Who/what took down the Ukrainian 737?

Just heard a snippet about this on NPR. No one knows as of now, I think.

Why would Iran destroy an airplane that was filled mostly with Iranians, Canadians and 0 Americans, just to embarrass the United States?

At any rate, perhaps we should wait for the wreckage to cool off and let the relevant authorities do their jobs before throwing our half-baked guesses around.

It does seem difficult to label it a coincidence, given the timing, given that it’s Ukrainian of all nationalities, but there really seems to be no motive to down it from any side. I’ll wait on the facts.

If it was a poor design other 737s would have been malfunctioning.

@Dutchess_III One has to be the first.

@zenvelo Russia getting back at Ukraine, for what?
Not for shooting MH-17 down, I take it?

It has been continuously manufactured since 1967..

Yeah, I’ve been on them possibly 70 odd times.
I meant to say that one (of a new series of failure) is always the first (if others with the same malfunction follow).

I heard that right now everyone believes it was equipment failure. Something broke.

I took it down.

@seawulf575, no, they don’t know.

”Iranian officials initially said a technical issue was to blame and later that an engine fire caused the pilot to lose control, but there have been several contradictory and confusing statements. The head of Iran’s civil aviation organization, Ali Abedzadeh, later told the Iranian news outlet Mehr that there was no evidence of technical problems, according to reporting by The New York Times. He also said that the plane had not contacted the control tower about an emergency.”

Yeah. We’ll have to wait for the facts…
It isn’t smart, to fly over a potential war zone. A lot of the biggest airlines, have suspended flights over the region…

Unless.or until we get the “black box” we may never know.

Wouldn’t suspending the planes make them more vulnerable? Its much easier to hit a hanging target than a flying one.

That was bad @Yellowdog!

Probably kids messing around with laser lights.

If it was taken down, it was taken down by a nervous, itchy-fingered Iranian manning a SAM.

A double-wide stroller was blocking the pilot’s access to the cockpit! ;-o

And that’s why I loooove Brian.

Isn’t the 737 the plane that was taken out of service for crashing for NO reason???

@LadyMarissa That’s the 737 Max – a newer plane I believe.

^ Thanks!!!

Yes, the 737 MAX has only been around since 2016. And there is a reason for them crashing.
”…investigators suspected that the MAX’s new Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which Boeing omitted from flight manuals and crew training, automatically and repeatedly forced the aircraft to nosedive. In November 2018, Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent airlines urgent messages to emphasize a flight recovery procedure, and Boeing started to redesign MCAS. In December 2018, studies by the FAA and Boeing concluded that MCAS posed an unacceptable safety risk. On March 10, 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed, despite the crew’s attempt to use the recovery procedure. The airline grounded its MAX fleet that day. ” Source

^^^^But the stock market thought maybe Boeing was at fault for yesterday’s crash

Meanwhile, the Administration says Iran shot it down. “It’s a rough neighborhood.”

“It’s a rough neighborhood??”

^^^^^That’s what the official White House position is.

And we’re not?

Oh my God. Everytime he opens his mouth stupid falls out. He sounds like a gang banger wannabe.

It “appears” that an Iran missile shot it down “by mistake”.

Uh-huh.

Pretty big mistake. Locking onto a target going over 400 mph, that would have obviously taken off from a civilian airport…

Oh. And by the way, Iran has a history of Airline terrorism….

^^^^^The US has a history of shooting down Iran related civilian passenger aircraft.

We do @zenvelo?

^^^yes, in 1988 the US shot down an Iran airliner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

”Vincennes had made ten attempts to contact the aircraft on both military and civilian radio frequencies, but had received no response”
What a mess.

Given the U.S. History of shooting down civilian aircraft, it must have been the U.S. which shot down Ukrainian flight 737, like we did 32 years ago,

Trump may have ordered this to detract from impeachment.

There is such a thing, as a country’s own airspace. Any craft, crossing these zones, must have a arrangement to do so. Or. Respond to hails, from that country. Not having permission, or failing to respond to contact, means intentions of said craft are unknown. The US, typically scrambles fighter aircraft, for visual inspection, or escort, before attempting to take the craft down.
It’s kind of like a traffic stop. The driver must comply with the enforcement unit. Who are you? What are you doing? Failure to comply, gives the enforcement unit’s officers the right to detain, disable a vehicle, or make a judgement call on whether or not to use force…

Radar, is obviously pretty advanced now. My understanding of Iranian defense systems, is that it’s Russian technology. Highly advanced, to try to pick up US Stealth aircraft. I fail to see, how this aircraft could have been mistaken, for a military aircraft. Either the radar operators were poorly trained, or they shot it down intentionally…

The Iranians allegedly, attacked random, foreign oil vessels recently. So. I don’t see it as a stretch of logic, to think that they downed this aircraft on purpose…

If it was accidentally shot down, it may account for why Iran publicly announced that they were stopping attacks. They wouldn’t want to get in deeper shit, with the world community.

I’m still pissed, that there was no response to the Russians downing a civilian aircraft, during the Crimea invasion. My understanding is that it would take highly qualified operators, to use the exact missile, that downed the craft. Not, some rebel army, with no training.

But Russia took sovereign land, and downed a civilian aircraft, with nothing more than sanctions. The world taught Russia, that they have a long leash. I don’t like military conflicts. But. Somebody, should have hit them hard, over this…

The US, has a powerful army. But. They appear to stear away from conflicts with similar militaries… The overall perception, is that the US will fight an inferior opponent, but back down from a formidable foe…

That he did it to “distract” is ridiculous, you know. Nothing will distract the congress, or us, from his impeachment. People act like “distracting” means we’re going to forget all about whatever althogether. We won’t.

Oh, we KNOW.

@Dutchess_III

But it is distraction. It may not be entirely successful, but it does steer the public conversation away from impeachment. Clinton tried the same during his own impeachment.

Well, we’re still talking about it and following the up dates.
I don’t see how “public conversation” could possibly affect the impeachment hearings.

^It’s dilution, or overload, however you want to look at it.

Let’s say you make a vodka drink. Cranberry, and vodka. The predominant flavors are cranberry, and vodka. (Ukraine, and obstruction.) Then you add orange, and grapefruit juice. (Military conflict, downed aircraft. ) Then add ice/essentially water. And a lime wedge.
Then you can barely taste the vodka, and cranberry. They’re still there. But the taste buds, have more to taste, than cranberry, and vodka.
So… If you’re brain is analyzing, all these different flavors, some of the attention is taken away from the vodka, and cranberry….

Mixed drinks, were essentially invented, during the prohibition. Alcohol, was of much lower quality. Because it was manufactured illegally, and often more potent, than what people previously drank straight.
The mixers, distracted the drinker, from the taste of the liquor…
Classic distraction.

Fin.

As long as congress stays focused we’ll be OK.

@Dutchess_III You do realize McConnell is going to sink it as soon as the Senate takes it up.

And talking about a downed airplane isn’t going to change the course of his actions.

Trump’s going nowhere. The GOP, will sell their souls, to protect him…

@Dutchess_III

The point isn’t about getting the Congress to alter their actions. The point is to get the public focused on something else.

What does it matter if we’re focused on something else for a while? It won’t affect the outcome of the impeachment trial.

You think politicians don’t care about the public conversation?

The Romans, had this figured out a long time ago. It’s the reason why they had gladiator games. To distract the public…

America has this tactic, too. With all it’s sports…

Iran did it. Said it was an accident.

I know they did it. I just don’t believe that it was accidental…