The pilot in the pilot and Eko in this episode. If we beleive that it killed Eko for a reason is it reasonable to assume that the pilot was killed for a similar reason?

If we assume that reason was because Eko had caused deaths without remorse does that mean that we should assume everything the pilot said before the the crash was a lie to cover up something he did? If so what could that be?

Could the 1000mi course "error" have been intentional? (it does seem odd that the crew wouldn't have annouced they had a problem to the passengers)

Could the crash have been caused by the pilots attempting some form of a suicide terrorist attack (similar to what they accused the pilot of Eygyptair flight 990 in 1999) [seems unlikely as the plane broke apart in level flight and I don't think the pilot can cause that type of failure from the cockpit at normal speeds]

something else?

thats a far reach. plus, J.J. ain't gonna cast his good friend Greg Grunberg as a fiendish terrorist.

J.J. ain't gonna cast his good friend Greg Grunberg as a fiendish terrorist.

Why not? Being a good bad guy is a better proof of an actors abilities than being a good good guy. For example the actor playing Ben (I know he may someday turn out to be a good guy but he seems pretty bad at this point)

So, assuming you agree that smokey killed the pilot, what conclusions do you draw comparing the two?
- If they were related, as I was proposing, how?
- If they are not related what does that say about smokey?