bsieker,

Thanks, I did not know that. The antenna destruction and slow decompression theory, worked for me. Because every possible scenario I had considered. There was always some issue that negated it.

Now the four hours of engine activity have been denied.

However there was a loss of communication. Apparently of all types.

The primary radar information of a change of course is uncertain. There is obviously quite a bit of pressure to find the aircraft. Hence the nervous reaction from the Malaysians.

Needle in a haystack time.

Sky news onboard Malaysian Air Force aircraft report
 

Sky news just had a report from onboard one of the search aircraft, if any of his details where accurate and true he claims they do not have any equipment onboard to detect anything (pings etc) , so it's just visual looking out either side of the aircraft at low level. Also it quoted as a new search area, so I'm not sure this is good enough to find anything at this stage if any things to be found. :ugh:

All airlines have different equipment. It would need a source that KNOWS the MH 777, to rule out the loo theory (as it happened on LAM E190 a few months ago = deliberate CFIT).

So this captain spent all that time building this "sim" who knows how long he had it in a post he mentions FS9 (FS2004) some posts are back from 2011, and now people are assuming he built it for the purpose of training to land on unfamiliar airfields to possibly carry out this "attack"

This is in the same category as "they put it down on a Jungle strip" BS

I understand. However there must be a way of denying access to the FD regardless of the airline setting.

Waypoint IGARI is just 94nm from the Malaysian AFB at Gong Kedak (WMGK). Based there are SU-30 Flanker fighters - I would have though such aircraft would need sophisticated air defence radar to direct them and detect threats.

Are the Malaysians saying that the equipment there couldn't track a 777 flying right past this base and it's movements past IGARI?

You DO know how many hours this captain has/d, don't you?

If you're wondering about the hypothetical difficulty of getting a weapon past security - yes, that's definitely possible (but obviously not recommended). The pat-down in Malaysian (and similarly Indonesian [and others]) airports is basically a formality and no where near as extensive or rigorous as the US. It seems like the majority of people set off the scanner - even with the obvious things removed (belt, lighters, phone, etc) so there's quite a few people getting routine pat downs and, as we all know, anything routine results in short-cuts and inattention. I could imagine that if one were ballsy and serious about it, they'd just pack a gun in their crotch or shoes - as the guards don't spend a lot of time on those areas. I cannot remember the last time I've even seen a hand scanner in the airports - it's always a pat down. IMO, security in SEA airports is mostly about the appearance of security with just adequate usage of the normal stuff (scanners), but definite swiss cheese.

That being said, I find US airport security to be a PITA/chip-on-shoulder/police-state in comparison but let's save that discussion for another time.

Personally, I'm still in the "no foul play" camp on this one. I also find the excessive paranoia over the captain's sim hobby to be firmly within the realm of "the terrorists have won."

People just want a dramatic outcome rather than the more likely sad reality.

Warning - hacker's exploiting this story
 

Be wary of following up news items on this story.

Cyber criminals are already using the interest generated by this event to lure people into malware laden sites.

BEWARE of new Facebook Malware Claims, 'Malaysia Plane MH370 Has Been Spotted' - The Hacker News

As the bird flies.
 

If reports about the likely (destination according to radar plots) is to be believed, and subsequently proved as being the Andaman Islands and we accept that someone set up a very deliberate flight path using recognised way points.

Why didn't 'they' set a direct course across the Thai peninsula.

That would have saved time and fuel.

Thoughts on why 'they' decided to fly over Malaysia first and then changed the heading?

Obviously this was not spur of the moment stuff.

Why that route?

Yes, if there was a second change of heading that pretty much negates the hypoxia theory - although depressurisation could still have been used as a weapon to incapacitate everyone else. Hijacking is far fetched, the logistics are too great and the risk of failure too high. So if there was a change of course, odds on it was towards deeper water. No change in heading and hypoxia is back as number one suspect. In the absence of confirmation, the lack of transponder signal still increases the odds that this was a deliberate act. Inmarsat or whoever it is that has the logs must have about 10 pings. That will allow calculation of direction and speed and hence any navigational changes. Even if there was no change in HDG murderous intentions are not completely ruled out, as any culprit might prefer self induced hypoxia to violent concussion. In every investigation like this innocent people who may have crossed the scene will be looked at. There can be no squeamishness about doing this.

How many of those hours are relevant to the skills required in this case?


The point is, the police must investigate every possibility in order to dismiss each. Searching a house is one of the easiest tasks in this investigation requiring very few assets and very little time. Until it's done nobody knows what evidence may or may not be there!

The Malaysian authorities seemed to dismiss the finding of Jet fuel in an oil slick in the South China Sea as being significant, if not connected to 370, where could the Jet fuel have come from?

I'm guessing that route was strategically planned, which is why the plane has now "disappeared" and we are still searching for it 7 days later! Also, such a route would probably involve flying under the ground radars, thus being undetected while making its way to where it was heading after disabling all onboard communications and ACARS and ELT

Reported by Singapore Today on Twitter
"This is latest and most accurate flight path and the reason why the search is now where it is"
https://twitter.com/sgify

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BirnQGVCAAEZ0It.jpg:large

More logical maybe. but not so easy to an unqualified person flying the plane especially if you are unsure of your location after the struggle to take over control of the aircraft. If your 'nefarious' final destination is not in the FMC database and you really don't fancy dead reckoning at night, a bit of advance planning and judicious use of the LSKs will get you 90% of the way there.

I'm not saying that's what happened but it is certainly something to consider.

I remember last seeing that they said only "fuel".. Did they confirm later after testing that it was indeed "jet fuel" or was the results of the testing not publicised?

Please, could someone here with access to reliable knowledge confirm to me that push-back and take-off were precisely at 00:27 and 00:41 local time, respectively? I have various media contradictions (Flightstats vs. FR24 vs. others) and not interested in what the press says. Only in hard data. Many thanks indeed. Titania

After how many hours of flight would it then be at IGREX? Has that been released? i.e. the time at which it was at each waypoint?

If it stays on UARs on the associated track, then radar operators would be more likely to overlook the track as an expected everyday blip. It's entirely possible that people would just mentally filter it out.

As soon as you go off-route and start flying direct, then that would be an unusual occurrence that you'd pay more attention to.