Airbus A321 disaster: All traces lead to Egypt

Source: REX

The territory, where Airbus A321 of Kogalymavia crashed, is controlled by militants of Vilayat Sinai group of the Islamic State terrorist organization. According to Russian experts, the plane "broke up in the air at a high altitude." What could be the cause of the tragedy in the skies over Egypt?

According to Reuters, Islamic State militants have killed "hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police officers" in the area. "This area is the zone of an intensive anti-terrorist operation of the Egyptian army, where there were fairly severe losses among the military," President of the Middle East Institute Yevgeny Satanovsky told Pravda.Ru.

Egypt should have closed airspace for civil planes

Flight 9268 of Kogalymavia went off radar screens during the 23rd minute of the flight after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula.

"The plane fell apart in mid-air, the fragments are scattered over a large area - about 20 square kilometers", the director of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), Victor Sorochenko said. Contrary to reports that the pilot requested an emergency landing after a radio station failure, the first data decoded from black boxes did not support the version.

A jetliner may fall apart in the air either as a result of a terrorist act or a major technical problem that leads to instantaneous depressurization and destruction of the hull of the plane.

Jean-Paul Troadec, former Director of the French Bureau of Air Crash Investigation (BEA), initially denied the version of the terrorist attack, but then changed his mind, having seen photos of the debris of the airplane.

"Having seen the photos, I keep the version of both the terrorist attack and an emergency situation," the expert told AFP. If it was an attack, the shape of the debris will show it. Traces of the explosive substance will also be possible to find on the fragments of the aircraft, if there was a bomb that exploded inside the jetliner," Triadic said. He noted that he did not see small pieces of the aircraft that appear if a plane nosedives during the crash.

Another aviation expert, Robert Galan, told AFP that an internal malfunction was very much unlikely to have caused the aircraft to explode. An explosion, the expert believes, could occur as a result of an act of suicide bombing, during the explosion of a bomb inside the plane, or during a missile attack.

"If the plane was flying at a cruising altitude of 9,000 meters (29,500 feet), it is highly unlikely that ISIS terrorists could shoot it down because they would need not only missiles, but also an advanced radar station for that," the expert told AFP.

However, the expert added, "if the aircraft had technical problems and descended, then it could be reachable for MANPADS." This is a far-fetched version, said Galan, but such a situation could occur, because ISIS militants have a Chinese FN-6 launcher (HongYing 6), from which they shot a helicopter in northern Iraq.

Noteworthy, it still remains unknown what type of weapons the Americans were supplying to "moderate opposition" in Syria.

"They have MANPADS, for example, from Muammar Gaddafi's ammo depots. Now there is Qatar delivering a variety of equipment to Syria via Sinai. This is a strategic goal of those who support the Islamists to deliver MANADS to the Islamic State or Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria," Yevgeny Satanovsky said.  

Was there a bomb on board the Airbus?

ISIS militants have been operating in the north of the Sinai Peninsula for a long time already. They have long made threats to shoot down planes flying to Sharm El Sheikh. The country, where combat actions take place, must ban the flights of civil aircraft over the zone of military operations. Egypt did it only after the tragedy with the Russian plane.

Interestingly, it could be someone of the personnel who could take the bomb on board the plane when maintaining it or loading luggage on board.

Here is another conclusion that one can make - it is dangerous now to fly to Arab countries.

The Airbus A321 had been in service for 18 years. Kogalymavia leased the aircraft from a daughter of the US-based International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in Ireland, the Irish Times wrote. The deal was made in 2002, the newspaper said.

Ireland undertook to sell "serviceable" aircraft to Russia, and Russia undertook to maintain them. It turns out, though, that the Irish company is not responsible for rented and leased aircraft. The US-based owner (about 8,000 aircraft in leasing) has a bad reputation. According to The Irish Times, there were more 300 claims against the ILFC regarding the technical condition of aircraft.

Final conclusion: One should establish order in the field of aircraft leasing. One should toughen the rules and eradicate corruption. In this case, Russia would bid farewell to most of 130 air carriers.  

"We have been talking about this security for 25 years. Yet, no one has ever paid any attention to it  - either at the Transport Ministry or at the government. I am 100 percent sure that on December 1 we will all forget about the disaster, and everything will remain the way it is now. Nothing will be reorganized, no conclusions will be made, no suggestions whatsoever," Victor Gorbachev, CEO of the Association of Civil Aviation Airports told Pravda.Ru.

Lyuba Lulko
Pravda.Ru

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Read more on the subject:

Air crash in Egypt: Was the Russian plane shot down?

Airbus A321 exclude version of external impact

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Airbus A321 flight recorders exclude version of external impact

AP photo

First details about the causes that led to the crash of the Russian passenger jetliner of Kogalymavia begin to emerge.

According to a source close to investigation, recordings of aircraft black boxes do not indicate that the pilots reported an emergency on board the plane after takeoff.

