Flight 370

[Denny347]

I agree, but... It did five hours last week and flew over Malayasian territory, apparently. How the militaries in that region did not pick up a large unidentified aircraft of that size is mind boggling.

They did actually. They tracked it west until it was several hundred miles offshore and beyond military radar range.

 

[avboiler11]

An ELT may not have survived a high speed (ie. 10,000fpm+) impact with water.

 

[CHCRandy]

AV........can you identify what kind of plane this is? Only 100' wingspan. Is it a prop plane? What you make of the infrared looking shadow on the water.....

http://maps.google.com/?ll=7.404827,93.753537&spn=0.001668,0.002411&t=h&z=19

 

[hoosierdoc]

Looks to me like a rather standard short-haul island hopping prop plane to me

 

[avboiler11]

Twin turboprop of Russian or Chinese design (based on engine nacelle design and high wing)..maybe Antonov 24/26 or Xian Y-7?

 

[Trigger Time]

I'm going with massive electronic failure, loss of cabin preasure, taken off auto pilot and all dead quickly then the plane turned and burned into the ocean

 

[gunsisgood]

I'm going with massive electronic failure, loss of cabin preasure, taken off auto pilot and all dead quickly then the plane turned and burned into the ocean

Don't know for sure but I believe the transponder has its own isolated power source, so it would have continued to work.

 

[avboiler11]

Don't know for sure but I believe the transponder has its own isolated power source, so it should have continued to work.

It does not.

There isn't an on/off switch per se, but you can select it to "standby" or "off" modes.

Or pull the circuit breaker, wherever the heck that might happen to be on a 777.

 

[88E30M50]

I'm thinking this was step one of a larger plan. The idea would be to secure an aircraft that is large enough for whatever it's needed for, and that could cause a defense network to pause before a shootdown. To secure the aircraft, you take it to high altitude and then depressurize it while the controlling crew remains on oxygen. At 2am, everyone is trying to sleep anyway and even the most alert might not think twice about getting sleepy. I don't know if you could disable the oxy masks from dropping in the pax compartment though, and that would certainly get folks attention.

After you have the aircraft secured, you drop below radar level and head off to where ever you are going to recover the aircraft to hold it until step 2. I don't know what step 2 might be, but I think they screwed up on step 1. They turned off the known transmitters to go dark but did not turn off the ACARS system. Instead of everyone thinking that the aircraft is lost in the ocean somewhere, analysts are now thinking that there is a rogue 777 somewhere out there. If everyone thought it had crashed, it might be easier to slip an airliner into the jet routes to get it close enough to its target to do some harm, but if the first appearance of an unknown 777 is going to be met with extrordinary suspicion, it will be a lot more difficult to get it close to anything.

Here's a question though: What would we do if a 777 appeared on radar 500 miles off of US territory? If they ignored all warnings, we would not hesitate to shoot it down, but what if they were completely compliant? What if the pilot said the aircraft had been on a suicide mission but that the passengers and crew took control of the aircraft back and were looking for a safe place to land now? They say that they don't have fuel to turn back and that they need to land on US soil or ditch offshore somewhere. Would we let them land or still shoot the aircraft down anyway even though they wish to comply with all requests and it looks to be in the hands of the passengers and rightful crew now? What if the aircraft possibly had a biological weapon on board?

 

[glockednlocked]

I'm thinking this was step one of a larger plan. The idea would be to secure an aircraft that is large enough for whatever it's needed for, and that could cause a defense network to pause before a shootdown. To secure the aircraft, you take it to high altitude and then depressurize it while the controlling crew remains on oxygen. At 2am, everyone is trying to sleep anyway and even the most alert might not think twice about getting sleepy. I don't know if you could disable the oxy masks from dropping in the pax compartment though, and that would certainly get folks attention.

After you have the aircraft secured, you drop below radar level and head off to where ever you are going to recover the aircraft to hold it until step 2. I don't know what step 2 might be, but I think they screwed up on step 1. They turned off the known transmitters to go dark but did not turn off the ACARS system. Instead of everyone thinking that the aircraft is lost in the ocean somewhere, analysts are now thinking that there is a rogue 777 somewhere out there. If everyone thought it had crashed, it might be easier to slip an airliner into the jet routes to get it close enough to its target to do some harm, but if the first appearance of an unknown 777 is going to be met with extrordinary suspicion, it will be a lot more difficult to get it close to anything.

