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Egypt Air flight from Paris disappears from radar

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ShutEye

Member
Given the sudden disappearance this sounds like a bomb. We've never really got a great explanation for the Sinai attack as to what and how that bomb got on the plane.

Also Egypt is notorious for incompetence in handling air crashes
 
Overseas on holiday right now, not scared but damn... Makes you slightly nervous :(

Hope there's a positive conclusion to this, but the information provided so far does little to boost spirits.
 

rykomatsu

Member
Yeah, the only mechanical failure I can think of that would result in the loss of an entire plane that quickly is the engine turbines falling apart, sending shrapnel though the fuselage. Though, I can't remember an incident like that since the 90's and that United DC-10 incident in Iowa. And even then the plane was somewhat flyable. The Pilots nearly landed the thing safely, and over half the passengers survived (which is kind of amazing if you see the crash video).

And like you said, planes are tough. Even explosive decompression is unlikely to bring down an airliner.

Modern airplane engines are amazingly well built. They go through blade-off testing where an engine turbine blade is released at maximum power using an explosive charge. If the engine housing does not contain all shrapnel, it does not pass certification.

Realistically, the chances of shrapnel from the engine is pretty damn low I would think. Here's an interesting video from an A380 engine that demonstrates how really overbuilt engines are to prevent something like what you're suggesting...

https://youtu.be/j973645y5AA
 

Syriel

Member
Given the sudden disappearance this sounds like a bomb. We've never really got a great explanation for the Sinai attack as to what and how that bomb got on the plane.

Also Egypt is notorious for incompetence in handling air crashes

If it was a bomb, then it's not an Egypt issue. It would be a France issue.

Can't teleport bombs onto planes.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
Modern airplane engines are amazingly well built. They go through blade-off testing where an engine turbine blade is released at maximum power using an explosive charge. If the engine housing does not contain all shrapnel, it does not pass certification.

Realistically, the chances of shrapnel from the engine is pretty damn low I would think. Here's an interesting video from an A380 engine that demonstrates how really overbuilt engines are to prevent something like what you're suggesting...

https://youtu.be/j973645y5AA

I think it was the United DC10 incident which led to those changes in engines, as well as changes to hydraulic system to have better fail safes. Like I said, I can't think of another turbine incident since that flight.
 

GHG

Gold Member
Given the sudden disappearance this sounds like a bomb. We've never really got a great explanation for the Sinai attack as to what and how that bomb got on the plane.

Also Egypt is notorious for incompetence in handling air crashes

The plane took off from France.
 

EGOMON

Member
Updates:
Reuters cites a French airport official saying of flight MS804:

It did not land, that is all we can say for the moment.
Associated Press reports that Ihab Raslan, a spokesman for the Egyptian civil aviation agency, told SkyNews Arabia that the Airbus A320 most likely crashed into the sea.

However, he also said the plane was about to enter Egyptian airspace when it disappeared from radar, contradicting the airline, which said it was 10 miles (16km) inside Egyptian airspace when contact was lost.

It is not uncommon for conflicting information to surface at this stage – the number of those on board has already been adjusted from 69 to 66.
 

seanoff

Member
Modern airplane engines are amazingly well built. They go through blade-off testing where an engine turbine blade is released at maximum power using an explosive charge. If the engine housing does not contain all shrapnel, it does not pass certification.

Realistically, the chances of shrapnel from the engine is pretty damn low I would think. Here's an interesting video from an A380 engine that demonstrates how really overbuilt engines are to prevent something like what you're suggesting...

https://youtu.be/j973645y5AA


The QF A380 out of Singapore suffered a turbine disc failure and there is nothing that will contain that that would allow the plane to fly.

fan blades are small and light. turbine discs are not and if they let go pray it doesnt do too much damage. still unlikely it would be enough to bring down a plane

however this was the damage to an A380 form a turbine disc failure

1 Massive fuel leak in the left mid fuel tank (there are 11 tanks, including in the horizontal stabiliser on the tail)

2 Massive fuel leak in the left inner fuel tank

3 A hole on the flap fairing big enough to climb through

4 The aft gallery in the fuel system failed, preventing many fuel transfer functions

5 Problem jettisoning fuel

6 Massive hole in the upper wing surface

7 Partial failure of leading edge slats

8 Partial failure of speed brakes/ground spoilers

9 Shrapnel damage to the flaps

10 Total loss of all hydraulic fluid in one of the jet's two systems

11 Manual extension of landing gear

12 Loss of one generator and associated systems

13 Loss of brake anti-skid system

14 No.1 engine could not be shut down in the usual way after landing because of major damage to systems

15 No.1 engine could not be shut down using the fire switch, which meant fire extinguishers would not work on that engine

16 ECAM (electronic centralised aircraft monitor) warnings about the major fuel imbalance (because of fuel leaks on left side) could not be fixed with cross-feeding

17 Fuel was trapped in the trim tank (in the tail)creating a balance problem for landing

18 Left wing forward spar penetrated by debris

image-151605-galleryV9-ikvc-151605.jpg
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Taking off and landing are when the most accidents happen for planes.

