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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 ended in the Southern Indian Ocean

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P

Phthisis

Member
Someone mentioned the Japanese pilot that claimed he was ordered by Vietnam ATC to make contact with MH370 because they couldn't reach it: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...e-made-contact-with-missing-malaysian-flight/

If true, it's interesting that the Japanese pilot heard mumbling static on the other end. Would this mean the communications systems were compromised, or deliberately sabotaged? And if they were deliberately sabotaged, why would the co-pilot bother answering? Why not just let the call go unanswered if they were trying to hide? Kind of a weird detail (which I don't know if it's been confirmed or not?) that adds a bit of a wrinkle.
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
Phthisis said:
Someone mentioned the Japanese pilot that claimed he was ordered by Vietnam ATC to make contact with MH370 because they couldn't reach it: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...e-made-contact-with-missing-malaysian-flight/

If true, it's interesting that the Japanese pilot heard mumbling static on the other end. Would this mean the communications systems were compromised, or deliberately sabotaged? And if they were deliberately sabotaged, why would the co-pilot bother answering? Why not just let the call go unanswered if they were trying to hide? Kind of a weird detail (which I don't know if it's been confirmed or not?) that adds a bit of a wrinkle.
Click to expand...

It was reported a few times on March 8th, http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/tr...-terrorism-fears/story-fniztvnh-1226848860442

But it's unclear where this info was from and why it was then denied (and who denied it?).

Like I said before, I wonder if technology exists to jam all in and out communications. Maybe this mumbling/static would have been the result of compromised communications systems. A lot of people on board were from Freescale, so some have claimed there is a relation. Don't see why any of this would occur on a commercial flight though, and the company has 23000 employees so this can't be something like a plane being targeted to bring a small company down.
 
A

apana

Member
Ace Harding said:
Like Pekin, Illinois. Where until 1980 the official high school team name was a certain racial epithet that rhymes with "sinks."

I feel overwhelmed by this story. It's all I can think about. I NEED to know what happened to that plane. It's almost like I am traumatized thinking about what it would be like to be on a plane that crashes and I need closure of some sort. I cannot imagine how the families of the passengers and crew are feeling. It makes me really upset thinking about it.

God dammit what happened?!?!
Click to expand...

We probably won't know for years, if ever. If it has landed in some secret/abandoned airport somewhere then whoever came up with this plan has already succeeded and we will likely never find out what happened to the plane unless he wants us to find out. The strange thing is surely if someone was smart enough to pull something like this off they would have understood the kind of insane media attention it would generate. Hell even an idiot could have figured that out. There is something very fishy about this whole plane incident.
 
P

Pandemic

Member
Courtney Love Cobain also thinks this is the plane,
897538-0ec2acb2-ae32-11e3-9d7e-f018f46e0213.jpg

895368-e6fd0d7e-ae33-11e3-9d7e-f018f46e0213.jpg
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I still think it's sitting at the bottom of the Indian Ocean somewhere and may not be found for a long, long time.
 
E

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
WonkyPanda said:
Would you guess pilot suicide then? Most indications, if they're true (thanks Malaysia), seem to indicate SOME form of malicious intent.
Click to expand...

Nah. If it were pilot suicide I can't see it flying for as long as it did to where it apparently went. Even though there's so much still unknown, I feel that technical issues, damage to the craft, and other problems are at least just as plausible as malicious intent. Based on the most recent information I think the probability of hijacking is much higher than it originally was (at first the only evidence to support that was "We have a missing plane, odd flight pattern, and no debris"), but I also feel consideration needs to be made to the multitude of disasters that can happen in-flight and the consequences that can occur.

The most crucial piece of information we're missing is what exactly happened in the cockpit, and without acquiring a black box we sadly cannot know. That piece of information would tell us if malicious intent went on, whether that be hijacking, theft by pilots, or pilot suicide, or if there were a multitude of cascading disasters and issues that the pilots tried to salvage but ultimately could not. Even with the increased probability of a hijacking, it's still possible the plane was turned around due to technical reasons that also fucked with communications (even if turned off deliberately), issues incapacitated pilots and crew, and the plane autopiloted until fuel starvation. Also could have been hijacked by inexperienced hijackers, a struggle either crashing the plane or incapacitating the pilots, and the baffled hijackers burnt too much fuel. *shrug*

I do think hijacking and landing is possible, but this theory also requires significantly more evidence that was just don't have right now. Maybe we'll get it as the investigation continues.
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
toxicgonzo said:
http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/5LANDASANDALAMSIMULATORDISIASAT/Article/
Click to expand...

