Originally Posted by
airboss
Accidents with aircraft or ships are usually caused by a small and obscure event of some kind. A crew can become confused or disoriented committing a string of actions which compound the problem until it overwhelms them.
We try to make sense of what we know, the plane seems to be under control, but flies a strange course, altitudes change, electronics are going off at different intervals, it disappears.
I would suggest a fire, a small fire, most likely of human origin, could be electrical from maintenance, or someone sneaking a smoke in the lavatory.
The fire is random, insidious and and nearly impossible to find, or stop.
Fires on aircraft have occurred in the past and the planes have been lost in spite of having a good crew.
Unlikely? Two weeks ago, on essentially the same route, I was aware of someone having a smoke in a lavatory, and not the first time it has happened.
Just a suggested scenario.
I agree with your first sentence - accidents are usually caused by small problems compounded over time.
In this case, however, I can't imagine a situation where a small fire causes enough damage to render all communication equipment useless, incapacitates the crew/passengers, but doesn't cause the plane to crash for another 6 hours.
I don't like conspiracy theories because they require many people to keep quiet (people aren't very good at that). But in this case we are left with many scenarios that range from improbable to nearly impossible.