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[Daria]

Source

If this was a hijacking they'd have to make sure they knew of a runway that would be able to land a 777 if they wanted to keep it intact all while not being detected. An earlier image showed possible areas which fit the bill but I don't think we're finding this plane.

Somehow I doubt the Chinese government would ever allow an untracked plane to fly by.

That is if it was detected in the first place.

 

[EatChildren]

Well, that expanded fly space sure is unsettling. Going to need to coordinate with fucking everyone to see what, if anything, was picked up when and where. Needle in a haystack is now needle in an ocean.

 

[maomaoIYP]

This story is making me depressed.
It's almost insane how something like this happens in this day and age.

 

[Daria]

This story is making me depressed.
It's almost insane how something like this happens in this day and age.

When you realize that radars don't work too well over water it's really not that hard to believe.

 

[1cmanny1]

A hangar of some sort? Maybe that's why the phones keep ringing? And didn't it have 20 employees apart of a technology company?

Just wild thinking, but anything that doesn't sound feasible, can happen. Who knew this plane could still be flying for 4 hours, undetected?

I thought the phones only rang once, which is due to international connections.

 

[luoapp]

It's unlikely the source is someone with access to the data but someone who was informed of its existence. It could be the integrity of the data wasn't confirmed so nothing beyond the data that was collected while the aircraft maintained contact with ATC was mentioned or discussed at that point.

I may skip something, but I couldn't find in the WSJ report explaining how they get the "4/5 hour" number. Nowhere mentioned the number of reports/transmissions. They probably estimated from the fuel level.

 

[Ollie Pooch]

Only noticed the bit about the Malaysian police visiting the home of one of the pilots. Wonder what they know/suspect.

 

[toxicgonzo]

Only noticed the bit about the Malaysian police visiting the home of one of the pilots. Wonder what they know/suspect.

One of the pilots has a home built flight simulator.

Did he use it for fun....or a place to practice something more sinister?
/tinfoil cap

 

[Ollie Pooch]

One of the pilots has a home built flight simulator.

Did he use it for fun....or a place to practice something more sinister?
/tinfoil cap

Outrageous!

 

[TEH-CJ]

One of the pilots has a home built flight simulator.

Did he use it for fun....or a place to practice something more sinister?
/tinfoil cap

Holy fuck...

 

[Finaika]

One of the pilots has a home built flight simulator.

Did he use it for fun....or a place to practice something more sinister?
/tinfoil cap

You're on to something!

 

[EatChildren]

It is logical to assume that someone who dedicates years/decades of education and career to flight also has an inherent interest and passion in flight outside of their education and career commitments. I'd be surprised if a lot of pilots didn't explore other flight-related stuff, whether it be reading, touring, or playing.

 

[maomaoIYP]

When you realize that radars don't work too well over water it's really not that hard to believe.

Yeah but if the plane really did fly for another 4 hours, not a single one of the countries in the region has any idea where it is. That sort of realization scares me, imagine how easy it is to fly any sort of suicide place / fighter jets etc anywhere.

 

[Log4Girlz]

It is logical to assume that someone who dedicates years/decades of education and career to flight also has an inherent interest and passion in flight outside of their education and career commitments. I'd be surprised if a lot of pilots didn't explore other flight-related stuff, whether it be reading, touring, or playing.

My sister's husband buys RC model planes all the time. Or shall we say SURVEILLANCE DRONES?!

He would kill for a simulator. Not literally.

 

[Ollie Pooch]

It is logical to assume that someone who dedicates years/decades of education and career to flight also has an inherent interest and passion in flight outside of their education and career commitments. I'd be surprised if a lot of pilots didn't explore other flight-related stuff, whether it be reading, touring, or playing.

Oh, I just assumed he was joking about the simulator!

 

[jaxword]

That is if it was detected in the first place.

China has one of the most paranoid governments in the world and probably one of the few who actually get close to controlling their internet. You really want to put wagers on them being sloppy with their airspace?

 

[MGR]

Here's the full text. Such an important story deserves to be told in full

Thank you.

