Originally Posted by
Firefighter
Didn’t the captain report leveling off at their assigned altitude? I heard that’s not normal? Perhaps it was his way of crying out for help after being hijacked? I mean the flight doesn’t fit the narrative of pilot suicide. I’m thinking a controlled landing was attempted. Never said it was went successful.
Oceanic out of radar, no real harm in reporting assigned altitude via radio. Some pilots report things they don't have to, I personally find it annoying because it clogs up the radio but there's nothing that says you can't communicate additional info to ATC.
Originally Posted by
Firefighter
Strange how the only piece recovered is a flap. And it would make sense if it was retracted.
No.
1. No way to predict how the plane would come apart on impact, especially if you have no idea of arrival speed/attitude
2. Different objects have different shapes and densities, and thus float differently and are affected by currents and winds differently.
3. It's a very big ocean out there, so #2 would be amplified by time and distance... you could end with parts on different continents.
Originally Posted by
Firefighter
And who’s to say hijackers didn’t make their way into the cockpit by starting a fire, then getting out of control? Sure sounds a lot more believable than the depressurized with pilot still somehow flying story
You're way overthinking this.
It was either pilot suicide (which I strongly doubted at first but now don't see any other obvious answer) or just possibly an innocent onboard fire.
The fire *might* just explain the loss of avionics and incapacitation of crew & pax. In the process of fire fighting, electrical buses would likely have been dumped, and depressurizing the ship is one way to fight an out-of-control fire, especially if you have nowhere to land immediately. If crew oxygen failed or ran out, the crew might have inadvertently incapacitated themselves in the process. But it's still a stretch.
Pilot suicide only requires one anomaly: Suicidal Pilot.
The fire scenario requires several anomalies: Fire + loss of avionics + loss of cabin pressure + no comms/mayday + pilots succumb to low cabin pressure (they have O2 and and know to use it).
Hijacking is even more improbable... hijackers would have taken the plane somewhere and claimed credit. If they just wanted to bring the plane down they would have used a bomb, that's a lot easier than hijacking. If the crew regained control they would have landed somewhere or at least communicated before ditching.