Agree with all of this ^
Boeing 777 shot down
- Thread starter Glaucus
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Agree with all of this ^
Caporegime
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If the no fly zone was 32000 and they flew at 33000 then they were only 3.3% above the zone.
The 32,000 already had a healthy amount added onto it to get to that figure, about 10k. It was intended to avoid hand held rockets. The rebels recently acquired a medium range launcher which can fire to 72,000 ft this is why they manage to down this aircraft.
Soldato
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True, but then that does not escape the fact that any well trained operator of a serious peice of kit capable of taking down aircraft at that altitude would know the difference between a military plane and a civillian one.
Furthermore there would be safeguards in their procedures to make sure they have a properly identified target before they fire.
The truth will hopefully come out in due cousre, by my guess it was a case of mistaken identity by a poorly trained operator.
Man of Honour
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Agreed. That's what I said a few pages ago, you don't just shoot down a passenger plane - if you're trained you'd be able to tell a passenger plane.
Most likely case imo if it was a missile that brought it down. However, surely other passenger planes had used that same route that day and maybe that hour? So even if untrained, why pick out MH17 and not one many that went before it?
It would have had still lots of its fuel on-board, so I think they climb higher later in the flight when it is more economic.
These things were designed in the 70's in the USSR, safeguards weren't their thing, the system reportedly has an automated search and destroy mode available.
Soldato
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I know this sounds a little silly, but could it have been as simple as someone accidentally knocking the system into Auto mode without realising?
Presumably these things can operate in an automatic mode without too much controller input?
If the operators were untrained, maybe it took time to get the system fully operational, & by sheer bad luck MH17 wound up in the cross hairs as the missile system came online.
Soldato
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Not necessarily in the system, but in the operators procedures.
For example cross checking data, and running through a set procedure before firing. Like pilots go through their procedures when landing or taking off.
It seems ridiculous doesn't it, but it's probably not a million miles from the truth - a load of untrained thugs pressing buttons randomly on a complicated and dangerous piece of kit, until it lets a missile loose at an unknown radar contact,
given when it was designed it was probably made so that a conscript with no prior training could fill in for a dead operator with minimal instruction from the rest of the crew.
also given the cold war climate odds are no one thought there would be any civilian planes in a world, war, a "we have no planes in this area so have an auto destroy mode, to avoid the problem of the conscript being asleep" is quite a sensible idea.
Soldato
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An important point is that the rebels brought down a military transport craft in the area shortly before this airline went down. It's possible that the rebels assumed this was a second transport craft, as the intercepted calls do suggest they thought it was a military aircraft.
"Viktor! Turn on za radio! ve must hear our awesome choonz!"
*scream of rocket launch*
"More Bass!!!"
NB: All Russians sound like Schwarzenegger's Russian character in Red Heat, it's a fact.
Some military commentator said something like, 'It could be that the Russians have given this kit to the babies'.
This is more than likely what happened, they must be living in an apocalypse now mentality thinking there are no rules anymore and that they have the authority to do what they like. Power rush to the head.