[mindwaves]

Kind of surprised that no one has posted this.

Kind of surreal that NOTHING has been found at this time. Terrorism seems to be a real possibility considering the use of two stolen passports. Kind of scared flying now since I have a flight scheduled 2 weeks from now (although I shouldn't be).

My theory is that the flight captain purposely crashed into the ocean (not unheard of) or terrorists took over (stolen passports). I am a glass half-full type of person.

[Shaddim]

Didn't they find oil slicks and some surface litter in an area of the ocean that's rather deep?

[mindwaves]

The oil slick was proven to be from a tanker and the litter was nothing.

[Ω]

Ocean is a big place that hides a lot underneath. Past crashes have take years to find so the expectation of an explanation in the next few days sadly most likely wont happen.

The four fake passports does add a level of intrigue to the mystery.

[andi*pandi]

I wonder how many fake passports are on other flights, if it's this easy to use one.

If it was terrorism, wouldn't a group have claimed it by now?

[Phileas]

Two fake passports. Interpol reports that the holders were asylum seekers fleeing from Iran.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I wonder how many fake passports are on other flights, if it's this easy to use one.

If it was terrorism, wouldn't a group have claimed it by now?

I agree, and I still find it hard to believe that fake passports were used at all, in fact, I don't buy the story at all.
Unless the plane took off from a jungle, there is no way that a fake passport would pass the scan and ID test at ticketing, screening, & boarding, never mind TWO of them.

Nonetheless, this is a tragedy, I mourn for the innocent victims.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

Two fake passports. Interpol reports that the holders were asylum seekers fleeing from Iran.

If true, why didn't pre-screening (with picture ID and passport) catch them? And I just guessing here, but would fake passport numbers yield invalid results?

lol I'm sure US travelers will be made to suffer because of this.

[Phileas]

Fake passports are being used all the time, especially in the Far East. In the words of a UK security expert: "I'd expect a minimum of 10 fake ID's on any plane that I'd care to check."

[BadKosh]

China has moved 10 of its spy satellites to look for it. The smart phones are still working, which suggest it skidded in on solid ground. It was tracked hundreds of miles off course.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

Fake passports are being used all the time, especially in the Far East. In the words of a UK security expert: "I'd expect a minimum of 10 fake ID's on any plane that I'd care to check."

unreal, had no idea. there should be a consistant test for these things and it should be enforced by international law. Every time a terrorist is on a plane it's because he passed through security with an allegedly valid passport. And then there's loss of loss, and we're made to suffer for it when the solution is obvious.

Interpol 'inclined' to say Malaysia Airlines disappearance not terror - CNN.com

[osiris]

Originally Posted by BadKosh 

China has moved 10 of its spy satellites to look for it. The smart phones are still working, which suggest it skidded in on solid ground. It was tracked hundreds of miles off course.

that is great news.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by BadKosh 

The smart phones are still working,

Source?

Missing Malaysia Airlines flight: Why are the phantom phones ringing FOUR DAYS after mystery disappearance? - Mirror Online

While you would expect that when you hear a ring tone the phone is on and in working order that may not actually be the case - according to one expert.

"That does not mean the phone you are calling is ringing yet," wireless analyst Jeff Kagan told NBC News.

"The network is searching for the phone. First based on where it last was, then it expands. Then if the network can't find the phone, the call terminates."

Apparently even if the phone in question is in airplane mode - or is off or terminally broken - it may still ring on the caller's end, despite there technically being no chance of it being connected.

[BadKosh]

They think the plane turned to the west. They've been looking in the wrong place.

[mindwaves]

It is becoming increasingly likely, at least in my mind, that the pilot purposely switched off the tracking and crashed the plane in such a way that the plane is left completely intact in the water.

That, or the plane crashed into a remote jungle and didn't catch on fire.

[BadKosh]

I'm thinking damage to electrical systems and loss of control. Perhaps they had rudder and throttles and thats it. Turns become a pain.

[osiris]

Private satellites may have found something - interesting at the least and hopeful at best:

Malaysia Airlines MH370 / TomNod crowd-search - CNN iReport

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by osiris 

Private satellites may have found something - interesting at the least and hopeful at best:

Malaysia Airlines MH370 / TomNod crowd-search - CNN iReport

Looks like the wash of two ships. The wing shape is part of the cloud.

