SOPS,
They did stop searching in the South China Sea about 10 days ago. Did they cover it all, did all countries check their waters and coastlines. Answer IS no because they were all told to stop due the Sat data. Well IMHO the SATCOM installation which is above the economy section in B777 at the back of the aircraft could have still been pinging as wreckage in the ocean which subsequently sunk after 08:11. The only thing needed for accurate handshakes is ADIRU info for direction. If this ADIRU info was cut surely it would still handshake at its last recorded position of the satellite MAY NOT BE STRONG SIGNAL but floating in the sea it would vary in strength. The Satcom installation in the B777 is totally autonomous to the rest of the avionics which are located in the pointed end of the jet. It has its own power supply, battery is close by Rack E10, SDU Satellite Data Unit, BSU Beam steering unit ( which would be stuck in one position after no ADIRU info)in Rack E11. They will have to retrace their searches and cover new areas in the South China Sea and Malacca straits, this time Thailand needs to be included. All options are still on the table.
Formation Drivers theory on an intense Lithium Ion battery fire in the forward cargo and then burning antenna connections or boxes in or near the forward avionics is still plausible. Loss of the Transponder and the VHF effectively simultaneously would indicate some coaxial junction box may have been damaged.

The live ATC archive has vanished of their website, anyone else see this?

Was the FO finished with his training? Has it been established whether or not this was a Line Indoctrination flight?

The Captain was an examiner so there is a good chance the FO was not fully qualified yet.

Does not explain anything as a fire to destroy all communication etc would also render the plane's hydraulic systems and electrics to fail too, making the plane unable to continue flying for long.

Seriously, how can you believe such a theory when it turned around as we know, but not towards the airport?

Compare that to other major fires where communication of the situation on board was relayed to ATC (SR111 & SA295).

Is it known what type of transponder MH370 had?

There are at least two configurations that I know of. One has a keypad and one has rotary selectors. Do they both automatically go to "Standby" while a new code is being selected?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17...a.jpg~original

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17...a.jpg~original

I have operated both types and not ever gone to STBY to select a new code.

That doesn't answer the question as to whether or not they "automatically" go to standby while selecting a new code.

Excellent work Capt Kremin. Very nice graphic.

I think that many of us who fly the 777 for a living agree with you. The AP is going to follow a limited number of lateral inputs--LNAV, HDG HOLD, HDG SEL, TRK, or LOC. Plus, for LNAV we know that it is a three-step process of selecting the waypoint, executing it, and then selecting LNAV on the MCP. How many times have we had that drilled into us about "Execute then LNAV?"

At the very least, the initial turn off course and the entering and/or selection of new waypoints reveals very deliberate actions--by whom I will leave open pending further discovery and investigation. I think however, that many posters have overlooked just how deliberate those actions need to be and that they were most likely not the result of a happenstance case of hypoxia or fire brigade duties...

ATC vanished? No
 

I found it here, live: LiveATC.net Worldwide Airport Coverage Map
and archives ATC Audio Archives | LiveATC.net

I've listened to most of the recordings for 3/7 and 3/8, and can't find that flight on Kuala Lumpar / WMKK ATC. Am I not looking in the right place or is it gone? I remember that the original news report said it "lost contact" with Subang (or Sepang?), so he took off under WMKK who passed him to that SZB and then contact was lost or? I couldn't find ATC for the "Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport" aka SZB.

It does get tiring when we continually have to revise and dismiss the data that we thought we knew for certain. Agree with previous poster... only certainty is that a B777 is missing.

So now the previous data that the turn inputs into the FMS that supposedly happened before the final voice transmission may not have happened after all.

miscellaneous
 

But, is this due to Malaysia's measurement criteria? In a society where suicide is taboo (and not saying this applies), facts on the ground may be interpreted to uphold the norms. Durkheim spoke to this in his classic Suicide.

The commercial aircraft accident rate is also vanishingly small, too, isn't it? What % of this rate is due to pilot suicide?

Agree. But perhaps this introduces other issues. Malaysia is still a traditional society, wherein individuals reach various developmental milestones at an earlier age, as the West did years ago. So, one marries at 20, is a grandparent at 53. At the same time, individuals on certain career paths --whether young women working in MNC assembly plants, or pilots flying international routes-are exposed to Western values and lifestyles. This presents problems for the young women, who are sometimes 'ruined'. They may no longer fit in to the society within which they're trapped. Could this apply to pilots as well?

SIM cards...I was able to purchase a microSIM for my unlocked cell at an airport kiosk in KK recently, without showing any ID. I paid for it in ringgits. Only Mexico seems to strictly enforce an ID requirement.

Yes, they do go into standby as soon as the code selector knobs or buttons are active. In the case of the keypad, it releases as soon as the 4th digit is entered, and the rotary has a 3-5 sec timeout.

What difference would that make...? You can turn the jet WITHOUT inputs to the FMS.

It didn't crash into the South China Sea. The plane still had power at 8:11 when the last "ping" occurred. You can't make a connection with the Inmarsat satellite without having power. That is, unless you're postulating that the plane remained intact with power and then disappeared below the surface.

Capt Kremin,

excellent post. Probably the unpublished ping arcs fit quite exactly your 197 solution. Would that be the HDG to return from IGARI to KUL ??

That may be the reason why all SAR is concentrated south.

Tim Vasquez has something identified, that could be a contrail belonging to the HDG 197 solution. INHO a must read:

Investigation of a possible "southern arc" contrail from Malaysia Flight 370 - 8 March 2014 - Weather Graphics

http://www.weathergraphics.com/malay...-route-sum.gif

MH370 departed to the East. Live ATC only covers North & West Sectors.

Although if a country under the possible northern flight path had not wanted to say 'Our Air Defense Radar in that sector went u/s 3 months ago and we can't afford to repair it right now' then 'Our military radar didn't detect MH370' is an entirely accurate but also entirely useless answer...

If MH370 wreckage found in Southern Indian ocean.....
 

Excellent post. A/P systems mode knowledge plus navigation basic principles create a very convincing case. Thank you.

oldoberon:-

I disagree....the Chief of Air Force when asked by the media at that time, if the Air Force Radar Operator saw the air turn-back (i.e. in real-time), answered "No! We only saw a recording!"

Any chance the INS would have become primary navigation means due to a loss of GPS? Flying ref ADIRU only?