The end of this article intimates that India's radar might not a always be switched on (!) and thus the aircraft might have been missed. Hunt for MH370 nears Indian coast | The Indian Express

Based on the new "~8 hours fuel time" quote by Malaysia auth, and following that supposed Southern Arc, it was within the "range" to reach outskirts of Antarctica, just asking?
Ok, i assume the most proper answer would be "C'mon, why the Hell this frozen Land???", but just asking...

Anyone who was capable of organising the heist of a 777 in order to run off with its cargo would probably be able to make darned sure they had the right contacts in place to ensure it went on the right aircraft at the right time.

The problem with hijacking the truck on the way to the airport is that you would then still have to get it out of the country. That problem is eliminated if it's already 'flown', as it were.

GCharlie
 

Thanks for clarifying. If there are more frequent "pings" then a/c location should be more precisely fixed than being publicly stated.

Also, as lakedude pointed out earlier, I think many are misinterpreting the arcs shown on a map as a flight path (like flying a DME arc). These are plots of possible positions of the a/c at a given point in time. The aircraft can be at one and only one point along the arc. The arc defines the possible points at a given time that a "ping" was received.

Just some minor points
 

I have been lurking here, but have not been able to read everything. just some points:

1. Pilot playing pilot at home: It was said on various web sites posting information on the pilot that he was involved in simulator training with his company. It would therefore make sense to have such equipment at home. This does not have to have a sinister background.

2. As to the WHY: If this was a suicide by a crew member, it would be most logical to hide the flight trail and divert the plane to the South corridor. Previous suicides were concluded as such because the plane was found. Ditching it where the ocean is very deep and hiding its trail would therefore be a very logical, rational thing to do. Plus, waiting for it to fall out of the sky would ensure that nothing unusual is recorded should the black boxes ever be found and readable.

3. IF it was not a "simple" suicide mission, it would have to be a very organized hijacking. The last terror attack by Uyghurs was a very messy knife attack. Nothing like MH370, which to me looks very cold and methodical. Even al Qaida is currently focusing on more simple, bloody attacks. To me, this looks more like special ops. It would appear to me there are not many countries with reason (still unknown to me) and capability and even fewer freelancers. But then, I am only a scientist trained to be very rational and logical.

I also have some points that I find confusing.

Were the reports that there was radio contact with MH370 by another airliner not disputed later? It seems this is now taken as a given.

Why is the WH involved in press conferences? I missed the initial reports on that. I cannot remember they got into the game during the Air France incident. By contrast, China is comparably quiet given that most passengers are theirs.

Would voluntary decompression of the plane generate a noise that could be heard by witnesses on the ground?

If the plane indeed changed flight levels dramatically in the beginning of th editor, would RR not have gotten the data? It seems they did get routine reports by the plane on the way up. Should a rapid climb up not generate a report?

Sorry, if what I raised is trivial. I have no flight experience other than as an occasional passenger.

Australian Radar Did Not Capture MH370
 

Mark Dodd, a spokesman for the Australian Defense Ministry, said he hadn’t heard of any trace of the aircraft being picked up by his nation. Australia’s network includes a long-range radar system capable of detecting air targets as small as the BAE Systems Hawk, a single-engine, two-seater jet.
A base station in Laverton, Western Australia state, has a range of about 3,000 kilometers covering most of the ocean south of Java and west from Perth, he said.
Ocean Off Perth Called Diverted Malaysian Plane's Most Likely Last Position - Bloomberg

Where now? Looks like it headed off further west between Australia and Madagascar well outside the range of Australian radar. Looks like someone was really really trying to get lost.


http://i61.tinypic.com/2czsym8.jpg

Speed of sound, you may be right about it being easier to rob the truck but if it was 4300kg of gold you were trying to pinch (see earlier posts for derivation of this figure) how would you move it? As bizarre as it seems, taking the plane is logistically easier, and, as may have been proven, more likely to succeed.

Not saying this is what has happened, but until the cargo manifest is released this option is on the table.

Still not put to rest ...
 

Well, it is rarely mentioned because it likely never happened that way. It comes from one early claim by the New Strait Times that has been picked up in the usual rash by other outlets (XYZ have learned) who later did not find it interesting anymore.

A pilot is quoted to have speaken anonymously, fine. But then that writing goes on to say the source was on a T7 (how pertinent), captain, bound for Narita, 30' ahead, and knew the MH370 crew by first name (and voice) ... Not very smart for an 'anonymous' pilot, or a real journalist, for that matter. The text just screams 'I'm credible'.

Guess the anonymity lies in the non-existence of this source.

..........the CVR will be useless as it only records two hours.

