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The Spectacle Blog
In July, when I was visiting my younger brother in Nova Scotia, we paid a visit to Peggy’s Cove. It was not far from there that Swissair Flight 111 en route from New York to Geneva crashed in September 1998 killing all 229 passengers and crew aboard. A memorial was erected in honor of those who perished.
Now retired RCMP sergeant Tom Juby has come forward to say the crash might not have been an accident. Juby said, “There was sufficient grounds to suspect a criminal device on that plane.” It has been noted that amongst those who died on the flight were a Saudi prince, a relative of the late Shah of Iran and several UN officials. Indeed, the flight was known as the “UN Shuttle.”
Given those circumstances, I can understand why eyebrows would be raised. Yet there’s one thing which makes me suspect that the crash was not an act of terrorism. No one took responsibility for it. When al Qaeda or Hezbollah carries out a terrorist attack they make sure the whole world knows that they did it. The objective of a terrorist attack is to cause terror in the civilian populace. You can’t cause terror if the public believes a plane crash to have been an accident. So color me skeptical here.
View all comments (7) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/09/15/why-i-dont-think-the-swissair
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BD57| 9.15.11 @ 12:54PM
Agree - if it was terrorism, someone would claim it. The "terror" part of terrorism requires the world know what's been done & by whom.
Given the nature of the flight, a government sponsored assassination would "fit" the allegations better - - - eliminate the target, make it look like an accident.
Most likely, it was exactly what it appeared to be - an accident.
George S| 9.15.11 @ 1:22PM
Hard to make that case. The cause of the crash was a fire from electrical wiring -- fault arcing igniting insulation similar to that which causes house fires. Since it is almost impossible to schedule such a fault (if it were intentional the fire would have either started immediately, the circuit breakers would have tripped, or the mechanism to bolt two wires together would have been put to more efficient use as an altimeter explosive ala Lockerbie). Non-tripping breakers are a sign of overheating, attributed to non-bolted type arc faults. A bolted fault by sabotage would not have waited for the flight to be almost completed. Can't rule anything out, of course, but sabotage would be a surprise.
MikeN| 9.15.11 @ 1:47PM
Didn't you watch The West Wing? Maybe the US wanted to take out the Saudi prince.
Now any opinions on TWA 800 in 1996? Or how about Ron Brown's plane with the air traffic controller dead in a suicide before he could be questioned?
Milo| 9.15.11 @ 4:08PM
TWA 800? It was brought down by a missle - probably SAM fired from a small ship. Speculation about our Navy had legs but lips cannot stay locked for that long and a crewman would have come forward by now. Fuselage damage consistent with a missle hit and explosive residue on the seats near this damage points to a missle hit. If it were a terrorist attack why was credit not claimed by any of the many active at that time ?: Simple. They brought down the wrong plane. There was an El Al flight that was next in line behind TWA 800 and the shooters simply brought down the wrong plane.
Nixonfan| 9.15.11 @ 4:42PM
How exactly could a terorist figure out how to short-circuit the business class entertainment system, thus starting an electrical fire which filled the plane with smoke? This was an accident. Swissair was not a good airline, and the MD-11 was not a good airplane. That's why neither of them are in the air anymore.
Marc| 9.16.11 @ 8:32PM
Maybe because it wasn't an act just to promote terror, but instead a case of mass murder to cover up the robbery of a half-billion dollars in gold and jewels...
Were you involved in the air crash investigation? Didn't think so...
Mike in Canada | 9.17.11 @ 12:06AM
Of course - finding the half-billion dollars worth of gold and jewelry out in the Atlantic could be a lot of work. It happens the wreckage was found in relatively shallow water - about a million pieces. And gold, diamonds, and safe were not found. Of course, maybe they didn't make it on the flight? Insurance? If you read the Canadian investigation report they also found some wire with insulation never used when that aircraft was manufactured. And never used in certified repairs. Didn't fit anywhere. Maybe an aftermarket accessory? Over the cockpit? Strange.