Missing Malaysian Airlines B777

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Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

I think that's a rather sweeping statement! There is still a great deal of confusion about what was known and about what is officially known. We are bombarded with "facts" from multiple sources, most probably unreliable, so it is unclear, yet, to know the actual facts of what happened up to the point when nothing is known.

Member for

12 years 3 months

Posts: 5,905

If the phones have survived then that would suggest the aircraft came down over land (otherwise the water damage would have killed them, and besides I doubt they'd have signal over water). However I find it improbable it's come down over land, so I'd probably question the sources.

I certainly don't believe that would be the case starikki, any shoot down would have to come from the Malaysian prime minister himself, and given the aircraft wasn't flying to any specific target (eg Kuala Lumpur) at the time it's unlikely. I heard here in the UK, priministerial protocol suggests a known hijacked aircraft needs to come within 30 seconds of central London before the go ahead is given. It really is a last resort.

The Telegraph is reporting that Boeing sent out an airworthiness directive to all 772 operators in November to look out for fatigue cracks (after a 16 inch crack was found in one aircraft) under the SATCOM antenna in the fuselage. The directive went onto say that these fatigue cracks could result in sudden decompression or mid-air "break up".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10691089/Malaysia-Airlines-mystery-US-issued-warnings-over-Boeing-777-weak-spot.html

From the telegraph article:


"We received a report of cracking and corrosion in the fuselage skin underneath the SATCOM antenna adapter," the FAA warned. "During a maintenance planning data inspection, one operator reported a 16-inch crack under the 3-bay SATCOM antenna adapter plate in the crown skin of the fuselage on an aeroplane that was 14 years old with approximately 14,000 total flight cycles.

Corrosion + cracking is not good at all in a dynamic environment. The reported 16in crack seems also really huge and sounds alarming.

Do we have a link toward that FAA report?

Member for

11 years 8 months

Posts: 569

What we do have to consider though is the airframe with the corrosion and cracking had 14,000 cycles compared to the Malaysian's 3,500 cycles I believe it was (something around that figure)? Also the Malaysian aircraft had maintenance on 23 February, you'd think something would have been picked up then?

Interestingly a group of fisherman have reportedly picked up what they believe was a deflated emergency slide 10 miles from Port Dickinson (sw Malaysia). Whilst transferring it to a Malaysian Maritime Authority ship it sank below the water (talk about incompetence).
However a picture was taken of the 'thing' before it sank, can someone in the know confirm or deny it's from an aircraft? It has some distinguishing features on it such as the word "BOARDING" in bold red letters on the side.
http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-fishermen-find-life-raft-near-pd-1.509222

Is there a possibility that the aircraft made a perfect ditching but the crew and passengers were unable to open the emergency exits and thus it sank below the water without a trace? Or maybe it simply filled up with water quicker than was designed and sank before crew and passengers had a chance to evacuate?

Member for

13 years 3 months

Posts: 87

That sounds a lot like the Comet scenario of a sudden, catastrophic failure of the fuselage, its surprising to think that something like that could still happen 60 years later. Meanwhile the Malaysians are now denying that they tracked the plane heading west, they aren't coming out if this very well are they?

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14 years 8 months

Posts: 133

Matt-100.. Melbourne Herald-Sun today reported the first officer recently having invited two attractive young ladies from the passenger queue, to join them on the flight deck for the TOTAL duration of that flight, including Take off and Landing.. photos include them posing for photos, and the girls wearing the Captains Cap etc.. Seriously NOT looking good for Malaysian.

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11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

Indeed - that story widely reported here yesterday.

Member for

12 years 11 months

Posts: 218

I think that's a rather sweeping statement! There is still a great deal of confusion about what was known and about what is officially known. We are bombarded with "facts" from multiple sources, most probably unreliable, so it is unclear, yet, to know the actual facts of what happened up to the point when nothing is known.

True, however the reason why all these unreliable sources get to publish their "facts" and create confusion is precisely because of the lack of official information. It could simply due to sheer ignorance, or it could be because Malaysia chose not to release information. I tend to favour the latter.

For example, this about the pair travelling with stolen passports (from the BBC)


That's where I met Mohammad,.... He knew the two men who boarded flight MH370; he went to school with one of them, Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, and they both stayed the night with him before the flight. He helped print out their emailed tickets, and spotted the different names on them from the stolen Italian and Austrian passports. He then took them to the airport.
...
Mohammad told the Malaysian authorities everything he knew early on Sunday. It took them three days to make that information public.

Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

I agree about apparent Malaysian reticence but that does still not excuse the publication of inaccurate and confusing "facts". I notice a senior pilot suggesting sudden and rapid depressurisation with the pilots unable to communicate before losing consciousness with the aircraft on autopilot eventually running out of fuel somewhere a very long way from where the searches are taking place.

Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

... the aircraft on autopilot eventually running out of fuel somewhere a very long way from where the searches are taking place.

But the autopilot would not have changed the aircraft's course which is what the authorities are saying now.

Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

Sorry - I omitted a key part of his proposition - the pilot(s) altered course in the hope of returning to KL, engaged autopilot, before being rendered unconscious. It does not explain the lack of a mayday or other emergency signal, though.

Member for

11 years 11 months

Posts: 498

It's astonishing in this day and age when we simply lose all trace of an airliner. The aircraft has a satcom antenna, and yet we're still relying on having to find the flight data recorder and inconsistent radar data being analysed retrospectively. How difficult would it be for all airliners to simply relay their GPS coordinates, say every minute or less, via satcom to an on shore location? If we can operate UAVs using real time data streaming from half way around the globe, we should never really be in a position that we lose every single trace of an airliner.

Member for

11 years 8 months

Posts: 569

But if you've got a decompression, surely the first thing you reach for is your oxygen mask in your side panel - not the heading select knob? Although it is a scary prospect to think if it was flying on auto it could be practically anywhere in the area, it would never be found.

If it did fly over Pulau Perak it must have flown back over the peninsular, but primary radar didn't show any such reflection - it's extremely odd that an aircraft can fly over Malaysia without any radar trace. I didn't think Boeing had incorporated stealth mode into their commercial airliners? And if it did show up at Pulau Perak the transponder/secondary radar must have been turned back on again otherwise how do they even know it was MAS370 they saw? I'm beginning to believe the aircraft went down near to it's last civil recorded position at 01:30 as it was being handed over to Vietnamese controllers, anything else and you're verging on the science fiction outside of the whelm of logic. My advise to the SAR team... search harder in the area between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Member for

11 years 5 months

Posts: 11,141

Did I read the Malay military have now denied earlier reports? The last recorded communication was apparently " Thank you - good night" at the handover from Malay to Vietnamese airspace.

The worry is that almost anything is possible but much is improbable.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 805

This is the only missing airplane case where everyday that pass by, we seem to known less about what happened. At this rate maybe tomorrow they will say Flight 370 never took off.

Member for

14 years

Posts: 4,996

Perhaps this incident will lead to a re-think of how automatic radio beacons could be used in aircraft.
Which will survive violent impact, and act as a homing buoy. If say three were fitted to each aircraft,
at least one should survive ?

Member for

20 years 5 months

Posts: 10,625

This is a most perplexing case.

There is so much information and disinformation being fired out by the media, it is impossible to know what to believe.

On every single aviation forum, I see countless posts of people saying this is likely a repeat of the Helios ghost flight. This theory has one serious flaw: It does not explain the lack of transponder data, ACARS or Radar return.
I think we can rule that scenario out immediately. Besides, the 777 is far more sophisticated than the 737, it's pressurisation systems just would not let the pilots think it is all OK while gently sending them off into a hypoxic coma.
Also, if there was a de pressurisation event, the pilots would don their masks. There are no ifs and buts. The second a de pressurisation is suspected, even a first year pilot cadet knows to put their mask on! Even if they were nitwits, it STILL doesn't explain the total lack of data from the aircraft.

Either the transponder and communications systems were intentionally turned off, or something quick and catastrophic happened.

I do not see how this can be an in flight break up either. That would leave a humongous and extremely hard to miss debris field. We're talking tens of square miles here.
Besides which, this 777 apparently did not have the antenna in question in the AD. So I think that is a moot point.

The possibility of a shoot down does exist.
As does a hijacking by one of the flight crew (it's been done before, so is a valid possibility!)

Most perplexing!

Member for

15 years 5 months

Posts: 337

The media can't even agree on the final transmission. According to BBC News it was "All right, roger that", but according to Sky News it was "Okay, goodnight". Not hugely significant in itself, but it does make you wonder how accurate any of the information we're being given is, once it's been mangled by the media. If they can't even get a short quote right, what chance have they got with technical aviation details that they probably don't understand.