman is to "reassure" after all, to make sure the common man has nothing to fear

Maybethe accidentwas a terror attack, and the French government(with the help of the Egyptians) will tryto cover a lie Maybe it was a real accident with unclear circumstances. Maybe some of the info we read in the thread is about as valid as the conspiracy theories we heard on the attack on the Pentagon. We don't know.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Why not?

Chirac does notwant a climate of fear nora climate of Islamophobia to spread right before the elections. We fear Le Pen's score in the next elections enough already, and a terror attack will only make him stronger.

[C0ckney]

has lepen's support grown since the last time?

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by C0ckney
has lepen's support grown since the last time?

We don't know for sure (polls are a poor indication of Le Pen's support, only votes allow for a real measure)

But we fear it has gron strongly: Chirac has disappointed the population, and the Left doesn't look like an alternative, because it does only indulge in infighting between top politicians, rather than a real opposition to Chirac's policies.

As suc, there is the strong chance that only Le Pen and the extreme left wil stand out and seduce the voter.

[C0ckney]

aren't the presidential elections some way off though?

[Spiffor]

The presidential elections as well as the parliamentary elections are way off (2007), but there will be two semi-local elections as well as the European elections in the coming months. Le Pen may end up with the second most populated region of France, and with a bunch of MEPs, if the rest of the political community can't get its **** straight

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


The French allowed it to fly where?

Wasn't the plane travelling in Egyptian airspace between two points in Egypt, owned by an Egyptian airline?

So you figure that a flight filled with french tourists didnt originate in France?

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus


there was a report here that the Swiss ban had something to do with money, not safety.

We know the planes had a number of serious incidents including engine fires. From the very little info thats available, it looks as though either the French officials ignored reasonable warnings from the Swiss (who wouldnt reinstate the airline despite 'passing' the safety requirements) or the Swiss were being nasty and the French knew it.

[CerberusIV]

The BBC website has this article on the 737's safety record. It isn't a bad record but, like most other airliners, they fall out of the sky occasionally.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3366199.stm

The British aviation expert David Learmount said the safety record of the Egyptian carrier involved in Saturday's crash, Flash Airlines, appeared to be good.

But he recalled that there had been other recent incidents involving 737s elsewhere on the continent.

"There were incidentally in Africa last year - in Algeria and Sudan - two 737s that crashed just after take-off, like this one did," Mr Learmount said.

"In those cases we have pretty good information now that they both involved engine failure - possibly something else as well, but at least engine failures."

There has also been a history of problems with the 737's rudder systems.

In October 2002 the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States ordered American carriers to replace them after rudder failure was blamed for crashes in Colorado in 1991 and Pennsylvania in 1994 in which a total of 157 people died.

The carriers were given six years to comply with the order and foreign carriers were expected to voluntarily follow suit.

It is worth remembering that aircraft do crash for reasons other than terrorism.

Statistically, flying may be the safest form of transport but when it goes wrong it usually goes very wrong.

Then again questions about safety are the last thing Boeing need right now as Airbus outsold them in 2003.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Spiffor
The presidential elections as well as the parliamentary elections are way off (2007), but there will be two semi-local elections as well as the European elections in the coming months. Le Pen may end up with the second most populated region of France, and with a bunch of MEPs, if the rest of the political community can't get its **** straight

And the masses shall flock to him...yeah right