The wrong victims...

Submitted by Monty (United Kingdom), Aug 31, 2004 at 06:57

There are two things that make me doubt whether this disaster was due to a terrorist on-board the aircraft:

1. The victims were almost all Dominicans. Not exactly the prime target group for al Qaeda.

2. That rudder shearing off. How do you get an explosive inside the fuselage to do that? The rudder wasn't shattered by fragmentation, it was recovered intact from the water.

I am quite ready to believe that 800 was in some way due to terrorism or suicide action. And maybe some sort of cover-up too. But I think we must not blind ourselves to the possibility of a serious flaw in the Airbus.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".