RiverGirl, those things are entirely possible, I hate to say it...but today's jet aircraft do not have much of a glide ratio at all, and need power to maintain airspeed, and to stay aloft. I worked for a commuter airline once, and the underpaid ground crew accidently put avgas in a turboprop. Just after the plane took off, the jet-A was all used up in the fuel lines, the engines quit, and the plane fell from the sky like a rock...killing everyone aboard. A fanjet, like that Lear, would be worse, and if I'm not mistaken, this jet was approaching the airport for a landing. This would mean empty fuel tanks, and a greater explosion on impact, due to more fumes in the tanks, rather than liquid fuel. This is why I sincerely hope the Mexican Government allows the U.S. to come in and not only conduct the investigation, but to help really put a hurt on these cartels. The article already alluded to the peoples' lack of faith in what their government says, and I just don't think that would be the case with outside intervention. Evidently, this Learjet did not explode in mid-air, so the possibility of mechanical failure or pilot error still looms. However, I think that is sort of unlikely, considering who was on board at the time. I hope I'm wrong, because to have a sabotage situation, would put all of us at greater risk, every time we fly out of Mexico. One just never knows who might also be aboard that plane, who would be a target for the narcos.
I have a cousin working in the goverment(with people with really high position), at the beggining they really belive not was an accident, after the early reports from the US specialists seems like "it was an accident", the theory says the Jet had a problems with fuel, this same Jet had already taken a similar problem in 2005. I don't know the full story, but my cousin says there are nothing to worry about it just was an accident.
Here's a link to the radar images showing the plane disappearing from the screen: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2008/11/05/audioavion/radar.gif
http://www.thenews.com.mx/home/tnhome.asp?cve_home=600 This should help get to the bottom of this tragedy. RG, Do you know what the white lines represent that are going towards the plane just before it disappears?
information states that 2 obligatory goverment security protocols were not active. First one is the none appearence or security of militars at SLP airport Second is to let fly Mouriño in the same aircraft with SIEDO chief; Jose Luis Santiago whom have had a lot of living threats to himself and his family and survive to at leat 5 attempts.
In a press conference federal autorities says they didn't find any kind of explosive material and not was a motor failure, the investigation continues and they expect have the complete analisys from the "black boxes" sended to a laboratory in Washington the next week.
It looks like this investigation is being done properly. I thought it was nuts for them to put two high ranking officials on the same plane. That's a no-no.
I think is nuts too, but you really don't know what kind of barbarities doing the mexican goverment, honestly, they are clueless about security issues, but it's true that we haven't security problems like now before.
That would appear to be flight A1507 just coming onto the screen. If it was joining the line, it would turn left, flying parallel to the track and then making a right to join the incoming line of flights at the top of the screen. Also notice that Mourino's plane falls off the fligh path to the left just before disappearing.
