Malaysia airlines plane may have crashed 239 people on board #5

[Soulmagent]

Got it. Thanks for the clarification. I didn't realize that the transponder was utilizing GPS technology. Clearly I've never been in a cockpit before. I only had seen a picture of the transponder unit in an article and it didn't look like the most modern device to my uninformed eyes.

I know right! They look kinda like the old 70's stereo receivers, Which by the way I have about 3 of and they still work!!

 

[mom-a-licious]

On the theory of the plane being hijacked and hidden somewhere for later use: This would be a huge operation with so many people involved and so much pre-planning, with a landing place prepared for a Boeing 777 and a place to hide it---all this prep would have had to been done without any leaks, or chatter getting picked up by intelligence, and without any detection of the huge runway or hangar being constructed or the activity of all involved. This would be hard to prepare for in a sneaky way.

Also, what later use? If you need a plane to drop a bomb, you wouldn't need one this big. If you are going to crash it into something, why not just do that when you hijack it ? why wait for later? And if you're going to use it "later", how are you going to take this now famously missing absolutely huge plane and just go flying around in it without being detected, even if you're "under the radar" it would be seen as soon as it got anywhere near a populated area...

I don't totally dismiss this theory, but I have a lot of why's and how's about this one. But I feel the same about the other theories too...each one seems to have a lot of "but if that was the case" attached to it...

 

[Chilly Willy]

I haven't seen anything truly making sense about this missing airplane.

Yes, it is a huge ocean. However, there are many countries now involved in searching for it. Military capabilities, spying capabilities, and other forms of scientific ingenuity are being applied from countries all over the world. They must be covering a lot of territory at a rapid pace.

If they have found zero information after all this time, something is way off.

They have plenty of information and have had almost from the time it was first discovered that the plane was missing, IMO. They just aren't sharing most of it with the public. I wouldn't be at all suprised to learn that the US has a very good idea of what happened and who is responsible.

 

[ilovepierre]

Thanks - all "anonymous" officials still. I don't take that to be confirmation yet.

Exactly.
In a few hours officials will be denying these reports....at least that's what I think, anyways.
There's been so much of that in this case, it's hard to believe anything for longer than a few hours =\

 

[Soulmagent]

On the theory of the plane being hijacked and hidden somewhere for later use: This would be a huge operation with so many people involved and so much pre-planning, with a landing place prepared for a Boeing 777 and a place to hide it---all this prep would have had to been done without any leaks, or chatter getting picked up by intelligence, and without any detection of the huge runway or hangar being constructed or the activity of all involved. This would be hard to prepare for in a sneaky way.

Also, what later use? If you need a plane to drop a bomb, you wouldn't need one this big. If you are going to crash it into something, why not just do that when you hijack it ? why wait for later? And if you're going to use it "later", how are you going to take this now famously missing absolutely huge plane and just go flying around in it without being detected, even if you're "under the radar" it would be seen as soon as it got anywhere near a populated area...

I don't totally dismiss this theory, but I have a lot of why's and how's about this one. But I feel the same about the other theories too...each one seems to have a lot of "but if that was the case" attached to it...

If this plane was stolen , have to believe that another goverment body was behind it.

Or maybe Malaysia themselves.

The company that manages the airport manages 39 others. If landing planes is your bussiness and the country is known to be amoung the 4th most corrupt in the world for bussiness practices..

It should be vetted out at least..JMO.
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=199741:confirmed-msia-is-worlds-most-corrupt-nation-dirty-money-bigger-than-gdp&Itemid=2

 

[Chilly Willy]

Here's what it looks like in a 777:

ETA:

Here's a nice shot of the cockpit. The transponder is at the bottom of the picture. Look for the display screen at the bottom center, then look off of its lower right hand corner:

http://777boeing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/boeing_777_cockpit.jpeg

Just curious, would the pilot be aware if the co-pilot shut the transponder off without his knowledge? I mean would it beep or signal or something?

 

[belimom]

In case anyone had any doubt about accident vs hijacking:

Malaysia Airliner Communications Shut Down Separately: US Officials Say

Two U.S. officials tell ABC News the U.S. believes that the shutdown of two communication systems happened separately on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. One source said this indicates the plane did not come out of the sky because of a catastrophic failure.

