Missing MH370: Investigators Conclude Plane Was Hijacked, AP Reports

Malaysia Star ^ | Saturday March 15, 2014

[nickcarraway]

According to the Associated Press, a Malaysian government official has confirmed that investigators have concluded that one of the pilots or someone else with flying experience hijacked the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370.

The official, who is involved in the investigation, says no motive has been established and it is not yet clear where the plane was taken.

AP is reporting that the official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media. The official said that hijacking was no longer a theory: “It is conclusive.”

The aircraft’s communication with the ground was severed under one hour into its flight on March 8 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

[Lady Heron]

And the co-pilot was?????

It was the co-pilot that took the Egypt Air flight for a swim in the ocean.

Let's not forget that they invited people into the cockpit in the past during the flight. There are a massive number of possibilities far beyond just the pilot.

[AdmSmith]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/15/mh370-malaysian-police-search-pilot-new-theory

[nuconvert]

He looks Asian. He was born in Malyasia. It’s a Malaysian name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_of_Pahang

Yes, it’s a name used in India, Afghanistan, Iran, and other countries.

You are looking at a black & white horse and telling people it’s a zebra.

[nuconvert]

Why would it go to Iran?

[nanetteclaret]

I’ve wondered if the defense contractors (I think there were about 20 from the same company) were kidnapped for their intel. In one of the earliest threads, MarMema had several links to the company, which I believe is based in Austin.

MarMema, in light of the fact that “officials” are just now getting around to looking at who was on board, I think you ought to post a separate thread with all the links to that company. I think that information will be very interesting now ...

[nanetteclaret]

What is the landing strip/airport/base on his computer screens? All three screens seem to be different shots of the same location. Was he practicing to land at this location?

[mylife]

http://www.thefallingdarkness.com/2014/03/11/20-tech-geeks-working-for-freescale-semiconductor-on-missing-flight-mh370/

[AdmSmith]

The WNYC Data News team found 634 runways that meet these criteria, spread across 26 different countries

http://project.wnyc.org/runways/

[hoosiermama]

.

[Cen-Tejas]

General McInerney said on Megan’s show 7,500 feet minimum.

[KGeorge]

Thinking Diego Garcia at the time. Not so much within a few dozen posts after that.

[Fear The People]

It was not erratic, it was planned.

They depressurized the cabin and flew to 40,000 feet to kill all passengers.
European new reports now say that there was a ton of gold on board as cargo. Then they descended - eventually to 300 feet and ditched the plane somewhere where their cohorts could unload the cargo.

The captain had his own flight simulator at home for 777 scenarios where he could practice his crime away from prying eyes.

[tcrlaf]

“Cocos is an Australian Territory”

Wrong Cocos. There is more than one.

I’m talking about the small-Burma-controlled islands north of the Andamans. You mean Keeling, west of Indonesia.

[Yosemitest]

They;re expendable.
Put 'em to sleep, if possible.
If not, ... oh well.

[Yosemitest]

Here's some information about equipment.
Todays technology in air traffic control automates hand-offs between different radar facilities.
The facility initiating the handoff keys certain functions on the computer that causes the aircraft's data block to start blinking.
The receiving facility "joy-sticks" and keys another function key to finish the hand-off, only after he has established radio communication and verification of target data from the pilot.
I can't remember how long the data-block will continue to blink if the receiving controller does not finish the acknowledgement of the handoff, but it is a long time.
IF the hand-off is not completed, THEN it starts a communication between handing off facility and the receiving facility until the aircraft's position is determined.

This is where the pilot or copilot of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 turned off the transponder, and stopped all verbal communication with air traffic control.
He probably thought it would allow him a little extra time before the search for his "lost" aircraft would begin, and it did allow a little extra time and question-ability about any primary radar target returns, being on the edge of both radar facilities' distance limits to receive a return.
But because of the Letters of Agreement between facilities about how to handle handoffs, it probably caused the "dropped secondary radar target" to generate a search start much quicker than if the aircraft had turned the transponder off after establishing radio communication with the receiving facility (Vietnam).
Depending on the volume of traffic that controller was working, if the transponder was turned off a few minutes after saying "hello" to the receiving facility, it would probably have gone longer before it was noticed that the secondary radar (computer generated) target had been dropped.

[Yosemitest]

To receive the newly made radioactive weapon.
You know, the one that the whole world says Iran can't finish without us knowing about it.

[gitmo]

To receive the newly made radioactive weapon.
You know, the one that the whole world says Iran can’t finish without us knowing about it.

---

Oh, we will know about it all right.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Bump to your post, recognizing your sign-up date is today.

Anyone else hear this?

[Yosemitest]

"What is the landing strip/airport/base on his computer screens?
All three screens seem to be different shots of the same location.
Was he practicing to land at this location?"

Who knows what what runway and airport that is?
The computer's history would tell us.

When you sit at the controls of that simulator, the three screens should merge together at their edges, giving you a 180 degree view of the position that the aircraft is in.

The simulator's aircraft position appears to be flying over that airport at about 500 to 1,000 feet above ground level.
But without being at the controls of that simulator, it's hard to tell what he was doing.

[Yosemitest]

Those 634 runways, does that include abandoned runways from World War II, or only the actively maintained runways/landing strips ?