Malaysian Flight 370 is an enigma wrapped in a mystery, isn’t it? How does a Commercial Airliner simply disappear in 2014? We won’t belabor all the current suggestions of what happened. We will however add our two cents as to the thinking “out of the box and guessing” of just what may have occurred to a perfectly good Boeing 777 Dreamliner with 239 souls on board.
Let’s start with the two Iranians with those stolen passports. Their backgrounds, associates, family members and co-workers they ever knew should all be contacted. The FBI needs to do a full fledged investigation to find out how they got those stolen passports. Did they simply buy them from street wise pick pockets or did they get them from organized crime, terrorist connected criminals or from unknowned governmental agencies of a foreign government or non-profit organization. What groups, what work did they do for a living. How long had they been in Malaysia? Did they live in Malaysia or were they just transiting through? What technical skills did they have? What technical abilities did they have in regard to nerve gas or other debilitating chemical agents. What computer skills and knowledge did they have? Did they know anyone else on Flight 370 before the date of departure?
The next group under investigation should be the entire flight crew of Flight 370. Each and everyone of them should be investigated in exactly the same way that the two Iranians should be investigated. The Senior Pilot had his own Flight Simulator at his home. Who were his known associates? Who else did he train in Flight procedures? How could a Senior Pilot be allowed his very own Fiight Simulator at his home – by Malaysain Airlines – Chief of Pilots? The younger Co-Pilot also needs extensive vetting of his private life and known associates. Which Mosque did he go to and who were his friends there? Virtually, all of the flight crew needs extensive investigation into their families, their associates and the co-workers they were around.
The next group of course are the 25 Chinese Scientists that were traveling together on the flight. What conference were they going to or came from before getting on Flight 370? How many passengers on Flight 370 bought last minute tickets with cash? How many passengers on the plane were from foreign countries of origin – even though most were considered ethic Chinese?
Next, we need to know what cargo was aboard Flight 370? The complete manifest of all cargo and special mail should be identified. The weight of Flight 370 should be assessed including and excluding all fuel aboard. Was there anything aboard that could be considered toxic, chemical or explosive? Photos of every passenger and flight crew member should be available to the public immediately. There should be a world wide search for any identities which do not match.
Since all electronic locaters aboard Flight 370 were disabled over a period of 30 minutes or so – at that time, how much fuel remained? The suggestion that the plane flew without electronic surveillance for over 4 hours after the last transmission and a severe left turn aiming for the Mallacka Straits makes one think that a destination was in mind for a possible landing, perhaps on a island and all with the possibility of re-fueling. Did they kidnap the Chinese Scientists? Did they terminate the rest of the passengers? Were all the passengers simply killed in flight, by means unknown?
Will Flight 370 be used in some nefarious attack later? Is this simply a re-play of the James Bond film: Thunderball? One thing is for sure – we need the answers to all these questions. We have to go back to the days of D.B. Cooper and the first highjackings of an American airliner to be this confused by the way this situation has played out – at this point. Perhaps it was just another “Explosive Center Gas Tank” like that of TWA Flight 800. Perhaps both pilots experience a bad case of food poisoning like that of “High and Mighty” with John Wayne landing it on the beach at Malibu? Perhaps next time the bad guys will simply find an Airliner Graveyard in New Mexico or some other foreign country and put together their own Evil Airline. We suppose that most importantly, our global resources find this plane…..repainted, sold to slave traders or given to Syrian refugees……we need to know what happend to Flight 370!
At this point, it just seems a Ricardo Montalban moment: “Look Boss…..d’plane….d’plane!” Welcome to Fantasy Island!
1) 787 “Dreamliner”. Not 777. Two very different airplanes.
2) Why is this our problem to solve? Not our airplane, not our airline, not even remotely near our country . . .
Sure, the Americans on board and their families deserve the support of their (our) government, but shouldn’t there be a limit to how quickly and how strongly we charge half way around the world to play Sherlock Holmes?
We’d like to learn enough to prevent a recurrence, is I think the point. (Plus we get to try out all sorts of new toys, but I’m not saying that that justifies it.)
Oh come on, Greg. We’re now going to say the NTSB and US Navy have global jurisdiction to investigate anything anywhere for the sake of lessons learned?
There’s a difference between participating because we were invited to assist with someone else’s problem and assuming someone else’s problem.
Since we’re spending tax dollars on it, let’s be clear of which side of that sentence we’re participating in.
Well, when you put it THAT way….
Honestly, the reason we’d be doing it is that the “lessons learned” could save Boeing’s bacon (so long as they don’t implicate Boeing), and Congress likes Boeing a whole lot. (We wouldn’t do as much if it were a European model.) But I do take your point.