Just so you're aware, the wording in the rest of the article translates to "among them are these 5" which is in references to stuff in the Indian Ocean. So it's not like the only five destinations in the sim are in the area of interest.

The DG endpoint is pretty interesting though. Is that common among flight sim enthusiasts? Like, due to it being an American spot in an otherwise un-American area? Or in a "well, can't go there IRL, might as well do it in the sim" way?
 
Phoenix

Phoenix

Member
The hijack and land theory is a really difficult one. Steal the plane to what end? You're not going to be able to sell it. You aren't going to be able to scrap it. You aren't going to be able to just fly it into another country for some illicit operation (unless they are truly incompetent) because radar in any modern country would identify it as an unknown track. You won't be able to squawk out that you're some friendly plane because it won't match what's in air traffic control. So I really have a hard time with that theory.

I still contend that its more likely that something happened on board that incapacitated the crew in a short period of time. Unless someone on the crew deck was involved in the plot, it is impossible for anyone to take over the plane fast enough for them to not send out a distress call of some kind. Now someone in the crew could have turned off the transponder, tried to kill the crew (or drugged the crew), shot out a window or something such that they were all incapacitated and then the autopilot just kept flying until fuel exhaustion. Those scenarios just seem more plausible than someone trying to take the plan, land it somewhere and then I guess kill the passengers? Too many moving parts in that plan.
 
Phoenix

Phoenix

Member
Falk said:
Just so you're aware, the wording in the rest of the article translates to "among them are these 5" which is in references to stuff in the Indian Ocean. So it's not like the only five destinations in the sim are in the area of interest.

The DG endpoint is pretty interesting though. Is that common among flight sim enthusiasts? Like, due to it being an American spot in an otherwise un-American area? Or in a "well, can't go there IRL, might as well do it in the sim" way?
Click to expand...

Diego Garcia is a highly important strategic US military outpost. For example when the US performs bombing strikes in the region it will stage in Diego Garcia.
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
Yes, I'm totally aware of what it is in real life. I was asking in terms of flight sim enthusiasts. Like would there be a very benign reason for that destination to be there?
 
P

Pandemic

Member
EatChildren said:
Nah. If it were pilot suicide I can't see it flying for as long as it did to where it apparently went. Even though there's so much still unknown, I feel that technical issues, damage to the craft, and other problems are at least just as plausible as malicious intent. Based on the most recent information I think the probability of hijacking is much higher than it originally was (at first the only evidence to support that was "We have a missing plane, odd flight pattern, and no debris"), but I also feel consideration needs to be made to the multitude of disasters that can happen in-flight and the consequences that can occur.

The most crucial piece of information we're missing is what exactly happened in the cockpit, and without acquiring a black box we sadly cannot know. That piece of information would tell us if malicious intent went on, whether that be hijacking, theft by pilots, or pilot suicide, or if there were a multitude of cascading disasters and issues that the pilots tried to salvage but ultimately could not. Even with the increased probability of a hijacking, it's still possible the plane was turned around due to technical reasons that also fucked with communications (even if turned off deliberately), issues incapacitated pilots and crew, and the plane autopiloted until fuel starvation. Also could have been hijacked by inexperienced hijackers, a struggle either crashing the plane or incapacitating the pilots, and the baffled hijackers burnt too much fuel. *shrug*

I do think hijacking and landing is possible, but this theory also requires significantly more evidence that was just don't have right now. Maybe we'll get it as the investigation continues.
Click to expand...

But then that brings on the questions, why did the plane fly erratically, ascending and descending, why didn't the emergency locator transmitter activate if it crashed and from what I understand, the aircraft had 4...? But I may be wrong.
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
Whooter said:
That probably shouldn't have gotten a chuckle from me, but it did.
Click to expand...

