Likely Theories about Missing Malaysian Plane
03-19-2014, 05:20 PM
#1
Journalist
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Feb 2014
Posts: 11
Likely Theories about Missing Malaysian Plane
Hi Everyone-
I'm looking for a few professional pilots to give their opinions about some of the more popular theories about the missing Boeing 777 for the APC blog. I've listed some theories below. Feel free to tell me in your professional opinion what you find likely or unlikely in a technical sense and why, OR give the theories a probability score of 1-10 (1 being the least likely). Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your expertise!
1.Due to an electrical malfunction, the plane was flown toward Langkawi Island, but crashed into the sea before arrival.
2.The plane was pre-programmed to steer off-course via air traffic controllers.
3.The plane was stolen by terrorists, is hidden, but is still intact and will take off again to be used for a terrorist attack.
4. The plane was shot down somewhere along the Northern Arc, somehow avoiding all but one radar system.
5. The plane landed on India’s Andaman Islands without being spotted.
6.The plane was taken over by China’s Uighur Muslim separatists, landing in an expansive desert near the Chinese/Kyrgyz border.
7. The plane hid in the radar shadow of Singapore Airlines flight 68, going undetected. As flight 68 continued on to its destination in Spain, blogger Keith Ledgerwood suspects that the two planes diverged and flight 370 landed in Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan, or Turkmenistan.
I'm looking for a few professional pilots to give their opinions about some of the more popular theories about the missing Boeing 777 for the APC blog. I've listed some theories below. Feel free to tell me in your professional opinion what you find likely or unlikely in a technical sense and why, OR give the theories a probability score of 1-10 (1 being the least likely). Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your expertise!
1.Due to an electrical malfunction, the plane was flown toward Langkawi Island, but crashed into the sea before arrival.
2.The plane was pre-programmed to steer off-course via air traffic controllers.
3.The plane was stolen by terrorists, is hidden, but is still intact and will take off again to be used for a terrorist attack.
4. The plane was shot down somewhere along the Northern Arc, somehow avoiding all but one radar system.
5. The plane landed on India’s Andaman Islands without being spotted.
6.The plane was taken over by China’s Uighur Muslim separatists, landing in an expansive desert near the Chinese/Kyrgyz border.
7. The plane hid in the radar shadow of Singapore Airlines flight 68, going undetected. As flight 68 continued on to its destination in Spain, blogger Keith Ledgerwood suspects that the two planes diverged and flight 370 landed in Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan, or Turkmenistan.
03-19-2014, 05:46 PM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2010
Position: Baja Vermont
Posts: 5,177
Is none of the above an option?
A. If it flew toward Langkawi and crashed, why do they have "pings for hours afterwards?
B. ATC cannot take remote control of airliners
C. Do you think US, Israeli, Russian, Chinese, Indian spy satellites haven't scoured the Earth looking for it. And don't offer camo, multi-spectrum analysis has been pretty well matured.
D. Shot down means ELT went off unless disabling is possible. Certainly wreckage would be visible. I will admit UA 93 style smoking hole would be hard to find.
E. There aren't any unknown airports in the Andamans and India has strong military presence there.
F. Possible it's in the Taklamakn desert, but to what end would the Chinese keep it secret--150 Chinese are onboard.
G. Ledgerwood simply is wrong, the possibility of joining up is very remote and could not be assured on departure from KL. Departure times would have been coordinated to put the two near enough to rendezvous. A mere 10 minutes off would have ended it. Radars can detect planes quit close, 500' by one report. Shah apparently hasn't had extensive formation training or experience--it's more difficult than you think and definitely not something for amateurs.
Any other ideas?
GF
A. If it flew toward Langkawi and crashed, why do they have "pings for hours afterwards?
B. ATC cannot take remote control of airliners
C. Do you think US, Israeli, Russian, Chinese, Indian spy satellites haven't scoured the Earth looking for it. And don't offer camo, multi-spectrum analysis has been pretty well matured.
D. Shot down means ELT went off unless disabling is possible. Certainly wreckage would be visible. I will admit UA 93 style smoking hole would be hard to find.
E. There aren't any unknown airports in the Andamans and India has strong military presence there.
F. Possible it's in the Taklamakn desert, but to what end would the Chinese keep it secret--150 Chinese are onboard.
G. Ledgerwood simply is wrong, the possibility of joining up is very remote and could not be assured on departure from KL. Departure times would have been coordinated to put the two near enough to rendezvous. A mere 10 minutes off would have ended it. Radars can detect planes quit close, 500' by one report. Shah apparently hasn't had extensive formation training or experience--it's more difficult than you think and definitely not something for amateurs.
Any other ideas?
GF
Last edited by galaxy flyer; 03-19-2014 at 06:27 PM.
03-19-2014, 06:14 PM
#3
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2013
Posts: 445
Originally Posted by rachaelroth
, blogger Keith Ledgerwood suspects that the two planes diverged and flight 370 landed in Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan, or Turkmenistan.
03-19-2014, 06:46 PM
#4
With The Resistance
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Burning the Agitprop of the Apparat
Posts: 6,191
None of those theories sound plausible, given what little we do know, but you will find some plausible theories here based on professional knowledge:
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/sa...7-missing.html
Thanks for telling us you are a media person right off the bat, try not to fill your head with the MSM trash.
