That is what the CBS outpost in Philly is suggesting:
Investigators say they now know what caused a small hole in a US Airways plane that travelled from Philadelphia to Charlotte Monday.
Sources say a stray bullet struck the rear of the Boeing 737-400 as it was landing in Charlotte.
A pilot making a pre-flight inspection during a lay-over discovered the hole towards the rear of the aircraft.
But then this:
Sources say the plane was not the target of terrorism, and investigators have reviewed security footage.
Bullshiat. How in the hell can you deduce intent from a bullet hole? A bullet hole in a passenger jet no less?
And did Charlotte city council spend three hours on the security situation out at the city-owned airport last night? Hell no. There is no margin in that. Instead — frickin’ taxi cabs! I would normally say wait until someone dies — but, oops, that already happened. What until we get evidence of bribery for access….no…. Wait until repeated indications of criminal incursions near the runway…no, got that…. I know, wait to we get evidence of purposeful cover-up of security lapses… no…
Screw these people. The available evidence suggests the mayor, members of the city council, the city manager, the city attorney, the chief of police, the airport director and numerous sub-staff have absolutely no regard for human life.
Update: Tinfoil time, folks. From WCNC:
Sources confirm that the hole found in the fuselage of a US Airways plane Monday was caused by a bullet.
The source told NewsChannel 36 Tuesday that the bullet was likely from a .40 caliber rifle.
Crews inspecting the plane found the bullet intact.
Because of the location of the hole, investigators believe that someone shot a rifle in the air and the bullet struck the plane as it headed back down toward the ground.
According to a representative from US Airways, a pilot found the small hole in the fuselage of a Boeing 737 during a pre-flight inspection in Charlotte Monday afternoon.
So relax Mr. and Mr. Flying Public. This was just a one in a billion case of someone randomly firing a high-powered rifle into the sky, that bullet traveling some thousands of feet up and then back down again to collide with a passenger jet traveling at hundreds of miles an hour. Could happen at any time. Headphones?
But let’s roll with this stuff. First, where exactly was this .40 cal bullet hole found? Just a basic fact that must be supplied by the authorities. From there, they are claiming one hole only — an entry hole on the — one presumes — the top half of the aircraft.
Next, a .40 cal round is a very odd one to find and declare it to be a rifle round. It could either be a pistol round adapted to paramiltary carbine use or a big bore round intended for big game hunting. In either case — very weird.
Too weird not to get me thinking.
There are no shortage of .30 cal rifle rounds out there — go to Wal-Mart and check. But a .40 round? Why use that? Maybe you wanted it for specific FPS and trajectory characteristics. Again why? Perhaps you were using it as a range-finding round. I said you might need tinfoil.
Look, all we know is that an airport with known perimeter security issues has a plane with a bullet-hole in it sitting on a runway right now. And I’d rather be called crazy everyday than lazy the day after something terrible happens.