Posted on 03/17/2014 6:59:33 PM PDT by kristinn
The first turn to the west that diverted the missing Malaysia Airlines plane from its planned flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing was carried out through a computer system that was most likely programmed by someone in the plane’s cockpit who was knowledgeable about airplane systems, according to senior American officials.
Instead of manually operating the plane’s controls, whoever altered Flight 370’s path typed seven or eight keystrokes into a computer on a knee-high pedestal between the captain and the first officer, according to officials. The Flight Management System, as the computer is known, directs the plane from point to point specified in the flight plan submitted before each flight. It is not clear whether the plane’s path was reprogrammed before or after it took off.
The fact that the turn away from Beijing was programmed into the computer has reinforced the belief of investigators — first voiced by Malaysian officials — that the plane was deliberately diverted and that foul play was involved. It has also increased their focus on the plane’s captain and first officer.
SNIP
According to investigators, it appears that a waypoint was added to the planned route. Pilots do that in the ordinary course of flying if air traffic controllers tell them to take a different route, to avoid weather or traffic. But in this case, the waypoint was far off the path to Beijing.
Whoever changed the plane’s course would have had to be familiar with Boeing aircraft, though not necessarily the 777 — the type of plane that disappeared. American officials and aviation experts said it was far-fetched to believe that a passenger could have reprogrammed the Flight Management System.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ok. Kind of an unprovable belief.
“you’ll have a very long wait for that Information ... if you ever get it at all “
You may have to wait a few weeks for some info but the cause and results will be released ASAP. Too many political pressures to keep it bottled up.
I saw what happened with TWA Flight 800. Much there was bottled up permanently. What we do know from very credible witnesses is that the ones in charge of the investigation didn’t like the facts coming from them - so they ignored them, didn’t let them testify and made up a whole new story.
So ... I’ve already seen that it can be done.
All of that and the fact that they come out immediately, and without any facts or research really being done yet, and claim “It’s NOT a terrorist attack!”
How could they honestly know, this early on, when information is just coming in, and the investigation JUST began?
Like we’ll believe them any how....
Not even remotely likely.
The 'altered by computer' being bandied about in the press is much ado about nothing. All aircraft of this type have computerized navigational / flight plan systems. Saying that MH370's flight plan was altered by computer does not suggest that a passenger, a remote engineer or even the pilot was using anything external to commandeer the plane.
What it does suggest is that the plane was 'hijacked' by the captain, with or without consent and aid from his First Officer. It suggests that after MH370's transponder and ACARS were tampered with (also pointing to the pilot) and the aircraft changed course instead of continuing into Vietnamese ATC cover, it continued to fly for some time and execute a planned flight path. It did not change course and fly aimlessly, as might have happened if depressurization, smoke or some other catastrophe incapacitated the crew or if a passenger had stormed the cockpit and commandeered it and began to 'fly by wire' as the 9/11 story goes.
The pilot(s) decided to disable as much of their aircraft's electronic signature as possible then changed course and entered new electronic waypoints into the navigation system, thus changing the flight plan. Their motives, destination, and whether they reached it are what's in question now. If the speculation about briefly climbing to FL450 are correct, that does suggest a conscious plan to kill the passengers and cabin crew - and perhaps the FO as well.
Altering a flight plan in such a way is not an extraordinary event in itself. Weather, air traffic, fuel concerns or even a medical emergency on board an aircraft can result in a captain altering his flight plan. Of course, this is done with the knowledge and consent of the airline and ATC. Doing it own your own after cutting communications and heading off to an unknown course with unknown intentions IS extraordinary. But having this happen points suspicion sharply at the captain, not away from him.
Very interesting place, and within the B777's flight range if it had enough fuel remaining. If Diego Garcia was indeed the intended destination... then this story is a damned scary and interesting one, your government is involved, and you will never know the truth.
I began looking at FJDG yesterday and turing some possibilities around in my head. Not likely, but possible. The information in the Malaysian press about the pilot's home flight simulator having the airfield there programmed in did nothing to help me sleep last night.
The island has been used as a SAC base, a staging area for operations, a listening post, a CIA rendition site and probably much more that we don't know about. It's a strange and beautiful place, and a very small island. I was there briefly a few times. As a civilian-type, I was struck by how different it was there than at other USAF/Army/Navy bases both home and abroad. I was able to walk around unchallenged, go hiking, swimming and drinking with no escort at all. Was even given a nice billet mean for an NCO. It seemed that they figured you didn't swim there - you had good reason to be there or you'd never set foot on the place. Oh, and there's zero cell phone coverage and access to the internet is tightly controlled - the civilian charter flight crews I was with were only allowed access if they had a CAC card.
