What was the big boom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll confess to not reading the entire thread but jumped in on pg. 14, not 16. Just saw the news on the crash site. The plane was ...descimated. There were no plane-like parts to be recognized.

I think it was shot down. If it was, will we ever know?

I don't think the Air Force would have any problem confirming that they shot the plane down. The pilot and passengers were already dead, and it posed a threat to people on the ground if it landed somewhere populated.

There is no reason to believe it was shot down. It didn't have enough fuel to get back to TN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll confess to not reading the entire thread but jumped in on pg. 14, not 16. Just saw the news on the crash site. The plane was ...descimated. There were no plane-like parts to be recognized.

I think it was shot down. If it was, will we ever know?

I don't think the Air Force would have any problem confirming that they shot the plane down. The pilot and passengers were already dead, and it posed a threat to people on the ground if it landed somewhere populated.

There is no reason to believe it was shot down. It didn't have enough fuel to get back to TN.

They specifically said they did not shoot it down.

I’m a tiny bit skeptical about that because it conveniently crashed in an isolated site, where nobody else would be hurt, which is good. I’m not saying shooting it down was a bad choice either because I could’ve caused many more deaths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll confess to not reading the entire thread but jumped in on pg. 14, not 16. Just saw the news on the crash site. The plane was ...descimated. There were no plane-like parts to be recognized.

I think it was shot down. If it was, will we ever know?

It was not shot down. The DoD is saying it did not shoot the plane down, and the owner/victim's father/grandfather confirmed that it wouldn't have had enough fuel to make a complete return to Tennessee, which tracks with it crashing just NE of the town in TN where it took off.

The DoD also said it was doing training over the Chesapeake Bay and the pilot was given the all clear to break the sound barrier - about an hour before the news story about the plane came out. I wouldn't take any story the DoD throws out at face value.

What were they going to say? "We have a Payne Stewart situation happening RIGHT NOW over DC. Hang tight while we go investigate"? Of course they lied to keep everyone calm.

When you look at the facts - not enough fuel - it tracks that it wasn't shot down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ why did it disintegrate when other planes crash and parts are still recognizable?

I could speculate why a jet would have looked different than other smaller plane crash sites but there are lots of experts who know a lot more about all of this than I do.

The NTSB will eventually issue a report saying what happened. If it was shot down, they'll tell us then. If not, they'll say that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll confess to not reading the entire thread but jumped in on pg. 14, not 16. Just saw the news on the crash site. The plane was ...descimated. There were no plane-like parts to be recognized.

I think it was shot down. If it was, will we ever know?

I don't think the Air Force would have any problem confirming that they shot the plane down. The pilot and passengers were already dead, and it posed a threat to people on the ground if it landed somewhere populated.

There is no reason to believe it was shot down. It didn't have enough fuel to get back to TN.

They specifically said they did not shoot it down.

I’m a tiny bit skeptical about that because it conveniently crashed in an isolated site, where nobody else would be hurt, which is good. I’m not saying shooting it down was a bad choice either because I could’ve caused many more deaths.

This, I don't think it was shot down but if it was, I really don't care. Pilot and passengers had probably been dead for several hours at that point and it would've caused so much death and destruction if it had landed in say, downtown Staunton as opposed to the forest.

Payne Stewart's plane conveniently landed in a rural area, as well. Just luck I suppose.

[Anonymous]

It just happened to run out of fuel in a part of va with few people? I'm not a conspiracy theorist but this story seems a little off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll confess to not reading the entire thread but jumped in on pg. 14, not 16. Just saw the news on the crash site. The plane was ...descimated. There were no plane-like parts to be recognized.

I think it was shot down. If it was, will we ever know?

I don't think the Air Force would have any problem confirming that they shot the plane down. The pilot and passengers were already dead, and it posed a threat to people on the ground if it landed somewhere populated.

There is no reason to believe it was shot down. It didn't have enough fuel to get back to TN.

They specifically said they did not shoot it down.

I’m a tiny bit skeptical about that because it conveniently crashed in an isolated site, where nobody else would be hurt, which is good. I’m not saying shooting it down was a bad choice either because I could’ve caused many more deaths.

This, I don't think it was shot down but if it was, I really don't care. Pilot and passengers had probably been dead for several hours at that point and it would've caused so much death and destruction if it had landed in say, downtown Staunton as opposed to the forest.

Payne Stewart's plane conveniently landed in a rural area, as well. Just luck I suppose.

