Malaysia Airlines Flight Vanishes

[cb1000rider]

Doesn't it seem odd that the US has not said anything. Is it for fear that we would open up on how good our technology is?

If they know, that's exactly why....

The engines reporting data is very interesting.

[WildBill]

The engines reporting data is very interesting.

I had no idea about that.

[philip964]

We are sending a distroyer to the Indian Ocean. The pinging of the engines seems to be gaining steam, even though denied.

[suthdj]

Has anyone looked on the runway in Beijing, maybe it's just sitting there waiting for a gate.

[strider67]

Just heard on the news that the tracking signals aboard the plane stopped sending information sequentially. They said that means that they had been turned off on purpose...

[WildBill]

Just heard on the news that the tracking signals aboard the plane stopped sending information sequentially. They said that means that they had been turned off on purpose...

I heard that too, but I am surprised that a pilot would be able to turn off the signals on purpose.

[Dave2]

Just heard on the news that the tracking signals aboard the plane stopped sending information sequentially. They said that means that they had been turned off on purpose...

I heard that too, but I am surprised that a pilot would be able to turn off the signals on purpose.

Pilots have to be able to turn any system off, if for no other reason than to help deal with electrical problems.

Which, come to think of it, might've been what happened.

[WildBill]

Just heard on the news that the tracking signals aboard the plane stopped sending information sequentially. They said that means that they had been turned off on purpose...

I heard that too, but I am surprised that a pilot would be able to turn off the signals on purpose.

Pilots have to be able to turn any system off, if for no other reason than to help deal with electrical problems.

Which, come to think of it, might've been what happened.

Could they turn off the black box? I don't think so.

[Dave2]

Just heard on the news that the tracking signals aboard the plane stopped sending information sequentially. They said that means that they had been turned off on purpose...

I heard that too, but I am surprised that a pilot would be able to turn off the signals on purpose.

Pilots have to be able to turn any system off, if for no other reason than to help deal with electrical problems.

Which, come to think of it, might've been what happened.

Could they turn off the black box? I don't think so.

Yep. They're on their own circuit breakers.

Actually, let me double-check that... BRB

I can't find a document that lists the circuits on a 777, so I can't point to the button that turns it off, sorry. I'll look again when I get home and don't have use my phone.

How would the pilot cut off power to the Flight Data Recorder or Cockpit Voice Recorder if one of them develops a short circuit and it's not on a circuit breaker?

[K.Mooneyham]

Someone mentioned the crew and passengers being deprived of oxygen if the fuselage developed a hole in it. The pressurization system on those aircraft works by allowing air to escape at a predetermined rate to prevent the aircraft from "popping" at higher altitudes. If there was a smaller hole, the outflow valve(s), would just close some more to compensate and maintain the scheduled pressure. Considering how much air the environmental control system (heat/airconditioning) pumps into a big bird like the 777, it would have to be one big ol' hole to make that happen...which would cause much bigger problems, IMHO.

[strider67]

Just heard on the news that the tracking signals aboard the plane stopped sending information sequentially. They said that means that they had been turned off on purpose...

I heard that too, but I am surprised that a pilot would be able to turn off the signals on purpose.

Pilots have to be able to turn any system off, if for no other reason than to help deal with electrical problems.
Which, come to think of it, might've been what happened.

I just picture everyone onboard, except the 2 pilots, in some remote location wearing shackles and blindfolds, with a bunch of armed guards standing around. The pilots got their money and drove their mopeds into the night...

[philip964]

Fox news last night said the communication systems were manually shut down at different times and that the plane continued to fly for five more hours.

Certainly from the looks of it, appears to be a hijacking. Whether by the a pilot or a passenger is not known, but they were searching the houses of the pilots, looking for clues.

So did it land or just run out of gas and crash?

There was some discussion that the pinging from the engines gave more than just maintenance data from the engines, could include altitude etc.

Wild.

[RoyGBiv]

I'm sticking with a breach of the fuselage leading to sequential loss of systems and the death of passengers and crew. The direction change happened at the time of the initial event, probably the pilot trying to return to land, and the aircraft continued to fly on the new heading until it ran out of fuel. Engines continued to report ACARS data until the end, somewhere in the Indian ocean.

Occam's razor.

[mojo84]

This is wild speculation but is a scary scenario to contemplate. I've heard a couple theories that speculate the plane was hijacked and taken so it can be used later in a terrorist attack. I'm wondering if it could be used as a delivery system for some type of large nuclear or other weapon of mass destruction. I've heard one of the main problems some of the countries have delivering such a weapon is they don't have the capability of delivering it long range. Speculation yes but something to think about.

[RoyGBiv]

This is wild speculation but is a scary scenario to contemplate. I've heard a couple theories that speculate the plane was hijacked and taken so it can be used later in a terrorist attack. I'm wondering if it could be used as a delivery system for some type of large nuclear or other weapon of mass destruction. I've heard one of the main problems some of the countries have delivering such a weapon is they don't have the capability of delivering it long range. Speculation yes but something to think about.

Would it not be easier to rent one than stealing it with ~240 souls on board?

Tap an AMEX Black card, rent aircraft, load payload, register legit flight plan as charter flight, execute dastardly deed without fear of being shot down as "unidentified aircraft".

Seems easier my way.