The data reporting system, they believe, was shut down at 1:07 a.m. The transponder -- which transmits location and altitude -- shut down at 1:21 a.m.

This indicates it may well have been a deliberate act, ABC News aviation consultant John Nance said.

U.S. investigators told ABC News that the two modes of communication were "systematically shut down."

More at http://abcnews.go.com/International...cation-crashed-indian-ocean/story?id=22894802

 

[Wendy101]

if this was pilot suiside .. Would he turn everything off, fly under radar and disappear plane jus to see if he coukd do it? Was he practicing it at home? I wonder what they found searching his home?

 

[JerseyGirl]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/world/asia/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-370.html?hp&_r=0

ABC News reported on Thursday evening that American officials believe the shutdown of two communications systems aboard the aircraft happened at separate times, suggesting they were turned off deliberately rather than as a result of a catastrophic failure.

Would a pilot take that long or would it be someone else who wasn't familiar with the cockpit and was looking for the 2nd switch?

 

[Softail]

On the theory of the plane being hijacked and hidden somewhere for later use: This would be a huge operation with so many people involved and so much pre-planning, with a landing place prepared for a Boeing 777 and a place to hide it---all this prep would have had to been done without any leaks, or chatter getting picked up by intelligence, and without any detection of the huge runway or hangar being constructed or the activity of all involved. This would be hard to prepare for in a sneaky way.

Also, what later use? If you need a plane to drop a bomb, you wouldn't need one this big. If you are going to crash it into something, why not just do that when you hijack it ? why wait for later? And if you're going to use it "later", how are you going to take this now famously missing absolutely huge plane and just go flying around in it without being detected, even if you're "under the radar" it would be seen as soon as it got anywhere near a populated area...

I don't totally dismiss this theory, but I have a lot of why's and how's about this one. But I feel the same about the other theories too...each one seems to have a lot of "but if that was the case" attached to it...

Not to mention, where would they get jet fuel? It's not like there are jet fuel stations all over the place. :waitasec:

 

[Joe Friday]

Just trying to wrap my head around pilot/co-pilot suicide theory.

If either the pilot or co-pilot had decided they wanted to commit suicide, killed the other, than turned off the transponders and either killed themselves or let the plane do the job, what about the flight attendants?

If the scheduled flight went over the time it normally took, I think the flight attendants would have questioned that and tried contacting the captain or the co-pilot. If they were unable to communicate with the flight crew I think the flight attendants would have contacted or alerted someone on the ground to a problem.

I guess my question is this: Is there a way for the flight attendants to make contact with the outside world on an airliner????

They do have those phones that passengers can use on most all US flights, so I would think so.

If this was a suicide mission and the transponder was turned off and the plane allowed to fly on auto pilot until it ran out of fuel, than why didn't anyone on the plane make contact with someone on the ground?

Suicide and the plane flying on for hours just doesn't make sense, unless the pilots killed or incapacitated all those on board. The only way I can think of doing that would be to set off some kind of chemical bomb on board.

JMO

 

[Chilly Willy]

On the 777 I do not know. I believe there is a warning if the TCAS function is turned off, and of course if the unit was turned off completely then that would happen. I do know where to look, though. Stand by.

Standing by.

 

[Spellbound]

Why is transponder made available to the pilot to turn on or off?

Why,/when would a pilot want to turn it off?

This may be some possible reasons, but I had to copy/paste the first since I don't know how to bring a post from a previous thread:


post from Derryn Hunch last night, #530 of thread #4:
Firstly, a transponder should be turned off on the ground, to so as not to create confusion with air traffic - secondly, a transponder needs to be able to squawk different codes depending on a situation, thirdly, a transponder needs to be turned off in case of a fire. There are countless other reasons...


Also this:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/12/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-transponder-explainer/
Malaysian Airlines: What is a transponder?

Q. Why would you turn off a transponder during a normal flight?
There could be several reasons. One reason could be when airplanes get close to each other (perhaps they are approaching an airport). Air traffic controllers may then request pilots to turn the transponders off or to standby. Also, if the transponder is sending faulty information, the pilot might want to turn it off. Planes are still visible on primary radar until they get below the radar's coverage ability.

