Lucas_From_Hell

France reacts to Paris attacks

Hit them back and hit them hard, the world is behind you.

Very nicely done!

Just to add to what WildBillKelsoe said, some years ago I traveled with a group that had both diplomats, people on official duty and non-diplomats, from Russia to Egypt and back. Not only they checked everyone's check-in and hand luggage thoroughly, we had to do all the security procedures like everybody else. On top of that, they even held us up for longer to get all the confirmation and clearance that the documents were real and all that. This was in 2010. While I can concede that things have changed to some extent, the stuff people are describing sounds crazy. I would advise everyone to just stick to the official reporting at this point. All kinds of newspapers and officials from all over the world are pointing fingers and giving their two cents, but whatever they think or believe or have a hunch towards does not mean anything at all without official confirmation. Russia (airline owner), Egypt (departure airport and crash site), Ireland (aircraft owner) and the United States (engine manufacturer) are the main parties involved in the investigation. Let's be patient and hear out what the official investigation has to say before jumping to conclusions.

Syrian opposition cooperated with Syrian government to push ISIS away from Kweires Airbase near Aleppo Now that's a surprise :)

Beautiful video!

Sources: http://tass.ru/en/world/835310 and http://tass.ru/en/politics/835288

You know, when I saw the first few screenshots I actually said to myself "who the f--- is posting photos in the screenshot thread" and then it clicked:megalol: Excellent screenshots, 10/10 :thumbup:

Su-35 News Russia’s state technologies corporation Rostec head Sergey Chemezov: Sources: http://sputniknews.com/business/20151108/1029778588/indonesia-russia-su-35.html and http://sputniknews.com/business/20151108/1029772698/russia-uae-su-35.html

Great skin and model too, Joey. So... is that a stand-in for the F-35 or its final replacement? :P j/k

Subliminal messages :matrix: That was one fantastic video, really exciting :thumbup:

Another quote from the same article, just to be prudent: Not about the crash itself but related, the Egyptian Army is doing the security at airports in Egypt so that Russian tourists can go back home. (Source)

But is there much of a point in doing so though? I mean, since the version that actually materialised into an operational fighter is nearly a completely different plane, it should be hard to make a case for it.

Russia suspends all flights to Egypt on FSB recommendation http://m.sputniknews.com/world/20151106/1029709244/egypt-crash-putin-flights.html

(Source)

PM Cameron's statement (source)

I wouldn't put down the hammer just yet, although this possibility does seem likely at this point. The facts we know are that during the investigation the Egyptian government detected some parts of the security at Sharm El-Sheikh were possible to bypass (specifics have not been provided at this point). This is the security chief's fault, so his head rolled. The UK, in turn, cancelled its flights because it felt that the measures taken to address that were not enough at this point. All we know so far about the crash demonstrates there has been an explosion of some sort.

I don't have a particular preference but this outcome would definitely be awesome. Supersonic attack aircraft make for amazing interdiction scenarios, which should be really fun :pilotfly:

Here's the BA incident. Had a similar accident happened in flight, it could have led to catastrophic results. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_2276

So far this is all preliminary of course and therefore subject to change. That being said, weren't there some (obviously minor) incidents involving a Qantas A380 and a BA 777 with engines blowing up or receiving other types of catastrophic damage?

Just in: Preliminary cause was engine explosion http://m.sputniknews.com/world/20151104/1029589834/media-box-a321-explosion.html

Isn't the Gripen-C equipped with a new datalink today though, or am I thinking of the JAS-39E? I though the JA-37 only inherited some Gripen avionics later in its life, while the base model was relatively simple. On that note, a (very) abridged SAAB PDF on their datalink for the -39: http://sesam.smart-lab.se/seminarier/Hostsem07/Gripen.pdf

I completely understand, I found a link that briefly describes the exchange (not the one I read but it covers it): http://www.egyptindependent.com//news/video-russian-plane-crash-egypt-it-s-too-early-determine-cause-officials By the way, thanks for your efforts in keeping people informed and having all the information readily available.

There is nothing to see there, the Russian aviation regulators just said that the company's statement (which was released merely hours before after the incident) was premature since there was a lot of investigation to go through before any conclusions and such statements could be made. I think you may find that at TASS if you dig a little, but I am not sure. On a sidenote, the international plot also has a team of American experts involved because the aircraft was flying on American engines.