Interesting thing with hypoxia, and in pass this on to all who haven't done a chamber run, YOU FEEL MUCH WORSE POST HYPOXIC WHEN YOU GO BACK ON OXYGEN!

Effectively, your blood flushes the crud that has built up, meaning you get this god awful head rush, dizziness and nausea. Have done the training fairly recently experiencing rapid onset (easy to diagnose) and slow onset (difficult, even when my blood oxygen level dipped below 60%, and I was expecting it). The hazard is people have been known to rip off the mask trying to get rid of the sensation.

By far the worst most dangerous hypoxia was the slow onset, which is very subtle and why good CRM is essential.

Problem is, at 02:00, many of the signs and symptoms are very similar to heavy tiredness, meaning they can be missed.

With the advent of hypoxia simulators as opposed to old school chamber runs, there is NO REASON why airline pilots should not have to undergo this training on a 5 yearly basis, similar to the military requirement.

Did the jet have any form of sat based data comms, ie in flight entertainment or passenger telephone?

I'd suspect, perhaps incorrectly, that a 777-200ER with an airline like MAS would more than likely be kitted with SATCOM.

Just because the airframe in question did not have a particular SATCOM antenna subject to an AD does not mean it didn't have one period.

I would also think the comm system would have to be "logged on" to ensure it was operational on demand.

How would an international airline maintain 'operational control' without SATCOM? VHF/HF voice-data only? Unlikely.

A successful ditching, with no distress beacons, on a moonless night? In an aircraft not able to continue on its way or head for an airfield?

Doesn't sound very likely.

While you'd want to aviate first, if you were going into the sea, having a word with someone might help, at least to let them know what time you were going into the sea, so they could use a piece of string and a ruler to come and find the debris afterwards.

Rather than why the aircraft went down, I believe the real interest at present must be WHERE IS IT.

Given the total futility demonstrated by electronic means to locate any wreckage, it must follow that the search methods will have to be based on the hydrodynamics of the Andeman Sea and the Malacca Straight.

Those interested in the subject may refer to the American Journal of Environmental Science, 2012,8 (5), 479-488, General Circulation in the Malacca Straight and the Andaman Sea.

Here is a link to it.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http:...W1Bsn20njh-ifA

capn p

As an end user I reckon the T7 handles much the same as most other "normal" non FBW aircraft I've ever flown but with the addition of one or two knobs and whistles (like pitch/power couple taken out). If the aircraft is trimmed properly for the IAS at an attitude then disturbed from that datum attitude it'll eventually return to that datum (blimey, memories of CFS S&L 2) just like a Cessna or a JP - it doesn't do anything magic like pop straight back to the datum attitude if the stick is released with the aircraft close to datum ( if that's what CWS does?) - Interesting point and I guess we need someone with both 737 and 777 time to referee.

jehrler: Re SATCOM
 

I believe that this particular T7 DID HAVE Satcom, just not the Satcom antenna per the recent Boeing AD. Not the same thing at all.

Because the airline will not let you onboard without a visa otherwise.

I am reluctant to post on this topic (being very old and retired!) but I have a reasonable amount of flying experience (civil & military) and have flown in that part of the world. My knowledge of the 777 is nil but I have a reasonable idea of what is available on equivalent modern airliners. No idea of the "revised" flight path of MH370 (like anyone else!) but it would appear possible that it did not impact (if it did) in the sea, but may have continued on a track that put it over some fairly inhospitable land terrain (Jungle/mountain). This would certainly pose more problems in the search. Just a thought! (As mine are with the NOK!)

As the days wear on, the issue of any debris drift does indeed become more and more of a factor. No one knows where the plane is, so I'm just putting this out there as a go-to reference in case something eventually turns up:

Real-time Navy model website for sea-surface temperature and currents:
HYCOM 1/12 degree page

The Indonesian Flowthrough and Indian Ocean are the most relevant sectors. As a point of reference, 100 cm/s is equal to 1.9 knots, and 1.9 knots is 46 nm/day (EDIT: typo on 1.9, fixed, sorry). Most values are well below this.

Chart for the point roughly halfway between the crash and now, as a general reference since there is little day to day change:

http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/GLBhy...spdcur.001.gif

BBC news are reporting that the Malaysians are stating that the Chinese satellite images are not related to the crash.

BBC News - Malaysia plane: China debris images 'not connected'

Also interesting is that the Malaysians are joining with the Indian navy in searching the Andaman Sea, to the west of virtually all of the previous reference points.

Very interesting.

GarageYears,

Could be but if so then, as hamster3null noted above, what is the

??

Which systems would these have been since it seems that the RR one is not satellite based and earlier posts claimed neither was the ACARS?

If it did have such capability and these systems need to ping the satellites (even when not transmitting any data) ala a cell phone, then why has it taken this long for anyone to notice that these satellite signals lasted for 4 extra hours after the last communication?

I'm sure anyone who may have received a communication from the aircraft was checking their logs on Sunday, but any relevant information takes time to percolate through the investigation.

Thanks Lonewolf 50. The reason why I posted this up was to show that the seasonal variation in the hydrodynamics of the region is such that by now the Malacca Straights would have revealed its dark secrets and that The Andeman Sea would have carried it well out into the Ocean.
But had I been a betting man I would put my money on the Indian Ocean.

According to the RR engine ping communications, it stayed aloft for 4 hours. Not three, or five, but four. That is pretty exact information.
Actually, that is the most exact information I have seen for quite a while.

Asylum Seekers and Stolen Passports
 

An Iranian seeking asylum in Western Europe needs a visa in order to get to Western Europe. He's unlikely to get it if the Entry Clearance Officer suspects he will ask for asylum.

Yep, that's why I'm struggling with the "MEC damaged,selectively and the aircraft flew for hours" scenario....

In fact I'm not really buying any mechanical/technical scenario I've heard so far ..I'm at a complete loss.

How about the exact information that shows the original WSJ reporter correcting their statement that it wasn't actually data related to RR engine monitoring?

MG23,

I understand but what seems to make this a bit of a long time to search is that, as noted in earlier posts, these communication devices have the equivalent of a MAC or IMEI address allocated based on the airframe.

This would, I imagine, make searching the logs much quicker as there would be an identifiable characteristic to a ping.

I also wonder if one can use triangulation or simply dead reckoning from the satellite(s) contacted to get a feel for where the aircraft went.

Yes, a commercial fairly easily available (although likely some flags would be raised) wideband RF Jammer with the sort of power needed would fit into a smallish suitcase, size in most cases here is proportional to power output and frequency range required.

It still has to be validated, then passed on through the correct channels. That takes time.

Imagine if someone spoofed a signal, the people receiving the signal didn't validate it, announced it immediately, and that drew the SAR effort a thousand miles away from the real site. Not a good idea.