Any thoughts about what happened to the missing Boeing 777?

[XDCX]

Having been born and raised in the Seattle area I've always felt a certain loyalty toward Boeing and I've been following the news about the missing Malaysia Boeing 777 since it was first reported missing.

Frankly I'm amazed that the plane is still missing and I'm equally shocked at what appears to be the ineptitude of the Malaysian government.

I read one report which indicates the 777 was flown to 45,000 feet shortly after the transponder was turned off and one expert theorized that this was an effort to incapacitate the passengers. Apparently the captain/co-captain has the ability to dump the cabin pressure and may even have the ability to prevent the air-masks from automatically deploying.

For what it's worth, I'm betting the cause was a rogue pilot or co-pilot and I hope the plane/wreckage is found soon so the family members of those who were lost can have some sense of what happened.

Any thoughts concerning the missing Boeing 777? Is it possible it will never be found?

[XDCX]

I read an article last night that even if the Black Boxes are recovered there most likely will not be any voice recording from the time period when the plane first disappeared.

Apparently the cockpit voice recorder only stores two hours of data and then it starts recording over the old data with new data. That means that even if the Black Cox Voice Recorder is found it most likely won't provide any information about what happened when the plane first deviated from its flight plan. (e.g. Was there a struggle between the pilot/co-pilot, was there a hijacker, was it another crew member, etc.)

The Black Box Data Recorder, by contrast, will likely save all of the data since the flight first departed until the very end.

[squish]

I heard the same thing about the voice data recorder on the news last night and thought that it was kind of strange. With the amount of data that can be stored on the tiniest of devices these days you would think they could and or would record hundreds or thousands of hours of data if they wanted.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by squish

I heard the same thing about the voice data recorder on the news last night and thought that it was kind of strange. With the amount of data that can be stored on the tiniest of devices these days you would think they could and or would record hundreds or thousands of hours of data if they wanted.

I'm guessing the reason the amount of data saved on the cockpit voice recorder is limited to two hours is based on pilot preference - it clearly can't be because of technological limitations.

That said, I think the cockpit voice recorders still save their data on physical tape as opposed to a hard drive or flash memory cards.

I think the lessons learned from the missing Malaysian Boeing 777 will force a lot of changes to our current polices and procedures and extending the amount of date the cockpit recorder stores will be one of the outcomes.

[XDCX]

The latest news seems to be that rescue planes have now spotted debris that was originally viewed only by satellite and the nearest ship is supposed to be in the area within the next 24 hours to determine if the debris is from the Malaysia Airlines flight. The new search area is almost 700 miles away from the area most recently searched since new information suggests the plane was travelling faster than originally thought and would have run out of fuel sooner.

Concerning possible theories as to what happened, one that I'm intrigued with suggests that the pilot was having relationship issues with both his wife and his girlfriend and he received a call on his personal cell phone from a burner phone just before the flight. Apparently in Malaysia people are required to produce ID to purchase a burner phone and the one in question was purchased with a fake ID. The theory is that the pilot received distressing news via the burner phone and decided to end his life by taking the Boeing 777 on a joy-ride to test its limitations and experience in real life what he had been testing on his flight simulator.

Granted, it's just a theory with absolutely ZERO facts to support it but given the current vacuum of information it at least seems to be a plausible explanation.

[twkrantz]

Obviously the aliens wanted some chinese people, and may or may not have wanted the plane

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by twkrantz

Obviously the aliens wanted some chinese people, and may or may not have wanted the plane

At this point that's as plausible an explanation for what happened as anything else.

It's hard to believe it's almost been a full month and the investigators still haven't found any hard evidence confirming the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean.

The latest news concerning the sounds that have been detected in the ocean seem promising - hopefully there will be more solid news today.

Based on what I've read the location of the area where the Chinese ship heard "pings" is over 300 miles away from where the Australian ship has received signals. The Chinese ship apparently is using a very low-tech equipment and many experts indicate it's unlikely the Chinese ship has detected a signal that originated from the Black Boxes.

If the Black Boxes are located the next challenge will be recovering them - the ocean floor in the search area can be over 14,000 feet deep.

[XDCX]

The latest news I've read is that the experts are convinced the sounds they've detected are from the Black Box of the missing Boeing 777 but the lead investigator doesn't want to make any definitive statements until they have photographs of the wreckage.

