Another Malaysia airlines crash?

[fsanford]

I'm not saying World War III, but I imagine at a minimum we will have boots on the grounds before too long to "keep the peace."

There is zero chance we will have troops in the Ukraine, Zero.. In an election year, no less, nobody is gonna want to propose sending our guys to a rats nest like they have there.

If the Russians did shoot this plane down the only thing it might do is have them withdraw support, though I really doubt that happens. The best way to hit the Russians, is financially , they are now part of the world economy and have enjoyed much of what free enterprise has to offer.

 

[Cyclonepride]

If they have the capability to shoot aircraft at 33000 feet the Russians just gave it to them.

True. And it wouldn't surprise me if they did. Could be Ukrainian with an itchy trigger finger as well. But seems like the separatists would be less able to identify their target.

 

[TykeClone]

True. And it wouldn't surprise me if they did. Could be Ukrainian with an itchy trigger finger as well. But seems like the separatists would be less able to identify their target.

And it could be either side hoping the rest of the world will blame the other.

 

[roundball]

There is zero chance we will have troops in the Ukraine, Zero..
If the Russians did shoot this plane down the only thing it might do is have them withdraw support, though I really doubt that happens. The best way to hit the Russians, is financially , they are now part of the world economy and have enjoyed much of what free enterprise has to offer.

Exactly. We're especially not shipping troops into Ukraine just weeks after announcing that we're not deploying forces to prevent ISIL from establishing a jihadist state smack dab in the middle of Iraq. The panic in some people is unbelievable.

 

[RubyClone]

And it could be either side hoping the rest of the world will blame the other.

They were just discussing how this (assumed) SA-11 missile system is very independent. It can acquire, fire and radar track it's missile to the target. So it may very well be an itchy finger somewhere.

There's a few reports trickling in through these reports that are kind of turning away from being shot down.

 

[Cyclonepride]

And it could be either side hoping the rest of the world will blame the other.

One would think that we have plenty of satellites monitoring that area of the planet and could identify the launch site pretty quickly.

 

[fsanford]

They were just discussing how this (assumed) SA-11 missile system is very independent. It can acquire, fire and radar track it's missile to the target. So it may very well be an itchy finger somewhere.

There's a few reports trickling in through these reports that are kind of turning away from being shot down.

One thing that is important, is that commercial flights have a distinct flight path. If you are flying over hostile territory and deviate from that path, you are putting the flight at risk. If you have someone with an itchy trigger finger, and they see a flight on a course that was not previously plotted, you can have a result like this.

 

[RubyClone]

One thing that is important, is that commercial flights have a distinct flight path. If you are flying over hostile territory and deviate from that path, you are putting the flight at risk. If you have someone with an itchy trigger finger, and they see a flight on a course that was not previously plotted, you can have a result like this.

Yep - they reported the US military feels that a trained Russian military team would be highly unlikely to fire on a commercial flight. But they also think it's not likely that separatists would have access (or ability to use) this equipment - that was my take.

But they are also reporting that the airline is saying they lost contact with the aircraft for a long part of the trip across of the Urkaine. So they may very well have tried to contact and identify before firing.

Who knows.

 

[TigerCyJM]

The thought of this being a coincidence is so irrational that there has to be something else here.

 

[fsanford]

Yep - they reported the US military feels that a trained Russian military team would be highly unlikely to fire on a commercial flight. But they also think it's not likely that separatists would have access (or ability to use) this equipment - that was my take.

But they are also reporting that the airline is saying they lost contact with the aircraft for a long part of the trip across of the Urkaine. So they may very well have tried to contact and identify before firing.

Who knows.

Well at least with this one the black boxes and flight records should be retrieved.

Such a sad situation, I used to fly internationally a lot and would fly over places that were having conflicts and I would be lying if I did not think this type of thing crossed my mind.

Sometimes language barriers alone can cause problems.

 

[RubyClone]

Well at least with this one the black boxes and flight records should be retrieved.

Such a sad situation, I used to fly internationally a lot and would fly over places that were having conflicts and I would be lying if I did not think this type of thing crossed my mind.

Sometimes language barriers alone can cause problems.

Yeah - we flew into Turkey last year right at the height of the border violence with Syria. Getting shot down never really crossed my mind. Other violence did - bombings, shellings, etc - but it's scary all the way around any more.

 

[Clonefan32]

Yeah - we flew into Turkey last year right at the height of the border violence with Syria. Getting shot down never really crossed my mind. Other violence did - bombings, shellings, etc - but it's scary all the way around any more.

I'm no expert in such things, but I have a hard time believing you could mistake a 777 with a military plane.

 

[Cyclonestate78]

The thought of this being a coincidence is so irrational that there has to be something else here.

One would think that if the plane was having problems radio contact would have certainly been made prior to the plane crashing. Obviously with this particular airline after the MH370 incident one can't be too sure what the heck happened but I would be leaning towards the possibility that this plane was in fact shot down. It's the freaking Russians... those commie bastards do this kind of thing for fun.

 

[TykeClone]

One would think that we have plenty of satellites monitoring that area of the planet and could identify the launch site pretty quickly.

Launch site - yes.

Dude who hit the button - not so much.

 

[dahliaclone]

Couldn't it have been a heat seeking buk missile, which have been used in that area recently on fighter jets, that just went glitchy and hit the wrong target? Maybe that's not possible.

 

[RubyClone]

I'm no expert in such things, but I have a hard time believing you could mistake a 777 with a military plane.

US mistook a Airbus A300 for an F-14 back in '88. All about how well trained and how itchy the finger is.

(and not sure how different radar blips look)

 

[Clonefan32]

US mistook a Airbus A300 for an F-14 back in '88. All about how well trained and how itchy the finger is.

(and not sure how different radar blips look)

And I guess I see that second sentence as beyond the point. I don't think you can really lean on the excuse of "whoops, maybe I was a bit too aggressive in shooting that plane down without knowing what it was" as an excuse if other countries start wanting answers.

 

[enisthemenace]

Sounds like Skynet to me.

 

[Cyclonepride]

US mistook a Airbus A300 for an F-14 back in '88. All about how well trained and how itchy the finger is.

(and not sure how different radar blips look)

Yeah, and some of the military cargo planes run pretty large (C-130 on the US side).

 

[RubyClone]

Reuters has a tweet showing the plane was somewhat off course.