MIMIC said:
I didn't wanna say anything either, but....
Click to expand...

A lot of genuine articles have indeed read like something out of Onion, to be honest. We've had the shaman, we've had mangosteens, etc.

To appreciate the hilarity of the whole mangosteen thing, this is how the conversation went (in Bahasa Malaysia)

Press: "I understand that the cargo manifest was already checked for hazardous materials. My question is, was there any valuable cargo on the plane?"

AJY: "About the cargo... uh... we had mangosteen"

*awkward press silence*

AJY: They were China-bound

*awkward press silence intensifies*

AJY: "You could say..."

Press: "was there large quantity?" (lolwat)

AJY: "Yes, there was a large quantity. 3-4 tonnes if I'm not wrong"
 
Phoenix

Phoenix

Member
Falk said:
Yes, I'm totally aware of what it is in real life. I was asking in terms of flight sim enthusiasts. Like would there be a very benign reason for that destination to be there?
Click to expand...

Its a beautiful atoll location in the middle of the ocean that would be "in the pilots backyard". No real reason for it to be anything other than benign. Hell the US would sooner shoot down the airliner than for it to do something stupid there. If the plane made it near there its likely that we'd have been tracking it for that reason alone.
 
R

royalan

Member
Sorry, I know this has probably been asked already, but considering the possibility of a hijacking...was there anyone important on the plane?
 
P

Phthisis

Member
Ether_Snake said:
It was reported a few times on March 8th, http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/tr...-terrorism-fears/story-fniztvnh-1226848860442

But it's unclear where this info was from and why it was then denied (and who denied it?).

Like I said before, I wonder if technology exists to jam all in and out communications. Maybe this mumbling/static would have been the result of compromised communications systems. A lot of people on board were from Freescale, so some have claimed there is a relation. Don't see why any of this would occur on a commercial flight though, and the company has 23000 employees so this can't be something like a plane being targeted to bring a small company down.
Click to expand...

Given that this article is dated March 8, and the Japanese pilot calls out the pilots of MH370 by name before they were widely known/revealed in the news cycle, I am inclined to believe him. Interesting that this fact was allegedly disputed/denied. Do we know who denied it? If it's true, he's the last known contact with the aircraft.

Falk said:
Yes, I'm totally aware of what it is in real life. I was asking in terms of flight sim enthusiasts. Like would there be a very benign reason for that destination to be there?
Click to expand...

Considering it's also a CIA black site in addition to a base, training for a landing there on a flight sim is probably just for curiosity/hobbyism. If you flew to the island in the real world you're either getting shot out of the sky or suicide attacking it, no reason to train to land on that airfield in either of those scenarios (since you won't be landing).

CygnusXS said:
Hmm, has anyone considered a Watchmen type scenario yet?
Click to expand...

Yes, Bubastis stole it.
 
P

Phthisis

Member
freefornow said:
Well, Australia is searching here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-18/australia-takes-charge-of-multinational-search/5328904

Seems "specific"? Still a huge area to search though.
Click to expand...

Last time there was a specific location given from the USA, it was just prior to the announcement that the plane did in fact turn west and head towards the Andaman Islands, and that was when they sent a destroyer out past the search areas in the Strait of Malacca to look for debris. Good sign.

Clearly the American agents investigating this know a lot more specifics (or have some good hunches) than has been released to the public.
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
The same information has provided a mirror image of an area the same distance from the equator in the northern hemisphere .
Click to expand...

Interesting. Maybe another positional lead intersecting with the corridors?
 
abracadaver

abracadaver

Member
The taliban sure would acknowledge if they hijacked a plane that they are now hiding somewhere and want to use as a weapon later ...
 
davepoobond

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
News Bot said:
I don't think the logistics of this are entirely feasible. Planes need maintenance and skilled crew.
Click to expand...

Its the Taliban man. They ruled a whole country you don't think they can hide a 777 in a huge cave in a mountain range and coax some random skilled airplane engineers to make that shit work?
 
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