Is Malaysian Plane the Newest, Human Guided Suicide Missile?

Townhall.com ^ | March 14, 2014 | John Ransom

[Kaslin]

One intelligence community source told me the other day that he believed it was possible that Malaysian flight 370 would be found, intact because the plane had not crashed but had been hijacked for unknown reasons.

He may have been right. From MarketWatch:

U.S. counterterrorism officials are pursuing the possibility that a pilot or someone else on board the plane may have diverted it toward an undisclosed location after intentionally turning off the jetliner’s transponders to avoid radar detection, according to one person tracking the probe.

And:

But the huge uncertainty about where the plane was headed, and why it continued flying so long without working transponders, has raised theories among investigators that the aircraft may have been commandeered for a reason that appears unclear to U.S. authorities. Some of those theories have been laid out to national security officials and senior personnel from various U.S. agencies, according to one person familiar with the matter.

But here’s where it gets really interesting…and scary:

At one briefing, according to this person, officials were told investigators are actively pursuing the notion that the plane was diverted “with the intention of using it later for another purpose.”

Another purpose? Perhaps as a giant, human-guided, suicide missile?

At the time of my conversation with my intel source I advised him to keep it to himself and we both laughed, nervously.

I’m more nervous now.

After this story came out, Malaysian officials of disputed the fact that the plane continue transmitting data, and the story was corrected as to the exact nature of the data. Still they insist the data was still available. American officials still believe that it's possible that the plane could've disappeared to be used for other purposes. They are still pursuing all angles, and have not ruled out the plane was diverted.

In part that's because two of data transmitters were turned off at separate times, which would indicate that there wasn't some sort of critical malfunction or catastrophic break up in midair. And if the plane continued to fly for 4 to 5 hours, it might've made 2500 to 3000 miles. Frankly it could be anywhere from the Australian desert to somewhere in Pakistan, although practically speaking that might've been difficult.

Interestingly, I spoke with one political official late last night who told me that his sources in the defense community are being unusually tight lipped about the plane.

He called them "a stonewall."

Again, this is all just informed speculation on my part.

But given the finger-pointing that's going on between Malaysia, China and the United States there seems to be more than mild disagreement about what this could possibly mean.

That could mean something sinister is afoot. Or it could just be a case of plain old bureaucratic incompetence.

I would like to say that the bureaucratic incompetence case would be somewhat reassuring. But one thing that we've learned from 9/11 through the Boston bombing is that even in something sinister, bureaucratic incompetence is usually at play.

[ops33]

Logistically and strategically, it would have been simpler to obtain a surplus airliner, move it to a remote location near the target. Refurbish it, load it with explosives, then fly it at the target. They would have the advantage of time and would not have to penetrate airport and airline security. Such an operation would also show that airport security is immaterial to protecting the public.

But then what do I know.

[C210N]

I would expect GPS lat/lon and GMT to be included in the engine data for identification purposes. An aircraft has dozens of GPS’s, it is just a chip, and could use an internal antenna. The additional payload of lat/lon and GMT is 12 bytes of data. OTOH, I would expect the engine data to be routed elsewhere to an external antenna. (GPS is receiving, engine data means higher-power transmitting)

[Kaslin]

It probably did crash, but where? That is the question

[GreenAccord]

Could have been a hijacking gone wrong or a suicide bomber but that plane is wreckage.

Occam's Razor suggests you are correct. Hijacker takes control, turns off transponder, reduces altitude to avoid radar, deviates flight plan direction, fight to regain control ensues (however many minutes later) and plane is driven into land or water along the deviated course. Conjecture, yes, but the most likely explanation is a hijacking followed by a crash.

[fulltlt]

"I would agree it could make identification difficult ... but it wouldn’t make your radar signature disappear. your blip would still exist"

Incorrect. If you fly low enough you can avoid radar. Hence the term, flying under the radar.

[sten]

true, but there would be the ‘descending below radar’ stage between that and normal cruising altitude

that would have appeared on radar as well... not just gone.

the early speculation of a missile was dismissed as falling debris would have been seen on radar as a descending cloud of reflective materials... and there was nothing descending

[wtd]

Assuming Iran is behind it, an indication that Iran wants plausible deniability. Wanting their cake and eat it too, they want to kill millions and spread radioactivity, while not getting hit back."-C210N

Also consider how weak this administration appears to Iran and much of the world. If ever there was a 'political-window-of-opportunity', the current occupant of the oval office has handed it to Iran on a silver platter.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Yes, but the feature within the engines that sends a signal to Rolls Royce once the plane is flying cannot be turned off.

