Southwest Airlines Planes May Have Arabic Symbols, Feds Investigating

[Hoosier Daddy]

Source: HuffPost Los Angeles

Southwest Airlines has quietly been investigating several strange acts of vandalism on their aircraft for months, and federal agencies have gotten involved.

ABC15 in Phoenix first broke the news that the mysterious marks, which appeared on several of Southwest's 737 aircraft, seem to be either Arabic or Arabic-type symbols.

A company-wide internal memo from Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President Mike Van de Ven, obtained by ABC 15, explains that "these unauthorized markings typically appear as symbols or words tagged on the exterior of the aircraft." However, the letter also asks staffers to be vigilant about any suspicious activity and reveals that both local and federal agencies are involved in the investigation.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/21/southwest-arabic-symbol_n_974955.html

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I'll bet that those are, indeed, Arabic letters, spelling out the words, "Bags Fly Free!"

:P

[JCMach1]

1. and Wash Me and PAY ME!

[dkf]

2. Someone must hate Southwest Airlines.

That little prank won't attract the cautious I am sure.

[ret5hd]

3. well, this probably gives lie to the saying "all publicity is good publicity"!

[Javaman]

4. "I am dirty dirty airplane" "free nuts". nt

[dipsydoodle]

5. Maybe they're Hebrew.

:shrug:

[No Elephants]

6. Months? And they haven't figured out yet if they're Arabic?

Even with federal and local authorities involved?

Geez, even if neither Southwest nor anyone investigating employs a single Arab, hiring someone who can tell you, one way or the other, if it's Arabic should not take more than a week. I have an Egyptian friend who would probably do it for free.

BTW, what is an "Arabic-type symbol," as distinct from a letter in the Arabic alphabet or an Arabic word.

Oh, I almost forgot:

TERRA! TERRA! TERRA!

[MADem]

38. Thank you. The alphabet in Arabic is not a big mystery. It's pretty straightforward.

It's written right to left, but other than that, it's pretty obvious if you know what to look for. Anyone who knows Arabic or can even read/write Farsi can make out the letters on a word or phrase with no difficulty.

If we're talking some Arab world version of "Kilroy was Here" or the spray-painted stencilled images of Khomeini that popped up all around Teheran and other major cities during the Iranian Revolution decades ago, well, that's a different thing--but why don't they just show us a picture of the symbols? Maybe someone could solve the conundrum in a snap; maybe it's something terribly obvious, to, say, a teenager, but a mystery to an adult.

This article raises more questions than it answers.

[Downwinder]

7. They all have arabic numbers.

[Joanie Baloney]

8. Like (nt)

[surrealAmerican]

17. This was my first thought too.

That "737" is a dead giveaway.

[Hoosier Daddy]

24. We'll have to round up our astronomers, too!

:rofl:

[XemaSab]

34. FTW

:D

[MADem]

39. Of course, the Arab world has jazzier numbers!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. only Fox and HuffPo are carrying this story..

plus a few local stations.. no other major news articles.

found this:
The writings - which some have interpreted as being either Arabic or Arabic-type symbols - appeared to have been done with a chemical process that reveals the text once an auxiliary power unit is turned on and heats up the outside skin of the aircraft, according to Feldman.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/211726/81/Feds-Probe-Possible-Arabic-Type-Markings-On-Southwest-Jets


no pictures anywhere to be found..

[MrsBrady]

14. so they can only see it after they go through all that trouble

why would you heat the skin of the airplane up?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

19. I think the heat is from the power source for electronics...

they don't do it to heat the skin up on purpose.

I think the poster downthread has the right idea.. it's some random scratches in the finish. I'm glad the fbi is checking it out just in case, but the articles are just for terra!

[MrsBrady]

15. oops, wrong place

[proReality]

10. I suspect it could be

a rival airline employee, trying to divert passengers from the less expensive flights Southwest offers.

Just a thought.

[Xtraneous]

11. In other news, english words found on Arabic planes! nt

[surrealAmerican]

18. LOL

Welcome to DU.

[Historic NY]

12. It sounds like someone used a high pressure washer incorrectly...

leaving subtle etched marks....I know 'i have stuff like that on a section of my white vinyl siding.

[ronnie624]

22. The video report accompanying the article says,

according to a Southwest internal memo, the "markings" are in "thick soot and dirt".

[Historic NY]

36. Thats how I ended up with the swirls and squiggly lines....

you should see what it does to blue stone steps....

[bongbong]

13. Fear!

Be scared, America! Be very, very scared! The only thing we have to fear, is the lack of fear itself!!!

[Hoosier Daddy]

32. Blessed is the Lord!

:sarcasm:

[MrsBrady]

16. any aviation experts available to shed a light on this?

[HockeyMom]

20. Maybe it's the old Gregg Shorthand!

I've heard people say it looks like Arabic. Maybe that's why nobody can identify it.

:rofl:

[benld74]

21. Obviously only workers could do this, BUT, watch it be actually nothing!

[Crowman1979]

28. Yeah, probably just random scratching that some idiot thought was arabic.

[snagglepuss]

Is this going to turn out to be a variation of Jesus seen on a piece of toast?

[Hoosier Daddy]

35. It was YOU!

How did you disguise your 33-ness? :evilgrin:

[ZombieHorde]

23. "Arabic-type symbol." What would be an English-type symbol?

Are they just talking about squiggly lines?

[immoderate]

25. Think desert!

Arabs = desert

Southwest = desert.

I think it's fairly obvious what the connection is. :)

--imm

[Blue_Tires]

26. It's French subliminal graffiti for "Ditch your creaky 737s and buy airbus!!"

[truthisfreedom]

27. the etchings seem "to have been done with a chemical process that reveals the text once an auxiliary

power unit is turned on and heats up the outside skin of the aircraft."

That's just creepy.

[Hoosier Daddy]

30. http://youtube/JDZBgHBHQT8

:scared:

[MisterP]

29. hmmm, the only scripts that are "Arabic-type symbols" are Syriac and Hebrew cursive

[Posteritatis]

31. Or random swirly scribbles, like those dumbasses with "asian" writing tattoos. (nt)

[Hoosier Daddy]

33. 33

I can't find you. :shrug:

[marasinghe]

37. don't tell the dumass Feds that modern numerals are Indo-Arabic in origin.

or, there'll be a new FBI task force investigating mathematicians; and we'll be back in Roman days.
not that we don't have the circuses in Iraq & Afghanistan, to keep the US mob's blood lust sated.