Missing Malaysia Air plane MH370 - Part 3

[KenAdams]

Thread 1

Thread 2

Abc is reporting on the search mission focusing on the west coast of Australia.
abcnews.go.com/International/search-malaysia-airlines-jet-bolstered-off-australian-coast/t/story?id=22937761&source=hp.

Oh x posts again!

Trout, 45,000 wouldn't render passengers unconscious.

what is it that convinces everyone that the plane was hijacked and not just a terrible crash

1. Communications systems were disabled.

1. Plane made several unscheduled, but not random, route changes.

"What range does TCAS work over? And presumably it's reciprocal, so it would be easy to establish from SIA68 if they were aware of a following plane? (Or is all data deleted on landing?)"

@Meditrina... the point is that MH370 turned off their transponders already when they were over Gulf of Thailand, and the TCAS system is solely based on the callsign/flight no from the transponder... so the plane was totally in stealth mode to all those around (apart from the satellite info that's being analysed currently)

Does TCAS work when transponders are off? (Apologies for so many questions!)

Also, how near to other planes do you need to be to detect them?

And would anyone make a plan based on another plane talk off on time? If it had been an hour late, would they have had to circle, and risk not having the fuel to make it to destination?

But what makes them convinced it was turned off and not faulty?

If there was a fault then that could also explain route changes or flying low to stop lack of oxygen in cabin.

I just get the sense that there is a lot more to this and that the authorities know more than they are letting on as it just seems so improbable otherwise!

Tournesol the plane deliberately appears to have flown on a new flight course for some time instead of heading to Beijing. It has been tracked heading in a wrong direction, following a flight path that it is thought needed the attention of someone with the skill to flyba plane well. It passed through way points which would be known to pilots - it didnt just zoom Off in any direc
No. Their mobiles won't work.

"Kale, I don't see how it would be part of a military operation rather than a terrorist activity. Yes, it is a complex plan but not beyond terrorist capabilities, I wouldn't have thought."

I meant that the level of strategy necessary to pull this off would be at the level of the top military bods in official armed forces. It would mean that the terrorists have a much higher level of strategic planning than previously thought by the general population.

Sorry, trying to keep up with this thread, moving fast now

poubella's article is scary and plausible, so more scary. Fingers crossed that the plane is not used for destructive purposes. I have family in The Hague. Surely they will be looking out for rogue planes?

blimey - that's a very well thought out and compelling theory of Keith Ledgerwood's KaleCrochet, something you would have thought the authorities would have already thought about and investigated....but then again

Don't both planes need to have transponders on for the TCAS system to work? Can Goldie or anyone confirm?

From the linked article about the Freescale local employees:

"The company had been streamlining facilities in Tianjin and Kuala Lumpur that for testing and packaging microchips used in automobiles, consumer products, telecommunications infrastructure and industrial equipment."

They are production line engineers for factories producing non-sensitive items.

sorry if this has been asked before or is a silly question:

If relatives have managed to ring the passengers phones and they are still ringing, why has someone not yet tried to call someone from the phones on the plane?
That is if this hijacking theory is correct and the plane did indeed fly on without crashing.
Unless everyone's phones were confiscated, or worse, everyone had been knocked out so they weren't awake.

Beaver, cellphones often seem to be ringing due to the way the signal relays work ... What you hear when you call someone isn't actually their phone physically ringing.

Even if the passengers are alive and in possession of their phones, they may not be in an area with cell coverage.

I read that the "good night" from the co-pilot was NOT the normal sign off used. So perhaps he was trying to alert the authorities.

"or worse, everyone had been knocked out so they weren't awake"

Yes, that's a scary one. If they could get the relevant liquids on board, you can make noxious substances that would have that effect. But I've no idea if the subsequent known movements of the plane could be attributed to choking pilots doing their best.

oh. that's a shame. That was the most hopeful bit of information I had heard.
It would be amazing if everyone on board were still alive. But somehow I would think someone would have made contact by now.
There were a lot of clever techy people on board.

"Sorry I have to admit I have not read previous threads but what is it that convinces everyone that the plane was hijacked and not just a terrible crash?"

Tournesol: Up until Fri night I thought the same... there's been quite a few electrical probs on 777's including an EgyptAir one where the cockpit caught fire, fortunately while on the ground waiting for the last passenger to board, managed to evacuate safely, the plane was an economic write off though. My theory was they weren't so lucky on this one and similar happened at 35,000 ft.

However, over the weekend it's become alarmingly apparent the route and manoever were carefully planned, and stuck to known navigational waypoints... evidence of meticulous strategy... they wouldn't have done this if there was mechanical failure... it would just go down in a random place

The latest news article I have seen today seems to be showing the Captains family appealing for him to come home. As if they know or are agreeing with the speculation that he has something to do with it.

Do they know for sure?

If so, do they know more information about what the plan was?

Love the idea of a 777 in stealth mode. Whilst the plane may not have been sending signals out there is nothing at all that can be done to stop other planes/radars/people spotting it. There is nothing stealthy about an airliner.
If it hasnt ditched in the ocean then the fact that it has evaded radar or any exteranal contact is sheer fluke.

The batteries on mobiles would be dead by now anyhow.

Someone did mention emails on the other thread as being different? Presume they would need WiFi to relay which they wouldn't have but if they had landed somewhere that did (obviously this is highly unlikely as if they were near WiFi then they would be near civilisation and therefore someone would spot them but have to cover every question) would the email send retrospectively?

Sad to say but I dont think anyone is coming home from this flight - its either hijack gone wrong and ditched in the sea or major mechanical failure and ditched in the sea. I have a feeling the engine data is a red herring.

The mobile phone thing has been covered dozens of times in these threads and a bazillion times over the wider internets in the past few days. Before Goldie logs in and melts down in a fit of the vapours...

Basically mobile phones don't work at the altitude... it's too high up. They also only work if you're near civilisation ie a nearby mobile phone mast, of which there aren't many in the south China Sea or over the rainforests of Malaysia.

The thing about the relatives' phones ringing come about when you're on international roaming... it tries to contact the last known cell phone mast in the network before it was switched off/ went out of range, and it is that that gives the ringing tone heard, not the actual physical handset of the person.

I still don't understand what motive someone would have to do this secretly with no announcement afterwards.

What are they getting out of it?

If they have crashed and are not found for a long time, what has it done other than ruin a lot of lives?

Is there really any chance that it could have landed somewhere to be used at a later date without being found yet?

The whole of the world are searching for this plane.

And last of all - In these days where you can look on Google earth and see satellite images so close that you can tell what car or what animal it is, how are satellites not finding this?

It was one of my biggest annoyances on the 'Lost' program that a plane could go down at all without someone finding it shortly after.

Maybe it was closer to the truth than I thought?