The lost Malaysian airplane

[Kudoscycles]

I have a theory what could have happened to this lost Malaysian plane. Recently there was a hi-jacking when the pilot on a Somalian airline decided to seek political asylum. He waited until the captain went to the toilet,then locked the door from the cabin to the flight deck,stopping the captain returning to the cockpit. He safely landed the plane in Switzerland and sought asylum-the point is that there was no way that the captain could get back into the cockpit.
Imagine if either pilot left the cockpit and the remaining pilot locked the door. If that pilot had a sudden heart attack,then there is no way the second pilot could return to the cockpit, the door between cabin and cockpit is now armoured so difficult to break through,to prevent terrorists gaining access to the cockpit.
I am aware that some airlines have a procedure that if a pilot has to go to the toilet,then the seat belt signs are switched on,a cabin crew has to go into the cockpit and another stands facing the cabin-this I believe is to ensure that 2 persons are in the cockpit at all times.
Coming back to the lost Malaysian plane,if the cockpit was only manned by a stricken pilot then the plane would fly on auto until it run out of fuel. Imagine the frustration of the second pilot not being able to gain access back into the cockpit. The plane had 6 plus hours of fuel,at 500 mph,the plane would fly on auto for 3000 miles,way out over the Andaman sea and into the Indian Ocean.
That would mean the crash would happen in a very lonely spot and way away from the search area,hence not finding any debris.
I am no aviation expert and there may be many reasons why my theory is not correct. I am surprised that they cannot follow the track of this plane on satellite history.
If I am correct then the '2 persons in the cockpit' procedure should be adopted worldwide,otherwise it seems a situation that could easily occur.
Any aviation experts out there to correct or enlarge upon my theory.
KudosDave

 

[trex]

I reckon the American/Russian/Chinese military know a lot more than they let out. Also, engine makers usually monitor their engines constantly, they should also know.

 

[jackhandy]

The plane vanished from radar, according to early reports - or were controllers already looking in the wrong place?

 

[Alan Quay]

Did you hear that a people have been looking for wreckage on google maps? They have been calling the various agencies involved with reports of debris!

 

[jhruk]

I have a theory what could have happened to this lost Malaysian plane. Recently there was a hi-jacking when the pilot on a Somalian airline decided to seek political asylum. He waited until the captain went to the toilet,then locked the door from the cabin to the flight deck,stopping the captain returning to the cockpit. He safely landed the plane in Switzerland and sought asylum-the point is that there was no way that the captain could get back into the cockpit.....

I think you may mean Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702, when fortunately no lives were lost.

A similar, but rather more distressing, incident occurred last November to LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 where the captain locked the cockpit door after the co-pilot had left his seat and proceeded to reduce the engines to idle and let the plane fly itself into the ground. The recovered flight recorders suggest this was a deliberate act, but no reason has been found as far as I know.

The loss EgyptAir Flight 990, in November 1999, is also suspected by the NTSB to be due to a suicidal pilot.

Speculation about the latest incident is probably not helpful until more facts are confirmed but if, as reported in some places, all data transmission from the aircraft was suddenly lost it does suggest catastrophic failure or deliberate act rather than incapacitated pilot(s).

 

[peerjay56]

Did you hear that a people have been looking for wreckage on google maps? They have been calling the various agencies involved with reports of debris!

Good idea. Average 3 year old imagery will highlight that straight away

 

[Kudoscycles]

I think you may mean Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702, when fortunately no lives were lost.

A similar, but rather more distressing, incident occurred last November to LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 where the captain locked the cockpit door after the co-pilot had left his seat and proceeded to reduce the engines to idle and let the plane fly itself into the ground. The recovered flight recorders suggest this was a deliberate act, but no reason has been found as far as I know.

The loss EgyptAir Flight 990, in November 1999, is also suspected by the NTSB to be due to a suicidal pilot.

Speculation about the latest incident is probably not helpful until more facts are confirmed but if, as reported in some places, all data transmission from the aircraft was suddenly lost it does suggest catastrophic failure or deliberate act rather than incapacitated pilot(s).

