Have you ever sat in seat 33 A/B/C on a commercial airline flight? Or D/E/F? As far as I’m concerned, those are the best aviation seats on most local airlines. If they allow you there in the first place. Yes its close to the toilets at the back. No, you can’t book these online or using the self-check at the airport. Yes sometimes Kulula or SAA don’t open the back to allow you off first which means waiting until the slow moving pax drag their bodies out through the front door. At times the noise increases as the crew work on preparing meals with a crash or slam of one of the metal boxes. But I’ve found despite all of the above, they’re the best seats, particularly the window. And if you’re going to survive an accident, its more likely that you’re going to be sitting in the back rather than Business Class.
That may change with the latest revelations from the Russian airliner that went down over the Sinai with 224 people on board. It’s known that the rear of the plane separated from the fuselage – that wreckage was found a few kilometres away from the main body at the weekend. Now its being reported that Egyptian investigators are probing the company that provided on-board meals. The food is stored just forward of the main rear bulkhead – and the main rear bulkhead sheared.
TASS reports that “A driver and employees who brought meals for the passengers of flight 9268 in the morning on October 31 are being interrogated.” We all know that TASS has turned back into one of Moscow’s favourite propaganda engines, but that doesn’t mean the Egyptians aren’t actually investigating this angle.
Initially a whole bunch of speculation broke out. That it was pilot error. That one of the pitot tubes was iced and the plane speed dropped. Or that the plane broke up when the bulkhead collapsed due to poor maintenance or a fix from a tail strike a decade ago. The Cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder are being scrutinised at this time.
Meanwhile, the British and Irish have cancelled all flights to and from Sharm El-Sheikh. Cairo is muttering about how this is unfair, but they would because the military junta that now rules Egypt is set to lose more cash as tourists flee their country. A third of Egypt’s GDP is based on tourism.
And this from the British Cabinet Office Briefing Room is most telling:
“While the investigation is still ongoing we cannot say categorically why the Russian jet crashed. But as more information has come to light we have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down by an explosive device.”
May well? That’s diplomat speak for its the probably cause.
The Daily Express in the UK reports that :
“.. cockpit recordings from the Russian jet emerged last night, with Russian reports suggested “uncharacteristic noises” had been recorded, although the pilots had failed to issue a mayday call.”
Well when you’re trying to save your life, you tend to communicate last. Aviate Navigate Communicate is our mantra for a reason. As pilots we’ve all been in intense situations and the last thing you do is start yapping away to ATC when you’re trying to live. You’re hanging onto the controls and talking without using the push-to-talk, in other words, through the on-board intercom.
And Daesh or the so-called Islamic State claimed it was responsible for bringing down the plane. But their propaganda video showed radicals allegedly using some kind of missile which is highly improbable. It’s more likely that they just jumped on the bandwagon.
US radar shows a flash at the point at which the plane began breaking apart which could be from fuel exploding, but also could be from a small device on board which blew up, shearing off the tail and leading to the catastrophe. It’s too early to tell. One thing is for sure. Could it be that the Russians would rather see the real facts emerge from an airliner that crashed? Unlike their prevarication over the MH17 disaster where the Eastern Ukrainian rebels appear to have mis-identified a Malaysian commercial airliner as a Ukrainian bomber and shot it down. There Moscow has bent over backwards defending the actions of its Eastern Ukrainian allies.
It’s one of life’s cruel ironies. In my last blog I indicated that if I was a Russian Intelligence officer, I would be very concerned about my citizens and my officials after the recent revelations about MH17 and the Ukrainian rebels. Then if I had relatives who went down on board MH17 and was feeling motivated by revenge, the target of my hatred would probably be either Russian, or Eastern Ukrainian. Or both.
Did a Malaysian or someone else get even with the Russians by bringing down the Airliner over the Sinai? Security at Sharm El-Sheikh is notoriously lax. Particularly apron security.
Please, what a conspiracy theory!
Stupid even to suggest, no?
No?
Maybe.
Desmond Latham 