U.S. Investigators Suspect Missing Airplane Flew On for Hours

[mota bhai 2,675]

U.S. investigators suspect that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 stayed in the air for about four hours past the time it reached its last confirmed location, according to two people familiar with the details, raising the possibility that the plane could have flown on for hundreds of additional miles under conditions that remain murky.

Aviation investigators and national security officials believe the plane flew for a total of five hours, based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing Co. 777's engines as part of a routine maintenance and monitoring program.

...

U.S. counterterrorism officials are pursuing the possibility that a pilot or someone else on board the plane may have diverted it toward an undisclosed location after intentionally turning off the jetliner's transponders to avoid radar detection, according to one person tracking the probe.

...

At one briefing ... officials were told investigators are actively pursuing the notion that the plane was diverted "with the intention of using it later for another purpose."

...

The engines' onboard monitoring system is provided by their manufacturer, Rolls-Royce PLC, and it periodically sends bursts of data about engine health, operations and aircraft movements to facilities on the ground.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282#printMode

[Teddy B 17,252]

How is it possible that the plane flew all that time and was not picked up by some other radar from someone's military?

[mota bhai 2,675]

Just read on TIME, Malaysia is denying this report.

[mota bhai 2,675]

An interesting reader comment from DailyKos. Burma?

If it was highjacked and they were evading detection they would have stayed well clear of India, since their air space is tightly monitored.

I would be looking at abandoned air strips in Burma like this one: https://maps.google.com/... .

Or in Bangladesh, or some place else where the government is barely in control and the military is not too sophisticated. You wouldn't fly over the Himalayas as you would be painted on radars while gaining the 30,000 feet of altitude that you would need.

Couldn't venture too far out into the Indian Ocean either with Diego Garcia, and the US 3rd Fleet and the Indian Navy tightly monitoring airways.

[Darnell 8,478]

Malay Pirates !

Straights of Malacca !

Yup, yup.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

911 took careful planning and no-one saw it coming. Terror groups are wide-spread in this region and mixed with government and worker corruption this falls well into a clever plot. Engines continued running for 4-5 hours after the transponder were turned off. Indonesia is a likely destination within that range.

[Darnell 8,478]

could be muslim-seperatists in the PI, as well.

[Dakine10 5,452]

If it was highjacked and planned, I imagine they would know the best places to avoid radar. I still feel it's a long shot though.

If that distance is to believed, they have 15 million square miles to cover. They might never find it.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Isn't it even more than 15 when you take into account the terrain of the sea floor?

[Teddy B 17,252]

Not with these guys on the case.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

Isn't it even more than 15 when you take into account the terrain of the sea floor?

They may have converted the jet into a flying submarine. That would be very clever.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Isn't it even more than 15 when you take into account the terrain of the sea floor?

Yeah. I was just talking surface area. They have to narrow down the search area before they can worry about the sea floor.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

If the jet did continue to fly for 4-5 hours, then Rolls Royce knows exactly how long the engines continued to run. That would take it to the outer bounds of the now expanded search area. Occams razor shows that the simplest explanation is usually true. It's most likely the transponders were deliberately disabled when you couple it with a lack of debris in the area where they were turned off. Add to that the new information that the engines continued to run. If whoever did this simply wanted to crash the plane, that is not difficult to do.

[mota bhai 2,675]

If the jet did continue to fly for 4-5 hours, then Rolls Royce knows exactly how long the engines continued to run. That would take it to the outer bounds of the now expanded search area. Occams razor shows that the simplest explanation is usually true. It's most likely the transponders were deliberately disabled when you couple it with a lack of debris in the area where they were turned off. Add to that the new information that the engines continued to run. If whoever did this simply wanted to crash the plane, that is not difficult to do.

Rolls Royce is saying the WSJ story I posted is untrue. There was no data.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

Rolls Royce is saying the WSJ story I posted is untrue. There was no data.

I have not seen an official report from Rolls Royce that denies the report. If the plane continued to fly for an extended period of time after the transponders were disabled by human hands, then we would be looking at a hijacking and possible rescue operation. That would mean they don't want the hijackers to know that they are on their trail. The earlier cell phone ringing and being online may also mean that they know where they are.

Edited March 13, 2014 by ExExpat