I think of a microburst which can occur over the central US. Basically the upper level winds are pushed straight down along the leading edge of a storm. So you can have 100MPH winds in the vertical direction.
They’ve mentioned that on tv as a strong possibility.
Whatever it was, it was sudden enough the pilots didn’t have time to send out a distress signal.
So many scenarios as to what could have happened. We won’t know what did happen until they get their hands on the black box.
“Powerful storms littered the flight path of the AirAsia passenger plane that went missing with 162 aboard on Sunday, according to forecasters. Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control after requesting permission to change course due to weather.
While there is no clear indication of what happened to the jet and what caused its disappearance, Michael Palmer — lead forecaster at The Weather Channel — said “there were numerous showers and hail throughout the Java Sea and the flight path.” The large clusters of thunderstorms, some as tall as 50,000 feet, would have forced a pilot to change course, he added. The flight “could have run into turbulence and hail. We don’t know if it was the cause but certainly the weather was not calm,” Palmer added. “