Lost

[Duel of Fates]

Kind of surprised that no one has commented on the loss of this jumbo jet, or the apparent loss of over 200 people.

Even though the probability remains high that a catastrophic event occurred and the plane, crew, and passengers will eventually be found on the sea floor, some aspects of the data makes me wonder if something even more heinous has transpired.

1. The transponder being shut off. Even though this would occur in the event of a crash, secondary transponders remained active in the jet engines. They continued sending out pings nearly seven hours after the main transponder shut off. Conclusion. Someone manually shut down the main transponder.

2. It appears that the plane changed heading when the transponder was shut off. Now they are reporting that the course change was programmed into the plane's computer before takeoff. Conclusion. The course change was not a result of an emergency, but was intentional.

3. The transponder pings from the engines show that the plane was flying a course that avoided radar as it flew into the Indian Ocean. Conclusion. The plane was not flying on auto pilot, but was being flown manually hours after.

4. Relatives report trying to call loved ones on their cell phones and even though there were no answers, the calls were ringing through. I am no techy, but would that happen if the phones were destroyed? Gives me the idea that the owners of those cell phones were incapacitated and unable to call, text, or receive. Could it be possible that whoever was in control of the plane incapacitated the crew and passengers by simply shutting off the air, or venting the cabin pressure? Payne Stewart's ill fated flight comes to mind. According to the experts, they never felt it, and died from asphyxiation in just a few moments. That would seem to be an easy way to eradicate any possible interference from the crew and passengers.

5. The black box transponder has not activated. Conclusion. The plane did not crash.

Now if we follow this thread of action, might one conclude that this is not a catastrophic event caused by an accident, or by a bomb? But rather a very intricate plan to steal a jumbo jet with the capability of traveling pretty much anywhere.

One scenario would be to put a nuke on board. Fly to a city you wish to hit, piggyback behind a legitimate flight, and detonate once they are over their target. Rome, Tel Aviv, pretty much any part of Europe, and even New York.

Another scenario would be to put a "dirty" bomb on board and crash the plane into a populated area.

Anybody's guess.

[WD-40]

It is a very odd situation. As far as the phones go, calls will go thru, but unless passengers have a Satellite Phone, they would not receive the call. Unless a Sat phone is configured to the aircraft electrical system (certified for use), there's a strong chance that using one would shut down aircraft electronics or disrupt them in some way as it did on one of our GV Jets when a passenger pulled one out (without the crews permission) and activated his travel Sat phone during a flight some time ago. Luckily, The crew got the screens re-started back in the cockpit, but that's why Sat phones (not cellphones) are dangerous in an aircraft (not talking about the ones you see mounted on the backs of passenger seats for use to call out, as those are certified and configured into the aircraft and safe to use).

I suppose if that scenario occurred, and the crew lost power to their cockpit screens and Navigation equipment/transponder, and did not get them turned back on, they may have 'Lost' there way, run out of gas and crashed somewhere way off course. That, our the Chinese, North Koreans, or whoever, blew them out of the sky after it flew into their airspace without authorization, but the aircraft couldn't respond or transpond their aircrafts code due to radio/electrical outage...and the country is keeping mum about what they did. I see no benefit on some country hijacking a jet, as jets are easy to acquire with money.

Beyond that, I haven't any idea what may have happened without direct information from the investigation.

[Duel of Fates]

I see no benefit on some country hijacking a jet, as jets are easy to acquire with money.

Not saying a country, more likely a terrorist organization backed by, say Iran. Those stolen passports shoot a lot of red flags up for me, but I am a paranoid individual to start with.

[FaiL.?]

I see no benefit on some country hijacking a jet, as jets are easy to acquire with money.

Not saying a country, more likely a terrorist organization backed by, say Iran. Those stolen passports shoot a lot of red flags up for me, but I am a paranoid individual to start with.

