Mar 17, 2014, 3:08 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
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Welcome to the MH370 Discussion and Speculation Thread
Welcome to the MH370 Discussion and Speculation Thread
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FlyerTalk members come from all walks of life and all parts of the world. We are as diverse in our makeup as we are alike in our passion for frequent flyer programs. Because we all bring a unique perspective to the forum, our collective experience is broadened, and we gain new insights.
Our diversity demands that we respect each other. Due to the inherent constraints of the Internet, humor, sarcasm, language and slang can be easily misinterpreted - especially when crossing cultural boundaries.
When posting a message, pay extra care to how it might be interpreted. And when you come across a post that offends you, read it with an eye toward giving the poster the benefit of the doubt.
If you have an issue with a post, please contact the member privately or contact a moderator (click on the
button). Do not make a situation worse by publicly responding.
In order to a) keep the original thread focused on confirmed news and known facts, and b) allow folks a place to discuss their ideas about what might have happened, the MH370 moderators and Community Director have decided to open this thread.
Here are the expectations:
1. The normal FT TOS apply. (Including not discussing moderation actions on-thread). And please be particularly attentive to "discussing the idea and not the poster" when you have a disagreement. Civility and mutual respect are still expected and are what we owe each other as a community.
2. You are expected respect our diversity , and therefore refrain from posting inflammatory comments about race, religion, culture, politics, ethnicity, orientation, etc." Do not cite, copy, or report on such.
3. Please do continue to be attentive to the sensibilities of the families of those on the flight. Think about if you were them what you would and would not want to see posted. Speculation about what happened is permissible; please, though, do not indulge in inflammatory or overly-lurid descriptions that could well be hurtful.
4. Overly / extravagantly exaggerative posts such as conspiracy theories, posts beyond the realm of science and known facts, etc. as well as posts with information that has been posted several times previously, information that has been posted in the News thread wiki or FAQ, may be deleted. E.g. the aircraft was vaporized.
In terms of housekeeping, posts may get moved from the "news" thread if and as needed, and posts that do not conform to these simple expectations, above, will be deleted.
Also note: this wiki is locked; changes can only be made by moderators.
Thank you.
Your MH370 Moderation Team
aBroadAbroad; cblaisd; JDiver; l'etoile; NewbieRunner; oliver2002; Prospero
and Community Director
SanDiego1K
MH370 Discussion and Speculation Thread
Mar 20, 2014, 6:47 am
#736
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Europe & Indonesia
Programs: BAEC Gold, LH SEN, EK ex-Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 11,571
I wasn't referring to height. The aircraft passed over an area of Malaysia/Thailand which doesn't have very good radar coverage and could have done the same afterwards - evading areas with good radar coverage. I agree with you that the idea of a 777 hopping over mountains is quite ridiculous, I wasn't thinking in terms of that at all.
Mar 20, 2014, 7:03 am
#737
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Zürich
Posts: 29
With technology such as ARGUS, I am sure they could have easily determined and provided a better resolution if indeed the debris in the southern corridor was of resemblance to a plane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13BahrdkMU8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13BahrdkMU8
Mar 20, 2014, 7:03 am
#738
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
Programs: LH SEN** HH Diamond
Posts: 29,512
May I suggest Checkpoints and Borders Policy Debate and Practical Travel Safety Issues in the Travel Safety/Security forum for anyone who wishes to discuss security procedures in different countries?
NewbieRunner
on behalf of the moderation team
NewbieRunner
on behalf of the moderation team
Mar 20, 2014, 7:04 am
#739
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: LHR- ish
Programs: MUCCI, BA Blue
Posts: 4,295
Fair point. The main thing that makes me think this wasn't an accident is the timing - the transponder seems to have been turned off and the plane turned round at the point in the trip where the plane was least likely to be in contact with any ATC or being watched on radar. There's a distinct gap between leaving Malaysian control and entering Vietnamese which I don't think there would be transitioning between, for example, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Mar 20, 2014, 8:15 am
#742
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,197
Interesting; I knew that training aircraft (Cessnas, Diamonds, etc.) are designed for stable flight by default, but I thought that airliners weren't. Is the 777 unique among jet airliners or did my ground school professor misinform me?
FWIW, just did a quick Google search and came up with this:
FWIW, just did a quick Google search and came up with this:
Here is a link to Wikipedia on the subject.
Outside of 'Normal Mode/Law' pilot intervention is required.
It can do, but without pilot intervention will go into an oscillation mode centred on the fixed trim speed at the point of entry.
