Two Russian airliners. One crashed, the other went missing and then crashed.
Scary.
UPDATE: It appears to be terrorism.
Two Russian airliners carrying a total of more than 100 people crashed almost simultaneously south of Moscow (search), the ITAR-Tass news agency reported Tuesday. There was no word on survivors.{emphasis mine}
This doesn't look good.
UPDATE II: The second plane's hijacking signal was activated.
{...}Witnesses reported seeing an explosion before the first plane crashed about 125 miles south of Moscow, and suspicions of terrorist involvement were compounded by the reports that the Tu-154 airliner that went missing in southern Russia's Rostov region issued a signal indicating the plane was being seized. Citing an unidentified source in Russia's government, Interfax said the signal came at 11:04 p.m., shortly before the plane disappeared from radar screens. Emergency and Interior Ministry sources in southern Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity, also told AP that a distress signal had been activated{...} {...}In Washington, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity Tuesday evening, said it was the understanding of American officials that the two Russian planes disappeared within four minutes of each other, which "in and of itself is suspicious."Why? Well, no one really seems to know much right now, but despite their lack of aviation terrorism, the Chechyn rebels have the early lead in the perpetrator race. Presidential elections are being held in Chechnya on Sunday. Given the evidence, it would appear that they're trying to influence the elections via terrorism. I hate to say it---and I may not be right---but it appears the People of Spain with their governmental switcheroo in March sent over a hundred Russians to a horrible death. The People of Spain caved, sent the wrong message, and people died as a result. Good Job! I hope you're proud of yourselves! Or maybe it won't matter to them because it didn't happen in Spain. After all, this wouldn't be a global War on Terrorism, would it? Nope. Not according to them. They think they can wrap themselves up in a blanket and all the hobgoblins will go away. I'll be very interested to see what the Spanish newspapers have to say about this. Posted by Kathy at August 1, 2004 05:43 PM | TrackBack