23 août 2023 - Sky.com: Military analyst/fmr RAF officer Sean Bell identifies possible causes in uncontrolled descent photos

Description:

Using footage of the crash which has emerged online, military analyst and former pilot Sean Bell points to four key things it shows that may provide hints as to what likely happened to the aircraft.

1. A missile strike

One image shows a "swirl of cloud" which doesn't sit comfortably against the rest, Bell says.

Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on the private jet that crashed on Wednesday evening
Drawing on his own experience of flying combat aircraft, he explains that if a surface-to-air missile hit the plane, "you would see that sort of vapour trail in the final stages of its approach".

"Therefore, either that could be an explosion, or it could be a surface-to-air missile system," he says.

However, US officials have said there is no information to suggest a surface-to-air missile was launched against the aircraft.

Preliminary US intelligence found the plane crash was intentionally caused by an explosion.

2. 'Smoke' as plane plummets

Footage appeared to show a 'smoke trail' coming from the falling plane
Bell highlights what appears to be a trail of smoke coming from the wreckage of the plane, around halfway into its descent.

He says this is "almost certainly not smoke" and is probably "fuel venting".

"It's a large quantity, that is a massive damage to the aircraft that's caused that," he adds.

3 and 4. Missing wing or tailplane in the air - and debris on the ground

Video footage apparently shows the plane missing a wing
Image:
Video footage apparently shows the plane missing a tail or wing
Footage of the plane closer to the ground appears to show it without its wing or its tailplane, which could explain why it came down "vertically, not unlike a falling leaf".

The fourth point Bell notes is that other pictures from the crash site show the tailplane "some distance" from the main part of the aircraft.

"Now, you put all of that together... there's lots of reasons why that might have occurred, but that is not a natural accident," Bell explains.

A wreckage of the private jet linked to Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen near the crash site in the Tver region, Russia, August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Marina Lystseva
Image:
Wreckage of the plane seen near the crash site in the Tver region, Russia
"That is a catastrophe that's happened in the air... there were rumours that a case of wine [containing a bomb] was put on the aircraft at the last minute.

"The trouble with that theory is that generally speaking, [an explosion] inside an aircraft blows it out... whereas a surface-to-air missile system or an air-to-air missile system generally tries to seek out the juiciest, meatiest part of an aircraft.

"That would explain why it potentially could rip a wing off. And as soon as it did that, the fate of the aircraft was sealed."

Is there a link to Putin?

Asked why - if he was behind the crash - Vladimir Putin didn't target Prigozhin sooner after the short-lived mutiny two months ago, Bell said "systematically, President Putin has been dismembering" the Wagner boss' business ever since.

Ajouté au bande de temps:

Date: