cosmomiller

I know all of you have seen the news and grisly pictures. Either this was a result of untrained idiots in control of a sophisticated missile system that did not know what they were doing, they had an idea of what they were doing but did not care, or a disastrous breakdown in command and control with the Russians military.

This just boggles my mind someone would engage something so clearly non-military in nature.

It is readily apparent the triple broke up in flight from the missile and subsequent breakup from aerodynamic forces. You could see pieces over a wide area and many were barely deformed indicating a slow ground impact. You can see the grass pushed around the vertical stabilizer (rudder) evidence it "pancaked" in place like a leaf. The engine turbines are only bent in the section from ground contact; not the entire disk. That indicates they were not rotating at impact. That takes a couple of minutes for an engine to slow to that speed. If there had been forward airflow (airplane moving normally in flight with shutdown engine) there would have been enough rotation to cause damage all the way around. Not only were they shut down, they were not forward facing. (tumbling perhaps) That fact, with known altitude, combined with the large intact pieces of aircraft, somewhat intact bodies, suggest a 5-7 minute time in flight from detonation/breakup to ground contact. It is likely many aboard were conscious at impact. May God have mercy on all the souls.

skunkworks

You would think that the ground crews would be able to differentiate between a military and commercial aircraft. What fools! Secondly, why would anyone of sound mind fly over an area of military conflict? The passengers are the victims of a military and civilian blunder. It’s too bad.


gary

SheDrivesIt

Since I have no clue what you are discussing, I assume that some new tragedy is unfolding somewhere? I assume that a "triple" is an airplane of some sort? Googling "triple shoot down" reveals nothing of any current interest.

RMurphy

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukr...ne-u-s-n158416

Malaysia Airlines Passenger Jet Shot Down Over Ukraine, U.S. Officials Say
BY JIM MIKLASZEWSKI AND ERIN MCCLAM

A Malaysia Airlines jetliner with 298 people on board was shot out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile Thursday as it cruised over a hostile region of Ukraine, U.S. officials told NBC News.

The officials said they were trying to determine who fired the missile. The plane went down in one of the most volatile parts of the world — near the Ukrainian border with Russia, where separatists have fought Ukrainian security forces for months.

(you can read the rest at the link and other news sources)

RMurphy

"triple" is apparently lingo that is used to reference a Boeing 777.

SheDrivesIt

Thanks for the explanation. Gee, that's awful.

RMurphy

I agree. It is. It's hard not to get sucked into the reports and have it swallow up every waking moment reading about the tragedy and the expert interviews and the investigation and the gory details until you can't think of anything else. I stopped myself at two reports from different sources.

In some ways, I'm lucky I have to focus on my work and I have two machines on my bench right now being configured for end users. So not much time to read news. And I like a very quiet environment so no radio for me.

Matt_in_VA

Yes it is. I have flown many hours (miles) on Boeing 777-200's over the years, when I used to go to Europe about four times a year for business. The Triple Seven is one of my favorite airplanes, especially when I got to upgrade to business class. I have the Plane Finder APP on my I-pad and have created a list of the tail numbers of many of the 777's that I have flown on. The app alerts one when it is in the air and when one taps on the plane's icon, one can track it in the air world wide. It also shows the history of the plane, including it's first flight and how many years it has been in service. Many of them have been in service for almost a score. Hence proving it's safety record as a "work horse" of the airlines.

It is a shame that (IMHO) some untrained idiot that did not have an APP like Plane Finder, or many others like it may have mistook a high flying plane at FL 330 for a military aircraft, and pulled the trigger. It is hard for me (or any other thinking human being) to understand why shooting down a civilian plane on purpose would further any one's cause.

Ryuu

I seriously doubt they cared about what it was they shot down, civilian or military.. to cause terror and to bring suffering... no idea if they would have had access to any authority figure we may consider as such.. it's all hind-sight now

horrific tragedy..

and I don't understand.. news reports say we can't sanction Russia, it may impact one / some of our military weapons suppliers..

Matt_in_VA

Can you spell rebels in Sxxxx?