Where's MH370??

[YellowFever]

As you may have heard, MH370 the Malaysian Airlines flight from KL to Beijing has disappeared in the middle of the sky and efforts to find the plane have so far failed.

So a bunch of bomohs (shamans/witch doctors) have decided to help with the search:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibRh5v9v0Hc

And their antics have gone viral in Malaysia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCoq3WXq4bU

[buginme2]

Planes don't just disappear.

I just watched on the news that the Malaysian government is not sharing information regarding radar signatures and other data with the US and other nations trying to help with the search.  For one thing, this incident has not shown Malaysia in the best light.
They also stated that the information Malaysia was sharing was often wrong.

There was a theory floating around earlier that the plane was intentionally "stolen" and landed somewhere with the intention on using it as a weapon at a later time.  Theory's abound. 

This is the shit nightmares are made of.

[tednlou2]

The stolen plane theory has to be seriously looked at.  Although, I just don't know where it would land, given the fuel it had, without being noticed. 

[mecch]

To try to understand, I read the final reconstructed story of Air France 447 crash. It was harrowing what when on in that plane. 
But if MH370 has been stolen, there is the hideous possibility that the hijackers will have murdered all the passengers...

[tednlou2]

We need to move to have black boxes relay data by satellite, while in flight.  In 2014, it seems ridiculous the boxes have to be found.  It took two years to find the Air France plane and boxes. 

[YellowFever]

Yes, the government's incompetency has finally been given the global spotlight. Something we Malaysians have known for years. This is a government that does not have the majority backing of the people and yet through clever gerry-mandering has managed to stay in power (The opposition party won 51% of the votes but got 40% of the seats only).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_general_election,_2013

So if they're going to find that plane, they'll need more help from other countries.

We need to move to have black boxes relay data by satellite, while in flight.  In 2014, it seems ridiculous the boxes have to be found.  It took two years to find the Air France plane and boxes. 

They ARE already doing that, (at least a subset of the black box data) with the plane transponders. The only problem is that it could malfunction/be turned off by the pilot or hijacker/fall off the plane.

[tednlou2]

It is my understanding location pings are sent by satellite.  I read this plane had that, but the airline did not pay for the service, but the info was sent anyway.  I've not heard true black box data (all the flight data and voice data) is being sent at this time.

This should be something that cannot be turned off-- even the audio.  I cannot understand why the pilot has control over the transponder, especially after 9/11.  For what reason would a pilot need to turn off the transponder, or have the ability to do so?  They say the transponder was shut off at 1:07 am and the altitude switch shut off about ten mins later. 

[YellowFever]

"All electronic equipment on an airplane can be turned off by pilots, including the transponder. This is a safety feature, so a device that short-circuits or overheats or otherwise malfunctions can be shut down before it does further harm. But hijackers have been known to turn transponders off. (There is a code that pilots can enter into a transponder, if they get the chance, that indicates the plane has been hijacked.)

It is not possible yet to say whether the transponder on Flight 370 was shut off, only that it stopped responding."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/world/asia/malaysia-plane-transponder.html?_r=0

I don't think they are able to send the full set of BB data in real time. Just some portions of it. I think the amount of data generated from the plane would probably make it infeasible to send in real time.

[tednlou2]

Reports are now saying this plane took the exact waypoints a plane would take to get to Europe or the Middle East.  If true, this would indicate someone with more than just some basic flight training.  Of course, tomorrow we could hear this new information from radar was not correct. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-malaysia-airlines-radar-exclusive-idUSBREA2D0DG20140314

[zach]

i was an aircraft mechanic for a long time. i'm no expert, but i really think that plane is in the water. its an extremely large search area. it will be found, it will take time

for perspective, go to google earth, now call up any international airport, now see how far in you have to zoom to identify an individual aircraft, and you knew where to start. and you were looking for an intact aircraft. looking for a debris field, makes it worse than a needle in a haystack. and eliminating a square on the search grid, means you widen the pattern, not narrow it.

loaded 777 in good weather and conditions requires a 6000' long by about 250' wide runway, hard packed and built for the weight.