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Science - Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by chemgator, Sep 2, 2023.

  1. tampagtr

    tampagtr VIP Member

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    Slightly OT, but this second book by photogenic former flight attendant TJ Newman about of rescue of survivors in an air pocket of a ditched plane 75 feet down is as page turning as her first. For thought about 40% of it yesterday between plays of the Rays and FSU LSU. Very formulaic but the lady can write

     
  2. WarDamnGator

    WarDamnGator GC Hall of Fame

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    I thought that was weird, too, but it also seemed like he was the only person actually looking for debris. Late last year it came out that a local fishermen had found debris, too, and kept it for years as a washing board thinking it was nothing important. He realized what it was and handed it over recently. Unfortunately, Blaine Gibson was also involved in that transaction, so it probably just furthers the conspiracy theory.

    There is also apparently evidence that the pilot put the landing gear down for a water crash, advancing the theory it was intentional and he wanted the plane to sink quickly.

    Can't think of what his motive was, if he was suicidal, to kill all those other people, but the way he did it, if true, makes it seems like he intentionally wanted it be a great mystery that people would still be talking about 10 years later...
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  3. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    My recollection of Payne Stewart's crash is that it was caused by a lack pressurization leading to hypoxia and suffocation. IIRC, they thought the probable cause was a maintenance failure when they were working on the system that led to the plane not pressurizing when it should have.
     
  4. VAg8r1

    VAg8r1 GC Hall of Fame

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    This crash is much more similar to the crash of Payne Stewart's plane. In both cases hypoxia was the likely cause.
    Pilot of unresponsive private jet that crashed and killed 4 was seen slumped over, source says | CNN
     
  5. chemgator

    chemgator GC Hall of Fame

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    It still begs the question of how the U.S. military convinced him to change course, prevented him from communicating with the ground or landing at KUL airport, and chased him out over the Indian Ocean. If the plane had crashed along its normal route, then that might be a plausible explanation.
     
  6. WarDamnGator

    WarDamnGator GC Hall of Fame

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    I think the theory was that an AWACS jammed the signal while US miliary "escorted" it out of the area...

    I don't believe it, though. One of things in the documentary, the evidence that the plane turned around, is that it apparently flew over a Malaysian Military base and they saw it on radar. You'd think they would have seen the US escort, too ... right, and perhaps had a problem with that? I don't understand why they even let an unknown plane with it's transponders off fly over their base / airspace ... another weird thing ...

    Maybe that was part of the pilot's suicide plan ... get shot down ...
     
  7. chemgator

    chemgator GC Hall of Fame

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    I might agree if there wasn't the unexplained changes in direction, and the near complete lack of communication with the ground. If the pilot was incapacitated, the plane shouldn't have been changing direction. If the pilot was in control of the plane and it had a problem, he should have communicated with air traffic control. The only things that easily explain both of these known facts is that the pilot did something intentional with the plane, or the plane had multiple failures (radio communications plus decompression plus O2 system failure or hydraulics failure), which seems unlikely, as these systems almost certainly are designed for maximum reliability and have backup options. Having a fire on board could have damaged multiple other systems, of course, but it seems unlikely that the plane would have been able to keep flying that much longer with an active fire.

    One other difference is that 777's have a lot of oxygen on board to deal with this kind of emergency, which small planes don't have.
     
  8. QGator2414

    QGator2414 VIP Member

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    Hypoxia only makes sense if intentional and the Captain or person responsible took oxygen in order to shut down the ability to see the plane. Too much redundancy to not at least be able to figure out close to where this thing ended up without intent imo.
     
  9. Trickster

    Trickster VIP Member

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    Oh, I don't subscribe to the theory that AWACS jammed signals, etc., etc. That's just too far fetched. Plus, though our government is capable of some sacrifice of life for a greater good, they wouldn't sacrifice 239 innocent people.
     
  10. Trickster

    Trickster VIP Member

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    Some aren't convinced he changed course. That rests almost solely on the British analysis of their data.

    Interesting was the explosion the guy on the oil rig saw, and the analysis of the satellite images by that Florida woman. The doc never explained why that wasn't persuasive evidence that the plane crashed in Viet Nam air space. That would also explain the sudden loss of communication and the plane not showing up on radar.
     
  11. chemgator

    chemgator GC Hall of Fame

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    I thought they knew where the plane was based on one of the components of the plane (the engine?) communicating with the manufacturer through satellites or something.
     
  12. WarDamnGator

    WarDamnGator GC Hall of Fame

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    In the doc, about the time she found that satellite image, it came out that the Malaysian military said radar had the plane turning around and headed towards the Indian Ocean, so I think that put a damper on the 'crashed in the China Sea' theories. There was also something about a "ping" being recorded by some onboard equipment that showed the plane remained airborne long past the time that it "disappeared". Then the pilot's flight simulator, and debris found near Madagascar, seem to all converge on the idea that it went down in the Indian Ocean.

    I didn't think the Florida lady's image was that convincing, anyway.

    Edit:

    Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 satellite communications - Wikipedia

    There is a log of the pings on that Wiki page, the flight automatically communicated with satellites for 6 hours, including satellites over the Indian Ocean. The pings don't include exact location data, but they can tell the region of the plane based on the satellite it's talking to. That pretty much disproves the Florida woman's satellite image was the crash site.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2023
  13. Trickster

    Trickster VIP Member

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    Thanks. I remember now. I guess that leaves the pilot.
     
  14. OklahomaGator

    OklahomaGator Jedi Administrator Moderator VIP Member

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    I thought I remembered them saying that the Payne Stewart crash was rapid depressurization. The pilots didn't react in time getting their oxygen masks on their mouths and nose. Those jets all have emergency oxygen for the pilots.
     
  15. Gator515151

    Gator515151 GC Hall of Fame

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    I believe you are right. I remember the Payne Stewart crash because I was working in Islwsworth when I heard the news on the radio and one of the talk show hosts mentioned he lived in Islesworth which I never knew at the time. Normally I wouldn't remember something like that.
     
  16. WarDamnGator

    WarDamnGator GC Hall of Fame

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    I'm like 80% pilot suicide mission on this, with a small chance of Hijacking gone bad or some sort of massive equipment malfunction that left the pilot unable to operate the plane or communicate.

    I've always wondered if there is spy satellite info on this, that governments don't want to share. Seems like there would have to be something.
     
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  17. chemgator

    chemgator GC Hall of Fame

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    I agree with you on the likelihood of suicide.

    I think the problem with spy satellites is that they look at the earth with a very narrow view. They see an area that's hundreds to thousands of feet across. That's why you can't really use them to target aircraft carriers. The ocean is really huge in comparison. And I think the flight was at night, wasn't it? A typical satellite might be very limited in seeing things at night.
     
    • Informative Informative x 1