Thanks,it was the Ethiopian airplane that was in my mind.
I understand why the cockpit needs to be secure from the cabin,obviously for anti terrorism reasons.
But it also seems crazy to allow a situation where a pilot can lock himself alone in the cockpit and the rest of the plane are denied access,always having another crew member in the cockpit seems a sensible solution.
Whatever the reason for the current missing plane.
Dave

 

[jhruk]

But it also seems crazy to allow a situation where a pilot can lock himself alone in the cockpit and the rest of the plane are denied access,always having another crew member in the cockpit seems a sensible solution...

I agree. From what you say some airlines operating procedures are ahead of the game. I shall continue to fly with those airlines.

 

[Clockwise]

I know more western airlines are upto code but some of the ones out east really aren't, middle east sometimes aren't as a weird 2 finger salute to whichever american company sold them the planes and far east it's often just buying 2nd hand junkers so whoever built the plane considers it decomissioned/unsafe and stops giving a damn about it. "Private" airline setup by greasing the right palms and it might not even be 100% booked in with the air traffic controls. I do hope everyone is ok on the flights regardless.

 

[oldtom]

I'm surprised David Blaine hasn't been hauled in for questioning as he has previous for making an aircraft disappear.

 

[Emo Rider]

Fresh memories of Swiss Air Flight 111 are stirred by this unfolding tragedy. It crashed just off the coast of Nova Scotia. It was tracked by radar and was located immediately when it went down. There was a massive debris field. What is happening and why, with todays technology and survailance, can this missing plane not be found?

 

[trex]

don't you people read Tom Clancy?
it was a night flight. Malaysian air defence staff needed their sleep so nobody watched the radar. Air traffic radars are not real radars, they are more like mobile phone masts, they 'see' the plane only when it wants to be seen.

 

[Emo Rider]

it was a night flight. Malaysian air defence staff needed their sleep so nobody watched the radar. Air traffic radars are not real radars, they are more like mobile phone masts, they 'see' the plane only when it wants to be seen.

Swiss Air 111 was a night flight as well. Even if everyone in civilian air control was asleep, in that part of the world, the military was not. Even if civilian radar is like phone masts, military radar is not. The world is asking, in light of these facts, "How could this plane simply vanish?".

 

[tillson]

All that we can do now is hope for the best. That its flown through a time portal and is just about to crash into the celebrity dressing room at the BBC during June 1975.

 

[Kudoscycles]

I watched the press conference this morning. What an embarassing group these Malaysian diplomats are and what useless questions the press asked,I would have loved to fire the following questions at the CEO of Malaysia Air....
1. When a member of the flight deck leaves,to go to the toilet for example,do you turn the seat belt signs on? Do you replace that pilot with a cabin crew?
2. On your aircraft can the remaining pilot lock the door between the cockpit and the cabin,to prevent any access to the flight deck?
3. Is it possible for the flight crew or any other person with aviation knowledge turn off all comms on the aircraft?
4. If the plane flew out over Malaysia,the Andaman Sea and into the Indian Ocean is there any radar that would have plotted its track?
I realise that if there was a catastropic failure of the aircraft then all comms would have ceased,but they surely would have found debris near to the point of that failure.
They could be looking in completely the wrong area for this plane,maybe draw a 3000 mile radius from last point of contact and start searching towards the centre,not outwards.
It seems to me that these asian airlines need to up their operating procedures to european standards. As someone who has to fly internally in China quite often I look at the aged state of some of these planes (they are usually secondhand ex european or australian aircraft),it does concern me that the SOP's maybe equally shabby.
Dave

 

[trex]

I expect the plane having left KLIA at around midnight, would fly North East, over Terenganu in direction of HCM. It would take about an hour to leave Malaysian air traffic control and be handled over to HCM air traffic control which has already noticed it before losing contact. It easy for the authority to work out where and at what time the plane was seen by HCM. It appears that the plane cleared Malaysian air space before losing contact. If it was attacked, then it would be in this 5-10 minutes around the handover.

 

[flecc]

If a country that's invaded another territory wanted to get media and political attention away from what it was doing as much as possible, a shot down airliner vanishing without trace might be handy.

This one is a not too far away country with prior action.

 

[peerjay56]

You can't beat a good conspiracy theory. Conflicting statements from the same agency always suggests incompetence or cover up to me.

 

[trex]

let see who is going to benefit from the incident: 10 different nationalities among the victims and how many potential suspects?
I'd say attention on Ukraine has been reduced.

 

[john h]

Dave that was why they always had three light house keeprs , before they went automatic