Posted on 03/19/2014 7:28:48 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It’s slowly becoming clear that Malaysia 370 was a tragic accident, and not one of the numerous terrorist or crime scenarios doing the rounds.
As a retired international airline captain, I have felt for some time that the known flight profile showed an aircraft that was not hijacked, but out of control. However, the sharp left turn off course that it performed remained an issue. Why would the pilot do that?
Bear in mind a couple of things. Firstly, this was a crew operating out of their home base, which they knew intimately. Pilots call it "local knowledge" – a big advantage if you have a problem.
Secondly, it is rare for one single event to cause a crash. It is more likely that a series of mishaps and problems, some of them self-imposed, led to an accident.
The jet proceeded on course for Beijing and even made a slight right turn, as required by the route. It then turned sharply left and proceeded to waypoint VAMPI, which, as we now know, was input by the pilot flying – probably the captain.
So why turn across the Malay Peninsula, away from their destination? Where were they going? Much has been made of the fact that an airway from VAMPI leads north to terrorist country, but no one has checked what is south of position VAMPI.
VAMPI is an entry point to Kuala Lumpur. An airway from VAMPI goes directly back to their departure airport.
Why not fly back direct to KL if they had a problem? VAMPI is a good choice. It avoids high mountains running through the center of Malaysia, gives a safe approach over the low-lying coast, and also allows a quick diversion into Penang if necessary. This is where that local knowledge comes in.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I can’t understand how anyone could think this was an accident with the report that the final transmission by the co-pilot was sent AFTER the plane turned around
Agree, “accident” is not the right word to use here.
A grand conspiracy where nation(s) conspired to steal a commercial liner, secret its passengers for weeks, conceal it all brilliantly to the best tech on the planed, with no witnesses? I just can’t believe that.
For the Malaysian Airlines for sure.
At this time there simply is not enough information to tell if it was an accident, hijack or combination of both. To assert otherwise is foolish.
Unfortunately that "feeling" fails to take into account the subsequent flight path through two established waypoints commonly used as part of an established route toward Europe and the Middle East -- a route you can't just "wander" along.
The red path below is what this author, and a retired pilot whose article everyone has been forwarding the past few days, are suggesting as a "simple" solution -- the yellow path through waypoints IGARI, VAMPI, GIVAL and IGREX is the actual radar observed path that the aircraft followed.
The mystery of 370 has created more “I am a certified pilot posts” than anything I’ve ever witnessed. Wired published “A Startlingly Simple Theory About the Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet” by “Chris Goodfellow who has 20 years experience as a Canadian Class-1 instrumented-rated pilot for multi-engine planes.”
His theory: “The pilot may have ascended to 45,000 feet in a last-ditch effort to quell a fire by seeking the lowest level of oxygen.”
I would love to see that in a flight manual. The oxygen levels at 45,000 feet would have killed everyone aboard within 8-10 seconds. If the cabin were pressurized, the exercise would have been pointless.
Than he states:
“Fire in an aircraft demands one thing: Get the machine on the ground as soon as possible.” That’s incorrect. The standard course of action is a distress signal and mayday though one of many communication methods, followed by an attempt to land. What was the pilot going to do, show up unannounced at the airport in a flaming jet singing “I did it myyyyyyy way....”
It is at Davey Jones Locker. It will be months if not years, or never, before someone does or doesn’t find it.
Seems pretty damn conclusive to me. What about that Maldives sighting. Was that ever confirmed?
I agree. But I still ask why didn’t the passengers use their cell phones?
I think a good measure of FR sentiment would be if any Preppers are picking up a few “extras”. How say you all?
I am totally convinced it was an unplanned, spontanious, untraceable crash that just happened during a programed excursion by the horny co-pilot to check out the local beaches for some midnight nude sunbathers.
I am also “just happening” to be visiting SAMS today to pick up my weekly case of SPAM. mmmmm..mmmm...I just love SPAM....and CHEESE!!
Over the water, they wouldn’t pick anything up unless its a satellite phone, but you would have thought they would call going over the peninsula itself. Unless they were already dead.
That zig-zag yellow path is forgotten on a lot of people. It may have been taken to get the plane out of the reach of Indonesian radar before then turning around to head south.
Maria Schivo is still postulating ‘catastrophic mechanical failure’. Apparently it was so catastrophic, the co-pilot forgot to mention it when he wished control ‘good night’ after he had pulled a U-Turn.
If the fire incapacitated the pilots the plane would have gone down soon after. The fire in the cockpit makes no sense. Someone turned off the transponder and committed suicide.
The idea that 45k would kill everyone has been debunked. Just read around a bit in this forum. Lighter O, but still possible. Worst problem would be losing consciousness, if there is any pressure problem.
Everyone seems to want it to be something nefarious. I am more open than the other day, but I still think this was a massive but not unprecedented accident.
And it might do you well to pay attention to pilots’ experience.
I hate to say it, but watching Air Disasters has helped me put these incidents in perspective. They are not all so unusual.
Speculation and a nickel won’t buy a cup of coffee.
I just love how someone emits verbage on a blog and it’s posted as “news”...
I assume this Rob Shapiro isn’t the same guy who got OJ off?
Or, is he another diet and exercise writer who’s become an aviation expert in the past 10 days?
What would you do in any catastrophic incident? Call 911 first or try to jump in to take control of it? When flying, crying out is NOT a good first option. Especially if you don’t have any comms, or have already passed out!
“What was the pilot going to do, show up unannounced at the airport in a flaming jet singing “I did it myyyyyyy way....””
I laughed so hard I spit my coffee through my nose. Thanks for that.
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