Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan Coke
But what difference does it make when the transponder was turned off? I don't see what makes it smart or not, I just see it as inconsequential.
And the 45000 ft thing, again I don't see a brilliant intentional plan there. Going to 45000' isn't going to kill anyone without failing the pressurization system, and if you depressurization the airplane you will still make everyone unconscious in short order whether you are at 35000, 41000, or 45000'. So it makes me wonder about the flying skills of whoever was controlling the aircraft at that point, or if there was a struggle for control occurring.
Having said that there was obviously some knowledge and skill in disabling both the transponder and the ACARS system. Reminds me of the 9-11 terrorists in that there was some very good planning, but the skill level was really quite rudimentary, and just enough to drive the airplane at a target.
As Acey said, I wonder if whatever the goal of the hijacking was, the flight was ultimately brought down by passengers trying to overtake the hijackers. Pretty miserable last 4-5 hours for the passengers.
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Oh. Well maybe it's not smart then, you would know better than I would. But it definitely seems like it wouldn't happen by accident, so it likely was planned for some reason. Just a better chance at avoiding much attention from any/all air traffic control? Would a non-transponding blip flying for hours in Vietnamese airspace, for example, not attract some attention? Whereas a non-transponding blip in Vietnamese airspace for a few minutes may still attract some attention but now the Vietnamese have to coordinate with Malaysia to see if the blip went into their airspace, and it's not urgent because it's not really their problem if it's not in their airspace etc etc etc and everything is just more confused and time consuming?
I mean, it took investigators several days to definitively determine the plane was even hijacked. That seems pretty successful on the part of the hijackers in terms of covering their tracks.