Flight 370

[gunsisgood]

Its still missing, any ideas ?

 

[88GT]

I figured mechanical until I read the part where a single Iranian man with a very generic name paid cash for the two tickets used by both the individuals sporting the stolen passport identities. That's just a little too henky.

 

[mbills2223]

Some sort of catastrophic, but innocent (ie not terrorism), failure.

Not as exciting as some of the ideas out there, but that's just my 100% unsubstantiated guess.

 

[mbills2223]

I figured mechanical until I read the part where a single Iranian man with a very generic name paid cash for the two tickets used by both the individuals sporting the stolen passport identities. That's just a little too henky.

I hadn't seen this yet. Would you mind hooking me up with a link?

ETA: Nevermind, found it.

Iranian Bought Tickets For Fake Passport Passengers: Report - NBC News

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

No debris, no plane, flight didn't exist.

 

[Wild Deuce]

*

 

[Lectric102002]

Catastrophic event, i.e. fuel tank explosion, bomb on board, mechanical failure of structure. If it had been a mechanical issue such as an engine failure, etc., the data would have been transmitted to ground and the plane most likely could have remained airborne. A 777-200 is certified to fly on one engine for 3 hours.

Since the reports are that the plane had turned back toward origin suggests a mechanical issue which ultimately could not be resolved and resulted in an unrecoverable failure (crash). Of course, a hijacking can't be ruled out. It's hard to believe because Kuala Lumpur has excellent security.

 

[88GT]

Catastrophic event, i.e. fuel tank explosion, bomb on board, mechanical failure of structure. If it had been a mechanical issue such as an engine failure, etc., the data would have been transmitted to ground and the plane most likely could have remained airborne. A 777-200 is certified to fly on one engine for 3 hours.

Since the reports are that the plane had turned back toward origin suggests a mechanical issue which ultimately could not be resolved and resulted in an unrecoverable failure (crash). Of course, a hijacking can't be ruled out. It's hard to believe because Kuala Lumpur has excellent security.

Two people boarded using stolen passports. Passports that were known to be stolen. As I understand it, there was no scrubbing of the passenger manifest against the stolen passport list. How excellent can it really be if that basic security step was overlooked?

 

[indykid]

Hijacked and taken to a remote airport in China. Flight crew incapacitated, hijackers flew straight and level until fuel exhaustion and the plane came down in the ocean thousands of miles away from the search area. Plane hijacked, crew taken out, flown inland and intentionally crashed almost straight into the ground in a jungle area leaving a hole in the ground similar to the one in Pennsylvania. Jungle cover would make finding any wreckage extremely difficult from the air.

With the range of the aircraft, and the possibility of a takeover by people who knew how to fly the plane, or at least play with the autopilot, that big bird can be anywhere.

 

[Mark 1911]

When a huge plane like that disappears without a trace, my thought is that it nosedived and the whole thing is submerged. If it exploded, there would have been a lot of floating debris.

Or as indykid suggested, its been hijacked and nobody has let on yet.

 

[88GT]

Hijacked and taken to a remote airport in China. Flight crew incapacitated, hijackers flew straight and level until fuel exhaustion and the plane came down in the ocean thousands of miles away from the search area. Plane hijacked, crew taken out, flown inland and intentionally crashed almost straight into the ground in a jungle area leaving a hole in the ground similar to the one in Pennsylvania. Jungle cover would make finding any wreckage extremely difficult from the air.

With the range of the aircraft, and the possibility of a takeover by people who knew how to fly the plane, or at least play with the autopilot, that big bird can be anywhere.

Yes, even if it didn't play out this way, I swear I read they had a search area of 50 square miles. For a plane that was at 35,000 feet at last contact, that just seems like a pathetically small search area. More than once the thought has crossed my mind that they aren't finding any wreckage because they aren't looking far enough out. But that's just conjecture on my part.

 

[Lectric102002]

Here's a link to the flight track if anyone is interested.

Flight Track Log ? MAS370 ? 08-Mar-2014 ? WMKK / KUL - ZBAA / PEK ? FlightAware

 

[Disposable Heart]

The plane was hijacked, not by whom, but by when... (the movie MILLENIUM FOR THE WIN!!)

 

[mbills2223]

Yes, even if it didn't play out this way, I swear I read they had a search area of 50 square miles. For a plane that was at 35,000 feet at last contact, that just seems like a pathetically small search area. More than once the thought has crossed my mind that they aren't finding any wreckage because they aren't looking far enough out. But that's just conjecture on my part.

They seem to be increasing the search area by about 25 nautical miles daily.

 

[KittySlayer]

I am going with sudden, catastrohic mechanical failure. Search area has to be huge with itty bitty tiny parts sinking into the ocean.

Seems as though terrorist would have already claimed credit. I would imagine that folks fly with stolen passports far more often than we would like to think. Besides, you can't take down a plane by just waiving around your stolen passport. You also need a good bit of knowledge about the plane and probably some tools (weapon/bomb) that might be more difficult to get on board. It's not like you can just land this humongus plane in some grassy field or cruise along below the radar level.

Bermuda Triangle? Somolia Pirates?

 

[ratfortman]

Lectric102002:
" A 777-200 is certified to fly on one engine for 3 hours."

I suspect that gross weight, altitude at time of engine failure, and fuel remaining may be factors in how long a 777 can remain aloft after an engine failure. I would be interested to know the conditions that pertain to that 3 hour certification. Do you have a link to that info?

 

[88GT]

Here's a link to the flight track if anyone is interested.

Flight Track Log ? MAS370 ? 08-Mar-2014 ? WMKK / KUL - ZBAA / PEK ? FlightAware

It was eerie to see the remainder of the flight as "estimated."

 

[Southbendfamily]

The Dharma Initiative needed more people to protect the island after it was moved. They will be found in 108 days.

 

[Lectric102002]

Lectric102002:
" A 777-200 is certified to fly on one engine for 3 hours."

I suspect that gross weight, altitude at time of engine failure, and fuel remaining may be factors in how long a 777 can remain aloft after an engine failure. I would be interested to know the conditions that pertain to that 3 hour certification. Do you have a link to that info?

Happy reading:

Boeing 777 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This was a 777-200 ER as I understand. The 200 series ER holds a record for the longest ETOPS-related flight diversion under one engine of 177 minutes. Nearly 3 hours.

Maybe "certified" was an incorrect use of terms. A former pilot who I know personally said that the 777-200 ER can operate for 3 hours to get to a field that can safely land it. I am not positive if that is part of the plane's FAA certification.

 

[hoosierdoc]

I suspect the US military has information. If they can snoop 100 million phone calls a day then they can track flights. I am guessing suicide bombing.