Also worth remembering that McInerney’s theory isn’t based solely on his own conjecture. He’s been talking to contacts at Boeing, the intelligence community and aviation circles, and there are a number of experts who agree with him.
One potentially conclusive piece of evidence that may are overlooking. If the plane landed in Pakistan, (or anywhere else), it is almost certain the pilot used his radar altimeter. That’s an emitter, and there is a chance the signal might have been detected by an ELINT satellite or other collection platform. The downside of this possibility is that signals from the radar altimeter are transmitted downward, so the aircraft body and terrain would tend to shield the transmission, making it more difficult to detect.
Additionally, all 777s have the same radar altimeter, so you could have the same signal from multiple sources at the same time in a country the size of Pakistan. The key, of course (assuming the signal was detected) is location. Doubtful a hijacked 777 would fly to a major commercial airport; on the other hand, there are several Pak military fields that can accommodate wide-body jets. Detection of a 777 radar altimeter and/or weather radar around one of those locations, about the time the plane would have landed in Pakistan, would be an important clue.
General McInerney is being very deliberate in his remarks about the plane and where it might be. I’m guessing that someone has given him information based on “better” ELINT reporting about the aircraft.
My own guess is the disappearance was a case of suicide by pilot, and the plane is somewhere in the Indian Ocean. But I may be wrong and General McInerney could be proven correct.
One point he did raise on Hannity last night: if the plane turned south, it would have passed through the air defense intercept zones of both Indonesia and Singapore. As he observed, the Singapore AF is the second-best in the region (behind the RAAF) and some of my former USAF colleagues (who have trained the guys from Singapore) will tell you that many of their pilots are better than the Aussies.
Bottom line: it’s an exceptionally professional organization, extremely well-trained and equipped. Singapore would not allow a large, non-squawking track to pass through their airspace without being challenged (or intercepted). To my knowledge, no one has inquired about what Singapore detected that night and how they responded.
I don’t see the airtrack passing through Singapore airspace...? The southern track goes west of Malayasia, then over Indonesia, but in no way does it go over Singapore.
Maybe you can explain?