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Downed EgyptAir jetliner had been tagged with graffiti: “We will bring this plane down”

May 22, 2016 11:40 am By Robert Spencer

“Three EgyptAir security officials said the threatening graffiti, which appeared about two years ago, had been the work of aviation workers at Cairo Airport. Playing on the phonetic similarity between the last two letters in the plane’s registration, SU-GCC, and the surname of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, some workers also wrote ‘traitor’ and ‘murderer.'” That would suggest that the graffiti artists were partisans of the Muslim Brotherhood. Were they also the ones who ultimately made good on the threat?

EgyptAir

“EgyptAir Was Aware of Threats to Security, Including One Scribbled on Plane,’ by Declan Walsh, Nour Youssef and Kareem Fahim, New York Times, May 21, 2016:

CAIRO — In an eerie coincidence, the EgyptAir jetliner that plunged into the Mediterranean on Thursday was once the target of political vandals who wrote in Arabic on its underside, “We will bring this plane down.”

Three EgyptAir security officials said the threatening graffiti, which appeared about two years ago, had been the work of aviation workers at Cairo Airport. Playing on the phonetic similarity between the last two letters in the plane’s registration, SU-GCC, and the surname of Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, some workers also wrote “traitor” and “murderer.”

The officials, who were interviewed separately and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the airline’s security procedures because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the graffiti had been linked to the domestic Egyptian political situation at the time rather than to a militant threat. Similar graffiti against Mr. Sisi, a former general, was scrawled across Cairo after the military ousted the elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013.

Since then, the airline has put into effect a variety of new security measures in response to Egypt’s political turmoil, jihadist violence and other aviation disasters like the crash of a Russian plane that killed 224 people in October. EgyptAir has fired employees for their political leanings, stepped up crew searches and added extra unarmed in-flight security guards. Three such guards died in Thursday’s crash of Flight 804.

Whether those moves were sufficient remained an open question on Saturday as experts pored over data emitted by the plane in its final minutes for clues as to what had brought it down. The French air accident investigation authority confirmed that the data showed that several smoke alarms had been activated while the plane plunged toward the sea.

But they cautioned that the signals, sent by a monitoring system on board the Airbus A320 jetliner, did not offer enough information to conclude what had caused the crash.

“These are not messages that enable us to interpret anything,” said Sébastien Barthe, a spokesman for France’s Bureau of Investigations and Analysis. “If there is smoke, it means that there is potentially a fire somewhere, but it doesn’t tell us where the fire is, and it doesn’t help us establish whether it is something malevolent or something technical.”

In an audio message released Saturday, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the official spokesman of the Islamic State and the head of a unit dedicated to external attacks, denounced the American-led military campaign against the group but did not mention the EgyptAir crash.

EgyptAir’s security procedures last came under scrutiny in March when a passenger on a domestic flight pretended to be wearing an explosive vest and forced the plane to land in Cyprus. The crisis was resolved within hours when the man, later determined to be psychologically troubled, surrendered. The Egyptian authorities were quick to post surveillance videos that they said showed he had been searched before boarding the flight.

Among the 66 people on Thursday’s flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris were three EgyptAir in-flight security personnel — one more than the normal team of two for reasons that were not entirely clear….

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Filed Under: air security, Egypt, Featured Tagged With: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo Airport, EgyptAir


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Comments

  1. Angemon says

    May 22, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    In an eerie coincidence, the EgyptAir jetliner that plunged into the Mediterranean on Thursday was once the target of political vandals who wrote in Arabic on its underside, “We will bring this plane down.”

    Yes, “coincidence” and “political” vandals…

    • Custos Custodum says

      May 22, 2016 at 7:58 pm

      The same NYT piece also has these astounding details:

      During stopovers at foreign airports, [EgyptAir’s onboard] security officers are usually responsible for searching the workers who clean the plane and checking the credentials of all crew members or employees who board.
      …

      Security officials said those procedures would have applied to the EgyptAir plane during short layovers it made at two African airports — in Tunis and the Eritrean capital, Asmara — in the days before the crash. But the procedure is different in Paris because European airports do not permit EgyptAir security officials to search local cleaning workers, a source of disgruntlement among Egyptian officials who feel they are being discriminated against.

    • Balder says

      May 23, 2016 at 6:54 am

      It’s PC today to use lies in “news”-articles.

  2. BlueRaven says

    May 22, 2016 at 12:11 pm

    This is neither here mor there. I wait till the voice recorder and data recorder are found and their findings. I was guessing a smoke bomb in the cockpit, though some reports claim smoke started in the next to the cabin WC.