It may be that it can't be turned off from within the cockpit. But, I'd bet that it can be turned off on the ground if someone knows what components to look for. For example, if it communicates to a satellite network, there's going to be an antenna whose feedlines can be cut.

[jim_trent]

"Incorrect. If you fly low enough you can avoid radar. Hence the term, flying under the radar.

Something not mentioned so far is that IF the airplane was flown at low altitude, the range would be decreased substantially. Jets are not very efficient at low altitude. That would change the search area quite a bit.

[lacrew]

Taking it a step further...why even use a jetliner?

If somebody wanted to deliver a nuke or even a lot of explosives, wouldn’t an ordinary run of the mill private airplane do the trick? They could just steal one from the local air strip hangar and skip the whole hijacking a jetliner step.

[hal ogen]

Whatever the government knows it most likely wouldn’t be telling us. For many reasons, the government lies.

[4everontheRight]

I heard an interview yesterday with a former Intelligence official who had also retired from the USAF. His opinion was that, with all the neighboring countries, their satellites and their own nations defense systems, there is no way the flight path of this plane is not known. What he found to be the "scariest" part is that NO ONE is willing to tell the public anything about it. He said the tight lipped security itself tells you more than what IS being said. His theory was that this plane did not crash but was diverted. The "how" is more of a mystery to intelligence community at this point.
He was asked by the host "but why has no terrorist group claimed responsibility?" His answer was very thought provoking to me - he said that the normal (or normal as we know it) response from these groups in the past has been to puff up and claim their group was the one able to pull this off. He said the quiet is deafening. No group is claiming anything...not to know anything about it, not to have been involved in it or know anything about it! That made a lot of sense to me. When in the past have we ever had an incident that some group did not claim to be involved in, even if it turned out to be BS in the end....someone ALWAYS claims to have done this or that and the fact that no one is claiming any involvement, scares the %%%% out of this guy. He said, in the end, we might not ever know what became of the passengers, but we will know what becomes of that plane because it will not be good.

[no-to-illegals]

courtesy ping

[gr8eman]

Not according to a New Zealand guy working on an oil rig. He said he saw a burning plane, gave his exact coordinates, time of day, and gave the direction of the line-of-sight. I looked it up on google earth and it made sense that the plane was heading due west when it crashed and burned.

[gr8eman]

I agree that’s what happened. There is a witness on an oil rig. I am finding it harder and harder to believe that the Malaysians did not have contact with the hijackers.

[freedomson]

Well, what if the passengers were kept safe so that they could be boarded again. At that point, let them make all the cell phone calls they want so they can let everybody know they are still alive and coming home. Load the 777 with a nuke and tell the world they will be freed when they land in Israel. The moral dilemma might buy enough time to get into Israeli air space and ..... welll... let’s hope I’m wrong.

[IMR 4350]

Fear factor.

Everyone knows a terrorist attack is coming, they just don’t know when and where.

Maybe another video will upset the hijackers and they will once again “spontaneously” attack like in Benghazi.

Perhaps the terrorist attack will come like the attempted car bomb in NYC in 2010 where the terrorist were so in tune with the news they picked up on the dems talking points comparing the TEA Party to a bunch of Tim McVeigh wannabes and “spontaneously” planned a fertilizer car bomb like Tim McVeigh used.

Maybe it will be like the Kenya mall attack were the terrorist, again being so in tune with the news, picked up on Obama talking about the need for more gun control and “spontaneously” carried out the attack.

Perhaps it will be like the 2012 airline plot were the terrorist, once again being so in tune with the news, picked up on the protest in Florida over Trayvon getting popped and “spontaneously” decided to bomb an airliner.

Oh I’m sorry, my mistake.

It was Obama that sent people to Florida to orchestrate the protest over Trayvon getting popped and the terrorist gave a govt agent the bomb and told him it was up to him to decide on the TIMING of the attack on the plane.

Nothing “spontaneous” about it.

Obama controlled both ends, the protest and the timing of when to announce the airline plot.

Whenever and where the attack comes, I’m sure it will be “spontaneous”.

[Pearls Before Swine]

If somebody wanted to deliver a nuke or even a lot of explosives, wouldn’t an ordinary run of the mill private airplane do the trick?

Or a cargo container--we don't search all of them, AFAIK. A nuke-carrying cargo container in a port with a major amount of LNG storage would create a spectacular disaster.

[onedoug]

What if one wants to cut out the middle man?

[Uncle Chip]

So some key Malaysian officials kept searchers busy looking in the South China Sea for wreckage while the plane made its getaway toward the Andaman Islands.