Malaysia Jet missing-Officials conclude crash in Indian ocean/all lives presumed lost

[TheyCallMeBruce]

It's only gripping because of the colossal incompetence of the Malaysian government's handling of this. Even Vietnam is fed up with them and calling their ships back.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by T@T

So you're saying there's no technology available to make it independent and at least "difficult" to turn off?

One of the biggest fears in a plane is a fire, making an electrical component with no way to manually cut it off should it be suspected in a situation like that would be pretty dangerous.

[Envitro]

Sometimes you may be asked by the ATC to turn the transponder off if they're doing testing or are having issues with their ground equipment. On my flight last week CYBW tower asked for us to turn off our transponder on approach as they were getting weird blips... An exception to the rule but you do what you need to do.

[JonDuke]

CNN "Breaking news" from about 10 minutes ago.

CNN) -- A Chinese satellite looking into the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 "observed a suspected crash area at sea," a Chinese agency said.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Accepting the erosion of the English language is unacceptable. Communicate properly, or expect others to chastise you.

I just dies at you! – You make me laugh. You’re some crooked/contrary!.

I didn't seen any other spelling police chirp about the spelling of a word

[speede5]

Originally Posted by T@T

So you're saying there's no technology available to make it independent and at least "difficult" to turn off?

It is entirely possible to do that however all electrical systems in an aircraft are designed with cb's, just like your home panel, so that they trip when there is a malfunction. Pilot's have access to the cb panel so that they can be reset in flight, but that means they can also be pulled.

You wouldn't want any system to run hot as a snag could blow your electrical supply, or worse cause a fire.

You also wouldn't want the cb unaccessible, cause if it trips due to a small spike you wouldn't be able to bring the system back online.

Catch 22.

[Ducay]

Reddit in the news section has a thread with updates, but there isn't much in terms of developments. But that place is good as there are enough experts to vet out the "theories" pretty quickly.

Quite the unique situation, as if it was a catastrophic failure that killed the transponder, debris would have been found by now. But if it was some other type of failure that still allowed them to fly hundreds more miles, they should have been able to communicate in some method if they could still fly.
Right now the only stories that "add up" to the evidence are hijacking or suicide (ala SilkAir), but even then, I'm sure the truth isn't exactly either of those.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

One of the biggest fears in a plane is a fire, making an electrical component with no way to manually cut it off should it be suspected in a situation like that would be pretty dangerous.

Black boxes are independent in a way that they cannot be shut off or the backup batteries kick in.

I'm just saying there should be a way!

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by T@T

Black boxes are independent in a way that they cannot be shut off or the backup batteries kick in.

I'm just saying there should be a way!

In the SilkAir crash, the pilot flipped the breakers to the flight data recorders and cockpit recorder and then flew the plane into the sea. So no, those too can be turned off. That said, any sane person wouldn't unless they had good reason to.

[Jiggy_12]

Just did a search on twitter about this Chinese satellite find. Doesn't look like anything close to an airplane but from that distance it's hard to tell. Could be debris, could be a boat, could be nothing.

What is interesting is the location matches up pretty close to the coordinates in that email we saw posted earlier.

[JonDuke]

Here's an updated map that shows the lost contact position, oil rig location, and where the latest debris is that was spotted by the China satellite...

Spoiler for size.

Spoiler!

Also, here's a Chinese article that apparently shows pics of said debris: http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2014/03-12/5943596.shtml
Here it is:

[Northendzone]

that looks like a puff of smoke.......

[rayne008]

That looks to be over 300 kms from the oil rig.. Could someone see that far? The email had estimated 50-70 km.

[Jiggy_12]

Originally Posted by rayne008

That looks to be over 300 kms from the oil rig.. Could someone see that far? The email had estimated 50-70 km.

Said it was at a high altitude though I think when he saw it, could have been a slow decline and went another 200k? Apparently they saw 3 images of 3 different objects...this could be it.

[Bigtime]

Another interesting development, I'd assume they are scrambling vehicles out to that area to try and confirm (go Vietnamese Twin Otters go!).

[burn_this_city]

I wonder if the Americans have a clearer satellite image to confirm or deny that.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by T@T

After 9-11 I said these transponders should not be able to be turned off till the aircraft is on the ground, surely the technoligy exists to make that happen.

Of course it exists. I feel like we've gone over this already.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

that looks like a puff of smoke.......

or cloud

[Leon]

It kinda looks like a reasonably well-ditched plane...

So on its initial turn, it flew west, and then turned 180 to head to the South China Sea? What on earth..

Maybe it's initial turn was a diversion to an alternate, and then after fixing what they thought was some issue, headed back on the initial course and ran into trouble again? The lack of communication could have been a byproduct of the issue they ran into? Just thinking aloud here..

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Leon

It kinda looks like a reasonably well-ditched plane...

So on its initial turn, it flew west, and then turned 180 to head to the South China Sea? What on earth..

Maybe it's initial turn was a diversion to an alternate, and then after fixing what they thought was some issue, headed back on the initial course and ran into trouble again? The lack of communication could have been a byproduct of the issue they ran into? Just thinking aloud here..

Would they abort a landing if they felt they had to divert and then "fixed it" ? I would assume there'd be some protocol as to whether if you make the early landing call, you're committed. Anyone know?