Past is Gone. Now?
 

How about the future? What will change? Henceforth, ALL planes need to have an I.D. broadcasting at ALL TIMES whilst in the air, and NOT under the control of the cockpit. This will not only discourage future events of this kind, but will serve PAX with the comforting knowledge that never again will they be at the mercy of terrorists, mentally challenged pilots, or disorganized authority. The technology has existed for a long long time, and that it has never been used is unforgivable.

Rubbish! the aircraft took off 2:04pm. At 2:10 the pilots became aware they were on fire, at 2:13 the pilots were incapacitated and the aircraft impacted water. It took less than three minutes to destroy that aircraft. From pilots first awareness. That fire was very fast moving and this one could have been equally so.
There are NO officials FROM the search effort saying the aircraft flew longer than last contact other than the media. I suppose you are another rascist that doesnt believe the Malaysians are capable of conducting SAR effectively.

This has long time ago been debunked as total rubbish. There was no discrepancy in ACARS data, there were however ACARS msgs sent to those aircraft after they were already destroyed on 9/11.

At 5 UTC Malaysian PM will adress to the world...according latest dev. by the Malaysia Gov and Secret Services they almost reach the conclusion of a Hijacking case:

Missing Malaysia Plane Was Hijacked

Correct! therefore that accident has nothing to do with MH370 were aircraft was airborne for hours, are you incapable of understanding that? Yes, the media so far is the only source of data, if you don't like what media writes don't read this thread. If you don't believe what CNN says about Pentagon's analysis - go directly to Pentagon. Or better travel to Malasia and search for clues yourself because I suspect you won't believe anybody.

Heli-phile
 

I don't agree with your sentiment.

I am not a pilot, but I am a VERY experienced investigator and AVSEC expert.

This is no longer about flying, per se. This is now an investigation to find the aircraft and, I would suggest, people like me are far more qualified in that regard than holders of flying licences!

However, I see no real problem with people who have various relevant skills pooling their knowledge and experience to try and figure it out. In the course of figuring it out, a lot of extreme ideas will be put forward and then be dismissed as and when information is forthcoming. That is the nature of investigations, no?

Whilst I would say that, in the vast majority of cases, the obvious cause is the correct one, there are the odd cases where something left-field turns out to be the cause. That sifting requires solid, corroborated information. None of us has access to that right now.

We can posit ideas based on various assumptions, but you know what they say about assuming? To assume makes an ASS of U and ME, as I was taught decades ago on an intelligence analysis course run by the government that employed me at the time. A course run by the best in the business, I might add!

So, where does all that leave us? Basically, in terms of solid facts, pretty much right where we were when the story went public last Saturday.

If, IF, for example, the Immarsat data proved to be accurate, along with the Malaysian radar data, we could eliminate a whole lot of theories and shut down a large of chunk of the SAR effort.

Until such time as that firms up, they'll have to keep looking pretty much everywhere within the flight range, as fuelled.

I feel sorry for the Malaysians, frankly. They have half the world on their case.

Maybe they already do!!

Question regarding possible flight path
 

I'm not a professional pilot but I do spend my days in front of the scopes. Just wanted to ask a quick question--hopefully without getting blown up :uhoh:

Let's assume that the AC really did make the left turn at the time of alleged disappearance and seem to follow a direct-to-fix to VAMPI then GIVAL and eventually IGREX (and who knows where beyond that).
Would those fixes have had to been manually dialed in or would they show up on one of the many glass screens as an available "go direct" option with the push of a button? I am just guessing that since they were so far off the intended (loaded?) flight path that they wouldn't be.
I do not pretend to know what has really happened (partial crew incapacitation, hijackers, etc). But I'm curious about the possibility of at least someone being in control for a while and managing to stay aloft.

Heli-phile
 

Oh, and I forgot to mention the geo-political angle.

There are a number of countries with dogs in this race. As I know from experience, governments are ruthless. They will not care one jot for the feelings of the families of the pax and crew. Not one jot. I have seen people's characters destroyed for the 'national interest'.

