Further Comments Re: The Strange Disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370
On Sunday, 9 March, after being asked by several people, I stated my opinions (one a joke and six more serious possible explanations) regarding the strange disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370. I assumed at that time (five days ago) that this was either pilot suicide or a well planned and executed terrorist attack. On Tuesday, 11 March, I corrected several typos to that post, but added no further updated opinions.
Since then we have learned that flight MH370 changed its heading from roughly 40 to a westerly heading, ascended to around FL450 and then dropped to FL230. It is not known why 370 climbed from 7,000 to 10,000 feet or quickly descended 22,000 feet (~3.6 nmi) but what we do know is, that an over-correction at that point could have caused structural failure or, that bringing the nose up too far could have resulted in a hammerhead stall, either one of which, could have doomed the plane. Why, or even how, the flight ascended to flight-level 450 is not known, but I don’t think enough fuel had been burned off by that time to even get that high or for FL 450 to be maintained if it did achieve that fight-level.
We also now know that the transponders and ACARS were turned off indicating that this was an intentional action by someone not only in the cockpit, but with the knowledge to execute this action. This indicates to me that flight-deck trained pilots, whether official airline pilots or terrorists or hijackers, were responsible for this intentional action. I guess it is remotely possible that the coffee maker spilled and the coffee drained through the floor and shorted out the controls below, but that seems like a remote probability to me.
It is now becoming a stronger probability that flight 370 was hijacked and headed toward a landing place, possibly as far as Afghanistan or Iran. I said yesterday that the plane could be flown to a remote, small village, e.g., Homalin 16/34 in NW Mynamar, but that runway would be difficult for a triple 7 and there is no hangar there to hide it. More possibly, it could have been flown westerly and landed in many places, including on the Andaman or Nicobar Islands and put down at Veer Savakar 4/22 in Port Blair, e.g., which has a 10,800 ft runway, but only one marginal hangar in which to hide the plane. Also, the Port Blair area is probably a prime area that is currently being checked. The plane was probably hijacked to save it, not crash it, but that does not preclude it being crashed unintentionally.
It is much more probable that flight 370 went down in the Indian Ocean, either by intention or failure to control the aircraft. It is possible that it went down elsewhere, but indications are now that the location and cause will soon be determined. The question as to why no communication was heard from anyone onboard is still a mystery, but we can hope and assume that the strange disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370 will soon be solved.
We should all expect that sick individuals or groups will soon attract attention to themselves by claiming that this was a staged disaster by some government or group for some sick, un-explicit reason beyond our belief to further their dissent and delusion and spit in the face or normal humanity.
Again, our thoughts, hearts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those assumed lost in this tragedy, and our thanks go to those diligently trying to solve this mystery.