Bushco lies again.

[New_Iskander]

*Originally posted by Reeder *
Why on earth spin a story like this? What on earth could they gain?

Honor Verrier, a spokeswoman for British Airways in North America, said two BA aircraft were in the area at the time and neither radioed the president’s plane to ask if it was Air Force One.

Bush aides recounted with excitement last week the moment during the flight to Baghdad when they said a BA pilot thought he spotted the president’s blue and white Boeing 747 from his cockpit.

“Did I just see Air Force One?” the pilot radioed, according to the White House.

I assume all pilots are trained how to respond in case of unexpected encounters in the air. For example, would pilot observe a big formation of military planes heading somewhere, he most likely is not supposed to go on the air and ask, “Hey, guys, lemme guess, Moscow or Beijing?” By the same token, would pilot observe a special purpose aircraft of any country, he most likely is not supposed to contact it without due reason.

Two possibilities:[list=1]BA pilot broke the rules and is catching hell now.
[/list=1] [list=2]BA pilots didn’t brake any rules. Some giddy White House aide made up the whole story and is catching hell now.
[/list=2]

[elucidator]

Gee, New Isk, in your haste to defend Fearless Misleader, you neglected to include some reference to your personal expertise in these matters, to better guage the likelihood of your conjecture.

[Cheesesteak]

*Originally posted by New Iskander *
**
Two possibilities:[list=1]BA pilot broke the rules and is catching hell now.
[/list=1] [list=2]BA pilots didn’t brake any rules. Some giddy White House aide made up the whole story and is catching hell now.
[/list=2] **

Elucidator, I’m not sure where you’re getting the idea that Isk is defending Bush. Item #2 suggests that a WH person made it all up, which is what the anti-Bush crowd is claiming, no?

[New_Iskander]

*Originally posted by Cheesesteak *
**Elucidator, I’m not sure where you’re getting the idea that Isk is defending Bush. Item #2 suggests that a WH person made it all up, which is what the anti-Bush crowd is claiming, no? **

I can certainly understand why BA would take such a story very seriously, because their reputation is involved. My money on the BA version btw.

[Squink]

From today’s white house press conference:

MR. McCLELLAN:
"NATS has now concluded its investigations and can confirm that a conversation between the crew of an aircraft belonging to a non-U.K. operator and its control center took place around 9:30 GMT, on Thursday, the 27th of November, 2003.
“The pilot of the aircraft asked whether the aircraft behind it was Air Force One. After consulting the flight plan of those aircraft in the sector at that time, the center responded that the aircraft was a Gulfstream V. NATS notes reports that U.S. officials have said that for security reasons, Air Force One had filed a flight plan which stated that the service would operated by a Gulfstream V.”
So as they pointed out, it was a non-U.K. operator. What Colonel Tillman and the pilots on board Air Force One believed at the time when they heard the conversation was that it was a British Airways plane, because there had been a British Airways plane that had been in the vicinity of Air Force One…

Q Scott, the conversation itself was as it was relayed?

MR. McCLELLAN: That’s correct. I think that that was in here. Go ahead, Norah.

Q Why then did the White House, repeatedly, in two different versions, tell reporters that it was British Airways? How could the White House be so wrong?

MR. McCLELLAN: For the reasons I told you. Colonel Tillman and the pilots in the cockpit believed that it was British Airways for the reasons I just stated. And what we always try to do for you all in the press corps is to provide you a little color of important events, because we believe that’s helpful to you for your stories, and to do your reporting to the American people.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/12/20031204-11.html

[El_Cid_Viscoso]

Hey White House: Try digging upward.

[lieu]

They saw a BA flight in the area, heard the call sign used by BA and interpreted the accent to be British.

Why in the heck wouldn’t any rational person assume it was BA that asked the question? How in the heck does this logical explanation imply greater deceit?

[New_Iskander]

So it was not BA plane. In fact, it was explicitly “an aircraft belonging to a non-U.K. operator”. And it didn’t contact AF1 directly, it contacted NATS in London. And AF1 pilots overheard the exchange. And nobody knows what that other plane was. Bin Ladin Air? Never heard of it.

British Airways - 1
White House - 0