 

[Cat Party]

I sure hope the plane was hijacked and everyone's safe somewhere, but that hope is not based in reality. The thing I keep going back to is that there was some kind of catastrophe in mid air, and the pilots lost their electronics or something like that, so they veered off course and eventually crashed into the ocean. That's assuming this bit about the engine running for 4 more hours is true.

 

[Lamel]

The twist is, the plane never actually took off, it is still sitting in Malaysia waiting for ATC to give it clearance, wondering what is taking so long.

 

[criesofthepast]

I didn't even hesitate to get that FlightRadar24 app. Pro version is only $3 and has the augmented reality thing. 3D mode is awesome too! Like a flight sim tracking a flight in first person mode over Google maps. Very cool app.

Was crazy cool looking out my window at a plane and seeing its data pop up.

 

[Amalthea]

The twist is, the plane never actually took off, it is still sitting in Malaysia waiting for ATC to give it clearance, wondering what is taking so long.

Heh. I made the same joke to somebody during the weekend.

 

[Anko]

Can the debris found by China's satellites belong to the plane if the plane had flown for 4 more hours? It was found not too far from the point of disappearance, wasn't it? I mean, unless the plane was flying in circles, I don't see how both can be true.

 

[apana]

Can the debris found by China's satellites belong to the plane if the plane had flown for 4 more hours? It was found not too far from the point of disappearance, wasn't it? I mean, unless the plane was flying in circles, I don't see how both can be true.

I think the Malaysian government said they went there and found nothing, no debris.

 

[jdforge]

I'm going to RR in Derby today...wonder if there will be any talk in the corridors.

 

[Anko]

I think the Malyasian government said they went there and found nothing, no debris.

It's been days since the image was taken. I wouldn't expect the debris to be there after 4 days. But the fact remains that there was something there. It could have been something else entirely though. So does this new revelation that the plane flew for 4 more hours tell us anything about that?

 

[Cse]

The Wikipedia link for ACARS mentions that the system is capable of transmitting data on the position of the aircraft.

Aeronautical operational control and airline administrative control messages are used to communicate between the aircraft and its base. These messages are either standardized according to ARINC Standard 633 or defined by the users, but in the latter case they must meet at least the guidelines of ARINC Standard 618. Various types of messages are possible, for example, relating to fuel consumption, engine performance data, aircraft position, in addition to free text.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Communications_Addressing_and_Reporting_System

 

[StopMakingSense]

God every new detail about this case just gets stranger and stranger.

 

[SmokeMaxX]

Not sure how credible (probably not very) but saw this link on reddit: http://translate.google.com/transla...tp://www.malaysiakini.com/news/256954&act=url

An experienced pilot pilots claimed MH370, Captain Zaharie Shah has activated signal 'tango' 40 minutes after the plane disappeared from radar detected the control tower.

 

[The Broken Ska Record]

God every new detail about this case just gets stranger and stranger.

I assume because it's been so long since the disappearance and at this point they have no idea where to look or what to do.

Not sure how credible (probably not very) but saw this link on reddit: http://translate.google.com/transla...tp://www.malaysiakini.com/news/256954&act=url

What does "tango" mean in this case?

Edit:/ Nevermind.

 

[keuja]

I think it's whatever's in a certain radius that shows up.



It sifts through the ACARS data for engine parameters for analysis at their DAC. It's a service they sell to operators.

From now on, they should include positioning info along with their engine data.

 

[Daria]

India is deploying ships, aircraft and helicopters to help in the search

 

[Game-Biz]

This is insane....

 

[EatChildren]

Assuming the Rolls Royce data is accurate, and the flight did continue for ~5 hours without following its original course, this does bring options down to:

• Cockpit depressurisation rendering at least the crew (and potentially passengers) unconscious, autopilot taking over and flying until they ran out of fuel. Issue: This does not explain why tracking/communications were shut off while hours of flight remained, nor why the flight seemed to branch off course.
• Hijacking: Outcome of craft impossible to gauge with current data: may have crashed or been crashed, may have landed somewhere (that however seems unlikely to me).
• Technical/structural issues: Enough so that damage prevents pilots from responding (eg: unconsciousness/death) and shuts down communications/radar, yet leaves enough tech functioning for autopilot to fly until it's starved of fuel. Situation requires too many specifics to be probable, in my opinion.
• Malicious intent by pilots: deliberate suicide/murder, off the radar. I feel this is the most unusual and unlikely scenario.

