Missing Malaysia Airlines MH370... Thread 4

[GoldieMumbles]

Thread 1

Thread 2

Thread3

"Goldie has the search location changed your opinion on what's happened?"

If anything it would actually send me back to my original hypoxia theory. If there was depressurisation, the crew were fighting it, reprogrammed the FMS to have the new waypoints as a planned return to KL but went hypoxic en-route, the aircraft may well have simply completed its final commanded turn and then keep on going.

The only doubt is from the Malaysian Prime Minister's statement about it definitely being a criminal act. But I'm not that sure I trust his statements any more, to be honest.

If it's where they say it is, it all adds up to the theory I had back on the first thread!

"I hope this is it"

I agree fully. It's time for closure for the poor families. And we all now need to know what happened so that we can prevent it from ever happening again.

Sorry to be morbid, but I certainly hope that means a swift, painless end for all on board.

Based on the information available so far, what do you think could have happened to the plane Goldie?

It seems to me that Aviation will be forever changed by this incident. Do you think more thorough monitoring of the position of planes is possible and, if this was a cyber hijack, what changes do you foresee?

IHaveSeenMyHat

What could have happened is it started out with something not being right which explains the pilot changing course but then a random accident happened causing hypoxia and therefore a crash and total loss of the passengers and plane.

Sorry to ask a really dumb question Goldie, but what causes depressurisation of a plane and the availability of oxygen masks not have prevented a catastrophe?

The oxygen for the masks doesn't last very long - 15-20 minutes I believe.

so we're all dead if an airplane we're on depressurises then - the oxygen is just there for a laugh or what? 15mins more lucidity knowing you're going to die?

If depressurisation was the problem, I wonder why the communications systems were turned off (if they were...suppose we don't really know what happened). Also, wouldn't it have been very easy for the pilot to send a mayday message? Surely if he was planning a landing at Langkawi, he would've informed ATC?

Honey, the pilots would descend the plane rapidly in such a situation so hopefully 15 minutes of oxygen would be sufficient to get the plane to a safe altitude.

honey that's a good point. And why couldn't they have bought the plane down somehow if they had oxygen? It's such a mystery.

Thanks so much goldie for the input :) I hope your theory is right in a way as it would mean minimal suffering wouldn't it?

Can I be dumb and ask how the whole hypoxia thing could therefore come about if there wasn't a fire or something on board? I thought that would be the only way? I think I have confused info somewhere

I wallowed like a whale in pregnancy yoga and got told off for getting up the wrong way. I was the most unbendy, ungraceful and inflexible person there but also with the largest bump - that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it! Was good though :)

Living, depressurisation could be caused by a system failure, door seal failure or a hull breach for example.

Managed to stay away for a whole 24 hours. Havent had the news on either. Just cathcing up now.

" what causes depressurisation of a plane and the availability of oxygen masks not have prevented a catastrophe?"

Any breach of the skin of the fuselage that allows air to escape faster from the fuselage than it can be pumped in will cause depressurisation. A big whole will cause a bigger bang and a fast depressurisation; a smaller whole either a slower depressurisation or the small whole spreads and becomes a gash. The oxygen masks should drop automatically but there's only a maximum of 22 minutes of oxygen per passenger and even then only if the plane flies over the Himalayas, else it's more like 15 minutes. The cockpit has a separate oxygen supply but it won't last for all that long. You're supposed to get down below 10,000 feet as fast as you can to where the air is breathable. The masks can be stopped from dropping but it would be bvious to the cabin crew if they'd been tampered with. I won't say how because I'm not sure it's information that everyone should know.

There are 2 types of passenger oxygen - piped from cylinders or so called oxygen generators. You know when they do the safety demo, they tell you to pull on the mask to start the flow of oxygen? Well when you pull it, it releases a pin inside the oxygen generator that allows two chemicals to mix and produce oxygen (safety tip - always pull the mask sharply towards you! It's not a joke!)

"so we're all dead if an airplane we're on depressurises then - the oxygen is just there for a laugh or what? 15mins more lucidity knowing you're going to die?"

No - the captain will command an emergency descent profile to get you down to 10,000 feet. 15 minutes is more than enough. It should be done in ay less. The 22 minutes is there because if you're over the Himalayas, you can't descend below 10,000 feet but you're never more than 22 minutes from an escape route to get down to that level. It's all very, very carefully worked out.

"If depressurisation was the problem, I wonder why the communications systems were turned off (if they were...suppose we don't really know what happened). Also, wouldn't it have been very easy for the pilot to send a mayday message? Surely if he was planning a landing at Langkawi, he would've informed ATC"

If the communications systems were down, he couldn't send an SOS.

If the depressurisation was due to a failure (crack, breach, shoe bomb...) in an area near to the communications equipment - or some of it - or its wiring - or the antennas...

"Can I be dumb and ask how the whole hypoxia thing could therefore come about if there wasn't a fire or something on board? I thought that would be the only way?"

There just has to be a hull breach. There doesn't need to be a fire.

That's really interesting Goldie, I never used to pay any attention to the safety demos, but I certainly will now!

So, could all this talk of 'criminal activity' by the Malaysian government possibly mean that there was an explosive device on board that caused the depressurisation? Another thought, if there was an explosion of some kind, maybe they didn't use oxygen because of the fire risk (it's really obvious I haven't got a clue about these things, isn't it!).

My DD13 is seriously impressed with you being an aeronautical engineer Goldie. It's off topic, but if you don't mind, she wants to know why passenger jets haven't got parachutes in case of accidents (she watched the space shuttle landings on TV recently). I was also wondering how you decided to become an aeronautical engineer. Have you always been fascinated by flying?

Fast moving thread so apologies if this has been asked and answered.

If there was a breach in the hull, how could the plane continue to fly for so long ?

Thanks Goldie and all the experts btw.

Hmmmm...

So the pilot didn't descend in time for whatever reason, maybe.

Thanks trixy and goldie. Lots of questions still but need to get some sleep. Geez if I have questions how must those families be :(

Hope there are some answers for them in the morning.

Etainagain, I was inspired to study aeronautical engineering because my school was right beside an airport and I used to spend my maths lessons watching aircraft take off and land!! Fortunately I must have paid enough attention to get a good enough maths grade!!

Monet a small hull breach may not have affected any other aircraft systems or the structural integrity of the plane so it could fly on, just not with enough oxygen in it to keep the passengers and crew alive.

no one thinks I have a point then?