Missing MH370 thread cont...

[Pennies]

Old thread here

New thread here.

Achy there are some primary sources linked from in the PPRuNe forum, but some of these are being deleted. Have a look at (I think) page 216 for detailed info.

Ideally, you need three satellites for triangulation

Reports appearing on some sites that;

1. the plane dropped to 5000ft and used terrain masking to avoid radar - this appears to be coming from the aussies but can't find more on it on their website. No mention of proof or where.

2. A Greek oil tanker found suitcases in the mallacca straits. - no official sites stating this that I can see. Seems like a random thing to fabricate though. Also doesn't explain the pings as would imply it went down pretty quickly and not hours later.

Never I read that too re Greek luggage spotting and am waiting to see the news reports. This is where my informed layperson knowledge comes to a complete halt, because I wondered if the plane had landed on water with empty tanks and had glided in mostly intact, whether some luggage could have escaped and floated for a while. Online gossip seems to suggest it would all have sunk quite quick, and the 'water wings' effect of empty fuel tanks in the wings would have been quickly finished by water leaking in (and plane then sinking).

First point has been discussed at length and only rational explanation appears to be that it happened during a struggle in the cabin. But I am not Goldie and this is just on the basis of what I've read rather than any expert knowledge.

Thanks for the updates all. Must sleep but am following this with a bit of obsession..

living me too. Time to sleep, hope we have better information in the morning. This has turned into a slightly horrified obsession for me as a dispassionate observer, can't even begin to understand what the families are going through. Good night.

I would have thought that some of those modern plastic cased suitcases might float well? There was also done suggestion that if they were the suitcases of passengers that the plane could well have gone down some distance away and floated closer to Malaysia in the last week or so. Who knows? (Probably goldie tbf).

I hadn't realised the plane had made several recorded heading changes - just saw it on a ABC news video dated 14th March. It seems to have flown round in a triangle, crossing the Malacca Strait a second time: could it have gone down then? But I can't figure out when this was supposed to have happened - am too tired to search for the info - so am unclear whether the ACAS(?) pings show the plane was still flying after that.

Their avionics guy said that, if incoming data showed sudden altitude changes, he would take that + multiple heading changes to mean there was a struggle for control, and/or the aircraft was being flown by an inexperienced pilot.

Does anybody know the relative timeline for the re-crossing over Malacca and the long-term pings?

Mind you, I've just remembered there are frequent fatalities in the Malacca Straits, due to people frantically trying to get to Australia in unsuitable vessels. Suitcases could have come from them, or from piracy victims :(

Having flown emirates from the US to the Middle East I wouldn't be surprised if it was the toilets fault. Never been so disgusted in my life! However, more likely your typical middle eastern news agency 'news' which can never be fully trusted.

Just to add, security at dubai flying to Canada was no different to flying anywhere else, but Canada to US? Hol-lee-crap. Never seen anything like it.

And yes, wifi on planes is awesome. Etihad definitely have the card swipey things on most planes (all I've ever been on, which is a lot)

As for the mystery, I'm beginning to think this is as much as we'll ever know, and in 10 years time or something we'll hear of wreckage being found half way up a mountain/ I'm a jungle / by sonar under the ocean somewhere

Another day of waking up to find there is no more news. Astonishing.

Just to say re mobile phone overage. I live in the middle of the UK. There is no mobile phone coverage in my house. The brow of a hill blocks signal. It was the same with our TV Ariel ( when we used one) and we needed a extra tall one to pick up signal. I can't believe that people are so accustomed to having mobiles everywhere that they can't get their heads around there being no mobile signal at 35000 feet.

Plane turnaround was pre-programmed into flight computer - possibly by pilot or by engineer on the ground prior to take-off.(Fox news).

I am wondering if it could have been flown low enough for safe jumping, and certain passengers could have parachuted out of it (perhaps holding onto others being taken against their will) into the ocean, there to be picked up by say, a North Korean vessel, and taken to NK. Meanwhile the rest of the passengers would be left in it and it would ditch into the ocean. Or could it have made a smooth ocean landing and certain people managed to get out of the plane and onto a vessel while others were left to sink?

Math,Goldie stated above that ocean landings were all but impossible because of waves.

Interesting insights on how Chinese media is being told to handle the news around this, and on flying at 5,000 feet and why it's possible. Also an interesting map from CNN....

www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/17/mh370-contact-missing-plane-communications-disabled

Map of the search area from CNN I should have said, sorry.

It's really not unusual for the Chinese media to be under such directives.

I suppose the big problem in how to investigate/analyse this comes from the basic problem that no-one knows what sort of event was planned, or whether the plan was successfully carried out.

I expect that the intelligence effort (which won't be made public) will be looking amongst other things for 'chatter' to see if thy can discover the intended purpose - and as it's been made public previously that planning for terrorist events takes years, that is a lot of material to review.

But if suicide by pilot, then there would be no noticeable planning.

Terrorists often leave a video "will" explaining thier actions, released onto the Internet shortly after the event. If this event has not gone as plan (say if brave pilots managed to ditch the plane, or if erratic flying by inexperienced hijacker led to a critical mistake); then perhaps you delay release (perhaps simply relishing the tying up a huge number of international experts).

On the 'preprogrammed change of course' theory - did anyone say how they know (there must be a version not on the plane?). And would this be consistent with flying to avoid known radar?

No, true, communist state after all. Just served as a useful reminder to me on why Chinese media can't be trusted. As far as one can trust any reports in all of this.

There's not much to say at the moment I guess so they are looking for anything to talk about.

There's not much to say at the moment I guess so they are looking for anything to talk about.

So true, livingzuid, so true.

Unless someone who knows something talks, which they may or may not have already, it could take months to search land and sea.

Yes and pinning everything on the pilot. Though I've yet to see even a scrap of evidence against him. So he was pissed off with the government, I'd say most of citizens of the world are pissed off with their governments these days.

I was also a bit at some of the justifications for reporting on the relatives to remind us, apparently, that at the centre of this are grieving families. Is that what gives them licence to thrust cameras and microphones in the faces of people in shock and hound them incessantly?!

As if anyone with half a brain could forget about the families and passengers! That's part of what makes the whole thing so horrendous, that there is no closure for them.

I get that they want to convey family reactions but surely there was/is a more tasteful and considerate way to do it than the approach that was taken?

In terms of people's geographic imagination of the world it tends to be one of surveyed control and of a planet that can be known. A plane going missing totally disrupts this understanding of the world, which is of course a source of anxiety. Could be used as a terrorist mind games strategy I suppose to demonstrate power over all the systems that supposedly 'know and control'. Seems slightly far fetched though? But then so would 9/11 before it happened. Everything is just so speculative though

I don't like all this pilot blaming, he has been described as a good, honest family man, a loyal employee, he had video clips on youtube allegedly showing people how they can save money (haven't seen the vids) because he was 'community minded'

I just don't think he had anything to do with it, and i feel sorry for his family and friends who are watching on as he is being turned into a suspect.

Of course, i could be completely wrong, but i just don't think it was him