 

[Pandemic]

Assuming the Rolls Royce data is accurate, and the flight did continue for ~5 hours without following its original course, this does bring options down to:

• Cockpit depressurisation rendering at least the crew (and potentially passengers) unconscious, autopilot taking over and flying until they ran out of fuel. Issue: This does not explain why tracking/communications were shut off while hours of flight remained, nor why the flight seemed to branch off course.
• Hijacking: Outcome of craft impossible to gauge with current data: may have crashed or been crashed, may have landed somewhere (that however seems unlikely to me).
• Technical/structural issues: Enough so that damage prevents pilots from responding (eg: unconsciousness/death) and shuts down communications/radar, yet leaves enough tech functioning for autopilot to fly until it's starved of fuel. Situation requires too many specifics to be probable, in my opinion.
• Malicious intent by pilots: deliberate suicide/murder, off the radar. I feel this is the most unusual and unlikely scenario.

Which one do you think is more likely to have occurred? Hijacking?

People have mentioned a fire could have started within the cabin, but that doesn't explain it being able to fly for 4 hours, would it?

 

[EatChildren]

I'm purely speculating as an armchair dickhead who has no real technical knowledge of aircraft, data reliability, flight, and such. But I guess depressurisation seems believable to me, as it's happened before with the aircraft continuing on until starved for fuel. Doesn't explain shutting off communications though, which is where hijacking seems more likely. Although, maybe there's something technical (like a fire) that could depressurise the cockpit and fuck with the certain tech while keep autopilot intact.

 

[Gustav]

What happened with the oil rig guy? Debunked?

 

[apana]

Assuming the Rolls Royce data is accurate, and the flight did continue for ~5 hours without following its original course, this does bring options down to:

• Cockpit depressurisation rendering at least the crew (and potentially passengers) unconscious, autopilot taking over and flying until they ran out of fuel. Issue: This does not explain why tracking/communications were shut off while hours of flight remained, nor why the flight seemed to branch off course.
• Hijacking: Outcome of craft impossible to gauge with current data: may have crashed or been crashed, may have landed somewhere (that however seems unlikely to me).
• Technical/structural issues: Enough so that damage prevents pilots from responding (eg: unconsciousness/death) and shuts down communications/radar, yet leaves enough tech functioning for autopilot to fly until it's starved of fuel. Situation requires too many specifics to be probable, in my opinion.
• Malicious intent by pilots: deliberate suicide/murder, off the radar. I feel this is the most unusual and unlikely scenario.

Aside from suicide what could malicious intent be? Being paid off to land the plane somewhere?

 

[Bebpo]

Assuming the Rolls Royce data is accurate, and the flight did continue for ~5 hours without following its original course, this does bring options down to:

• Cockpit depressurisation rendering at least the crew (and potentially passengers) unconscious, autopilot taking over and flying until they ran out of fuel. Issue: This does not explain why tracking/communications were shut off while hours of flight remained, nor why the flight seemed to branch off course.
• Hijacking: Outcome of craft impossible to gauge with current data: may have crashed or been crashed, may have landed somewhere (that however seems unlikely to me).
• Technical/structural issues: Enough so that damage prevents pilots from responding (eg: unconsciousness/death) and shuts down communications/radar, yet leaves enough tech functioning for autopilot to fly until it's starved of fuel. Situation requires too many specifics to be probable, in my opinion.
• Malicious intent by pilots: deliberate suicide/murder, off the radar. I feel this is the most unusual and unlikely scenario.

My question is if it was depressurization and it continued on for 5 hours...how did no one see them on the radars and stuff? Even with tracking turned off shouldn't it have passed over countries that are tracking everything in the sky? I mean in all the past plane crashes due to depressurization and ghost flights, there's been huge media as they happened with planes flying by to check on the status of the plane while it's mid-flight and watching it sadly crash down. 5 hours just seems like a long freaking time for no one to see it on a radar, be alarmed and have planes check it out.

Otherwise, yeah depressurization -> crash seems likely.

 

[Vesmir]

Which one do you think is more likely to have occurred? Hijacking?

