I had fairly well concluded that the most likely cause was a fire disrupting the electrical and control systems, when CNN now say the sharp left turn was pre-programmed 12 minutes before sign off from Malaysian Air Traffic control, which was followed fairly quickly by that left turn.
CNN claim to have this from an US official, from data sent back before the reporting systems went off. It is hard to know what to make of it: obviously there are large economic interests that much prefer blame to lie with the pilots rather than the aircraft. But if it is true then the move was not a response to an emergency. (CNN went on to say the pilot could have programmed in the course change as a contingency in case of an emergency. That made no sense to me at all – does it to anyone else?)
I still find it extremely unlikely that the plane landed or crashed on land I cannot believe it could evade military detection as it flew over a highly militarized region. Somewhere there is debris on the ocean. There have been previous pilot suicides that took the plane with them; but the long detour first seems very strange and I do not believe is precedented. However if the CNN information on pre-programming is correct, and given it was the co-pilot who signed off to air traffic control, it is hard to look beyond the pilots as those responsible for whatever did happen. In fact, on consideration, the most improbable thing is that information CNN are reporting from the US official.
@Ben 19 Mar, 2014 – 3:45 pm
“Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a father-of-three, was said to be a ‘fanatical’ supporter of the country’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim – jailed for homosexuality just hours before the jet disappeared.”
“It has also been revealed that the pilot’s wife and three children moved out of the family home the day before the plane went missing.”
But later the DM reported the pilot’s daughter “fled” Australia, like some common criminal, and returned to the same home. Which they remind us is only 15 minutes from the airport. More verrrry ominous facts. Who but a terrorist pilot would live conveniently near the airport?
@Ben 19 Mar, 2014 – 3:54 pm
“NR; ObamACARe.”
Good one. A hidden clue.
Another daft idea. Warren Buffet should offer a billion (US) dollar prize to the first person to find MH370. Another goldrush, with the sea covered in rowboats and the Himalayas in humanity.
“Who but a terrorist pilot would live conveniently near the airport?”
Indeed. And what pilots enjoy their vocation as much as a terrorist?
It sure helps craft the narrative.
Why do people continue to imagine that mobile phones work at high altitudes and massive distances from towers?
“Another daft idea. Warren Buffet should offer a billion (US) dollar prize to the first person to find MH370”
May they live long enough to enjoy spending some of it.
Diego Garcia Passenger Terminal was closed for three days starting 8 March.
Scroll down about half way, and it’s on the right
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diego-Garcia-Passenger-Terminal/242934902443795
Ben, yes as NR has pointed out ,we went through all that on the Al Hilli thread….then we were asked to move here.
I see nothing wrong with the pilots being political, he went to the trial of the opposition leader who has been jailed for sodomy, everyone wondered about that,but it then turned out the man is related to him through marriage & his son in law.
I was one shouting for the police to look at that simulator, but have since decided this is not about muslim ,jihadists or what has become the norm for terrorism.
I strongly suspect this is a western intelligence op, but somewhere along the line it hasn’t quite worked out for them,people now demand answers more than they did.
I hope I am right & that the plane is ‘not’ being stored for a terrorist plot, that thought is too awful to contemplate.
The best that can come out of this crime is that security systems now get tightened in that part of the world & the transponder cannot be turned off inflight !
Dre; Picked up on the Freescale 20? Freescale hit a 52 week high on March 7th
What a coinky dinky.
Katie; Diego Garcia could be a red herring. That flight plan on the simulator could have been placed by others. It would be nice to get something concrete going. I suspect someone has seen something…….even in the dark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-Based_Infrared_System
It could well be Ben, but I put a lot of weight behind the Maldive sightings.
I couldn’t get to the FB page, dicky connection here in the country, but,I love this on the DG military website;
‘Reminder To All Space-A Travers: Per DoD 4515.13-R, “C6.1.9. Conditions of Travel…….. There is no guaranteed space for any traveler.
The Department of Defense is not obligated to continue an individual’s travel or return him or her to point of origin, or any other point.”
http://www.amc.af.mil/amctravel/index.asp
Katie;
That’s ‘Deadhead’ travel. The commercial airliners do it for employees, as space is available.