If MH370 landed there, it was by invitation or forced/escorted. The plane could be hidden well from prying eyes, and whomever was alive onboard when it landed would not be able to contact the outside world until and unless the Navy wished them to. Unlikely scenario, but damned interesting to think about.
Ive been hearing a lot about the theory that perhaps smoke filled the cockpit because of some in flight fire and the pilots died due to smoke inhalation and the plane just kept on flying on the course programmed til it crashed in the Indian Ocean..here is my problem with that “Theory” there have been crashes in the past(I believe Swiss Air that they talked about on CNN) was caused by smoke in the cockpit, here is the difference..the crew CALLED IT IN..here you have NOTHING from the pilot, nothing from the co-pilot..so Im supposed to believe that for whatever reason, when other pilots call in in flight emergencies these two did not. Look what happened over the weekend with the Delta Flight from Orlando to Georgia, half the wing was lost in flight..the pilot called it in, declared an emergency, and was able to return to the airport, he didn’t turn off the transponder, didn’t turn off the ACARS, didn’t fly to 45,000 feet then down to 25,000 then down to 5,000 and up again, he did what he had to do to land the plane..but he called it in!
I believe this plane did land somewhere, either in Pakistan(even though they deny it, yeah they also denied knowing anything about Bin Laden living in Pakistan) so we know the Pakistani’s cannot be trusted..or it could be in Maldives like someone who lives there supposedly saw a low flying plane approaching.until actual wreckage is found I won’t believe this plane crashed
Not flying with Mohammadan pilots or flight engineers ever again would be insensitive, surely. And feelings are more important than lives, aren’t they?
Maybe US airlines will offer an option (extra charge of course) to guarantee no muzzies on the flight deck...
It is possible for a jet to have a catastrophic event and go down without a distress call. It would have to be an explosion or collision of some sort. We know that did not happen here, as the plane clearly flew on for some amount of time/distance after being 'lost' to ATC. We also know that the communications systems were almost certainly disabled purposefully, and in a way that suggests the pilot(s) did it and not a hijacker from amongst the passengers. All the information that we're getting points to a planned, meticulous operation to 'steal' an aircraft, avoid detection and attempt to land at a pre-determined destination. Massive questions remain, obviously. Was the captain acting alone or in concert with an outside group/nation? Was the motive for this political? Was it theft? Was it kidnapping or assassination? Was the plan rational and did it include details beyond simply reaching a destination? Did the plan succeed or fail?
I do not think a northward track towards Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen or even China makes any sense. Those areas are heavy with military radar and there would be a high chance for being spotted and possibly shot down or forced to land. The theory that the plane was taken by someone with the intent of using it as a platform to deliver a bomb strikes me as illogical and unlikely. The plane's disappearance clearly raises too much attention. If that were the plan, I'd think the second stage would've been attempted by now. It would've been a quick turn-around before the massive investigation got underway.
Diego Garcia is interesting to me for these reasons: The plane could get there undetected by anyone except the U.S. Navy with the right flight plan and skill. Assuming the pilot wanted to go there for whatever reason and on his own hook, the U.S. Navy would either have shot it down or forced it to land and immediately quarantined the plane, crew and surviving passengers (if any.) If, for whatever reason, the U.S. Navy wanted MH370 to land there, then its a whole different ballgame and we can speculate on the Freescale Semiconductor employees aboard and all that, but we'll never know. If Diego was the target destination, whether reached or not, it will be very interesting to see what the 'wreckage found' story looks like.
There were reports today about citizens in the Maldives reporting seeing a low-flying jumbo jet over their islands flying a North-Southeast direction. Could be bunk. If true, then the plot thickens. Consult your map of the Indian Ocean. Whatever the heck it is that happened and wherever it is that this plane currently resides, it is one tremendously interesting and scary story. I thought I had a few good airplane stories. I've never seen or heard of anything like this.
An important thing to remember when watching these amazing stories unfold in Ukraine and about this airliner - there is a lot of bad information that gets out in the press. There are a lot of incompetent people in the press and in government, and incompetence often lis mistaken for conspiracy. That said, this is the same government that brought you Fast and Furious, TWA 800, Waco, the bin Laden raid weirdness and subsequent SEAL deaths, Obamacare, the purge of military officers, etc. It is tempting to reflexively wave the flag and believe the best about our military and our government when a crisis emerges. I regretfully must suggest we remember who's running the show now in DC... and whether we trust that lot to tell us the truth and to conduct geopolitical operations or even war with anything close to our best interests in mind. They certainly aren't guided by any logic or morals I recognize.