People have mentioned a fire could have started within the cabin, but that doesn't explain it being able to fly for 4 hours, would it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada_Flight_797

Its as if there is a prior airline crash for every scenario.

To note:

The spreading fire also burned through crucial electrical cables that knocked out most of the instrumentation in the cockpit, forcing the plane to divert to an alternative landing field.

Who's to say a fire couldn't take out essential cables?

 

[EatChildren]

Aside from suicide what could malicious intent be? Being paid off to land the plane somewhere?

Yeah, something like that. By malicious I mean the pilots deliberately shutting off communication and flying/crashing elsewhere for whatever reason, at the expense of passengers and crew.

Its as if there is a prior airline crash for every scenario.

Yep, and this is why there's no absolutes. When you've nothing to go off, everything is an option.

 

[Chinner]

what about a vortex that lead them into a different party of the universe?

 

[Goodlife]

Technical/structural issues: Enough so that damage prevents pilots from responding (eg: unconsciousness/death) and shuts down communications/radar, yet leaves enough tech functioning for autopilot to fly until it's starved of fuel. Situation requires too many specifics to be probable, in my opinion.

But the communications weren't shut down, if the engines were sending data to Boeing.

 

[Pandemic]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada_Flight_797

Its as if there is a prior airline crash for every scenario.

To note:



Who's to say a fire couldn't take out essential cables?

I'm saying though, is it possible for a plane to fly for 4 hours with a fire burning in the cockpit...?

 

[Fjolle]

So.. There's this guy on twitter that seems rather convinced that the plane landed in China. Apparently to acquire the Freescale employees.

I'm still leaning towards the aliens theory.

 

[liquidtmd]

what about a vortex that lead them into a different party of the universe?

Vortex transporting them to a different part in the universe wouldn't explain how data was received from the plane at Bedford in the UK

 

[Gustav]

Vortex transporting them to a different part in the universe wouldn't explain how data was received from the plane at Bedford in the UK

Maybe the other party of the universe was in Bedford?

 

[aeroslash]

The Wikipedia link for ACARS mentions that the system is capable of transmitting data on the position of the aircraft.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Communications_Addressing_and_Reporting_System

Yes, and that's used for sone aircrafts on long flights over whater to give position to ATC. It's not sent automaticaly.

Assuming the Rolls Royce data is accurate, and the flight did continue for ~5 hours without following its original course, this does bring options down to:

• Cockpit depressurisation rendering at least the crew (and potentially passengers) unconscious, autopilot taking over and flying until they ran out of fuel. Issue: This does not explain why tracking/communications were shut off while hours of flight remained, nor why the flight seemed to branch off course.
• Hijacking: Outcome of craft impossible to gauge with current data: may have crashed or been crashed, may have landed somewhere (that however seems unlikely to me).
• Technical/structural issues: Enough so that damage prevents pilots from responding (eg: unconsciousness/death) and shuts down communications/radar, yet leaves enough tech functioning for autopilot to fly until it's starved of fuel. Situation requires too many specifics to be probable, in my opinion.
• Malicious intent by pilots: deliberate suicide/murder, off the radar. I feel this is the most unusual and unlikely scenario.

Is this true? Rolls royce confirmed it?

If so, my best explanation could be a slow depresurization not noticed by the crew (strange thing, but like the Helios flight showed, not impossible) and a failure in the communications of the aircraft. If they were hypoxic, they could also turn off the transponder themself for any reason.
But even if that's the case, and a plane flyes without transponder, it only takes minutes before the country which has the plane in contact, take off the fighters to have a look at the plane... I'm sure it never flew over land, the radars would have seen it.

 

[Anticitizen One]

Maybe the other party of the universe was in Bedford?

this ain't FRINGE baby

 

[liquidtmd]

Maybe the other party of the universe was in Bedford?

Have you been to Bedford? This is highly improbable.

 

[aeroslash]

I'm saying though, is it possible for a plane to fly for 4 hours with a fire burning in the cockpit...?

Totally impossible. A plane lasts minutes flying with a fire..

But the communications weren't shut down, if the engines were sending data to Boeing.

I don't know how this reports are sent but i'm sure they're sent independently of the systems the pilots have acces to..