 

[sammi89]

Would a pilot take that long or would it be someone else who wasn't familiar with the cockpit and was looking for the 2nd switch?

I wondered about that too - there seemed to be a delay in turning off the second switch. Why? Did they forget or not know where it was? Weird.

 

[Soulmagent]

Not to mention, where would they get jet fuel? It's not like there are jet fuel stations all over the place. :waitasec:

How about online?

http://purplemilkbox.com/market/products.php?13&cPath=13

 

[jaxibear]

On the theory of the plane being hijacked and hidden somewhere for later use: This would be a huge operation with so many people involved and so much pre-planning, with a landing place prepared for a Boeing 777 and a place to hide it---all this prep would have had to been done without any leaks, or chatter getting picked up by intelligence, and without any detection of the huge runway or hangar being constructed or the activity of all involved. This would be hard to prepare for in a sneaky way.

Also, what later use? If you need a plane to drop a bomb, you wouldn't need one this big. If you are going to crash it into something, why not just do that when you hijack it ? why wait for later? And if you're going to use it "later", how are you going to take this now famously missing absolutely huge plane and just go flying around in it without being detected, even if you're "under the radar" it would be seen as soon as it got anywhere near a populated area...

I don't totally dismiss this theory, but I have a lot of why's and how's about this one. But I feel the same about the other theories too...each one seems to have a lot of "but if that was the case" attached to it...

I have thought of those things too, and I can't dismiss the theory either.

Terrorists want to terrify people. What if a future flight disappears? What if they attempt to fly this plane into a building or use it to drop a bomb?

Wouldn't that cause serious problems all over the world? People would be scared to fly, national security would have to be on high alert, and the world economy would be impacted.

Maybe I am just a worse case scenario type of person, but until this plane is found, all of the possibilities are very, very scary. IMHO.

 

[sammi89]

Just trying to wrap my head around pilot/co-pilot suicide theory.

If either the pilot or co-pilot had decided they wanted to commit suicide, killed the other, than turned off the transponders and either killed themselves or let the plane do the job, what about the flight attendants?

If the scheduled flight went over the time it normally took, I think the flight attendants would have questioned that and tried contacting the captain or the co-pilot. If they were unable to communicate with the flight crew I think the flight attendants would have contacted or alerted someone on the ground to a problem.

I guess my question is this: Is there a way for the flight attendants to make contact with the outside world on an airliner????

They do have those phones that passengers can use on most all US flights, so I would think so.

If this was a suicide mission and the transponder was turned off and the plane allowed to fly on auto pilot until it ran out of fuel, than why didn't anyone on the plane make contact with someone on the ground?

Suicide and the plane flying on for hours just doesn't make sense, unless the pilots killed or incapacitated all those on board. The only way I can think of doing that would be to set off some kind of chemical bomb on board.

JMO

IIRC, there is an axe hidden somewhere on the plane. I bet the flight attendants knew where it was hidden and could have hacked there way in had a suicidal pilot killed himself and the co-pilot.

I agree - suicide just doesn't make sense if the plane went on for hours.

 

[momrids6]

Quote:
Flight MH370 sent “signals to a satellite for four hours after the aircraft went missing,” the Associated Press quotes an unnamed US official as saying:

The official said the Boeing 777-200 wasn’t transmitting data to the satellite, but sending out a signal to establish contact. Boeing offers a satellite service that can receive a stream of data during flight on how the aircraft is functioning.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, said Malaysia Airlines didn’t subscribe to that service, but the system was automatically pinging the satellite anyway.

The official also said some messages involving a different data service were received for a short time after the plane’s transponder went silent.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/bl...is-detected-by-chinese-satellite-live-updates

 

[Boodles]

Thanks - all "anonymous" officials still. I don't take that to be confirmation yet.

Ditto. Fool me once, fool me twice and all that...

But I'm more likely to believe US sources than any other, so we'll see eventually.

 

[mck16]

Would a pilot take that long or would it be someone else who wasn't familiar with the cockpit and was looking for the 2nd switch?

from what I can understand the 2nd switch is not in the cockpit. Anyone, is that correct? ty