Originally Posted by
JanetFlight
Just an humble question to the 777 Skippers outthere, wich i would love to have an idea please:
Taking in account the possible scenario of an uncapacitated cockpit crew, taken by illegal interference/hijack, turning off the transponder and descending trough lets say 500 or even 1000 ft AMSL, and having in mind the endurance reported around that time was about +7 hours approx., how far the 777 could have gone in miles (aprox), like for instance a middle place in Indian Ocean or even Pacific at that lower altitude (burning more JetA), and another question...is it hard or too much complex to maintain for an non-rated 777 guy keeping the T7 a lot of hours at this 1000ft or so, specially towards East Indian Ocean (following the night/dusk planet zone) or it may be difficult?
Tanx and all the best for the SAR teams.
It's been asked before and a figure of 2000 NM was suggested.
It's unclear why you'd want to fly at 1000 ft AMSL. Without the transponder and with primary radar coverage as spotty as it apparently is, hijackers could have crossed into the Indian Ocean at FL350 without ever appearing on any radars.
Based on what we know, if it was indeed hijacked, it could have reached North Korea, any point in Indonesia, most islands in the Indian Ocean. East coast of Africa would be pushing it, but, if there was in fact enough fuel onboard for 7.5 hours at 490 KTAS, with favorable winds it could reach Yemen or Somalia. (Though it would be a gamble for hijackers if this were their desired destination, they'd have to know exactly how much reserve fuel there was onboard.)
You only need a 4500 foot runway to land a 777-200 without fuel at sea level in dry weather. There are probably dozens of poorly known or unknown runways in this range that would accept a 777 (though taking off again would be a completely different story). As a random example, there is an airport in eastern Somalia with ICAO code HCMG that is potentially within range, has a 5250 ft runway, and, as far as I can tell, sees no scheduled traffic. With minimal organization, a few determined individuals could land MH370 there, herd the passengers into trucks, torch the plane and disappear into the wind long before anyone starts asking questions.