Though this doesn't look like a normal accident.

Yes, but if you look at the map it's no where near approach. And OP's data shows it's still 36,000 ft in the air thereby no on the descending approach. If it was closer to Cairo, I'd think a descending accident as possible. But that's not the case here.
 
I'm genuinely surprised by the number of people in this thread claiming that "these things happen" and/or vehemently arguing that mechanical failure must be the cause whenever someone even suggests the possibility of terrorism.
It could be, but it's rather premature. Terrorism is one of the lesser causes for flight accidents.
 

830920

Member
The plane flew from Asmara in Eritrea to Cairo the night before, so if it's a bomb it could have been placed on the plane while in Cairo and then not been detonated until it flew from Paris.
 

Polari

Member
Only 21% of accidents happen during cruise/descent, and that isn't controlling for hostile acts. Over the last few years Germanwings, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and Metrojet have all crashed as the result of hostile acts. It's not unreasonable to speculate that this is likely to be the case here, although obviously we need more information.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member

Assuming the beacon signal wasn't coming from the last known location, this is possibly even worse news than straight out crashing / explosion.

What this would mean is that someone in the plane shut of the transponders the minute they crossed over to Egypt, probably trusting that Egyptian military is in a state of chaos and won't be able to figure out what's going on and intercept.

Then the plane would be diverted to a terrorist held area, with the passengers paraded in front of cameras, or worse.
 

Polari

Member
Assuming the beacon signal wasn't coming from the last known location, this is possibly even worse news than straight out crashing / explosion.

What this would mean is that someone in the plane shut of the transponders the minute they crossed over to Egypt, probably trusting that Egyptian military is in a state of chaos and won't be able to figure out what's going on and intercept.

Then the plane would be diverted to a terrorist held area, with the passengers paraded in front of cameras, or worse.

Might be going a bit far here.
 
Assuming the beacon signal wasn't coming from the last known location, this is possibly even worse news than straight out crashing / explosion.

What this would mean is that someone in the plane shut of the transponders the minute they crossed over to Egypt, probably trusting that Egyptian military is in a state of chaos and won't be able to figure out what's going on and intercept.

Then the plane would be diverted to a terrorist held area, with the passengers paraded in front of cameras, or worse.

What?
 

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
Assuming the beacon signal wasn't coming from the last known location, this is possibly even worse news than straight out crashing / explosion.

What this would mean is that someone in the plane shut of the transponders the minute they crossed over to Egypt, probably trusting that Egyptian military is in a state of chaos and won't be able to figure out what's going on and intercept.

Then the plane would be diverted to a terrorist held area, with the passengers paraded in front of cameras, or worse.
I mean, I won't rule out terrorist activity either, but this is a little too much of a stretch
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
Most likely either a maintenance error resulting in the crash or the craft was brought down deliberately
 

Chittagong

Gold Member

We have seen one case of what appears to be a shut transponder, MH370. Malaysian military which, one would assume, is pretty decent, didn't have time to figure out what happened or intercept. It would be not a stretch to assume that Egyptian military would do any better, in a chaotic situation of a plane disappearing from radar. There will be chaos with people trying to figure out lines of command, correct responses and other procedures.

I'll leave it at that as it seems that speculation about terrorism is frowned upon here for some reason.
 

spekkeh

Banned
Shipper 275km south of Karpathos allegedly saw a fire in the sky.

Airplanes don't just explode in a ball of flames. Seems ISIS clear as day to me.
 

brian577

Banned
Shipper 275km south of Karpathos allegedly saw a fire in the sky.

Airplanes don't just explode in a ball of flames. Seems ISIS clear as day to me.

Didn't they claim responsibility for the last crash within hours? Seems like we're overdue for that.
 
Shipper 275km south of Karpathos allegedly saw a fire in the sky.

Airplanes don't just explode in a ball of flames. Seems ISIS clear as day to me.

We're a couple hours into something and you're claiming something is as clear as day? You don't see any fault in that strategy?
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
Assuming the beacon signal wasn't coming from the last known location, this is possibly even worse news than straight out crashing / explosion.

What this would mean is that someone in the plane shut of the transponders the minute they crossed over to Egypt, probably trusting that Egyptian military is in a state of chaos and won't be able to figure out what's going on and intercept.

Then the plane would be diverted to a terrorist held area, with the passengers paraded in front of cameras, or worse.

Creative Writing thread is that way, pal.
 
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