Osama bin Laden 'inspired to plan 9/11 terror attacks by EgyptAir flight 990 crash', al-Qaeda claims

Osama bin Laden planned the September 11 attacks after being “inspired” by a chance discussion about a plane crash in the US, al-Qaeda propaganda has claimed. In its weekly “al-Masrā” newspaper, Ansar al-Sharia released an article claiming to tell the “untold story” behind the 2001 plot that killed almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. Just under two years before, EgyptAir Flight 990 had crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during its journey from Los Angeles to Cairo, killing all 217 people on board – almost half of them Americans.

Egyptian investigators insisted mechanical failure was the cause but the US National Transportation Safety Board found that co-pilot Gameel Al-Batouti had deliberately downed the plane, continually repeating “Tawkalt ala Allah“ - I put my trust in God – as it plummeted. Despite speculation over terrorism, his family and friends said he had no strong beliefs and sources said it may have been suicide or revenge against EgyptAir following disciplinary action. Bin Laden, then the head of al-Qaeda, was apparently less interested in the motive than in how the disaster could be developed into a deadly new strategy.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/osama-bin-laden-inspired-to-plan-911-terror-attacks-by-egyptair-flight-990-crash-al-qaeda-claims-a6850561.html

Didge wrote:Osama bin Laden planned the September 11 attacks after being “inspired” by a chance discussion about a plane crash in the US, al-Qaeda propaganda has claimed. In its weekly “al-Masrā” newspaper, Ansar al-Sharia released an article claiming to tell the “untold story” behind the 2001 plot that killed almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. Just under two years before, EgyptAir Flight 990 had crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during its journey from Los Angeles to Cairo, killing all 217 people on board – almost half of them Americans.

Egyptian investigators insisted mechanical failure was the cause but the US National Transportation Safety Board found that co-pilot Gameel Al-Batouti had deliberately downed the plane, continually repeating “Tawkalt ala Allah“ - I put my trust in God – as it plummeted. Despite speculation over terrorism, his family and friends said he had no strong beliefs and sources said it may have been suicide or revenge against EgyptAir following disciplinary action. Bin Laden, then the head of al-Qaeda, was apparently less interested in the motive than in how the disaster could be developed into a deadly new strategy.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/osama-bin-laden-inspired-to-plan-911-terror-attacks-by-egyptair-flight-990-crash-al-qaeda-claims-a6850561.html

Interesting thesis on bin Laden.  But returning to the motive of the crash of Egypt Air Flight 990, the jury is still out on events in the cockpit.  A more plausible theory is that co-pilot Gameel Al-Batouti was attempting to correct for the mechanical failure, and as he pulled strenuously on the yoke of the Boeing 767 airplane he was heard repeating “Tawkalt ala Allah“.  

In other words, he was praying that he could save the aircraft.  The saying 'I put trust in God' is not generally used as a fatalistic eulogy, but in a prayer for god's help.

Look to the incentives of the participants. The US has a motive to protect a US air-frame manufacturer, and the allegation of a mechanical failure would have meant millions of dollars in losses. Far better if it could be portrayed as a crazed Muslim.