Our brain are extremely good at pattern recognition, to a degree where this works against us and we see what we want to see.

[andi*pandi]

If it landed on land, I find it amazing that there are still large areas of wilderness big enough to lose a plane in, and no one saw/heard it go down.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

Our brain are extremely good at pattern recognition, to a degree where this works against us and we see what we want to see.

that is quite true.

[moonmonkey]

I'm sure they will find the flight and everyone will be fine.

[Doc HM]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

If it landed on land, I find it amazing that there are still large areas of wilderness big enough to lose a plane in, and no one saw/heard it go down.

They were saying on the radio here that even a plane going down won't be heard from only 3 or 4 miles away! I thought it would be more.

Plenty of space left in the world I guess.

I would have thought there would be at least some iPhones with find my iPhone enabled on any flight? Would they survive an impact?

[andi*pandi]

At this point, even if they a) were on at the time of the crash and b) did survive, the battery would be dead. My iphone battery only lasts 2-3 days tops on standby.

[BadKosh]

The info about the engines streaming data to ground about performance and the radio systems being powered off at different times, I'm beginning to think hijack.

They said goodby to air route traffic control, altered course, radios powered off later and info shows engines sending data after the radios were off.
Maybe they were hijacked, but 'pilot' was unable to land plane on teeny island somewhere.

[mindwaves]

I'm still on the idea that the pilot was involved. Perhaps now that the plane landed safely somewhere and the passengers are all alive but held hostage.

[BadKosh]

Do we know if the engines transmitters were shut off/could be shut off or if a crash might have destroyed them? This info might become really important in the search. Estimated air speed and duration of time the engine transmitters kept working could be used to ID the search area.


Why is it easier to find your iPhone than a Boeing 777?

[ajprice]

I think it's this.

[andi*pandi]

I was resisting making a joke along those lines.

[Snow-i]

Well, considering iPhones generally don't get coverage way out in the middle of nowhere, I doubt FindMyiPhone would be much help even if one or more did survive whatever happened to the 777.

As far as I can see, there's two likely scenarios here and one less likely.

The first, and most likely is:
1) Air France style crash in a remote area. It'll be awhile before we find any wreckage. This could be because of an attempted hijacking gone wrong, or just plain old technical failure. In a hijacking hypothetical, the group responsible was trying to kidnap those people, not kill them. Whoever planned/executed this decided that they don't want the world hunting them over a downed 777 and decided not to take responsibility to avoid being hunted and killed (since their leverage, the 777 and its passengers, didn't make it safely).

If the plane was able to stay in the air after whatever happened, a small possibility remains there are survivors somewhere as a result of a crash landing or ditch attempt. Each day that passes makes it less and less likelier we'll find any survivors (at this point, I'd say its a shot in a million).

2) The plane really was hijacked, and either went down because passengers tried to take the plane back or the pilots were killed and no one knew how to fly it (at least well enough to get anywhere safely). I guess you could say there's a possibility that the plane landed somewhere - I think we'd have heard from it or the responsible group by now if the plane and its passengers were still in their respective "One piece".

3). Aliens.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I was resisting making a joke along those lines.

At this point its gotten so bizarre that I think a little levity is acceptable.

The truth will likely not be as interesting as the theories, but boy, if it really was hijacked and landed somewhere safely without anyone knowing, in this day and age, that'd be something.

[BadKosh]

A real Titanic style wake-up call.

[andi*pandi]

I'm picturing one of those james bond villain doors in a mountain, that just opened up, and the hijackers flew the plane inside. Shut doors, bam.

or teleportation to another dimension.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I'm picturing one of those james bond villain doors in a mountain, that just opened up, and the hijackers flew the plane inside. Shut doors, bam.

or teleportation to another dimension.

[Snow-i]

Originally Posted by CNN

Then there's the theory that maybe Flight 370 landed in a remote Indian Ocean island chain.
The suggestion -- and it's only that at this point -- is based on analysis of radar data revealed Friday by Reuters suggesting that the plane wasn't just blindly flying northwest from Malaysia. Reuters, citing unidentified sources familiar with the investigation, reported that whoever was piloting the vanished jet was following navigational waypoints that would have taken the plane over the Andaman Islands.
The radar data don't show the plane over the Andaman Islands, but only on a known route that would take it there, Reuters cited its sources as saying.