Benghazi wasn’t a terrorist attack it was just “spontaneous”.
This plane going missing isn’t part of a terrorist attack, the pilot just “spontaneously” decided to commit suicide.
I think someone needs to get a new favorite descriptive word to describe attacks or potential attacks “spontaneous” is getting a little old.
Have you noticed Obama seems to have a complete lack of concern in both as if he didn’t/doesn’t need to find out what is going on because he already knew/knows?
Maybe it’s just me but he seems to be acting too cool by half.
What about the remote control autopilot?
Boeing Uninterruptible Auto Pilot
Sorry, but other depressurization accidents did not call it in either. No distress calls.
If you're referring to external control of the aircraft, I see that as very unlikely. The technology exists, and we may not know the full capabilities of such. If someone could and did take over MH370 from another location, I'd think about two things. First, how would the Captain and FO be incapacitated to ensure success? I'd think they'd fight such a takeover in any way possible and do anything possible to signal distress. Second, only a very few nations could even attempt such a thing. I don't know if anyone but the U.S. would be advanced and brazen enough to do it. Certainly is interesting, particularly with Diego Garcia in mind. I doubt it, though.
If you mean the autopilot continuing to fly the altered and programmed route after the pilots had died, then that's possible. I think that would end with the plane in the water.
You have an Air Force background, so fire away if you've got a good theory. I think all of our theories will be revised and the real arguing and speculation will begin once there's been a clear spotting of a plane, or pieces of one, somewhere. This story is going to get crazier, and I doubt we'll ever really know what we wish to know.
Oh I believe this was NO accident, I just wanted to rule everything out since the media keeps on focusing on maybe smoke in the cockpit causing this
I read an accident report once about a cargo bird that had an overflowing toilet. They were flying along and started losing systems because the water was shorting out the wiring and breakers were popping all over the place. I think they lost all communications also. I don’t think the aircraft caught fire but they caught it in time to avert disaster.
I just learned about it today. Seems like a system to prevent a 911 recurrence. ATC (Im guessing) can take over the aircraft in the event of a hijacking and manaully fly the aircraft to a military base or safe runway. The system is supposed to include sensors to detect an break in of the cockpit.
Google uninterruptible autopilot.
Pilot involvement seems to be indicated, I agree. However, there seems to be no wreckage, and no emergency locator beacons detected. If the aircraft crashed, on land or in water, the redundant ELT system would have been activated with a high degree of certainty. And there are the ‘eyewitness’ reports coming out of Maldives regarding the unusual low-flying jumbo jet.
So as implausible as it sounds, the plane ‘must’ have set down somewhere in a controlled manner. If that aircraft set down on land, at least anywhere ‘near’ Maldives, I think that would indicate the involvement of a sovereign nation-state. The brother of the President of Maldives, he was autocratic President there until about 2008, and he is. . . shady.
Because of the probable pilot involvement, a purely remote hack seems inadequate to explain the circumstances. Maybe he (Shah) was coerced to do his part, hence his family relocating on the eve of the flight. Maybe he was involved in the overall plot.
Diego Garcia is, I think, almost impossible to consider as a location for that plane. If signal intelligence operators on Diego Garcia detected the plane, it may have been intercepted and brought there. Then, would it not have been a tremendous public relations coup for the U.S. to say they ‘rescued’ the plane? No need to disclose sources or methods. And, would Diego Garcia be operating something like a RQ-4 Global Hawk drone, conjoined I guess with an AWACS plane — which I believe would required to remotely operate the 777 — at all hours, as a matter of standard procedure?
If, as speculated, the U.S. ‘invited’ this operation, then we are truly through the looking glass. We’ll have to defer to Alex Jones for that hypothesis.
So, hypothetically, let’s say the aircraft landed in Maldives. The earlier climb to ~45,000 feet may have been to incapacitate (murder) the passengers, and if so that would probably have killed at least most of the Freescale employees. So most likely they were not a target of kidnapping.
That plane could not stay at an airport in Maldives for very long. So the second phase may be something much more complicated than a simple refuel and immediate flight to Western Asia. Such a scenario would have to involve other state actors — maybe a flight to Oman (friendly with Iran), a clandestine repaint there, then onto Iran itself? Why? If not personnel, then some kind of materiel?
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