
Malaysia Officials, Saying Missing Jet Was Diverted, Open Criminal Inquiry - wozniacki
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight.html?_r=0
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confluence
Probably headed back to the coast after experiencing difficulties then
something incapacitated the crew, until they ran out of fuel over the Indian
ocean.

> _An Asia-based pilot of a Boeing 777-200, who asked not to be identified
> because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, said an ascent above
> the plane’s service limit of 43,100 feet, along with a depressurized cabin,
> could have rendered the passengers and crew unconscious, and could be a
> deliberate maneuver by a pilot or a hijacker._

> _Other experts said that altitude changes would be expected if the pilots
> became disabled after the plane’s autopilot was disengaged. Changes in the
> weight distribution on the plane as fuel burned off would make the plane
> descend and climb repeatedly, though changes in course would be harder to
> explain._

...

> _The data, the official said, “leads them to believe that it either ran out
> of fuel or crashed right before it ran out of fuel.”_

> _It would take a long runway to land a plane of that size, the official
> said. Although the radius that the plane could have flown extends into South
> Asia, the official added, “the idea it could cross into Indian airspace and
> not get picked up made no sense.”_

~~~
ronnier
I have no idea how one would come to your conclusion when there's evidence
otherwise, that this was a deliberate action: the climbs, disabling of more
than one communication system at different times, course changes, no calls
back.

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itry
What would be the theory of least effort? By that I mean least people
involved, least criminal energy, least planning.

Could a pilot do this completely on his own? Turn off the communication
system, fly 4 hours into a different direction and then nosedive into the
ocean?

~~~
confluence
Slow burn fire randomly taking out communications systems and electronics
undetected over a long period of time. Pilots freak out and head West for the
coast, program way points on autopilot. Fire then cracks the hull, leading to
a slow depressurization, incapacitating crew. Plane heads into the Indian
ocean with all onboard unconscious or dead, until it runs out of fuel.

~~~
TheAnimus
this fire just happened to cut out all four radio circuits, both transponders
(physically separate systems) before he could squark about it, or contact
anyone on the radio? I really doubt that.

If I thought that was possible, I wouldn't fly the little sheds I do for fun.

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ccarpenterg
_The New York Times, quoting American officials and others familiar with the
investigation, said radar signals recorded by the Malaysian military appear to
show the airliner climbing to 45,000 feet (about 13,700 meters), higher than a
Boeing 777’s approved limit, soon after it disappeared from civilian radar,
and making a sharp turn to the west.[1]_

If the MH370 suddenly climbed to 45,000 feet that would indicate that either
(1) there was a mechanical failure so the pilots had to struggle to take the
control again or (2) there was a fight in the cockpit that resulted on the
abrupt climb.

[1] [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/15/mh370-search-
fo...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/15/mh370-search-for-missing-
malaysia-airlines-plane-extended-to-southern-indian-ocean)

~~~
jusben1369
My understanding so that the height reached is one of the much more
speculative pieces. It's based off the plane pinging a satellite and could
easily be off several thousand feet. (Read that earlier)

~~~
carlosdp
No I think the height was from the radar, the part you are talking about is
the ping reported a drop of 40,000ft in the span of a minute, which didn't
make any sense.

~~~
Steko
The height of 45K is estimated with fairly large error bands. That aircraft
couldn't get to 45K with the cargo and fuel it had at the time of the report.

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tomelders
My crank theory is that the plane has been stolen and they've somehow swapped
their identity with another plane.

~~~
whatgoodisaroad
As long as we're airing crank theories, mine is that this is orchestrated by
the Kremlin to take focus off of the Crimea.

~~~
tomelders
The Russians must be gutted they went to all that effort and the world is
still pissed about the "Ukranian Problem"

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lesterbuck
An earlier NYT diagram showed the plane crossing into Thai airspace. Where are
the Thai military radar data?

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shimon_e
The cargo list for this flight has still not been released. The max amount of
passengers allowed to board this flight was 50 less than the number of
available seats. Suggesting the flight was carrying heavy cargo.

~~~
confluence
No. Flights are often under booked. The mean load factor in the US is ~80%.
The worst thing about conspiracy theorists is that they have no idea what
they're talking about. Leave the real conspiracy thinking to the guys who
actually know their stuff.

~~~
danso
Sometimes I don't know what's worse: conspiracy theorists, or people who
matter of factly assume there are "guys who actually know their stuff" AND, if
they do exist, are the ones who are actually tasked with meaningful action

~~~
devnonymous
Unless you share _exactly_ my specific level of paranoia you are either buying
into what ^they^ want you to believe or are a nut case tin-foil hatter ! :-)

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mattquiros
Weren't relatives able to ring the phones of the victims just a few days ago,
but well after 8:11 a.m. ("toward the very end of the plane’s fuel")?

~~~
Steko
No, the ring is done by the system while it tries to connect with the target
phone. If any cell phone on that plane passed in range of any cell phone tower
they would have been able to pinpoint the plane's location fairly quickly.

~~~
nextweek2
This is an interesting user interface problem. Connecting to a mobile or IP
phone can take seconds. As the network operators or phone in question you need
to provide feedback that the call is in progress but not ringing at the other
end.

Unfortunately there isn't a universal sound for that so you either get silence
or a fake ringing. Silence makes people think its broken, whereas ringing
gives false hope...