CNN Exclusive: Analysis shows Flight 370 crashed in Indian Ocean - CNN.com

Even CNN is entertaining the idea. When was the last time anyone checked the Andaman islands for supervillain lairs?

[Phileas]

There was an aviation expert (make of that what you will) on CBC radio this morning who mentioned that the pilot of the plane had been terminated and that this was his last flight for the company.

It's the first time I had heard that, but the statement went unchallenged by the interviewer.

[Snow-i]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

There was an aviation expert (make of that what you will) on CBC radio this morning who mentioned that the pilot of the plane had been terminated and that this was his last flight for the company.

It's the first time I had heard that, but the statement went unchallenged by the interviewer.

Wow...

If that's true. That's horrifying to think that....did the pilot snap?

[Doc HM]

I kind of think of pilots are pretty dedicated. It seems like a pilot "thing" to keep your passengers safe. Bit like a doctor. Of course rouge doctors exist so why not rogue pilots.

Like all seemingly random events this one seems strange until the facts emerge (if they do) then, like the air France crash it becomes understandBle.

[andi*pandi]

Usually isn't the procedure when fired, is to walk you out the building with security? Not give you the keys to a large airplane?

[Snow-i]

Latest reports are saying the plane could have been in the air for up to 7 hours after the transponder event. It could be in kazakhstan.

Missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner could have flown for more than 7 hours | Fox News

[subego]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

Usually isn't the procedure when fired, is to walk you out the building with security? Not give you the keys to a large airplane?

The first thought which came to mind here is a large airplane should have an appropriately large key.

I wanna see pilots with a four foot Schlage under their arm.

[Phileas]

Talked to my Air Canada pilot friend this afternoon. She says the plane has been flown someplace. Too many sensors that are designed to "phone home" when in distress didn't, most of these can't be deactivated by crew.

I am still finding it bizarre that I can track my phone all over the globe, but the same technology can't be included in an airliner. Just stick a damn satellite antenna on the roof, give it an uninterruptible power supply and have some large mainframe track all jets belonging to an airline. Why is this so difficult?

[BadKosh]

A new level of cleverness in airplane hijack schemes. Take it when nobody was looking and in such a large area where would you look first. Don't be there. No demands, so the drama still isn't over, well, unless they accidentally crashed the plane into the door of the secret lair. If they intentionally wanted to kill the passengers , They would have made a big deal of it. No video yet.

[SSharon]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

I am still finding it bizarre that I can track my phone all over the globe, but the same technology can't be included in an airliner. Just stick a damn satellite antenna on the roof, give it an uninterruptible power supply and have some large mainframe track all jets belonging to an airline. Why is this so difficult?

It's all about money. Even if the hardware and monitoring systems are cheap the extra weight on every flight still means more fuel used.

I'm as curious as the next guy to know what happened, but I think it might be years before we find out.

[subego]

I recall when they were first discussing in flight wifi, and I opined that's where you want a wired connection. It's not like you're waking around the cabin with your laptop (this was pre smartphone).

It was mentioned that would be a good 300 pounds of Ethernet cable. All the sudden wifi made more sense.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

Talked to my Air Canada pilot friend this afternoon. She says the plane has been flown someplace. Too many sensors that are designed to "phone home" when in distress didn't, most of these can't be deactivated by crew.

But that doesn't mean it successfully landed at that "someplace".

Unless it landed in the middle of freaking nowhere, how the heck could they keep the landing a secret ?

My personal believe is that they TRIED to land it somewhere else, but somehow, an accident happened and it never made it there. If that accident happened quickly (like crashing into a remote mountain), it could explain why no signals were received.

-t

[mindwaves]

My new guess is that it is somewhere in the Indian Ocean and was crashed purposely in there. Another less plausible guess is that the plane is somewhere in east Africa, again purposely landed. All guilt lies in the two pilots conspiring something.

[Phileas]

I don't think they did conspire. They didn't request to fly together, they didn't request extra fuel, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

[P]

Make sure you have the tinfoil hat on, and then take a look at this:

Keith Ledgerwood — Did Malaysian Airlines 370 disappear using SIA68 (another 777)?

It's an entertaining theory, at least.

[boy8cookie]

[starman]

Dangerous Minds | Has Courtney Love found Flight 370???