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Flight 587: Mechanical Failure or Terrorist Attack?
November 12, 2001
An American Airlines A-300 passenger jet crashed on takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport Nov. 12. The crash comes nearly two months to the day after the simultaneous hijackings of four domestic airliners, which were flown into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
Several notable differences between the events of Sept. 11 and those of Nov. 12, however, may provide early clues into the cause of the crash. The fact that American Airlines Flight 587 crashed just two minutes after takeoff strongly precludes the possibility of a hijacking. Rather, it appears to be mechanical failure, a bomb or perhaps even a missile attack.
The Sept. 11 flights and Flight 587 were all full of fuel in order to travel long distances. The big difference, however, is that on Sept. 11, all the flights were on domestic U.S. routes, while the Nov. 12 flight was bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Another difference is the type of aircraft: All of the planes hijacked Sept. 11 were 757s or 767s, as opposed to an Airbus A-300.
There is other evidence against the notion that Flight 587 was hijacked. First, the plane lost radio contact with the ground just one minute into flight and crashed another minute later. It would be very difficult if not impossible for a hijacking to take place in such a short time span, particularly during ascent. On all of the Sept. 11 flights, the hijackings reportedly took place when the planes had reached altitude.
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(c) 2001 Stratfor, Inc.
Dan
Flight 587: Mechanical Failure or Terrorist Attack . . . ?