just caught this in channel 4 news. I do wish thou that the journalist would show some restraint around the affected families.
Last thing I'd want is some nosey journalists pointing their camera in face and such a personal time posted by monkeyJuice at 10:18 AM on May 25, 2002
According to the title of the article, it's Taiwanese, not Chinese. posted by gyc at 11:17 AM on May 25, 2002
Hmmm... Taiwanese passenger jet, en route to China...
I just read on CNN that some witnesses heard some sort of explosion, and that there was no mayday or distress call of any kind. These are both consistant with a mid-air explosion of some description.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I smell a rat. If anyone happens to be hip to China-Taiwan politics, maybe this passenger list is worth a gander. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find either a PLA irregular or some Taiwanese "rebels" among those names. (Either that or some seriously suspicious military flights in the area...)
Of course, jumping to any further conclusions would require a rocket-assist, but I really feel that there was some dirty work afoot. posted by fnord_prefect at 1:03 PM on May 25, 2002
Thank you for bringing home the gravity of the situation with that emoticon. posted by droob at 2:57 PM on May 25, 2002
Yep, it seems the Taiwanese cheekily call their carrier "China Airlines". Interestingly, this comes amid new calls for more direct flights to the mainland, rather than only via the special-status territory of Hong Kong. posted by dhartung at 5:36 PM on May 25, 2002
droob: I'm taking that line. It's the most clever thing I've seen all day. posted by fnord_prefect at 6:23 PM on May 25, 2002
To China? It was going from Hong Kong to Taipei, a perfectly common route.
China Airlines makes sense, if you take the time to consider that Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China. posted by Poagao at 7:17 PM on May 25, 2002
actually it was the other way around. it was heading to hong kong from taipei.
but poagao is correct about taiwan being called the republic of china. he ought to know... he served in their army. posted by bwg at 9:53 PM on May 25, 2002
Oops, that's right. Still, it's a very common route, so there's nothing suspicious about the flightpath. posted by Poagao at 10:25 PM on May 25, 2002
The Taiwanese media is now reporting a potential link to Muslim separatists in the Phillipines. They say a Filipina woman booked on the flight did not board it, although her luggage remained on, and her details subsequently proved fake. posted by kerplunk at 4:57 AM on May 26, 2002
> Thank you for bringing home the gravity of the situation
> with that emoticon.
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Last thing I'd want is some nosey journalists pointing their camera in face and such a personal time
posted by monkeyJuice at 10:18 AM on May 25, 2002