Why useless, it should give a clue as to what happened at the start of the drama, which will be something at least ?

Not even that. The arcs represents the possible positions of the aircraft at the time of the last ping. This seems to be mostly based on the measured distance of the plane from the satellite and the limits on the altitude of the aircraft. This ought to yield a full circle. Consideration of satellite coverage eliminates parts of the circle, and other parts have been eliminated by consideration of the range and possible speed of the aircraft.

It's a loop - you always have the last two hours.

4 Pings, 7 hours?
 

If the pinging is hourly, how can reports of a) four more pings, but b) data up to ca. 7h after LOC be reconciled?

Transmission capability degraded? Or weaker signals (4th+) only found between reports, after re-examination / with more shade-loving sources ...

Well, let's say it's the heist of the century…. where's the plane?

The hypothetical gold might be expensive, but not really when compared with over 200 lives, or the price of a replacement for the aircraft. How much would it cost to arrange the level of complexity in a plot to steal the gold while airborne, have it land somewhere safe for you to offload, and then safely disappear with it.

The lack of people on their delayed way to Beijing would seem to argue against a robbery.

Diego Garcia: I think it would be very safe to assume that if a large unidentifiable plane flew anywhere remotely close to Diego Garcia it would have been noticed.
I also think it would be reasonable to assume that if a long haul jet capable of mach 0.8 airspeed went missing with possibly 7 hours of fuel aboard, every military asset within a radius of 6,000 kilomètre would have been put on alert.
I would also note, courtesy of Stratfor from open source info (i.e. public, non classified) that there is an American CSG (Carrier Strike Group) in the Arabian Sea.
It is possible that this plane will never be found because it is not in anyone's interest to have it found. This is pure speculation of course, but I would argue it is one of a number of possible outcomes.

What was in the Belly?
 

Ramjet555 makes a good point. The authorities have to follow up on every possibility regardless. The US Navy does not send ships and aircraft out on whims their confidence in the data must be fairly high.
That said nearly every SAR I have ever been involved in had primary radar tracks involved that turned out to be garbage. I find it hard to believe that more discussion has not revolved around what was actually in the cargo hold. Not what was manifested but what did the ground crew load.
As long as we have people speculating. What about a pallet of lithium batteries? Assume it was damaged and X amount of time later there was a thermal runaway. There are two hull losses associated with lithium batteries. UPS in Dubai and Asiana out of Inchon. No there should not have been a pallet of lithium batteries on a pax carrier. But there should not have been a oxygen generator on Value Jet either. We need to know exactly what was loaded on that aircraft.
Those of you that know the T7 can speculate on how that type of fire would propagate. I will leave that to the experts if this is not dismissed outright. I can envision a scenario that fits with what we know and leaves the crew incapacitated and riding a roman candle into the sea right where the Kiwi said he saw it. Seeing a fire trail in the sky from 150-200 nm away is not impossible or improbable.
Far fetched? Perhaps....

Maybe an international heist,fly it to your destination of choice,why limit nowadays sophisticated criminals to a truck robbery,do you know that Swiss or Swedish thieves used a helicopter for a major robbery?

I'm not saying this happened,but I'm saying do not underestimate nowadays criminals,sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction,and a lot of 'fiction' has elements of truth.

>I would be highly sceptical to find out, that they missed target huge as 777, even if it was coming from not so exposed direction.

Alternatively, they didn't miss it. Maybe even expecting it?

If the airplane did indeed spend any length of time at or around 40,000ft, then there's a good chance it was done to assure a lack of resistance from the passengers and cabin crew. After that, the person flying most likely had the aircraft to himself.

Message for the press - worldwide
 

Dear members of the press, (I know you are reading this)
Please could you do your own credibility a huge favour and understand the following rough guidelines when referring to flight crew:
A large passenger jet is always flown by at least 2 pilots.
The man in charge is called the captain, or commander. Sits on the left.
The other pilot is called the First Officer. Sits on the right.
Sometimes there is a 3rd pilot who can be called 2nd Officer or cruise- or relief-pilot.
There are other combinations but I want to keep it at this.

It really is that simple. So just to be sure:
The captain is not NOT the chief pilot (BBC news Asia) NOT the first officer (Piers Morgan) and don't ever, ever, EVER refer to 'the pilot of the plane' because there are ALWAYS TWO. At least.

Now consider yourself told and go about your business.

Of course we would like to know the cargo and on past experience the manifest may not represent the facts. We would also like to know the fuel load. Both are highly relevant, however we are not going to get that information and the reasons it's being withheld can be perfectly good security reasons, not automatically sinister ones.