Yesterday Walid Shoebat made a very strong case outlining a possible cause for the crash around an Islamist attack directly carried out by the pilot of the Egypt Air flight 804.

More evidence is arising to show that the pilot of Flight 804 went suicide. He did some bizarre things. He converted the plane into a makeshift mosque, used the equipment to tell passengers the direction of Mecca. Had a last supper and said “farewell” as if ‘we who are about to die salute you’. He called his brother before take-off telling him to ‘pray for him’ as he was going for martyrdom. He had connections with one of the most radical preachers and terror supporters in Egypt. (link)

Shoebat then lays out the facts leading to his outlined conclusion. What he outlines is a very disturbing possibility.  I strongly suggest everyone consider his outline.

Some other evidence surfaces today which aligns with the Shoebat thesis. The Daily Mail is now reporting the pilot actually spoke to air traffic controllers about a fire and smoke and his intent to take urgent action to attempt a crash landing:

[…] M6, the French TV channel, reported that the pilot then initiated a ‘rapid descent’ aimed at putting out the fire on board, and clearing the smoke.
Rapid descents involve dramatic changes in cabin air pressure, and can be extremely dangerous, but the claims about the flight’s last moments fit in with earlier information.
According to Greece’s defence minister, Pano Kammenos, the plane dropped sharply from 37,000 feet to 15,000 feet, and then made ‘sudden swerves’.
As it entered Egyptian airspace, over the Greek island of Karpathos, the first turn was a sharp, 90-degree one to the east, and then there was a full circular loop.
A leaked data report also suggests that a fire blazed across the flight deck minutes before disaster (read more)

If Shoebat’s research and outline is correct, a person could easily draw the conclusion one of the pilots was determined to commit jihad, and the second pilot was -like Air France- locked out of the cockpit while he carried out his murderous endeavor.
The early response from the Egyptian authorities must also be considered around the current state of the terror threats which Fattah al-Sisi has been fighting for more than two years.
The Egyptians almost immediately identified terrorism; this early assertion is unusual for them – however, the Egyptian security and intelligence apparatus is very accurate and attuned to the threats they continually face from extremists.
Putting it all together, and considering the prior electronic data as transmitted by the automated alert systems, there is a very real possibility the politicians will work earnestly to keep any discussion of Jihadist Pilot Suicide far away from the psyche of an increasingly twitchy public.   Political correctness raises its head once again.
Troubling times….