Malaysia Airlines Flight Vanishes

[RoyGBiv]

Yes. However, Payne's plane didn't disappear from radar and the transponder continued to work.

Here's a theory... feel free to shoot holes in it...

According to the AD regarding potential for cracking around the antenna...

If the fuselage suffered a breach in the area of this antenna, I assume that the breach could affect the transponder signal???
Perhaps the fuselage was breached, the transponder stopped communicating, the passengers & crew died in the same manner as Payne Stewart, and the aircraft continued to fly its programmed route until it ran out of fuel, then crashed in the ocean somewhere, or in a remote area of China.

Why is there not an O2 sensor in every commercial cockpit?
Pressure sensors are clearly not sufficient.

[mojo84]

No holes to be poke by me. It has far exceeded my pay grade and expertise level. Actually, that happened a long time ago.

It is amazing to me it is this hard to find the plane like this. If it was a small puddle jumper private plane, that would be a different story. But a 777, makes me .

[thenick_ttu]

Yes. However, Payne's plane didn't disappear from radar and the transponder continued to work.

Here's a theory... feel free to shoot holes in it...

According to the AD regarding potential for cracking around the antenna...

If the fuselage suffered a breach in the area of this antenna, I assume that the breach could affect the transponder signal???
Perhaps the fuselage was breached, the transponder stopped communicating, the passengers & crew died in the same manner as Payne Stewart, and the aircraft continued to fly its programmed route until it ran out of fuel, then crashed in the ocean somewhere, or in a remote area of China.

Why is there not an O2 sensor in every commercial cockpit?
Pressure sensors are clearly not sufficient.

I'm certainly no expert and have not kept up with the intricate details of this but this my initial response...

If it continued to fly its programmed route until it ran out of fuel, wouldn't it have overshot Beijing. Surely there would be a small surplus of fuel. That means the plane would have crashed on land. Even if it landed in remote China, surely somebody would have seen something. Secondly and more importantly, wouldn't the Chinese government pick up the plan on radar at some point since it is flying over mainland China (and presumably very close to Beijing)?

[Dave2]

There is now a report that the Rolls Royce engines transmitted maintenance data for four hours after they lost contact.

Which Malaysia is denying, but I haven't heard a retraction or anything from the WSJ or Rolls Royce yet. You'd think that RR would jump to deny the story if it wasn't true.

Right after news of missing plane first came out, there was a report — quickly denied by Malaysia — that it'd landed in Nanning. Has anyone swung by that airport just to see what's going on?

I could believe the plane was stolen/hijacked, but by who? All the "usual suspects" either already are, or are trying to become, allies with China.

[SQLGeek]

My sister, who is a bit of an aviation buff and a flight attendant, posted something from somewhere (I'm sorry I don't have any more details) that the MAS system showed the plane as having landed per their tracking system. She said that if it's like the system her airline uses, there's no way this could accidentally be recorded.

Who knows but this is really strange. DB Cooper wasn't on board the plane was he?

[Beiruty]

Here is what I think happened:
1) Transponder is turned off
2) Aircraft is descended in spiral mode to 300 ft above see level to avoid long distance radars.
3) Aircraft is flown to a remote island with enough runaway to land, fuel is available for another trip.
4) All electronics on board (including cellphones) are off.
4) Purpose of the hijack is criminal in nature.

[Dave2]

Secondly and more importantly, wouldn't the Chinese government pick up the plan on radar at some point since it is flying over mainland China (and presumably very close to Beijing)?

Yep. I would be pretty shocked if nobody had noticed an unresponsive 777 flying over one of the busiest airports in the world.

[VMI77]

Here is what I think happened:
1) Transponder is turned off
2) Aircraft is descended in spiral mode to 300 ft above see level to avoid long distance radars.
3) Aircraft is flown to a remote island with enough runaway to land, fuel is available for another trip.
4) All electronics on board (including cellphones) are off.
4) Purpose of the hijack is criminal in nature.

Except according to what they are reporting now, the engines reported data for 4 hours after the transponder went off. And at 300 feet, given their fuel load, their range would be significantly limited. Also, the Malaysian military track of the unidentified aircraft had it at 29,500 feet.

[RoyGBiv]

Yes. However, Payne's plane didn't disappear from radar and the transponder continued to work.

Here's a theory... feel free to shoot holes in it...

According to the AD regarding potential for cracking around the antenna...

If the fuselage suffered a breach in the area of this antenna, I assume that the breach could affect the transponder signal???
Perhaps the fuselage was breached, the transponder stopped communicating, the passengers & crew died in the same manner as Payne Stewart, and the aircraft continued to fly its programmed route until it ran out of fuel, then crashed in the ocean somewhere, or in a remote area of China.

Why is there not an O2 sensor in every commercial cockpit?
Pressure sensors are clearly not sufficient.

I'm certainly no expert and have not kept up with the intricate details of this but this my initial response...

If it continued to fly its programmed route until it ran out of fuel, wouldn't it have overshot Beijing. Surely there would be a small surplus of fuel. That means the plane would have crashed on land. Even if it landed in remote China, surely somebody would have seen something. Secondly and more importantly, wouldn't the Chinese government pick up the plan on radar at some point since it is flying over mainland China (and presumably very close to Beijing)?

Because the aircraft was initially thought to have crashed or broken up, then subsequently thought to have turned and headed west, nobody has been checking primary radar for non-transponding tracks across Vietnam and China. Caught some discussion on TV this morning about that activity being currently ongoing.There is lots of remote space north of Beijing.

[mojo84]

My fourth theory.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm843881472/t ... f_=tt_ov_i" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jmra]

My fourth theory.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm843881472/t ... f_=tt_ov_i" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Or
[youtube][/youtube]

[RoyGBiv]

Oil rig worker saw Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 go down: report

http://globalnews.ca/news/1202910/oil-r ... wn-report/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



The Chinese sat images of possible wreckage are not out of line with the rig workers reported position and observed current direction. Not sure about timing and distance however.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1204160/chine ... rash-site/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[philip964]

Here is what I think happened:
1) Transponder is turned off
2) Aircraft is descended in spiral mode to 300 ft above see level to avoid long distance radars.
3) Aircraft is flown to a remote island with enough runaway to land, fuel is available for another trip.
4) All electronics on board (including cellphones) are off.
4) Purpose of the hijack is criminal in nature.

This is what the relatives are hoping for.

[philip964]

Doesn't it seem odd that the US has not said anything. Is it for fear that we would open up on how good our technology is?

I can't imagine that our Navy didn't watch the whole thing, or that our subs didn't record the splash when it went down or the now pinging of the black box.

One would think that even as a humanitarian gesture the President would call for us to assist in the search. (the plane is US made after all)

Doesn't hurt at all in times like this to extend an olive branch to the Chinese.

Wait oh, its spring break.

[RoyGBiv]

Doesn't it seem odd that the US has not said anything. Is it for fear that we would open up on how good our technology is?

I can't imagine that our Navy didn't watch the whole thing, or that our subs didn't record the splash when it went down or the now pinging of the black box.

One would think that even as a humanitarian gesture the President would call for us to assist in the search. (the plane is US made after all)

Doesn't hurt at all in times like this to extend an olive branch to the Chinese.

Wait oh, its spring break.

Watched an interview with the US Commander in the region. He was on audio from the Straight of Malacca. Said his P-3 had already done 12,000 miles of search pattern that day (this was 2 days ago, IIRC). We most definitely have assets working on this and more were en route.

Not knowing where to look is a major obstacle. There, no, there, no wait, there... Now there's search going on in the Indian ocean.. Holy confusion Batman.