I don't know, maybe that Ethiopian Airlines...commandeering...incident (I hesitate to call that a "hijacking" when it's the co-pilot doing it) a few weeks ago set something off in one of the pilot's heads. Sort of like how mass shootings lead to more mass shootings because it plants that seed of an idea in someone's head; someone with a grievance just got an idea for an outlet.
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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 ended in the Southern Indian Ocean
- Thread starter Oersted
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If it WAS a human act, and it WASN'T the pilots, then whoever engineered this 1) knows a lot about aircraft systems and flight protocol (to be able to know the right time to disable transponder/comms) 2) knew enough about government capabilities and radar systems in the local area to avoid being detected, and 3) knew how to fly a commercial jet well enough to leave no trace of their plot.
Conceivably, they also could have gotten lucky, but again, that's a lot of potential bread crumbs to what happened that would have conveniently aligned.
Conceivably, they also could have gotten lucky, but again, that's a lot of potential bread crumbs to what happened that would have conveniently aligned.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
Personally, it would make far more sense to pirate a 777 then it would be to just crash it.
Planes are kind of expensive.
Planes are kind of expensive.
Yep. It's weird either way.
If it was a highjacking, that's some EXTREMELY lucky timing(or they were in the cockpit) between Malaysian and Vietnamese ATC switch-over.
If it was an accident, that's some EXTREMELY lucky timing for both systems to go offline at that point very close together(electrical fire possibly).
Either way, that's some crazy timing.
Man, I feel like every day is like a 24-hour cycle of all these claims being floated, of which we get official* confirmation/denial during the daily press conferences. At least Malaysia has gotten their shit together in terms of being aware of what media/other governments/etc are saying.
*Depending on if you believe they're being transparent, obviously
*Depending on if you believe they're being transparent, obviously
Based off this analysis (which I think is pretty sound), the most likely scenario is that one of the pilots took control of the plane and either crashed it or tried to do something else that no one's figured out.
A Serious Man
Member
Why go to Detroit when you're already in Vietnam?
That's why *if* it was a hijacking a state actor is fairly plausible. But what could be the reasoning? The defense contractors on board? Turning a 777 into a weapon that could easily slip past another nation's radar defense? (assuming IFF transponder from another aircraft is installed...or the existing one is modified somehow). Moving weapons around?
One potential problem I can see with the hijacking theory is that, assuming they did double back on their flight path, wouldn't they eventually have reached land again briefly (before reaching the Malacca Strait), and therefore be within cell phone reception range? (I don't know anything about Malaysia's cell infrastructure)
And if one of the pilots had commandeered the plane, he would have had to incapacitate the other pilot while both were in the cockpit. Otherwise, if he had locked him out instead, that again leads to a scenario where the frantic passengers would have been trying to make outgoing calls.
Again, this is assuming that either of these happened, instead of everyone being incapacitated due to decompression.
And if one of the pilots had commandeered the plane, he would have had to incapacitate the other pilot while both were in the cockpit. Otherwise, if he had locked him out instead, that again leads to a scenario where the frantic passengers would have been trying to make outgoing calls.
Again, this is assuming that either of these happened, instead of everyone being incapacitated due to decompression.
But what evidence is there that actually supports that anymore?
The U.S. military is still diverting resources (at great expense) to look for a crash site. So while terrorism is a possibility, it's obvious that it's not the only one.
What about the map they have on the screens?
It's a big ocean, we live in an age of impatience.
There's a lot of theories and misinformation out there, which have made this far more convoluted (and engaging) than it should have been.
But there's only one actual factual piece of evidence that no can deny. A 777 carrying 200+ people disappeared off the face of the planet, which simply doesn't happen.
I believe the simplest answer is the right one. Plane went down, over some body of water, either on purpose or via mechanical failure.
They'll find it, but it will take time.
SniperHunter
Banned
this is so strange... even if the co-pilot took control of the aircraft where was he trying to take the aircraft? so bizarre
i would hazard a guess that that's not a live map.
I think it's in the ocean as well but I just don't see given the details about changing ATC's, the systems being shutdown at different times, continuing to ping the satellite, etc that massive mechanical failure still makes very much sense.
They could just, ya know, buy one.
Wat...The Chinese government owns Air China which has 777's in its fleet.
If it was a hijacking and the plane landed, I don't even want to think about the reasons why no one was able to use their cellphone once on the ground. Leads to some pretty dark possibilities. Then again, it suggests the plane probably didn't land in the first place.
Apparently this person is of the mind that it's much easier and less suspicious to hijack one full of 200 people, versus merely buying a few of them.
Usually airliners.net has some pretty good pilot insights and insider info, but sometimes the loons come out of the woodwork...
Sectorseven
Member
If terrorists accomplished that much they probably invested in cell phone jammers as well.
LQX
Member
Ha, China likes to steal secrets and I have to admit I was also thinking that until it hit me that China must have competent air transportation system with many of them and that they also bought their own version of Air Force One.
True. And speaking of landing, you can't just land a 777 anywhere you want. you need a runway specially designed for that.
Also, it is really difficult to hide a freaking 777 after landing it; somebody must have known about it.
It is more likely that it crashed, but why did it crash? Nobody knows...for now.
mercenar1e
Member
At this rate some official will come out and deny the disappearance of the plane itself.
It's still on the runway wondering why the ATC hasn't given them the go-ahead for lift-off.
Wait, someone already made that joke.
as a penalty I present you with this
Wait, someone already made that joke.
as a penalty I present you with this
Yes.
Mikey Jr.
Member
So is it possible to turn this device off? Is it possible it malfunctioned, and if so, how likely is that?
There's a difference between the two. In the quoted incident, the pilot likely turned off all communication and tracking controls, thus making it near impossible to pinpoint wherever it was headed. In this case, there was initial tracing. If comms were taken out without a crash, then someone (or mechanical error) had to have done it mid-flight.
Maninthemirror
Banned
I still think Malaysia shot down the plane accidently and the incompetency is actually a ruse to confuse
Only problem is they (or anyone else) would have a hard time cleaning up all of that floating debris.
Yes, to both. Someone earlier on CNN said they have a ~85% chance of reliability.
http://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/elts-commercialmilitary/b406-4/
When I was typing this is the exact picture that came to to mind.
Anticitizen One
Banned
This is going to sound really dumb and I apologize if its insensitive but if the plane crashed in the water couldn't people quickly open the door and start swimming out as its sinking into the ocean? I know there would be a nasty impact but surely some people belted in and in the right parts of the plane could have survived the impact?
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