I have searched for any possible connection to the heroin deaths of two former SEALS who were found aboard Maersk Alabama. Many contractors work as security against pirates. Supposedly (unconfirmed) they had just delivered a mysterious package. The timeline doesn’t jibe.
Honey trap?
“Kennedy, distinctive by his muscled physique and bald head, was said to be flirting with female croupiers and bar servers. After four hours in the casino they were asked to leave at 3am when it was time to close.
CCTV footage from nearby restaurants caught them wandering off down an alleyway with the two women.
The men were logged back on the ship at 6am with police now trying to find out where they went for the three hours before their return.
It is not uncommon for former soldiers turned contractors to indulge in the shady temptations on offer in some of the most dangerous places abroad – away from the support and love of their families.
But to those who knew Kennedy, he didn’t fit this cliche.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2575749/Whats-chances-two-Navy-SEALs-turning-dead-room-Family-friends-demand-US-investigation-mystery-hookers-heroin-deaths-ship-famous-Captain-Philips.html#ixzz2wQr2ugbS
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There’s something seriously wrong when data has to be protected.
‘Malaysian officials have confirmed they have received ‘some radar data’ from other countries about the missing Flight MH370 today – but claimed they were ‘not at liberty’ to release the information.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia was continuing to co-ordinate the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER.
Confirming other countries were to take the lead on the search in other areas, he added:
‘I can confirm that we have received some radar data, but we are not at liberty to release information from other countries.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2584399/Malaysia-confirms-new-radar-data-missing-plane-flying-country-wont-say-security-reasons.html#ixzz2wQtKX0qM
Katie
There are specific rules about releasing “data” prior to an investigation.
That’s just the way it is.
Is it “dodgy” ? I don’t know. But it is the way things are done.
The airlines “oblige” because it will be them that will be investigated in the end.
However, from what I can tell, a satellite “received” a “ping” from the aircraft several hours into it’s “unknown” flight.
What was that “ping”.
Was that transmission “engine data” ?
Thanks James.
Apparently a ‘ping’ is similar to a hand shake just to let you know the plane is ‘alive’ !.
It bounces off a beacon as long as a plane is powered up…that’s in flight or on the ground under auxiliary power.
This is why it’s a red herring saying the plane was flying for X hours, they simply do not know if it actually was airborne or not.
Malaysia confirms it has new radar data on missing plane flying over another country (but won’t say where for security reasons)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2584399/Malaysia-confirms-new-radar-data-missing-plane-flying-country-wont-say-security-reasons.html#ixzz2wR25NhJt
It doesn’t quite work like that…. or that satellite will be picking up lots of “hiya’s” from all the traffic. That “data” wouldn’t make any sense.
All systems work at passing data.
Either by VHF over land or by satellites over the sea.
Even IFF (Id Friend or Foe) is “data”.
That satellite has to “ask” whatever system it is interrogating and then data is sent. Unless the data is “trying to send” and then “finds” the satellite it can transmit to.
I suspect the ‘highly unusual suspension’ is for getting caught.
“The suspension, which many have called “highly unusual,” follows the disturbing report of an illegal nuclear warhead transfer to South Carolina from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, a military installation under the Strategic Air Command. That same day, Senator Lindsay Graham strangely announced that South Carolina would likely be subject to a nuclear attack if the United States did not immediately intervene militarily in Syria, all occurring at the moment of Giardina’s suspension.”
Read more: http://www.storyleak.com/u-s-nuke-commander-suspended-alleged-gambling-investigation/#ixzz2wR80Wam8
How would one promulgate another 9/11 that would trump all other ‘terrorist’ acts, yet leave NO evidence except maybe the origin of the nuke, which might conveniently have a Russkie signature?
The “body in the bag” spy death in London looked like it was one party – maybe a criminal enterprise or another country’s spy agency – sending a message to MI6: Look What We Can Do.
I wonder whether this is a spy agency – like the CIA – sending a message to another party – China’s government – saying: Look What We Can Do. We can make a plane with your citizens on it – including semiconductor engineers – disappear.
Well there you are James, I was repeating what the guy on TV told us…….
It’s getting hard to believe anything they say .