This abundance of caution is said to be in response to all of the false-leads and misinformation the families have been subject to

[chryslersrt8]

Originally Posted by XDCX

The latest news I've read is that the experts are convinced the sounds they've detected are from the Black Box of the missing Boeing 777 but the lead investigator doesn't want to make any definitive statements until they have photographs of the wreckage.

This abundance of caution is said to be in response to all of the false-leads and misinformation the families have been subject to

Can you imagine what these poor families have gone through? Most would agree that these people are probably dead but until there is proof....

This is probably morbid but how are these family's finances being accommodated? I know someone who was lost in a boating accident and it took years before insurance policies were paid. The family went through significant cash flow issues for that time.

[DealerEx]

I don't intend this to be callous, but after the first couple of weeks, I think continuing the massive search, with such poor intel as they had, is a colossal waste of money, that could be much better spent to help hundreds of thousands of people. I saw some figures over a week ago that said the costs at that time were approaching 200 million dollars and increasing rapidly on a per day basis as more and more assets were being put into play. I know that sounds kinda' heartless, but were are talking about spending all that money just to be able to say, for certain, WHERE the 237 people perished. The area they are now searching is 3 miles deep. There will be no recovery of bodies. So what are we really going to accomplish. I know people want "closure", but after a month, with NO contact or sightings or anything, no one still thinks they are alive somewhere. I realize it sounds bad, but there are many more than 237 people in the world that simply vanish every day...kidnapped, murdered, lost at sea, in the jungle, etc...bad things just happen sometimes.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

Can you imagine what these poor families have gone through? Most would agree that these people are probably dead but until there is proof.....

I agree that the families have been through a lot and I think the incompetence shown by the Malaysian government has made the situation that much worse. (The government officials bungled even something as simple as reporting what the final cockpit radio transmission was.)

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

This is probably morbid but how are these family's finances being accommodated? I know someone who was lost in a boating accident and it took years before insurance policies were paid. The family went through significant cash flow issues for that time.

That's a good question.

I had read that the airline made a small payment to the families (approximately $5,000) to ensure that their immediate needs were met. I've also heard that some life insurance companies have started to pay claims.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by DealerEx

I don't intend this to be callous, but after the first couple of weeks, I think continuing the massive search, with such poor intel as they had, is a colossal waste of money, that could be much better spent to help hundreds of thousands of people. I saw some figures over a week ago that said the costs at that time were approaching 200 million dollars and increasing rapidly on a per day basis as more and more assets were being put into play. I know that sounds kinda' heartless, but were are talking about spending all that money just to be able to say, for certain, WHERE the 237 people perished. The area they are now searching is 3 miles deep. There will be no recovery of bodies. So what are we really going to accomplish. I know people want "closure", but after a month, with NO contact or sightings or anything, no one still thinks they are alive somewhere. I realize it sounds bad, but there are many more than 237 people in the world that simply vanish every day...kidnapped, murdered, lost at sea, in the jungle, etc...bad things just happen sometimes.

I follow your point but I really want the search to continue until they find the Black Boxes and can determine exactly what happened and prevent it from ever happening again.

Maybe it's my hometown Boeing bias, but I want the investigators to be able to determine what caused the plane to crash. Without proof of what happened both Boeing and Rolls Royce will be subject to numerous lawsuits since both companies have deep pockets.

Also, concerning the costs involved, I sometimes thinks the costs for searches like this are overstated since so many of the resources being used belong to the military. The people flying the planes and piloting the ships would have been on the payroll regardless of whether they were searching for the Boeing 777 or conducting some other mission.

[XDCX]

The latest news concerning the missing Boeing 777 is the underwater search with the submarine failed to find any promising leads and now the underwater search area will be broadened with more equipment brought in. The search for debris using airplanes will end since most experts feel it's likely that any crash debris would have become water-logged and sunk by this point.

Concerning the lack of debris on the ocean surface, I read one report a few weeks ago that speculated that if it was the pilot or co-pilot's desire to make this a great aviation mystery that the Boeing 777 could have been crash landed in the ocean mostly intact and then be sunk to minimize the debris field and reduce the amount of debris that would remain on the surface.

[tnpartsguy]

I've thought all along Putin has it, he wants everything else in the world...........

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by tnpartsguy

I've thought all along Putin has it, he wants everything else in the world...........

When I think of Obama negotiating with Putin I just roll my eyes and get flashbacks to when Chrysler's Bob Eaton was negotiating with Daimler's Jürgen E. Schrempp.

Concerning the Boeing 777, the story has mostly faded from the headlines and I'm starting to believe that it may be years before the mystery is ever solved.