@EXEK1996

I've been following this cargo ship for the past 2 days and it's acting like a fishing vessel.

Fincastle
 

Yawn

As an ex-Nimrod techie on Fincastles, ouch.

Can anyone do a map like above with the Chinese ship, currents and search areas on it as well?

Sonar
 

I wouldn't know about the subs, personally. I did help train Aussies and Kiwis in P-3's. I notice that the P-3C endurance (10 hours) is quite a bit less than in the old days - perhaps all the fancy electronics are heavy, or whatever.

I don't know if there is much sonar in that area (presumably, you mean SOSUS or simillar). I doubt it's a very high priority area, and I don't think SOSUS is as important as in cold war days.

Of course, we can't know about sonar. For all we know, SOSUS-like systems heard the crash or ditching. But I doubt it.

Anyone for overboard shipping containers ? They do lose them over the side occasionally.

Would the Herc also have life rafts and provisions it could push out the back?

Possible N/S FMS error.

Reflected to northern hemisphere.

Great Circle Mapper

You must adjust map scale.

itflewinitflewout

What's wrong with the language ? That's standard English in Australia.

And it's not "chest beating", if you (I see you are in Indonesia) don't like it,
well sorry, tough. We call a spade a spade here in Australia.

Just look at the shambles the Malaysian media conferences are / were versus what the AMSA one's were. And they seemed to have people and aircraft going in all directions, contradicting themselves over what they said previously, confusing to say the least. If they can't present a cool, calm media conference, I'd hate to see what behind the scenes is like.

MickJoeBIll and EXEK1996, the most credible posts I've seen on this subject yet!:D

'On scene' in a few hours? Looks like the ship has been 'on scene for a few days...

"Would the Herc also have life rafts and provisions it could push out the back?
Mickjoebill"


If it is set up for it, yes.

Zodiac inflatable and Ribs can be pushed out the back on Sleds, with or without people following. You have the "experts" in the West for that type of thing so you never know, especially if they have a warship to pick them up afterwards.

Anyone for overboard shipping containers ? They do lose them over the side occasionally.
Yes they do but for the Australian PM to announce this I think the imagery must be fairly conclusive. For the families and friends of those missing I hope so.

I was able to find weather maps going back a week in the region being searched. Conditions have been relatively benign, in 20-30 knot west to northwest winds most of the time. No info on the weather for 5-6 days before that. But in any case, the climate in that part of the southern ocean would normally produce air temperatures close to sea temperatures, in both cases around 10-15 C. It's not frigid at this time of year (assuming we're talking 45 S) but even as far north as Ile Amsterdam at 38 S which has weather records, March has average temperatures around 15-20 C daytime and 10-15 C nights. (keep in mind March in s.h. is like September in n.h. but when you compare Southern Indian Ocean to North Atlantic the latitude comparisons due to Antarctic circulation are something like 10 deg different, e.g., 40S = 50N, 45S = 55N. For northern readers, this ocean climate would be very similar to that encountered at the end of summer well off the coasts of Ireland or Scotland (or in the Gulf of Alaska).

FMS Projected
 

I think Yawn may be saying that if this was still not an act of madness, suicide or incapacitation then someone may have wanted to go north, but messed up and drove south...

...or was in the final stages of dying and messed up the turn.

Finding any debris will help the families find closure. My heart goes out to them.

However, even if we find the Black Boxes, the CVR will reveal nothing and the DFDR will tell us more precisely what we roughly already know?

That is a brilliant plan by someone(s) who did not want the facts ever to emerge?

Can you track the Hang Shengs route for the past 12 days?

If so - can someone post on here a map with the route it took to get down there.

Many thanks.

Heh so your theory is that someone took over the cockpit, entered the waypoint in to the FMS, then hung around for half a day or so watching the rest of the instruments they presumably couldn't read, then when the egg timer went off and they didn't see China, they said "damn, guess we'd better crash". That's inspired! I swear with the talent I've seen in this thread, someone should open "PPrune detective services", Seriously, we are sitting on a gold mine here, people!

Another crazy hypothesis
 

Yawn's idea is interesting.

If one plots the original flight path all the way from IGARI to Beijing, but 180 inverted, does one not end up where the wreckage is?
I know this means violating Indonesian airspace, but one could then work in a 'simple' fire/comms/hypoxia scenario.

Question for P3 experts: Do they carry Sonabouys that can ‘listen’ for CVR/FDR pingers?

The old FMS N-S reversal scenario?