Techno,
I had a similar thought earlier today.
What if it was an experiment to test what ‘could’ be done with a 777 by remote ,with all those techie geeks on board it’s possible, maybe not probable,but then they couldn’t get it back on track ?
Ibrahim statements….http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/18/world/asia/malaysia-flight-anwar-pilot/
“He alleged that the speculation had only gained traction as a result of the government trying to deflect attention from its “incompetent” handling of the crisis.
“I think there’s a desperation by the government of the ruling leadership over the manner they managed the whole crisis. Clearly incompetent, contradictory statements, poor management of the crisis,” he said.”
Incompetent handlers is an opportunity for other competencies.
James; What of infrared satellites? I hesitate to suggest a conspiracy of silence amongst so many, but it is a question no media outlet I know of is pursuing.
Katie
Basically…. you just can’t “pick up” one ping.
It has to be a series over a period of time.
And that “ping” is “data”.
So…. ping, ping, ping, ping.
OR data, data, data, data !
If that “data” is from the engines (or the “second channel”) then you can see (and I expect that it can be seen) what the aircraft is doing.
By “what it is doing” I mean if the engines are set to cruise, working harder than normal, in approach, climbing etc etc etc.
So they “know” what the aircraft was doing….they just don’t know where it was doing it !
I find it hard to believe no data retention on satellite array. Heat signatures include the exhaust from a Boeing Rolls-Royce I would think.
“US spy satellites detected no sign of a mid-air explosion when a Malaysian airliner lost contact with air traffic controllers, American officials said Wednesday.”
Read more: MISSING MH370: US satellites found no blast – Latest – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-us-satellites-found-no-blast-1.510492#ixzz2wRIoN9my
“This is why it’s a red herring saying the plane was flying for X hours, they simply do not know if it actually was airborne or not”
True, but that doesn’t make it a red herring. It tells us that the plane had not crashed, which is very significant.
Ben
My bet ? They have “data”.
So “onboard fire” is “unlikely”. It was still flying.
Hypoxia ? It is still possibility.
And so is “pilot suicide” and also “hijack”.
@James
Good point about ACARS using VHF radio when in range of land and where the area is so equipped. It’s something MSM fails to mention.
There was a reference to extending radio coverage in that area, especially Thailand, though don’t remember what year. It may be that radio coverage is currently only available near airports.
Something else that’s not mentioned is there’s an intermediate company between the airline and the satellite provider.
http://www.sita.aero/product/aircom-acars-services
The SITA system is designed so that airlines set, and can change, the routing decisions — radio vs satellite — based on data rate and quantity of data as a trade-off against cost. Satellite charges are down to where it’s the equivalent to international phone roaming costs, but that’s still considerable for a fleet.
Some airlines opt to hold non-critical data and dump it upon arrival at the gate via wifi Internet.
Immarsat issued a press release saying Malaysian Airlines subscribe to their “Classic” service, which I take to mean their oldest service using 3 Geo-synchonus satellites providing coverage from 80 degrees north and south latitudes. Immarsat offer many other types of service, including zoned by area or country — more powerful and permitting smaller, notebook sized devices and higher data rates.
Airlines flying polar routes use the Irridium satellite service.
No one has said who pays for the Rolls Royce and Boeing ACARS service. Is that part of the airlines’ subscription or do those companies subscribe separately and build the cost into the price of the product?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACARS
NR
Basically….yes !
With an engine manufacturer it is part of the “package” depending on what package you buy.
ACARS also works the same.You buy a package. It can transmit more frequently than 30 mins. That is likely the longest setting there is.
With ACARS (and other comms of such) you have two channels.
If one fails, it transfers over to the second.
You cannot fly with one channel only (except a ferry flight to maintenance base).
In the main (over land) you transmit with VHF.
Over sea you transmit via satellite.
Hence ACARS transmitting over channel “one” did not fail.
It would have “failed” if “both” channels did not transmit OR was “shut down”.
Juan, yes good point & a valid one.
My point was that at first when they talked about these ‘pings’ they took it for granted the plane was in the air for four [?] hours, only when we sleuths asked if the ‘pings’ could continue if the aircraft had landed.