According to Reuters, the information on flight recorders does not confirm the version of an external attack either.

Spokespeople for Kogalymavia earlier rejected the version according to which the plane crashed on account of a technical problem. According to the airline, the aircraft was technically serviceable, and it was an external impact that caused the plane to crash.

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Dutch Ambassador shows Western arrogance

Ron van Dartel is the Dutch Ambassador to the Russian Federation and as such he is supposed to represent his country's diplomacy. So what does he do? Why, he claims the Crimea is "under occupation" and declares it "illegal". Interesting coming from a country built on piracy on the high seas.

The Dutch, are historically renowned for being pirates and were the source of misery for countless families in Spain, Portugal and the UK, their colonial policy smacking of a country hell-bent on sticking its nose into other people's affairs, seizing cities, raping women and spreading filth and disease, while at the same time insulting Christianity by implementing their laws overseas through the Bible and the bullet like the Hordes of Baal.

In 2015, eighteen months after Ron van Dartel took office as the Netherlands' Ambassador to the Russian Federation, we have the most blatant example of sheer, pig-headed arrogance from a Western source since the likes of Condoleezza Rice or Hillary Clinton, in a puerile interview with The Moscow Times in which van Dartel claims that Crimea is "under occupation": "As long as Crimea continues to be under occupation, we have a problem...In our eyes that's illegal and we will never accept that."

A festering strip of silt

In everyone's eyes, the acts of The Netherlands have been illegal since they built the dykes and protected that festering strip of silt from the North Sea. Most shocking is the extreme degree of ignorance and arrogance delivered in the interview, and the absence of emotional intelligence from one who is expected to represent his country.

Does Mr. Van Dartel not know that under the law in force governing Crimea, the illegal Putsch removing Yanukovich from power as democratically elected President meant that in the absence of any higher power, the legal organism governing Crimea was its Parliament?

Obviously now, and following that does Mr. Van Dartel have a problem with the expression of opinion through a democratic vote? Most Crimeans voted to rejoin Russia in a free and fair totally legal democratic plebiscite. But then again the Netherlands' recent history with Russia has been somewhat strained through acts of piracy not on the high seas but on land, as we shall see...

Dutch police attack Russian diplomat in October

The home of a Russian diplomat, Dmitry Borodin, was stormed by Dutch police one Saturday night at the beginning of October. The diplomat was allegedly manhandled in front of his family before being hauled away and detained all night, in direct breach of the Vienna Convention which grants diplomatic staff immunity unless they pose a danger to themselves or the public.

That the Dutch apparently and collectively act first and think later, was more than proven by the knee-jerk reaction over the tragedy which was the MH 17 passenger aircraft which crashed over Ukraine. Images of people crying and asking "Putin" for their children back were flashed across TV screens all over the Western world and the insinuation was very clear for all to see: Russia in general was responsible and Mr. Putin in particular, both of these being absurd and slanderous statements which would merit prosecution.

And now with this "gross breach" of the Vienna Convention, we once again see the Dutch acting first and thinking second, whatever the facts surrounding the incident. In the event the Dutch apologized the following Wednesday.

Perhaps Mr. Van Dartel would like to do the same. If not then at least he should keep his mouth shut before he embarrasses his country with his juvenile, unfounded, abrasive, inflammatory and insolent quips.

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Pravda.Ru 

(timothy.hinchey@gmail.com)

*Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey has worked as a correspondent, journalist, deputy editor, editor, chief editor, director, project manager, executive director, partner and owner of printed and online daily, weekly, monthly and yearly publications, TV stations and media groups printed, aired and distributed in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, Mozambique and São Tomé and Principe Isles; the Russian Foreign Ministry publication Dialog and the Cuban Foreign Ministry Official Publications. He has spent the last two decades in humanitarian projects, connecting communities, working to document and catalog disappearing languages, cultures, traditions, working to network with the LGBT communities helping to set up shelters for abused or frightened victims and as Media Partner with UN Women, working to foster the UN Women project to fight against gender violence and to strive for an end to sexism, racism and homophobia. A Vegan, he is also a Media Partner of Humane Society International, fighting for animal rights. He is Director and Chief Editor of the Portuguese version of Pravda.Ru.

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Russians refuse from trips to Egypt after Airbus A321 disaster

AP photo

Spokespeople for the tourist industry of the Russian Federation have reported a significant reduction in demand for tours to Egypt.

Many Russian either refuse from their earlier booked tours to the country or choose other destinations for holidays in connection with the crash of the Airbus-A321 of Kogalymavia. The aircraft crashed on its way from Sharm el-Sheikh in St. Petersburg on October 31.

Experts also say that customer confidence to Kogalymavia is likely to be lost for food after the disaster in Egypt.