Governments will do whatever is best for their own interests. Whatever they say publicly should be treated with healthy scepticism until the aircraft is found, if it ever is found. If one of them wants that aircraft never to be found, it will probably never be found.

That's the reality of how things work, however distasteful it is to the honourable and decent amongst us.

From the article above:

Similarly, first officer Gamil al Batouti was praised after the Egyptair 990 crash:

EgyptAir Pilot, From Privileged Background to a Terrible Prominence - New York Times

However, Gamil al Batouti was facing a possible termination hearing after exposing himself to underage girls at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan.

See: FBI Exposes EgyptAir Pilot | The Smoking Gun

Oddly enough, the NTSB archive seems to be missing the 70 plus page FBI report on al Batouti that was originally posted and discussed here on PPRuNe.

The argument against suicide was made here in the pre-911 SU 990 mishap since 'Muslims don't commit suicide'. Similarly, on this thread the possibility of terrorism was dismissed in early posts 'because Malaysia is a Muslim country'.

I was initially skeptical but given what we now know, I believe a closer look at the crew would certainly be warranted.

If it was me, I'm sure they would check even if the preacher said I sang in the choir at Beulah Baptist.

"You know, now that I think about it, Airbubba did always seem a little strange..."

Another twist or all the time they knew this and were negotiating with the hijackers..

Really!
Im not at all concerned what a overhyped media is saying, they are clutching at straws and a stack of mis-information, it sells papers and appeals to morons and high school kids.
I am an empiricist and am happy to accept what Malaysian officials say until they give me cause for concern.

What is it that many of you here simply cannot accept that this aircraft didnt exist minutes after last contact like so many dozens of others.

Statistically, reality and history is on my side.

This plane crashed shortly after last contact.

Any of you who actually fly through SE Asia like to suggest ATC wouldnt issue alarm about an unidentified primary contact flying through their airspace heading west over the Malay peninsula.

ATC didnt see it therefore it didnt happen!

Missing Malaysia plane MH370 said to be traced to sea off Australia

KUALA LUMPUR - The last satellite transmission from a Malaysian airliner missing for a week has been traced to the Indian Ocean off Australia

Wow!
What else do you have in store for us? What piece of infinite wisdom??
Malaysian government doesn't believe it, US government doesn't believe it but you are free to post your nonsense on this forum - good luck.

Interesting... (if true) The authorities must have know this for days! But surely the Jindalee oth radar would have picked it up if it headed towards Australia.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...x-JORS.svg.png

It is getting very strange - first west-ward traces towards India, now near Australia? Ever occurred to someone that this is probably the first case of an airplane incident where sources of information are said to be from the White House. Prime ministers addressing the public, explanations followed by denials...
It is certainly unusual and the fact that from the US side even the WH is involved in the flow of information seems to indicate that this is more than a technical issue. Just my 2 c (until deleted)

Officials confirm hijacking.
 

Fox News just announced jet was hijacked:

Investigators conclude missing jet hijacked, steered off course, official says | Fox News

Seems like another Ethiopian 691:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_961

At this point it is almost equally interesting to find out what happened to MH370 and why it took more than a week to find out where it most likely is.

I wait with anticipation the Malaysian PM address, I suspect he will say nothing new other than they suspect possible hijacking as they are unable to locate the wreckage.
Other than that, to my knowledge the Malaysian govt is not claiming the aircraft flew west as yet. The US government says they are confident it did but not 100% sure. The Australians have not been told at all considering the aircraft would most likely if your silly senario had a scintilla of reality be in their jurisdiction for SAR efforts.
It seems to me a lot of misinformation generated particularly by a clueless media.
I guess we will find out in time.

Not to nitpick but the report says miles not KM. If it was 1000 km it's conceivable that the plane could have landed in Western Australia but 1000 miles likely means it ended up in the ocean. Sounds like after his joyride up to FL450, 40000 ft/min descent roller coaster, and deceptive course changes, he decided to head for the place where the wreckage was least likely to be found, the South Indian Ocean.