Sadly the Autopilot will not be in the 'hot seat'. If the pilots were incapacitated and fuel starvation occurred the Autopilot would 'trip out' as the PFCs drop the electronic flight control logic into 'Direct Mode'. Pilot intervention is again required.
Mar 20, 2014, 8:16 am
#743
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 1
why MH370?
I thought MAS has expires flight no. MH370/MAS370 on 14th March (and the flight path to PEK does not go thru Vietnam)….
this might be a mistake because the tail no. should be 9M-MRO and not 9M-MRJ, but the flight path just doesn’t look correct …..
there should be no flight to PEK during this time.
maybe the backup plane (9M-MRJ) was being sent for repair somewhere???
If we look between 15:50 hrs till ~ 16:10 hrs TODAY, this flight appear in ‘PlaneFinder’ (try PLAYBACK)
http://forum.flightradar24.com/attac...6&d=1395323688
(requires log in)
this might be a mistake because the tail no. should be 9M-MRO and not 9M-MRJ, but the flight path just doesn’t look correct …..
there should be no flight to PEK during this time.
maybe the backup plane (9M-MRJ) was being sent for repair somewhere???
If we look between 15:50 hrs till ~ 16:10 hrs TODAY, this flight appear in ‘PlaneFinder’ (try PLAYBACK)
http://forum.flightradar24.com/attac...6&d=1395323688
(requires log in)
Last edited by NewbieRunner; Mar 20, 2014 at 8:30 am Reason: fixed link and added 'requires log in'
Mar 20, 2014, 9:08 am
#744
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: AA BA
Posts: 1
A useful tool for visualizing the weather satellite images and daylight in the search areas is http://www.die.net/earth/
Mar 20, 2014, 9:18 am
#745
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 1
Is it possible for a plane, on fire (whatever the cause) to the point where communications are disabled (and possibly crew disabled) to fly for the number of hours that MH370 continued on for? Also, if it was equipped with an ELT, what is the likelihood that the device malfunctioned, not sending a signal on impact or by contact with water? Any pilots here care to share their thoughts?
Mar 20, 2014, 9:31 am
#746
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: BNE
Posts: 87
ELT probably sunk with the aircraft. Sigwx can confirm but as I understand it the ELT does not eject upon crash. One would think that by now they would but . . .
As for the fire I doubt it, if there was that much damage and the power busses were out there would be no auto pilot and probably no flight computer (it's fly by wire remember) anyway.Without power a 777 is basically a brick. I suppose it's possible (that only comms and other non essential power was cut) but IMO unlikely. Mind you the most recent heavies I have crewed were 707s and the occasional 727 so I'm not the most qualified here to answer that one.
As for the fire I doubt it, if there was that much damage and the power busses were out there would be no auto pilot and probably no flight computer (it's fly by wire remember) anyway.Without power a 777 is basically a brick. I suppose it's possible (that only comms and other non essential power was cut) but IMO unlikely. Mind you the most recent heavies I have crewed were 707s and the occasional 727 so I'm not the most qualified here to answer that one.
Mar 20, 2014, 9:42 am
#748
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 541
Also, anything that didn't stay floating probably won't be just randomly coming up.
Mar 20, 2014, 9:51 am
#749
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: BNE AUS.
Programs: Skywards Gold & Others
Posts: 46
Also, anything large and partly submerged will drift at a vastly different rate to stuff that floats totally on top of the water. There could well be stuff spread over 100's of miles by now if it is in fact the missing 777.
Mar 20, 2014, 10:00 am
#750
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,748
Just in from the BBC, some of which confirms the WSJ report (times are UK):
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26659583
British satellite company Inmarsat tells the BBC there were very strong indications 10 days ago that the plane would be found either in the southern part of the Indian Ocean or in Central Asia, and not in the South China Sea or the Malacca Straits where Malaysian authorities continued to search.
15:03: Inmarsat says it learned on 11 March that the plane had continued to fly for seven hours or more and that it was very unlikely to be in the area where the Malaysian authorities were searching. Inmarsat has made the information public because of concerns over the way the search operation has been handled.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26659583
British satellite company Inmarsat tells the BBC there were very strong indications 10 days ago that the plane would be found either in the southern part of the Indian Ocean or in Central Asia, and not in the South China Sea or the Malacca Straits where Malaysian authorities continued to search.
15:03: Inmarsat says it learned on 11 March that the plane had continued to fly for seven hours or more and that it was very unlikely to be in the area where the Malaysian authorities were searching. Inmarsat has made the information public because of concerns over the way the search operation has been handled.