Noteworthy, in the summer of 2015, the flow of Russian tourists to Europe has dropped by 60 percent because of the growing euro rate and the pressure of EU countries on Russia. Turkey, a traditional holiday destination for many Russians, has lost a lot of Russian tourists in 2015 as well on account of strained relations between Turkey and the Kurds

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Canada's new PM: Obama lite

AP Photo

With their national election concluded, today many Canadians now are probably pondering and even struggling to understand the result: The Liberals under Justin Trudeau swept into office after they gained a majority of the parliamentary seats. To be sure, not many pundits and party loyalists alike expected the incumbent, Steven Harper, to form another Conservative government. What is shocking was the margin of defeat for Harper: more than 80 seats.

Defeat is the correct term; this result hardly qualified as a Liberal victory. If anything, it was a pyrrhic victory. Now, working class Canadians will have to endure tax increases. Trudeau, fresh from his protest vote 'win' was quick to repeal tax breaks to those families earning over $150,000. That's because when a reporter challenged him to define 'middle class' the very group that Trudeau vowed to defend, he mumbled something along the lines that his Macedonian phalanx of economic experts would advise him later. Great... Trudeau wasted no time in the confiscation of hard-earned taxpayer dollars by expanding the state's bureaucracy; he is true to form as a tax and spend Liberal. Just what the country needs not!

Not something to crow about

Let me expound on why the Liberals 'victory' is not something for Canadians to crow about. To gain a deeper understanding one need look no further than the Canadian news media. Lefties dominate every aspect in the dissemination of political points. The major networks there are the de facto government. Case in point: small independent news outlets have been saying for years now that major networks like the CBC and CTV have drilled into the psyche of the majority of Canadians a phenomenon known as 'Harper Derangement Syndrome'. Chief among the litany of reasons cited to hate Harper was the fact that he is Christian. You should interpret that to mean that under Harper and over time, Canada would become a theocracy.

Laughable as much as it is loathsome; it speaks volumes about the Canadian media's debased mindset. Moreover, in Trudeau who is an avowed Muslim empathizer, the media had their cutesy PC poster boy. They had help, too. Word on the street was that Obama's community organizers ventured north of the border; they would lend a hand but not for Harper. Trudeau needed a boost. Early on, his campaign faltered. Barely able to string two sentences together let alone have a cogent thought, Trudeau more often than naught appeared like his true self, a stoner. With Obama's PR people on the scene, the Trudeau makeover was complete. Soon, the Liberal 'leader' could read the teleprompter without pulling those ridiculous faces Canadians were used to seeing. Trudeau even had a new pose in his attack ads: sneers replaced puerile pouts. The Obama team's PR scope even included damage control. Years earlier, MP Trudeau, an admitted pothead, when informed that Canada's southern neighbor, the U.S., would deny him entry, cried on camera. Maybe now, U.S. authorities took him off the 'no fly' list. Suffice it to say Trudeau is still flying 'high'.

The nuclear Samson option

On the other hand, there is always the nuclear Samson option: President Obama declares an executive order giving him amnesty. On foreign policy, an area where Canada's chicken shit media failed to hold any of the candidates accountable, Trudeau now felt safe (but still ignorant). He ventured out once though on his own; proffered this gem to the press. "Canada will now be more compassionate and constructive." Really? Does his definition of compassion mean he will break ranks with NATO; recall Canadian military advisers from Ukraine; denounce the fratricidal war whereby Kiev continues to engage in the wanton and murderous slaughter of Donbass' innocent Russian speaking citizens? By constructive, does Trudeau plan to repeal the illegitimate Russian economic sanctions?

To do either would mean the unthinkable: Trudeau would have to oppose his new bud Obama and stand up to the NATO street gang; but that would require backbone; the one leadership quality, like his predecessor, that Trudeau also lacks. It shows. At a time when their economy is floundering, perhaps at the tipping point of entering a recession, Canadians cannot afford to elect a surrogate, a rank novice like Trudeau to 'learn on the job' as their head of state. Trudeau has no experience. His resume consists of one line: drama coach seeking entitlement. There is nothing comely or endearing about his speech and manner that even remotely suggests that he is qualified to lead the country.

The exact opposite is true: he is unfit. Canadians would have fared better with a coalition government; that way the governing parties could impose checks and balances on each other. A leading conservative rag, The National Post, was succinct in its assessment of Canada's election result. "Voting Liberal will cost you. On average, Canadian families will pay an additional $ 2,000.00." Like most Canadians, the newspaper was polite; truth is, under Trudeau, those earning over $150k are wealthy. In his eyes, the working class 'rich' deserve to pay more taxes. How long will it be before citizens wake up? Will they ever realize their error? In their rush to judgment against Harper, they committed the unpardonable: entered into a Faustian pact. By electing Trudeau, ordinary Canadians have embedded a Trojan horse in their households. Suit Trudeau cannot be trusted. He will pick their pockets bare. Prudent fiscal responsibility is beyond his comprehension. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss!

Montresor

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