Malaysian Jet

Quote: Pacomartin

Maybe not up until now. But if I had to that trip for business, I would ask my company to put me on China Eastern Airlines and fly via Shanghai ot China Southern Airlines via Guangzhou. Alternatively you could fly the 213 miles to Singapore, and fly to Beijing from there. A 213 mile flight is to short to steal a plane.

Not sure I've ever disagreed with Paco before, but DB Cooper hijacked a B727 going from Portland OR to Seattle WA; that's 113 NM, or 130 SM. I guess it's possible someone (not Paco - I'm sure he has) hasn't heard about that, so here's the Wiki entry. It's a great story, and still unsolved and carried as an open case by the FBI 40+ years later.

Oh, and my, weren't they still touchy about it when I first went to work up there. We were trained on hijacking VERY solemnly. Then in Portland in 1989, we had a Mooney go NORDO squawking 7500 all across the state, finally landing at Olympia, WA. The last controller he was talking to told him to "squawk altitude" because they weren't receiving his mode C readout. He was at 7500, natch, and thought he was supposed to dial his altitude into his transponder. Then he messed up his radios and no one could talk to him to confirm what was happening. He got to meet more than 40 of Washington's finest LEO's on rollout at the business end of an arsenal right on the runway, along with a close-wing fighter escort directly above him. Oops!

Quote: beachbumbabs

Not sure I've ever disagreed with Paco before..

Well it's my fault, since I framed something as an absolute instead of a probability. I actually did not realize that DB Cooper had hijacked a flight that was only 130 miles in length, thus forcing the plane to circle for 2 hours while the ransom money and parachuts were obtained.

While there is a possibility that you could have a Chinese Buddhist pilot whose wife caught him with his mistress sending him into a suicidal depression, I am saying that I would think twice about flying 3000 miles with a Muslim pilot.

Life is all probabilities. Israel is preparing for an attack, even though there is no evidence that the capture of this plane was intended to be used in an assault on that country.

What the cops failed to realize is that he was clearly alone in the plane. Sqawk altitude , Sqawk ident, and other routine phrases can get people in trouble. He thought he was doing the right thing, but he set off alarm bells for 500 miles every time he hit a radar beam. Dialing in four zeroes is just about the only worse thing he could have done. The original controller had asked him to confirm your transponder setting but he just thought that meant check that his altitude was properly dialed in. He did not recognize 7500 as the Pilot Is No Longer In Command of the Aircraft code. He had a metal clipboard as many pilots do and it was placarded with 7500, 7600 and 7700.

Even in Los Angeles, there was a bar called "D. B. Coopers" filled with posters about him. Its pretty much attributed to a movie stuntman who died in a motor cycle accident, but who knows for sure?

Quote: Pacomartin

Israel is preparing for an attack, even though there is no evidence that the capture of this plane was intended to be used in an assault on that country.

They're just going by the odds. Odds are, if the plane is still around, and some tall building isnt the target, then Israel is.

One thing I'm wondering about: did these guys take extraordinary measures to destroy the plane/passengers in a way that the whereabouts would be unknown and would did not leave a trace, just because they knew the uncertainty would drive everybody crazy?

Quote: Fleastiff

What the cops failed to realize is that he was clearly alone in the plane. Sqawk altitude , Sqawk ident, and other routine phrases can get people in trouble. He thought he was doing the right thing, but he set off alarm bells for 500 miles every time he hit a radar beam. Dialing in four zeroes is just about the only worse thing he could have done. The original controller had asked him to confirm your transponder setting but he just thought that meant check that his altitude was properly dialed in. He did not recognize 7500 as the Pilot Is No Longer In Command of the Aircraft code. He had a metal clipboard as many pilots do and it was placarded with 7500, 7600 and 7700.

Even in Los Angeles, there was a bar called "D. B. Coopers" filled with posters about him. Its pretty much attributed to a movie stuntman who died in a motor cycle accident, but who knows for sure?

Yeah, we weren't allowed to ask in the clear at that time. "Confirm squawking Hijack" or the like was verboten. Assuming you're talking about the Mooney and not DB Cooper.

The lack of evidence here is astounding and is only trumped by the lack of information.

Clearly, the intelligence powers that be are not releasing any additional information about the whereabouts of the plane as it's a criminal investigation. I think that the intelligence community has a reason to believe that the plane may have landed safely and will be used for some very sinister purpose. I think that if the plane was ditched into the ocean or crashed and the intelligence community knew that, that information would be released immediately with a suspected crash site.

For example, clearly, the previous pings from the InmarSat 3 are not being released as it would give much more definitive information on the plane's whereabouts. And there are other country's radars (defence and civilian) to consider has not been released.

And this investigation, like it or not, belongs to Malaysia, and the country with the most interest is China.

Where do you figure they could have landed? Even if one of these remote islands has a strip it seems it would be too short and probably in too poor shape to land on.

It seems to be that landing in the south would be be impossible wihtout notice. The islands in the Indian Ocean all are protecterates and any runway used would surely be noted by the procterate's government. If they landed anywhere it would be north, using known civilian radar holes as a route. Flying on a weekend night too over countries with low technology and a sleeping airforce (such as Malaysia and Thailand) helps with success. I don't think flying over India would be an option, though I am sure that the Indian military is poring over its radar records reconciling every plane with the corresponding civilian radars. You would presume that the only reason to land a plane would be to use it again.

And if you're only thinking about the survivability of the pilot (which is what the increase to 45K was all about, killing the passengers via a depressurization event), then landing on a short runway would be completely possible because you don't have to worry about the comfort of the passengers.

The whole thing is very difficult to believe.

Quote: boymimbo

which is what the increase to 45K was all about, killing the passengers via a depressurization event)

Talk to me about this--what's the mechanism for this, blow out the cabin while keeping the cockpit intact? Assume then they are separate, sealed entities.

Yes, the whole thing boggles the mind. My thinking is it will remain forever a mystery, but I allow that there is probably data currently being kept from the public and likely still being analyzed that may ultimately allow the plane to be found...

Here's another theory:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03/mh370-electrical-fire/

Summary : electrical fire knocks out some electronics, pilots turn off all the systems to discover exact issue, turning off transponders. Turns back towards a known airport, fails to deal with problem, despite trying to climb and dive to put out flames. Plane carries on flying under autopilot out over the Indian ocean, all on board dead/unconscious.

Hey, it's a theory.