[meteorite-list] El Al Pilot Says Ukrainian Missile Exploded Close To Plane (Meteor Suspected)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:00:05 2004
Message-ID: <200207070418.VAA10270_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=183775&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

El Al pilot says Ukrainian missile exploded close to plane
By Zoahr Blumenkrantz and Yossi Melman
Ha'aretz Daily (Israel)
July 6, 2002

The pilot of an El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Moscow reported seeing a
ground-to-air missile pass close to his plane while flying over eastern
Ukriane Friday morning. "I have seen missiles explode in my life and I
know how to tell the difference between an exploding missile and the
sunrise," said the pilot of the El Al Boeing 757.

Three Russian pilots confirmed Saturday they had seen a sizeable flash
in the same area. The pilot of a Ukrainian plane also reported seeing a
flash in the sky at the time.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Ukraine had not conducted any
missile launches since accidentally downing a Russian airliner on a
flight last October from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk in Siberia, killing 78
passengers and crew. Many of the passengers were new immigrants to
Israel from the former Soviet Union.

The El Al pilot was questioned on the incident by Transportation
Minister Ephraim Sneh, who has ordered the Civil Aviation Authority to
cooperate with the Russian and Ukrainian aviation bodies in
investigating the matter. Israel has also asked the U.S. for assistance
in looking into the incident.

Ukrainian government officials told Israeli officials Friday that it was
prepared to work with Israel in its investigation of the incident. With
the announcement, Ukrainian officials were not denying the possibility
that they were connected to the incident, but said they had thoroughly
investigated the matter and found no connection. One explanation offered
by the Ukrainians is that the flash of light was a meteorite.

Sneh said Friday that the Israeli plane had never been in any danger and
voiced doubts it had come under attack, though his ministry views the
Ukrainian denials that no missiles were fired very skeptically.

Sneh said of the El Al pilot, whom he described as an experienced combat
veteran of the Israel Air Force that "there is no doubt that he saw a
missile that exploded in the air, apparently far from the plane," Sneh
told Army Radio. "Circumstances suggest it was not launched at the El Al
plane."

Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, who is in the Ukraine on a working
visit, is also looking into the matter, an met over the weekend with the
Israeli ambassador as well as the head of the Ukrainian security
services.
Received on Sun 07 Jul 2002 12:18:09 AM PDT