Let’s say the plane did land somewhere. Maybe with local help, maybe even a local government. Somalia, Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan. And there was a whole army to guard the passengers and keep them in line. Assume all of that to be true. Then the question becomes: If they’re holding secret negotiations with the Malaysian government, why would Malaysia let all those countries – 25 now, the BBC reports – expend all that time and money in what the government knows would be a fruitless search? And if no ransom demand or negotiations have been initiated by now, nine days after the event (it’s Monday morning over here), then why not? Or could there be negotiations ongoing with the airline itself, and the airline didn’t inform the government for whatever reason?
Any realistic chance that that the missing plane landed safely & all the passengers are still alive?
Well put. As you know from your adventures with SeanConnery on the PetronasTowers :), Malaysia is indeed quite a safe and modern country, about the same average level of development as, say, Mexico, without Mexico’s drug-war-related violence of the last eight or nine years. It would indeed be silly for anyone to avoid Malaysia, or Malaysia Airlines, due to this mysterious incident. You are absolutely correct that the government’s handling of the public statements and such has been poor, but (like pre-2000 Mexico) this is mainly due to the same political party holding national office for far too long.
(My cite for all this: being married to a former Malaysian citizen, and having visited the country four times for at least a month each time.)
People are just so ignorant about foreign countries. I just got off the phone with my mom and she was surprised that I’m able to communicate with my friend who teaches in South Korea via Facebook. She also made a dumb comment about “everything being skinny in Korea” because my friend adopted a cat that looks like my cat except skinnier. South Korea is a modern first world country! They have food and the internet there! I can’t believe my mom wouldn’t know that. Plus my cat weighs around 17 lbs and this cat looks normal, so a more accurate statement would have been “Everything is skinnier THAN MY CAT” which is what I thought she was going to say.
ETA: Sorry for the tangent about South Korea and cats, but aside from North Korea, people need to understand that Asian countries are generally safe, modern places with some areas of poverty (just like the US). And thanks for the info re: Malaysia JKellyMap. I’m guessing some random people watching the news (not people on here) don’t understand that is is an incredible anomaly that has nothing to do with the safety of Malaysia or traveling in Asia in general.
Indeed. I like Malaysia a lot. Have visited it multiple times. Kuala Lumpur does have a problem with bag snatchers on motorcycles, but it’s still generally a safe city. We’ve even flown Malaysia Airlines in the past, and it’s a good, solid airline. I still highly recommend a trip to Malaysia. This incident is just one of those weird blips.
Sorry, that’s not a 777. The real plane must be somewhere else on the moon, or possibly mars.
Sorry, but I had a double take on that archaic term. Aeroplane? Are we living in the earliest part of the 20th century? 
So, you’re saying, he’s too late for the 4:30 autogyro to the Prussian consulate in Siam?
Yeah, I suppose you call it an “airplane”? My kids grew out of that phase and started pronouncing it properly when they were about 3 ;).
Was he leaving one control area and entering another?
Was he handed-off?
I’d like to raise a possibility of how a Boeing 777 could land unnoticed: What if, for the sake of discussion, the people in control of the plane kept the aircraft in shade created by the Earth eclipsing the sun? Such a shadow would be dark enough to make it very difficult to see the plane flying overhead and landing, especially if they turned off the various lights on the exterior of the plane specifically designed to make the plane visible in the event of such an eclipse.
Now, the Earth moves at a speed of approximately 54,000 knots, compared to the Boeing 777’s paltry 500 knots, but I think it’s possible for a skilled pilot to pull it off if he can get the plane into the Earth’s gravity well.
Worth noting, the plane was expected to arrive in Beijing at 6:30AM, local time.
You mean, fly it at night?
You still need to find an airport that either has no one there, or has people who are in on it, that’s the tricky bit.
Sorry, my humour detectors are on the blink 
And fitted the second biggest silencers you would ever have seen in your life.
Or just land it somewhere they usually have large aircraft taking off and landing, where such sounds wouldn’t really draw much attention. If you assume a state actor up to something which probably requires more ambition than seems reasonable, any military airfield would work.
Not saying it’s likely, I’m just spitballing ideas here.
EDIT: Or just glide it in with the engines silenced, which is of course even more unlikely.
It’s the standard word for a fixed wing aircraft in Australia and the UK.
Who, Richard Pearse and his kids? You mean, did they move from the US to Australia and then start saying “aeroplane” rather than “airplane”? No, I think they were always in Australia; I think RP might have been referring to the kids’ early explosure to U-dominated media (e.g. children’s books?), or maybe just made a joke that the US term sounds childish while the Brit-Aussie term sounds sophisticated.
Please, we’re trying to run a clean thread here. If you mean the Malaysia Airlines pilot in question, he was known for having nubile ladies invited into the cockpit, so maybe you’re on to something.
Ok, kidding aside, the answer is “yes” – whoever turned off the transponders and stuff was informed enough to choose the moment when they were leaving Malaysian airspace and entering Vietnam’s. Did they formally verbalize this fact? Good question – I’m not sure we’ve been told this yet, but I’m pretty sure the answer is “yes.” And that the answer is “no” for Vietnams’s relevant ATC.
Aren’t you quite the joker at this hour?
<smiley with coffee>
The “Alright, goodnight” last words was in response to being handed-off to the Vietnamese controllers. It’s a little odd, not so much for the words used, but normally you’d repeat the frequency back so the controller knows you have got it right and are about to contact the right people. “132.5” would be the strictly correct response (or whatever the frequency was), “132.5, goodnight/ciao/g’day” is fairly common, while missing the frequency part all together is slack but not unheard of.
What if I’m singing along to Red Hot Chili Peppers?
I heard the aircaft turned west and flew toward northern India for several hours. IN that case, it might have just barely made it to the Taliban badlands. (I heard the plane had enough fuel to fly that far.) However a 777 crossing Indian airspace into Pakistan undetected is entirely unthinkable with the kind of air defences India and Paskistan have in place there. It is a perpetually war-ready zone.
It is possible that Indian and Pakistani militaries detected an unidentified object, and are not telling anything because that would reveal their radar capabilities.
Taliban may have access to remote airstrips that have the additional benefit of no telecom network. And under the cover of darkness hiding a large aircraft is not impossible. As for the people, the Taliban is not known for its kindness to the infidels…