Editorial: More anguish in the skies

By Herald Staff|12 hours ago

The cause of the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 is yet to be determined, but word that the plane went through a series of abrupt turns before plunging from high altitude has a haunting resonance for those familiar with terrorist attacks on jetliners filled with innocent passengers.

Mechanical problems don't generally cause that kind of wild disruption to an aircraft cruising along at high altitude.

But terrorists can.

The investigation is ongoing, but a number of aviation officials yesterday acknowledged that a terrorist attack - possibly a bomb on board - was a more probable cause of the crash than an equipment failure.

And as we begin learning about the innocent souls who went down with the aircraft - among the 66 passengers and crew traveling from Paris to Cairo were two babies and a French military school student on his way home to Chad to mourn his mother - we are reminded both of the fragility of life, and of the willingness of the depraved to sacrifice the innocent in warped pursuit of their cause.

Indeed, if this theory of a terrorist plot to bring down another aircraft proves true, it also raises immediate concerns about global airport security. When a Russian plane flying from Egypt crashed into the Sinai Peninsula last fall, likely the result of a bomb and for which a local branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility, it was easy to blame lax security at a regional Egyptian airport.

But a possible security breach at Charles de Gaulle, through which 65 million passengers traveled in 2015, is of another order of magnitude.

We'll know soon what or who brought the plane down, and how. Experience tells us we will find no reassurance in the answers.