Russian Airliner

[Elizabeth]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/n ... port-staff" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Russian media reports have said the terrorist bomb that downed an airliner in Egypt at the end of October was probably brought on board by personnel at Sharm el-Sheikh airport and set off by a timer.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin confirmed that a bomb had destroyed the plane and vowed to hunt down those responsible.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Wednesday that investigators from the FSB intelligence agency had discovered a one-metre hole in a fragment of the plane’s fuselage with its edges turned out, indicating an explosion.
It quoted a source close to the investigation saying the blast had occurred in the rear of the passenger cabin, near the frame of the tail. The bomb was probably placed under a window seat, the source said. Its detonation caused an explosive loss of cabin pressure, detachment of the tail and the breakup of the plane in mid-air. Those on board died almost instantly from the sharp drop in pressure, the newspaper reported.
The bomb is likely to have been brought on board by airport service personnel, such as cabin cleaners or workers delivering baggage and food, and set off by a timer, though another possibility is that it went off when a sensor detected falling pressure as the plane gained altitude, Kommersant reported.The Interfax news agency quoted a source who said the device had been made from a “substance used in military shells and bombs”, probably plastic explosives, and set off by a timer. The source said the attackers must have known about frequent delays in tour operator flights from Sharm el-Sheikh and that airport employees had probably placed the bomb on board after the final flight time was determined.
The online tabloid LifeNews published backdated footage on Tuesday of Russian emergencies ministry workers discovering a badly burnt suitcase at the crash site, which it speculated could have held the bomb.
Experts expressed scepticism that the device in the Dabiq picture could have been behind the crash. Norman Shanks, a former head of security for BAA and Heathrow, said that an improvised device would probably have to be significantly larger to create the explosive blast of 1kg of TNT, the equivalent force that Russian officials said brought down the plane.
He also said the purported bomb appeared to have no timer or barometric device to trigger an explosion at altitude, and so would need to be manually activated. “It could have been put on the aircraft before the flight by airport staff but would have to be triggered by someone in the cabin, which means a passenger or crew member,” he said.
“I imagine that the Russians are now looking again at the passenger and crew manifest to see if there are any connections, but I personally have doubts. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was being put out to cover up how they got the actual device in.”
As well as publishing a picture of the purported bomb, Dabiq claimed that bombers had made advanced plans but chose to target a Russian airliner, instead of another country’s planes, only after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, launched airstrikes. Its edition claims: “And so after having discovered a way to compromise the security at the Sharm el-Sheikh international airport and resolving to bring down a plane belonging to a nation in the American-led western coalition against the Islamic State, the target was changed to a Russian plane.”
The FSB head, Alexander Bortnikov, informed Putin during a televised briefing on Monday night that the plane crash was “unequivocally a terrorist act” caused by an explosive device. Putin declared Russia would find those guilty “anywhere on the planet and punish them”. He also ordered Russia’s military to intensify its airstrikes in Syria.On Wednesday, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow had already received some responses to its request to other governments for intelligence that could lead to those responsible being identified, calling the bombing “equivalent to an attack on the state”. Lev Gudkov, director of the independent pollster Levada Centre, said that rather than calling into doubt Putin’s intervention in the Middle East, news that a terrorist attack brought down the plane would probably strengthen the “opinion that propaganda is pushing on people – that the Russian position on Syria is necessary”.

[Elizabeth]

Meantime:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/ ... 5Q20151118" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Islamic State's official magazine carried a photo on Wednesday of a Schweppes drink it said was used to make an improvised bomb that brought down a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last month, killing all 224 people on board.
The photo showed a can of Schweppes Gold soft drink and what appeared to be a detonator and switch on a blue background, three simple components that if genuine are likely to cause concern for airline safety officials worldwide.
"The divided Crusaders of the East and West thought themselves safe in their jets as they cowardly bombarded the Muslims of the Caliphate," the English language Dabiq magazine said in reference to Russia and the West. "And so revenge was exacted upon those who felt safe in the cockpits."
Western governments have said the plane was likely brought down by a bomb and Moscow confirmed on Tuesday it had reached the same conclusion, but the Egyptian government says it has still not found evidence of criminal action.
Islamic State also published a photo of what it said were passports belonging to dead Russians "obtained by the mujahideen". It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the published photos.
The group, which has seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq, said it had exploited a loophole at Sharm al-Sheikh airport, where the plane originated, in order to smuggle a bomb on board.
The airport is widely used by budget and charter airlines to fly tourists to the nearby resorts on the Sinai coast.
Islamic State said it had initially planned to bring down a plane belonging to a country participating in the U.S.-led coalition bombing it in Syria and Iraq, but it changed course after Moscow started its own air strikes campaign in Syria.
"A bomb was smuggled onto the airplane, leading to the deaths of 219 Russians and five other crusaders only a month after Russia’s thoughtless decision," it said.
Egypt's interior minister told a news conference in Sharm al-Sheikh on Tuesday that there was "no information" about security lapses at the airport.
Islamic State's Egyptian branch, Sinai Province, claimed responsibility for the attack the day it happened but Egyptian officials were quick to dismiss talk of a bomb as premature.
Egypt is battling an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai, a strategic peninsula bordering Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal. But Islamic State said the airline attack was primarily planned as a response to Russian and Western air strikes.
"This was to show the Russians and whoever allies with them that they will have no safety in the lands and airspace of the Muslims," the group wrote. "That their daily killing of dozens in (Syria) through their air strikes will only bring them calamities."
Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, launched air strikes against opposition groups in Syria including Islamic State, on Sept. 30.
Since the attacks on Paris, both Russia and France have stepped up the tempo of air strikes.
The downed aircraft, an Airbus A321 operated by Metrojet, had been carrying Russian holidaymakers from the Egyptian resort to St Petersburg when it broke up over Sinai.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to hunt down those responsible for blowing up the plane and offered a $50 million reward for information leading to those responsible.
"We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them," Putin said of the plane bombers at a somber Kremlin meeting.
Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia's FSB security service, said traces of foreign-made explosive had been found on fragments of the downed plane and on passengers' personal belongings. He said the bomb probably contained around 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of TNT.
Egypt has not officially given a reason as to why the plane was brought down, calling on all sides to await the official results of an investigation carried out by an Egyptian-led team.
The government said it would "take into consideration" Russia's findings but that it was yet to find any evidence of criminal action bringing down the plane."

[shadow]

Airplanes seem to be weak, but as with most engineering, much stronger than they seem.

During the Lockerbie trial defense proved that a SUITCASE full of explosives in a baggage container could not have caused it--even that much would have had to been put right up against the fuselage to do what they claimed it did.

How are you going to rip a hole in the tail with an explosive? When has that been done?

Inside the US? When, where, which?
"Smaller"--sure, it would work with a Cessna. This was an Airbus.

Where did the defense prove that a bomb didn't take out the Lockerbie 747?? Link please. Because all I've read shows that it can and did.
These jets aren't wrapped in Kevlar. They're aluminum. And at 30,000 feet going hundreds of miles per hour it doesn't take much to take one down. A small hole can rip a plane apart at that height (low pressure) and speed.