Originally Posted by
1stspotter
I am wondering:
-how many unidentified plots on a radar were seen at the time MH370 went missing. Not much I guess.
-how much effort does it take to analyze the recording to learn alt, speed, heading of the plot
-how much other radars other than the Malaysia military could have picked up this plot on radar? Phuket?
so why does it take so much time to either confirm or rule out this unidentified plot was MH370?
The "unidentified target" was tracked by the radar at RMAF Butterworth. It crossed Malay Peninsula over Thai territory, well north of the border.
MH370 went silent roughly 215 NM from Butterworth. If it turned towards Phuket, its route would have passed over the middle of Gulf of Thailand, likely never getting closer than 150 NM to the radar. If whoever was piloting it knew about the military installation, they could have stayed at 200 NM all the way. It would stay at the edge of radar range and they'd only have an intermittent track that did not extend far enough back to connect to last known position of MH370.
As far as I can tell, Thailand does not have any active air force bases on the peninsula. At best the "target" could have been tracked by a couple of civilian ATCs there. Neither does Vietnam have any bases close enough to catch the moment MH370 turned off course.