Rogue Element

Sydney, 0800 Zulu, Monday, 18 May

ABC Radio 702: ‘A spokesman for Boeing Corporation revealed today preliminary findings into the crash of Qantas Flight 1 that killed a total of four hundred and ten passengers and crew, ruling out terrorism as a possible cause. It is believed that the section of the fuselage called the Electronics and Equipment Bay, which houses vital junctions for the aircraft’s hydraulic systems, was struck by a small meteorite.

‘A Boeing investigator says such a missile could have been travelling at close to 60 000 kilometres per hour, vaporising the section of the plane it struck. The investigator says the wreckage of the plane recovered from Sulawesi is consistent with this theory.

‘A spokesman for Boeing says the chances of an aircraft being hit by a meteorite are around a hundred million to one but that, given the number of jets flying and the many millions of air miles flown each year, a strike by a meteorite was just a matter of time.’