And I should add, in the Payne Stewart crash, they thought it was going to enter Canadian airspace, and the Canadian PM had already given his Air Force orders to shoot the plane down if it did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It just happened to run out of fuel in a part of va with few people? I'm not a conspiracy theorist but this story seems a little off.

Girl. It was flying to Tennessee. That area where Virginia/Tennessee/West Virginia converge is very rural.

And also, what do you care if it was shot down? Should it have been left to fly over Roanoke or Knoxville and kill dozens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll confess to not reading the entire thread but jumped in on pg. 14, not 16. Just saw the news on the crash site. The plane was ...descimated. There were no plane-like parts to be recognized.

I think it was shot down. If it was, will we ever know?

I don't think the Air Force would have any problem confirming that they shot the plane down. The pilot and passengers were already dead, and it posed a threat to people on the ground if it landed somewhere populated.

There is no reason to believe it was shot down. It didn't have enough fuel to get back to TN.

They specifically said they did not shoot it down.

I’m a tiny bit skeptical about that because it conveniently crashed in an isolated site, where nobody else would be hurt, which is good. I’m not saying shooting it down was a bad choice either because I could’ve caused many more deaths.

Adding that as soon as I heard the sonic boom I knew it was nothing good. Anytime airplanes scramble in this area there is something happening. I was just waiting for the real story to break. I never believed it was training exercises for a second.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read reporting last night that ATC lost contact with the pilots somewhere over New Jersey on the plane's flight to Long Island. So that's likely when the depressurization occurred.

So they were likely flying for 3+ hours while unconscious. The plane's autopilot seems to have turned the plane around at the Long Island airport when the pilot did not manually engage the landing procedures.

We are very lucky that this plane had enough fuel to crash in a rural area. It's just dumb luck that it didn't crash into a city or a busy area.

This is alarming and I would love to know more from aviation nerds why jets weren't assembled to investigate the first time they lost contact. I have seen the clip of the pilot landing at LAX and ATC yelling at him for not radioing back faster to confirm the runway was clear - like most people I assumed that when ATC radios you, you answer. So I am wondering how they not only lost contact but the plane didn't land, and it made it to DC before the Air Force assembled. God forbid it had run out of fuel over Manhattan, what a tragedy.

Small planes do crash, sometimes in inhabited areas. Remember the plane that crashed into the house by Gaithersburg?

But what do you think the ATC can do about an unresponsive plane at 30,000 feet? Shoot it down? Why would that be preferable?

I am not asking that it be shot down after not responding to the radio once. I am asking why it was allowed to not respond to contact, not land as scheduled, and then fly almost 300 miles before the Air Force assembled.

I’m not sure you understand this, but planes destroyed by fighter jets do not simply vanish into thin air. They fall in pieces from the sky in fire and fragments that are extraordinarily dangerous to people on the ground. And I’m not sure what you mean by “assembled.” The Air Force is always “assembled.” They respond when ordered to do so. That small plane was under constant observation. Planes are not like wild mustangs — no one can just ride up and rope them to take control.

I think the "assembled" PP is mixing the word up with "scrambled" and confusing the Air Force with the Avengers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ why did it disintegrate when other planes crash and parts are still recognizable?

It nose dived from 30000 feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ why did it disintegrate when other planes crash and parts are still recognizable?

Where are you getting that it disintegrated? I saw that they are taking larger parts to a secure facility in Delaware to complete the investigation. Sadly, they also found human remains.

On the news today law enforcement said the parts are barely recognizable “In a briefing later on Monday, Gerhardt noted that the wreckage was so damaged that "it is no longer distinguishable as an aircraft."

[Anonymous]

What would cause a depressurization event in an aircraft like this one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would cause a depressurization event in an aircraft like this one?

Malfunction of the system, door or window, not sealed properly, etc.

My question is woukd this type of aircraft have a detection system that would drop oxygen masks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would cause a depressurization event in an aircraft like this one?

Malfunction of the system, door or window, not sealed properly, etc.

My question is woukd this type of aircraft have a detection system that would drop oxygen masks?

Seeing a lot of aviation experts say that if it's an older private plane, which it sounds like it was, the alarm would not be as pervasive as it would on a modern commercial jet. So, instead of a blaring alarm and a flashing "WARNING: OXYGEN LOW" and an autopilot feature to gradually land the plane, on an older plane it would just be a ding.

The issue with this is that if the plane is detecting depressurization/loss of oxygen, it's already happened. Confusion takes over your brain relatively quickly in a depressurization situation. So, the alarm would've been dinging but the pilot was woozy and euphoric and had no idea what was going on.