As the possibility–however remote–grows that Malaysia Airlines flight 370 may have been hijacked and taken to a hidden location, Israeli authorities are preparing for the possibility that the hijackers might attempt to use the Boeing 777 to mount an attack.
According to the Times of Israel, Israel’s Channel 2 has revealed that Israeli air defenses have been boosted, and approaching civilian aircraft will be asked to identify themselves far earlier.
Though the flight was presumed at first to have crashed, whole or in pieces, into the ocean, passive satellite transmissions from the aircraft suggest that it made a deliberate course change and may have headed north into central Asia.
Pakistan has already said that the flight never registered on its radar, but at least one expert has suggested the flight could have landed in Bangladesh, whose air defenses presumably would be weaker.
Though the possibility that the Boeing 777 could be used in a terror attack is mere speculation, it is evidently being taken seriously by Israel. A plane filled with nuclear material would not need to be in Israeli airspace long to do catastrophic damage, even if shot down.
There are no reports yet that the U.S. is taking similar measures, and U.S. officials have suggested recently that the likeliest fate of flight 370 was a crash into the Indian Ocean.
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6 Responses
Wow! Paranoia runs deep…
Think of how you can extend the flight range by removing excess weight. No passengers on the plane, no luggage, remove all the seats and anything else, you can fly hundreds of additional miles, and who is going to be hasty to shoot down a civilian airplane.
#1- Israel has good reason for what you call “paranoia”.
And I guess it was paranoia when four aircraft were hijacked on 9/11/01. Three of which were flown into buildings and the fourth was crashed in Pennsylvania.
Nothing is beyond the realm of evil doers. We just finished with Purim. Doesn’t that send a message to one and all. Amalek’s descendants are still in Persia.
#2) – Israel would have NO issue with shooting down a “civillian, passenger” airplane if it was deemed a potential threat…
Look at a map…there is no way this plane could have flown into Bangladesh without being detected by Indian military radars in West Bangal. Even if it did, it would have to overly India and refuel in Iran to reach Israeli airspace.