Malaysia Airlines loses contact with plane carrying 239 people

[thundley4]

I kinda doubt they kept the passengers as hostages.  I'd just about bet the mortgage that there's now about 40,000 pounds of worm food buried in the desert somewhere.

They may have found a few willing people among the passengers to help them.

[md11hydmec]

Yeah, but the transponders that were tracked for 7 hours after contact was lost--do they come on when the plane is powered up?  And, are they plane-specific?  What I'm getting at here is this--would someone know if the plane came back up 'on the net,' as soon as it did?

The engines have their own monitoring system in the tach generator.  As far as transponders, they would have to have the codes to change the AC identifiers and software in the computer.  As soon as they turned them on in the air it would show the Malasian AC.  If they flew it without the transponders every country with its own air force would be willing to shoot it down.

[thundley4]

Are there any countries besides North Korea and Iran that would be willing to cooperate with the hijackers and let them land?

[txradioguy]

Are there any countries besides North Korea and Iran that would be willing to cooperate with the hijackers and let them land?

Somalia and Iran come to mind.

[dutch508]

Somalia and Iran come to mind.

Pakistan.

[Ptarmigan]

Two MILLION square miles to be searched, 26 countries involved - and still not a trace of Flight MH370: hunt for the missing plane stretches from Kazakhstan to Southern Ocean
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2582326/From-islands-Indonesia-steppe-Kazakhstan-Hunt-missing-flight-MH370-switches-land-covers-ELEVEN-countries.html

Australia has taken the lead in the hunt for the missing Boeing 777 over the southern Indian Ocean as the list of countries providing assistance rose to 26 today.

The move came as Malaysia's transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein revealed that two million square miles still need to be searched.

Malaysia has appealed for radar data and search planes to help in the unprecedented hunt through a vast swath of Asia stretching north-west into Kazakhstan.

Talk about finding a needle in a haystack.

[Purple Sage]

I kinda doubt they kept the passengers as hostages.  I'd just about bet the mortgage that there's now about 40,000 pounds of worm food buried in the desert somewhere.

^^^^  This.  If I were a betting woman, I'd bet they turned off the O2 into the cabin fairly.

[newshutr]

I gotta say, I agree with TXRadioGuy.  I'm betting Iran, with the 777, in Mecca...

Either than or it's Professor Plum with the candlestick in the billiard room..

[JohnnyReb]

Heard on the radio awhile ago that Al-kitem and Bin Laden have wanted for a long time to capture a civilian airliner to use in a spectacular attack.

I expect Big Bomb Airways will soon take to the air.....with a slogan of "Fly the piece full skies of Islam".

[DefiantSix]

^^^^  This.  If I were a betting woman, I'd bet they turned off the O₂ into the cabin fairly.

Only because people in various stages of oxygen deprivation are easier to control/get rid of in the name of Allah, than people who are fully conscious and pissed because they don't know where they are, but they sure as hell know that Beijing doesn't look even a little like Allah's little hellish sandbox.

[Ptarmigan]

Maldives island residents report sighting of 'low flying jet'
http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/54062

Residents of the remote Maldives island of Kuda Huvadhoo in Dhaal Atoll have reported seeing a "low flying jumbo jet" on the morning of the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Whilst the disappearance of the Boeing 777 jet, carrying 239 passengers has left the whole world in bewilderment, several residents of Kuda Huvadhoo told Haveeru on Tuesday that they saw a "low flying jumbo jet" at around 6:15am on March 8.

They said that it was a white aircraft, with red stripes across it – which is what the Malaysia Airlines flights typically look like.

Possible sighting over Maldives. I wonder if the airplane was heading towards Somalia.

[thundley4]

I've been wondering about something.  There were reports of the craft reaching over 40,000 feet before plunging to 5000 feet in a very short time.

If the flight crew depressurized the passenger cabin and did this kind of maneuver, before leveling out at a lower altitude to avoid detection, would that help to incapacitate the passengers or at least make them very submissive?

[dutch508]

I've been wondering about something.  There were reports of the craft reaching over 40,000 feet before plunging to 5000 feet in a very short time.

If the flight crew depressurized the passenger cabin and did this kind of maneuver, before leveling out at a lower altitude to avoid detection, would that help to incapacitate the passengers or at least make them very submissive?

It would kill them.


From another flight:
Following the depressurization, the pilots did not receive supplemental oxygen in sufficient time and/or adequate concentration to avoid hypoxia and incapacitation. The wreckage indicated that the oxygen bottle pressure regulator/shutoff valve was open on the accident flight. Further, although one flight crew mask hose connector was found in the wreckage disconnected from its valve receptacle (the other connector was not recovered), damage to the recovered connector and both receptacles was consistent with both flight crew masks having been connected to the airplane's oxygen supply lines at the time of impact. In addition, both flight crew mask microphones were found plugged into their respective crew microphone jacks. Therefore, assuming the oxygen bottle contained an adequate supply of oxygen, supplemental oxygen should have been available to both pilots' oxygen masks.


With everything else the hijackers were able to do- disabling the passenger's oxymasks is not too farfetched.

[thundley4]

It would kill them.


From another flight:
Following the depressurization, the pilots did not receive supplemental oxygen in sufficient time and/or adequate concentration to avoid hypoxia and incapacitation. The wreckage indicated that the oxygen bottle pressure regulator/shutoff valve was open on the accident flight. Further, although one flight crew mask hose connector was found in the wreckage disconnected from its valve receptacle (the other connector was not recovered), damage to the recovered connector and both receptacles was consistent with both flight crew masks having been connected to the airplane's oxygen supply lines at the time of impact. In addition, both flight crew mask microphones were found plugged into their respective crew microphone jacks. Therefore, assuming the oxygen bottle contained an adequate supply of oxygen, supplemental oxygen should have been available to both pilots' oxygen masks.


With everything else the hijackers were able to do- disabling the passenger's oxymasks is not too farfetched.

That would have made it easier for the flight crew, if they were involved in this to do whatever they wanted.

[HawkHogan]

Looks like they may have found debris near Australia.

[thundley4]

Looks like they may have found debris near Australia.

The Australian PM is hedging his bets, though.

[Purple Sage]

The Australian PM is hedging his bets, though.

One piece 78 meters and another large piece with debris field. 

[thundley4]

One piece 78 meters and another large piece with debris field. 

Any Muslim ships in the area recently that could have dropped of some misleading hunk of debris to mislead searchers from the real area?

[Tess Anderson]

Then this debris is appearing three thousand miles from the plane's last known location.

Pakistan.

Yeah, that's the country I keep hearing about. They deny it, but they always deny.

[dutch508]

Then this debris is appearing three thousand miles from the plane's last known location.

Yeah, that's the country I keep hearing about. They deny it, but they always deny.

We knew they had bin Ladin since 2009. Barry won't do anything.

[thundley4]

One piece 78 meters and another large piece with debris field. 

24 meters, but @78 feet.

[HawkHogan]

My friends called me a bigot cause I told them I wouldn't take a plane with a Muslim pilot.  Oh well.  I'll be a bigot, and I'll still be alive.

[Purple Sage]

24 meters, but @78 feet.

Thanks.  Mascara man said 78 meters and I didn't stop to think just how big that would be.

[Wineslob]

Thanks.  Mascara man said 78 meters and I didn't stop to think just how big that would be.

And....well, you know.......is a foot.

[txradioguy]

Retired General Tom McInerny just said on Fox News that sources at Boeing and one of his own sources says the missing B777 is in Pakistan.