Posted on 06/26/2014 9:53:10 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was "highly likely" on autopilot when it ran out of fuel and crashed into the Indian Ocean, Australian researchers have said.
A new search area for the missing Boeing 777 plane has been announced by the Australian government ....
Deputy Prime Minister Warren Trust confirmed the search will move further south to an area 1,800km (1,100 miles) off the western coast of Australia....
An expert group has reviewed the existing information on MH370, revealing that is it probable that the plane was on autopilot when it ended its flight.
Truss said it was "highly, highly likely that the aircraft was on autopilot" when it went down.
"Otherwise it could not have followed the orderly path that has been identified through the satellite sightings," he told reporters.
Martin Dolan, commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading the search, said the plane was believed to have been deliberately set to autopilot "somewhere off the western tip of Sumatra" - although the exact point at which it was set is unknown.
The assessment was based on the understanding that the plane flew on a straight path.
"Certainly for its path across the Indian Ocean we are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it went out of fuel," he said.
A 64-page report revealed at a press conference on Thursday revealed the search would now be covering up to 60,000 square kilometres along narrow arc in the Indian Ocean, which has been identified as the most likely resting place of MH370.
"The new priority area is still focused on the seventh arc, where the aircraft last communicated with satellite.
"We are now shifting our attention to an area further south along the arc based on these calculations."
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.news.yahoo.com ...
The Possible Flight of the MH370 [Report]:
16:41 — KLA N2.73E101.71 to points of turnaround — IGARI [17:19] then to N7E103.5 [17:21] Transponder and ACARS dismantled. [325 miles]
17:21 — N7E103.5 — begins heading west to Penang Island.
17:49 — N5.3E100.3 — Penang Island [250 miles] then turns NW.
18:22 — N6.6E96.3 — [289 miles]. The point where Malaysian military radar had last contact with plane possibly because power was cut there, plane came off autopilot, and went dark to thwart what radar there might be in preparation for his upcoming turn. Begins flying manually.
18:25 — Log On Request automatically kicks in to restore power just cut 3 minutes earlier but taking another 4 minutes to turn on. With power off for these 7 minutes would this be where hypoxia overcomes everyone but the pilot???
18:29 — N6.85E95.45 [Turning Point] Flown manually for 7 minutes and 61 miles to this point with power off and then the power then kicks back in at this point for its turn SW. From 17:21 to here it’s 68 minutes 600 miles [250+289+61] averaging 530mph.
18:39 — Unanswered ground to air telephone call #1. Was it triggered by Log On Request??
19:41 — S2E93 — 634 miles @528mph
20:41 — S9.75E92.5 — 536 miles @536mph
21:41 — S17.5E92 — 536 miles @536mph
22:41 — S25.25E91.5 — 536 miles @536mph Autopilot disengaged at about this point to change speed and/or direction.
23:14 — Unanswered ground to air telephone call #2. Was it triggered by a Log On Request that’s not listed???
24:11a — S36E90.5 — 745 miles @496mph [same direction but slower speed]. Total to this point 3895 miles.
24:11b — S30E97.5 — 527 miles @351mph [eastward and slower speed to center of the search area]. Total to this point 3677 miles.
24:11c — S27.5E100 — 583 miles @389mph [eastward and slower speed to northeast part of search area]. Total to this point 3733 miles.
24:19 — Log On Request — last communication
MH370: Mysterious Power Outage, a Sabotage to Avoid Military Radar
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