Malaysia Airlines Loses Contact With 777 en Route to Beijing

[James Bond]

From Yahoo! Malaysia

The search for Malaysian Airlines MH307 plane has been expanded to Sumatran waters, north of Straits of Malacca, as military radar may have detected the missing plane in the vicinity of Pulau Perak.
A Berita Harian report today quoted the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) as saying the plane may have reversed course further than expected while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Air Force chief Rodzali Daud ( left ) is quoted as saying that based on military radar readings from its station in Butterworth, MH370 may have turned west after Kota Bahru and flew past the east coast and Kedah.
"The last time the plane was detected was near Pulau Perak, in the Straits of Malacca, at 2.40am," Berita Harian quotes Rodzali as saying.
This contradicts with earlier reports that the aircraft had disappeared from radar screens 120 nautical miles off Kota Bharu and over the South China Sea, at 1.30am on March 8..
Berita Harian also said that military radar noted that the plane was flying about 1,000 metres lower than its original altitude of 10,000 metres after the about turn.

So much for SAR looking in Vietnamese waters.

[Gabriel]

This IS important info:

On Mar 11th 2014 Malaysia's Air Force reported their primary radar data suggest, the aircraft may have turned west over the Gulf of Thailand at about 1000 meters/3000 feet below the original flight level and flown past the east coast near Khota Baru and the west coast of Malaysia near Kedah, the radar return was last seen at 02:40L near Pulau Perak in the Straits of Malacca, about 285nm westsouthwest of the last known (secondary) radar position.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4710c69b&opt=0

What may "sugest" mean there? They are not positive that the blip they are following was MH370?

Map showing the last secondar radar and the last primary radar positions.

[andyb99]

That said, I am reminded that none of us could have speculated the unthinkable truth of AF-447 or even that of Polish 101.

can somebody tell me what that unthinkable truth is please?? i thought that plane went down in a bad storm.

on topic of this mystery......how low would the aircraft need to fly at to be undetected by radar??
i cant imagine its been stolen cause i dont see where it could land undetected...but my thoughts are that maybe this was the plan....and it just flew too low/or a struggle ensued thereafter like on 9/11.
i'm no aviation expert like you lot so english is best please?

[James Bond]

Did it head to Indonesia?

With the fuel they had, they could be anywhere.

http://www.gcmap.com/map?P=PEK,+KUL,+&R=2100nm%406%B0+56%27+12N+103%B0+35%27+6E,+2600nm%406%B0+56%27+12N+103%B0+35%27+6E&MS=wls&MR=600&MX=540x540&PM=*&PC=%23ff0000&RC=%23000080

But how would they get there undetected?

[Gabriel]

Also:

On Mar 11th 2014 Malay investigators reported a 19 year old Iranian was travelling on one of the false passports to join his family waiting for him in Germany. They were contacted by his mother admitting she knew her son was using a false passport.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4710c69b&opt=0

[Brainsys]

If the plane changed course and flew over land - and people (especially crew) were aware of a highjack or other issue - surely some would turn on their mobiles to try and make contact if only to say goodbye. Yet no such calls were apparently received. And a few will have forgotten to turn them off which might log onto a network below leaving a record.

Could this be explained by the lack of mobile masts on track or the height of the aircraft at the time?

This incident is getting stranger by the hour.

[sjwk]

This IS important info:

http://avherald.com/h?article=4710c69b&opt=0

The paragraph you quoted appears to have been updated in that link (additions in bold):

On Mar 11th 2014 Malaysia's Air Force reported their primary radar data suggest, the aircraft may have turned west over the Gulf of Thailand at about 1000 meters/3000 feet below the original flight level (editorial note: another possible interpretation could be: at 1000 meters of height compared to 10000 meters original level) and flown past the east coast near Khota Baru and the west coast of Malaysia near Kedah, the radar return was last seen at 02:40L near Pulau Perak in the Straits of Malacca, about 285nm westsouthwest of the last known (secondary) radar position. Local Police at the city of Bharu confirmed a number of locals reported lights and a low flying aircraft at Bharu at an estimated height of 1000 meters/3000 feet.

[pacoperez]

gliding....

What if they lost completely electrical power (like Transat 236) and they glided randomly till crash?

[aricat]

Pilot suicide

Seems to be rising nearer the top of candidates of possible explanations given the scant information available.

Pilot turns off transponders/communications, lowers altitude, changes course, maybe even asks passengers to turn off cell phones due to "interference" or what have you. Had the pilot been acting under duress, or there had been a mechanical problem, it seems more likely you get some sort of passenger communication.

This pilot was as savvy as they come, it sounds like, with extreme hours and a home made flight simulator to boot, so he could have done basically whatever he wanted with this aircraft.

[tsv]

Story on Australian TV about the First Officer entertaining Chicks in the Cockpit;

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/03/11/19/08/woman-remembers-cockpit-fun-with-missing-pilot

Sensationalist media IMO. I requested a ride in the Cockpit once about 12 years ago and the Pilots didn't hesitate to ask me up, albeit I had to return to my seat well before landing. I'd guess Millions of Customers have ridden in the cockpit over the years.

Cute looking Chicks though, not surprised the Pilots took a fancy to them....

[BoeingBobby]

Maybe an alien abduction!

[AVION1]

The KAL 007 scenario differs in one very important way. KAL 007 was able to fly for a significant period of time after having been struck by two AAM's. They were able to transmit intentions to Toyko ATC. Any shootdown that doesn't immediately destroy the aircraft doesn't fit here, and any one that does would leave a nice path of destruction along the flight path. AAM's are designed to disable aircraft, not instantly disintegrate something that large like in the movies. I wouldn't rule out the possibility, but it doesn't seem to fit.

The Boeing 747 has more chance to survive two missiles, than a Boeing 777.

[Gabriel]

What if they lost completely electrical power (like Transat 236) and they glided randomly till crash?

Transat 236 didn't lose completely electrical power.

It's very, very, VERY hard for an airplane like this to have a complete loss of electrical power.

It would take:

Dual generator failures (this can be induced by dual engine failure)
APU failure/unavailable (if the dual engine failure is for a a fuel issue, that would also affect the APU)

So far, that is what Transat 236 got. Then:

RAT failure (RAT = Ram Air Turbine, it's a small air-driven propeller that deploys in the above scenario and provides electrical and hydraulic power).
Batteries failure (the plane will not get very far on batteries only since there would be no power for the flight controls if all hydro was also lost, which will be the case with 2 engines+APU+RAT failed, but enough for the transponder to keep working, for the ACARS to send a gazillion of failure events, and for the pilots to make a mayday call).

And even then, that will not make the plane disappear from primary radar nor make the wreckage invisible.

[AVION1]

Also:



http://avherald.com/h?article=4710c69b&opt=0

Yes, they were asylum seekers. Not terrorists.

[Gabriel]

Yes, they were asylum seekers. Not terrorists.

Likely not even asylum seekers. Just illegal immigrants.