*RC…… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_777 – of course the 787 is the Dreamliner, but pilots around the globe still think the 777 is the Dreamliner to fly.
The 787 still has those pesky battery issues that aren’t entirely resolved just yet. They are supposed to be – but then?
OK, 2ndly – Aviation is very much like Shipping Industry and no matter where you are from…..if you are a Sea Captain or an International Pilot…….you will be very concerned with the equipment you are operating and no doubt about it, the NTSB and the FAA have the resources to offer which can accomplish a great deal in far less time than lesser funded entities…like the Malaysian Government for example. Additionally, if you pull up the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_777 information……you will see how many
countries are involved in this aircraft. Additionally, this incident as we suggested …is not typical…..and must be resolved quickly. Can you imagine if seven or eight aircraft suddenly vanish tomorrow……..off the radar and gone. When will you be taking your next flight?
If those planes all disappear in Southeast Asia, I’m just fine flying back and forth to Seattle.
This isn’t our problem to solve.
*Putting your head in the sand ….does not solve the problem. We would feel far more relaxed if satillite coverage of the suggested flight plan after they turned off the transponder……would be forthcoming. Heck, doesn’t someone in South East Asia have Direct TV?
Neither does running to the party screaming: “OK! THE AMERICANS ARE HERE! ALL WILL BE WELL!”
Again, not OUR problem.
*RC…..so who was D.B. Cooper……really? Probably….doesn’t matter that 1000’s of aircraft highjackings took place – after D.B. did his deed.?
HIJACKED!
http://news.msn.com/world/malaysia-investigators-conclude-flight-hijacked
*Yeah, we can’t wait to find the black boxes, either in Sudan or at the top of Mr. Everest or K2. Or did it land and re-fuel? Seven hours of Flight Time…..just from the last reported position………is suggested? Why? They probably already stopped at One a Day Paint and repainted it…….and buried the bodies they wanted to. Probably in the Sahara.
Truth is stranger than fiction Ron and Anna
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/21/world/colombian-rebels-hijack-a-plane-and-kidnap-a-senator.html
Strange truths provided me with 13 years of engineering employment
Why do transponders have (easily?) accessible ‘off’ switches?
*Excellent question: They say, that they sometimes have overheated and need to be disabled. Would seem in the day of the computer……that might reguire both a manual and digital voice or personal code to disable the transponder. The manual disable would allow a 30 second response time to enter the digital disable or personal code. If no code is entered: the Default would be to auto restart the transponder. We should be calling Boeing and Airbus now for that upgrade on all aircraft. The only time the transponder should be disabled is when the Master Switch is disengaged when the aircraft is on the ground – never in the air. Additionally, the personal code disable should change for every flight.
Old OJ friend and local boy done well Chris Caesar (used to write for the Daily Pilot) has written an entertaining piece on the various conspiracy theories about this airplane disappearance…
http://www.boston.com/news/source/2014/03/9_crazy_conspiracy_theories_about_malaysian_airlines_flight.html
which got him onto CNN this morning… (volume a little low on this)
Unfortunately the host Michael Smerconish, who used to sub on MSNBC for Chris Matthews, seems to think he’s Matthews with a bigger vocabulary and barely lets our friend get a word in……..
*Las Vegas is now taking bets on where MH 370 Landed….
*Our bet is: Pakistan! Taliban country! At a One a Day paint shop! All the passenger have been put up at the local Holiday Inn, but they have to share
bathrooms.
*OK…new theory….how about this: The two Iranians with the stolen passports have not been investigated enough. There were at least five highjackers on board…..the one aeronautical engineer was complicit. Two of the five were trained pilots…….and qualified on the 777 by either other airlines or under different names and identifies. The plane has been highjacked, all the passengers are either dead or incarcerated in safe houses someplace in the Middle East or one of the Stans.
*Had there been a fire on board or an in air explosion, there would have been evidence found…..already.
*Are the Aussies right? We are still not convinced. Could be another false
lead….
*The Aussie lead seems to be petering out. We still think that General McEnery was right….that plane was already on the ground in Pakistan, on day two! Omar’s Paint and Body Works has already repainted that plane, taken all the passengers hostage and have them stowed in safe houses everywhere in Taliban Country.
*OK, first the Aussies, then the Chinese, now the French……everyone wants Global press. McInerney was still right. Some dusty long forgotten WWII airfield in Pakistan with quonset huts and a tiger pit to torture those that won’t cooperate……..ah yes, where is Rambo now that we need him?