    Perhaps I missed on JW, the fake Clock Boy is getting more and more attention:

    Obama’s Inspiring ‘Clock Boy’ Is Al-Qaeda’s Inspiration and Poster Child

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/05/18/obamas-inspiring-clock-boy-al-qaeda-poster-child/

    • mortimer says

      May 22, 2016 at 8:47 pm

      Did ‘Clock Boy’ open a school or something?

  3. Diane Harvey says

    May 22, 2016 at 12:12 pm

    “This is Abdul Judaih reporting in Virgin72 SkyCopter over the scene. Lots of personal items visible. Mostly personal and certainly Muslim in nature. We see a lot of large signs, ‘Kill the Infidel,’ ‘Long live the Intifada,’ ‘We’ll make you understand Sura 9:29,’ and of course ‘Allahu Akbar,’ plus dozens of wooden crates floating nearby, some stenciled with ‘AK-47, Handle with care,’ others with ‘Knives-For Use by Muslim Gazans On Jewish Necks.’ Definitely a whole bunch of Muslims died here.”

    “But there is bit of sadness here. We also see several goats struggling on the surface. These were special virgin goats intended for the Grand Mufti’s surprise party, to be used in the party’s back room, if you know what I mean. The Mufti will be so disappointed.”

    “Yep, this is definitely the spot. Back to you Hasan bin Sobah in our Cairo studio.”

    • TJFreedomjihad says

      May 22, 2016 at 1:24 pm

      DH It wasn’t clear whom the bit of sadness was for, the plight of the ‘special’ goats, or the plight of the ‘special’ muftis? Tsk, tsk. Such is life, I guess. sarc/off Good one though!!!!!!

  4. davej says

    May 22, 2016 at 1:42 pm

    Murderous Devils!

  5. Westman says

    May 22, 2016 at 2:38 pm

    If graffiti on an airplane is a precursor to terrorism, what does the graffiti on our rail trains mean for future terrorism?

  6. Peter Charles says

    May 22, 2016 at 3:52 pm

    A little thermite or white phosphorous properly placed in a fly by wire aircraft and they are doomed. The airbus setup makes that very easy. Personally, airbus will never be my or my families mode of travel.

  7. navnlos says

    May 22, 2016 at 5:05 pm

    “Egypt’s political turmoil, jihadist violence and other aviation disasters like the crash of a Russian plane that killed 224 people in October”

    The crash of a Russian plane? Really? Does planting a bomb on board and bringing it down not count as jihadist violence?

    At least Sisi is facing the problem. He knows what it is and says as much. The Muslim Brotherhood should be banned everywhere like it is in Egypt..

  8. mortimer says

    May 22, 2016 at 6:52 pm

    Western elites still refuse to learn the jihad doctrine. They’re obtuse and determined to prove Marxism has the answers. Marxism does not explain Islam.

    Islam explains Islam. Islam is a separate world and even a separate universe of amorality.

    • Peter Charles says

      May 22, 2016 at 8:05 pm

      http://thereligionofpeace.com/ the sight will enlighten you about the savagery of islam, be prepared to br horrified.

  9. Mockingjay says

    May 22, 2016 at 6:57 pm

    LOL
    !

  10. Bezelel says

    May 22, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    What difference does it make? Or was the in flight movie “Innocence of Muslims”? Did the someone draw a picture of mo ham ed on the bathroom wall?
    P.S. There is no god named allah.

  11. Baucent says

    May 23, 2016 at 10:05 am

    Don’t be surprised if the Egyptian government refuse to admit the aircraft was downed by a terrorist attack. The tourism industry, central to the economy of Egypt would take a huge hit if it is proven to be downed by a bomb or sabotage.

    • JawsV says

      May 24, 2016 at 10:16 pm

      Egypt still has tourism? You’re kidding!

  12. rockyiixx says

    May 23, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    After Hillary over threw the Libyan Government and installed the Jihad Terrorists, all the MANPADS that were stored in the once secure armories vanished. There were between 15,000 – 20,000 that vanished into the hands of terrorists under Hillary’s watch. Perhaps they were trafficked through the phony Benghazi Mission ? MANPADS are accurate with some having 18K ceilings and up to Mach 3 flight speed. Some are even American made Stingers. Are any of these MANPADS on fishing trawlers out at sea for the specific purpose of targeting jet liners ?

    • Baucent says

      May 23, 2016 at 8:12 pm

      Unlikely, as the aircraft was flying at 37,000 feet when it disappeared off radar. More likely an internal bomb, possibly in one of the toilets, as that is where smoke was detected.

  13. mach37 says

    May 23, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    “Among the 66 people on Thursday’s flight … were three EgyptAir in-flight security personnel — one more than the normal team of two for reasons that were not entirely clear….”

    Did the NYT have some hint as to why there was an extra security agent aboard? If NYT writers say “not entirely clear” that means it must have been “partially clear” – or else the English language has become “not entirely clear” in recent years.

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