Here's a question though: What would we do if a 777 appeared on radar 500 miles off of US territory? If they ignored all warnings, we would not hesitate to shoot it down, but what if they were completely compliant? What if the pilot said the aircraft had been on a suicide mission but that the passengers and crew took control of the aircraft back and were looking for a safe place to land now? They say that they don't have fuel to turn back and that they need to land on US soil or ditch offshore somewhere. Would we let them land or still shoot the aircraft down anyway even though they wish to comply with all requests and it looks to be in the hands of the passengers and rightful crew now? What if the aircraft possibly had a biological weapon on board?

set it down in cuba we will send a ferry for the non swimmers/non Obama voters.

 

[Bob2]

Found it
Boeing 777-300

 

[Tactical Dave]

I'm going with massive electronic failure, loss of cabin preasure, taken off auto pilot and all dead quickly then the plane turned and burned into the ocean

I thought that that also until they said the ACARS was turned off like 17 minutes after the transponder was shut off. I believe at the altitude they were at if they had a de-pressurization you only have a handful of seconds before you pass out.... In that case then why did ACARS get shut off 17 min later... Massive electrical failure that stuff would have all shut off at the same time.... Let's also consider they are saying the transponder was shut off just before they last contacted ATC.... Or so they beleive.... If they did pass out they could not have then shut off auto pilot and hung a hard left.


i worked for the airlines for a bit and some of this just does not add up.


If it was off auto pilot I can't see it flying straight and level for hours but you would have to ask our resident pilot that.

 

[PaulF]

That airplane costs over $320,000,000.00 in today's Dollars. It is made from thousands of expensive parts that can be (relatively) easily removed. Some of those parts are (or contain) corporate secrets, and very desirable to the right people. If I were to go through all the trouble to capture this vehicle intact I doubt I would want to just hand it over to a guy who intends to blow it up.

It is possible that there are motivations other than fanatical ideology at play here.

 

[Tactical Dave]

There is nothing secret about a Boeing aircraft..... Stripped down they are all the same basic design with differences here and there.... Some are longer some are wider, some of the structure looks a little different. Same with the airbus. It's not like say a B2....

Google could probably tell anyone all that they want to know.

 

[atvdave]

I can understand someone taking the electronics from a aircraft, but I would think that they could also get close to the same from a private jet, without the world searching for it.

 

[chef larry]

With all the planes and ships looking for the jet, will it be found so all the family's can have closure?

 

[Tactical Dave]

With all the planes and ships looking for the jet, will it be found so all the family's can have closure?

Years back there was a 727 with a few people on board stolen from an airport.... It was never found.

 

[indykid]

Not much population in western china but every route they say it could have taken except the south one would have put them near cell towers along the way.....

If you believe Southeast Asia has cell towers like the USA, even though this is just one map, guessing the others aren't much different, can you see a flight path that would deny cell coverage? Realize that cell range is only a couple of miles.

AT&T Maps - International Coverage Map for Voice and Data Coverage from AT&T

Makes me wonder if the Chinese government could have been in on it? Someone on the plane they didn't like, and provide a safe path and landing spot?

Fun guessing while at the same time very sad when we think of what those people went through.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

That airplane costs over $320,000,000.00 in today's Dollars. It is made from thousands of expensive parts that can be (relatively) easily removed. Some of those parts are (or contain) corporate secrets, and very desirable to the right people. If I were to go through all the trouble to capture this vehicle intact I doubt I would want to just hand it over to a guy who intends to blow it up.

It is possible that there are motivations other than fanatical ideology at play here.

Possible. Probable?

Wall Street Journal Examines How Possible Sabotage to Missing Jet Would Have Been Conducted | Video | TheBlaze.com

Israel Reportedly Reinforces Airspace Security in Response to Terrorism Concerns Over Missing Malaysian Jet | TheBlaze.com

Israel Prepares for Possible Attack by Hijacked Malaysian Plane

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Was Diverted Deliberately, Malaysian Prime Minister Says

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 search grows, pilots face scrutiny - CNN.com

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/...lanned-9-11-Style-Plane-Hijacking-In-Malaysia

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/wanted-malaysia-airlines-flight-gird-aviation-expert-article-1.1723111

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/0...ght-simulator-belonging-to-one-of-the-pilots/

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/...poke-With-Airport-After-Transponder-Shut-Down

 

[Lebowski]

Years back there was a 727 with a few people on board stolen from an airport.... It was never found.

Supposedly it's in the Congo. If you're referring to the American Airline plane from... 2003? Chatter on a pilots forum supposedly indicated that it was sitting in an airfield, out in the open, for all to see. I say 'supposedly' because 'they' still have not found it... but according to some folks on the internet it's there and you can go see it for yourself if you wish to go there... I want to go on vacation but the DRC isn't what I had in mind.


I think the only people on board that plane was actually two pilots,

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Boeing_727-223_disappearance
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/3201872/
http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/the-727-that-vanished-2371187/?no-ist