I believe that the passports were identified to a refugee that was trying to escape his home country, so it could be a terrorist, who knows. And yeah, the plane could've been hijacked as an act of terrorism for a ransom, or worse. But tell me, what is this "black box" transponder you speak of?

[mrjamwin]

I personally think it was aliens. How come that possibility isn't being reported?

[(SWGO)DesertEagle]

It's certainly very suspicious, planes don't just disappear.

If it had crashed into the ocean, there would be a giant oil stream.

If it had been shot down, it's almost certain that the giant fireball would have been seen by someone.

I think it was hijacked and landed somewhere else.

[Sir Bang]

If this was done by terrorists, wouldn't the associated terrorist group have owned up by now? Terrorism is kind of pointless if it doesn't draw attention to your cause.

SB

[WD-40]

But tell me, what is this "black box" transponder you speak of?

The 'Black Box' (Flight Data Recorder) is actually bright orange in color to help find it faster in plane wreckage. It is used to record to a high-impact memory drive all the planes flight data, such as airspeed, altitude, configuration, attitude, power settings and engine data. Their are airlines who receive this data continually via satellite which is sent to their headquarter office. I doubt Malaysia does. (I'm talking big-wigs like Delta, American, United, Air France, British Airways, etc) There is also a 'Cockpit Voice Recorder' which records each the pilots/radio communications (incoming and outgoing), general area cockpit communication, and communication on the PA system. That can be disabled only by Circuit Breakers in the cockpit or a total loss of power to the boxes to include the planes batteries, which run power to those boxes for a time till they also die, even with engine generator failure.

The plane's Transponder is squawk code (4 digits) assigned by controllers to identify each plane individually for radar coverage. Without radar, controllers wont see it. However, individual planes can see each other up to a certain range within certain limits. That can be turned off by simply turning the power switch to 'OFF' or a loss of main power. I do not know if this particular planes backup batteries power the transponders in event of loss of main power, nor am I certain they were even under radar contact during the supposed 4 hour long 'lost contact' flight time.

The 'Emergency Beacon', is integrated into the aircraft tail area to activate once it senses a high G impact. Planes have been using the 121.5 mHz signal which is line-of-sight, and limited in range. However, in the past year or so, all planes where to start using 406 mHz. (Not so sure all planes have it). This new signal transmits the plane's exact position (Latitude/Longitude) to within 3 feet, directly to satellites which relay the signal to receiving stations around the world. These stations would then send a message to the aircraft owner's coverage facility. As long as it is 'Transponding', the satellite keeps relaying. Unlikely down in deep water. I carry a hand-held one on flights. If we have to ditch (and survive), I can board a raft and turn it one, which will do the same thing the plane's built in one does. And the code identifies it as me, and relays my data to my home office. By that point, Search and Rescue' is already notified as well for that part of the world...or so they say. But at least they'd get my Lat/Long position eventually.

So now they are looking into one or both pilots backgrounds for terrorist ties. It is possible the manually turned off their transponder (Maybe disabled the boxes). I really want to see what pans out.

[Duel of Fates]

If this was done by terrorists, wouldn't the associated terrorist group have owned up by now? Terrorism is kind of pointless if it doesn't draw attention to your cause.

SB

Exactly my point. If you are going to blow the plane or crash it, you would be claiming responsibility for your actions. Not claiming responsibility yet suggests a couple of possibilities. One, the terrorists failed in their mission and something went terribly wrong. Two, the terrorists succeeded, but aren't willing to take it to the press because they still have a mission to perform. Shouting it out would bring unwanted attention to your group and any assets under your control, especially if you are trying to hide and re-task a top of the line jumbo jet, say in Somalia, or one of the *'stans.

I really hope I am wrong and they find this thing at the bottom. Just hate it when my spidey-senses get all a tingling.


Thanks WD. I learn something every day.

[CommanderOtto]

yeah very strange indeed. Now... I read in Reuters that there was only 30 minutes of fuel left after the moment the pilot evaded the radar. It must not be very far.