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Originally Posted by jeffman
Another possibility is a collision with a smaller aircraft at that altitude
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I don't think many non-commercial, non-military aircraft fly at 35,000 feet, and if it was a collision with a commercial or military aircraft, or even some swanky business jet, it'd be almost immediately noticed, I would imagine, but I'm no aviation pro, so maybe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
I was watching an episode of Mayday recently; I believe it was an Air France flight that had gone missing mid-flight as well. I seem to recall their sudden emergency also cut their power; so while the crew struggled to recover the aircraft they were also unable to use radio communications.
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I read an article about the capabilities of the 777-200, and there's backup power on the aircraft, so even if power was cut somehow, communications would still have been able to get out. Everything I read points to how bizarre it is that contact was lost all of the sudden. Even if the plane had some sort of electronic mishap, or the engines cut out, or anything, from 35,000 feet up, there'd be plenty of time to communicate with someone, according to the people that know what they're talking about.
Here it is. Interesting stuff:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/travel...iner-analysis/
Quote:
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Originally Posted by CNN
Greg Feith, a former investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States, suggested the pilots should have been able to report in, even if power on the aircraft had failed.
"The airplane by certification has to have battery back-up power -- they still have to be able to utilize certain flight instruments and communication tools to complete the flight safely.
"So you could lose all the generators, you could have both engines out, but the battery back-up -- which will only work for a certain time -- is intended for emergency situations."
Feith also pointed to the possibility of an issue with the pressurization of the aircraft.
"If you have a high-altitude pressurization problem, catastrophic decompression, the time of useful consciousness (the time a pilot can operate with an insufficient oxygen supply) in the 30,000-40,000-feet range is a matter of seconds."
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