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/sa...7-missing.html
Thanks for telling us you are a media person right off the bat, try not to fill your head with the MSM trash.
Last edited by jungle; 03-19-2014 at 06:57 PM.
03-19-2014, 07:28 PM
#6
With The Resistance
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Burning the Agitprop of the Apparat
Posts: 6,191
Originally Posted by 80ktsClamp
None of the above as galaxy flyer stated. All of those have gaping holes and major errors in technical aspects in them.
They show a stark lack of knowledge about what is possible or plausible, not just with aircraft but with human nature.
The lack of understanding of human nature is the most surprising feature of most of these theories.
Last edited by jungle; 03-19-2014 at 08:50 PM.
03-19-2014, 08:10 PM
#8
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2012
Posts: 639
I give a journalist writing on this topic with a non-aviation background a probability score of 10 for being one of hundreds of reporters to make fools of themselves. To maintain any credibility that this site has left, I implore you to not publish any of those ideas on APC.
Instead, may I suggest that you help update the job search resources that are 6 years out of date? Pilot Career Advice | AirlinePilotCentral.com
Maybe remove the pay comparisons that over 8 years out of date
Pay Comparisons | AirlinePilotCentral.com
How about update the CBA section that has contracts that are 9 years out of date Downloads | AirlinePilotCentral.com
Any of these things would help restore APC's credibility, jumping on the bandwagon of wild assed guesses will do no such thing. I realize that this is the Amelia Earhart story of your generation, but publishing conspiracy theories on a site that's supposedly for working pilots will further alienate your target audience.
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/in...ml#post1601563
Instead, may I suggest that you help update the job search resources that are 6 years out of date? Pilot Career Advice | AirlinePilotCentral.com
Maybe remove the pay comparisons that over 8 years out of date
Pay Comparisons | AirlinePilotCentral.com
How about update the CBA section that has contracts that are 9 years out of date Downloads | AirlinePilotCentral.com
Any of these things would help restore APC's credibility, jumping on the bandwagon of wild assed guesses will do no such thing. I realize that this is the Amelia Earhart story of your generation, but publishing conspiracy theories on a site that's supposedly for working pilots will further alienate your target audience.
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/in...ml#post1601563
03-19-2014, 09:45 PM
#9
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2010
Position: Pipers & RV-12
Posts: 236
The fault, Dear Brutus, is not in our stars
Originally Posted by jungle
They show a stark lack of knowledge about what is possible or plausible, not just with aircraft but with human nature.
The lack of understanding of human nature is the most surprising feature of most of these theories.
The lack of understanding of human nature is the most surprising feature of most of these theories.
03-19-2014, 09:53 PM
#10
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Posts: 204
Originally Posted by rachaelroth
Hi Everyone-
I'm looking for a few professional pilots to give their opinions about some of the more popular theories about the missing Boeing 777 for the APC blog. I've listed some theories below. Feel free to tell me in your professional opinion what you find likely or unlikely in a technical sense and why, OR give the theories a probability score of 1-10 (1 being the least likely). Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your expertise!
1.Due to an electrical malfunction, the plane was flown toward Langkawi Island, but crashed into the sea before arrival.
2.The plane was pre-programmed to steer off-course via air traffic controllers.
3.The plane was stolen by terrorists, is hidden, but is still intact and will take off again to be used for a terrorist attack.
4. The plane was shot down somewhere along the Northern Arc, somehow avoiding all but one radar system.
5. The plane landed on India’s Andaman Islands without being spotted.
6.The plane was taken over by China’s Uighur Muslim separatists, landing in an expansive desert near the Chinese/Kyrgyz border.
7. The plane hid in the radar shadow of Singapore Airlines flight 68, going undetected. As flight 68 continued on to its destination in Spain, blogger Keith Ledgerwood suspects that the two planes diverged and flight 370 landed in Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan, or Turkmenistan.
I'm looking for a few professional pilots to give their opinions about some of the more popular theories about the missing Boeing 777 for the APC blog. I've listed some theories below. Feel free to tell me in your professional opinion what you find likely or unlikely in a technical sense and why, OR give the theories a probability score of 1-10 (1 being the least likely). Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your expertise!
1.Due to an electrical malfunction, the plane was flown toward Langkawi Island, but crashed into the sea before arrival.
2.The plane was pre-programmed to steer off-course via air traffic controllers.
3.The plane was stolen by terrorists, is hidden, but is still intact and will take off again to be used for a terrorist attack.
4. The plane was shot down somewhere along the Northern Arc, somehow avoiding all but one radar system.
5. The plane landed on India’s Andaman Islands without being spotted.
6.The plane was taken over by China’s Uighur Muslim separatists, landing in an expansive desert near the Chinese/Kyrgyz border.
7. The plane hid in the radar shadow of Singapore Airlines flight 68, going undetected. As flight 68 continued on to its destination in Spain, blogger Keith Ledgerwood suspects that the two planes diverged and flight 370 landed in Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan, or Turkmenistan.
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