[Xuluman]

As technology advances, and sophisticated weapons fall into unsophisticated hands I’d expect more to follow.

I absolutely think it was a mistake, that they didn’t mean to target a civilian aircraft. They don’t have a radar, they literally pointed it at a distant aircraft, not knowing who the hell it was and just plucked it out the sky.

But what did the Russians think was gong to happen? One day you’re having a good ol’ moan about the Ukraine after being told they are to blame for all your problems…..the next day someone hands you an air-surface missile capable of shooting an airliner down without any way of identifying what you are actually targeting.

There is no accountability. There are no regulations governing them. How many more missiles of this type do they have? I doubt it was their only one. Scary stuff.

What’s next? Are Russia going to hand a Nuclear weapon over to a goat herder in Afghanistan?

[Charles-P]

‘Xuluman’ with respect that’s absolute rubbish.

This was an aircraft flying at around FL360, probably just under 500MPH, hitting it at that speed and distance is far from easy. The Ukrainian rebels have almost certainly captured an S-300 anti-aircraft system (known by NATO as ‘Grumble’). This requires a crew to identify, lock onto and make a decision to engage.

This was a deliberate act to shoot down an aircraft they probably thought was a cargo plane.

[Xuluman]

Which is exactly what I just said…read it again.

[Charles-P]

What you said was,

“They don’t have a radar, they literally pointed it at a distant aircraft, not knowing who the hell it was and just plucked it out the sky.”

That is incorrect.

[Xuluman]

Ok, and then you said that they thought it was a different aircraft….so if they had a radar, why would they think that?

You disagree with plucking a random aircraft out the sky…and then go on to say it was a deliberate act targeting a military cargo plane…..but it wasn’t a cargo plane. So yes they did indeed pluck a random aircraft out the sky without identifying it.

[Charles-P]

Because radar of the type they are using does not differentiate between a large passenger aircraft and a large cargo aircraft.

The S-300 utilises a combination of the 76N6 CLAM SHELL continuous-wave Doppler radar for target acquisition and the 30N6 FLAP LID A I/J-band phased array digitally steered tracking and engagement radar.

[Xuluman]

Right, so if their radar is incapable of differentiating between aircraft, then you would agree that the aircraft was not identified.

What a waste of time this is. Enjoy your day.

[BigDog.]

Respectfully, 295 people lost their lives yesterday.

It was on a route many of us have probably taken when travelling to SE Asia. Petty squabbling is imo inappropriate at this time.

[Charles-P]

SIGH

What you said was,

“They don’t have a radar, they literally pointed it at a distant aircraft, not knowing who the hell it was and just plucked it out the sky.”

That remains incorrect.

[canucklad]

This news if true angers me…..

Sky are reporting that Igor Strelkov is boasting the fact ” we warned you not to fly over our air space”
The flight recorders have been recovered., but if it was a missile I doubt its going to tell us much. And it’s not the Ukrainian authorities who 🙂 ave them.

Totally agree with what the Ukrainian president had to say today,and I’d go further. As a regular flyer I’d like to stop this menace from rearing its ugly evil head again.

I’m not sure about the practicalities of it,but pursuing not only the users of these weapons but also the sellers should be an immediate priority.
in today’s sad depressing worlde are all at risk,and unfortunately the next shoot down is only one maniac away……remember Mombasa.,that’s not in a war zone.
Oh ,just what technology do the yanks have that they tracked a small fast short flight misille, yet we still haven’t a clue to what happened with MH370

Edited to add….Charles & Xuluman , with respect the evil perpetrators are denying any missiles were fired!

[Charles-P]

Tracking aircraft is not difficult but I don’t think most flyers realise how little of the world is covered by even primary radar (secondary radar even less so). During the majority of many flights the only link between the aircraft and the ground is radio.
There is currently much industry discussion about having aircraft send continuous automated ‘here I am’ messages by satellite but the technology is expensive and as long as airlines are not required to do it few will spend the money.

[GrahamSmith]

“Respectfully, 295 people lost their lives yesterday.

It was on a route many of us have probably taken when travelling to SE Asia. Petty squabbling is imo inappropriate at this time.”

Agreed. Please can everyone bear this in mind when posting (as I’m sure you all are anyway). Thanks.

[PeterCoultas]

nmh, BA19.., HongKongLady, DavidGordon10 all make entirely sensible responses to this horrendous disaster. That civilian airlines overfly any active war/insurrection zones is plainly irresponsible.

Whoever shot this plane down, the Ukraine Gov, the ‘rebels’ & their arms suppliers are all partly blameworthy. That the Ukraine Gov has used airstrikes against its civilian population makes this event more likely given that, at least partly, amateurish ‘rebels’ are attempting to shoot down these Gov planes. Hardly terrorism, merely the foreseeable normal consequence of military incompetence that was entirely avoidable if the airline routings had been appropriately modified.

All sympathy with those passengers and their relatives who have been cruelly affected by this unnecessary event.

[JohnHarper]

This is a terrible thing to have happened and with regret it has become more personal this morning when I learned that the son of a good friend was on the flight.

He was an intelligent and very capable young man who loved life and lived it to the full. He was due to marry in September to an absolutely delightful young lady.

I think today I can understand better a little of what people who are closer to those who were lost yesterday are feeling. Mrs JH and I are devastated. Our sympathy to all those others who are affected.

[rferguson]

My condolences to all involved.

I feel especially sad for the MH crews. To lose 15 of your colleagues a couple months ago and then another 15 yesterday would just be heart breaking for them. It’s incredible the bonds you make with what were complete strangers in this job when working together, on long slips downroute. Your flying colleagues often do feel just like family. There is a ‘crew lounge’ page on FB with some pictures of the crew involved in yesterday’s downing. Heartbreaking. The youngest, (Angeline Premila) was only 30 years old. RIP.

[Author]

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