Is there any evidence the plane went down? The article from the WSJ cited up thread suggests it didn’t. That’s the reason for the intense media attention. A week on, investigators can’t even say if there even was a plane crash.
True. I’m sure the families of the passengers are hopeful it landed somewhere, somehow. But it’s unlikely. More likely a sea ditching (“controlled” or otherwise) after fuel exhaustion – with the pilots having been long incapacitated (by accidental depressurization – slow or fast – or by deliberate hijacking).
I hate it when that happens.
I think many of us have an over-inflated notion of how much control we actually have over events.
^ This. We aren’t even sure there was a crash.
I don’t think coverage=hysteria. It’s a compelling story. What are they supposed to do- ignore it? Normally we get something visual- cushions, luggage, corpses, something to go on. Now nearly a week in, and we have diddly squat. Plus you have the odd behavior and/or cluelessness of the Malaysian government, all the conflicting stories and theories- why wouldn’t you cover it? Everybody loves a mystery, and we’ve got a real doozy here.
I’m surprised modern planes still have a switch to turn off the transponder. Seems like it should always be on so the plane can be tracked.
There aren’t many places 777 can land unnoticed. Perhaps an abandoned WWII airstrip? But most abandoned airstrips are monitored because of drug trafficking.
Otherwise it must be in the ocean somewhere.
Although a sea crash seems more likely, not sure we can 100% rule out a land crash. Is it possible that it landed in a remote area of Malaysia after turning back? Is it possible for nobody to be close enough to hear it and for the flames to die down before daybreak? I’m guessing no, but I’m not familiar enough with the terrain to rule it out.
I had heard yesterday about the ACARS data and what that is…but I was reading the WSJ today and saw this bit:
which seems to be suggesting they have more data than initially reported? Because when I first read about the ACARS data it was just that data had been received from take off and right when the plane reached cruising altitude. If they have some data from four hours later is that different from the ACARS data that was already reported on? Or is it from the same system and just had more data deliveries than was previously reported?
Apparently the Malaysians are denying the American extra four hour angle, but assuming it is true, could the data show a spooling down of the engines as the plane lands, as opposed to a more dramatic cut-off typical of a crash?
:smack:
That has been answered in this thread AND we have an additional TWO threads on this board right now that answers that question. There are valid reasons for it to have an off switch (there is also a “standby” mode).
I’m not conversant with the details of that reporting system but if the information is similar to what the FDR captures yes, it could show that. But like I said, I don’t know what exactly is being reported there.
If it had gone down in the sea and been found within a few hours like most such case, then we probably wouldn’t be hearing too much about it by now, apart from the usual speculation of causes and perhaps details of the crash investigation taking place. It’s the fact that after the best part of a week we are seemingly no closer to having any idea what happened that is causing such interest. It’s a big story. I’m intrigued. If it was a bog-standard plane crash, I’d be thinking “Well, that sucks but shit happens and planes are still extremely safe,” and getting on with my day.
It’s like Lord Lucan. British peer murders wife and is caught? Fairly big story, yes, but would have been largely forgotten within a few years. But if he allegedly murders his wife and then vanishes without trace? Forty years later, mention “Lord Lucan” and just about everyone (in the UK at least) knows who you mean.
The plane is tracked with or without the transponder on. It’s a tool that provides altitude information to traffic control and allows them to assign information so it shows on their screen in a convenient manner. Without it they can’t easily tell who they’re talking too. Without altitude information all the blips on intersecting courses are an emergency situation.
AFAIK new Rolls Royce engines transmit data live back to Rolls Royce in the UK as part of a support package they offer airlines. They can see when something is about to fail in an engine before it does and arrange maintenance or a replacement engine to be sent out. The control room is shown and the system is discussed towards the end of this documentary about how they build their aeroengines.
It sends different information at different intervals. I assume it’s programmable to each carrier’s requirements as with any computer system.
The Air France ACARS was sending out position reports every 10 minutes. The engine data from the Malaysia flight’s ACARS was sent to Rolls Royce every 30 minutes. And it would assuredly have registered rpm changes. What the Malaysian Airlines requirements are for their ACARS system has not been made public. They may not tap into all the data it’s capable of sending. You’d think they would at least want position reports on flights that have no radar coverage but it’s hard to say.
And now even the four hours of ACARS report is being denied by Boeing and Rolls-Royce.
It’s infuriating. Every time we think we know something new we find we don’t after all. Well, we do know the Malaysian authorities are, at the very kindest, in over their heads. That much is solid info.
The latest word on BBC is they’re extending the search area farther toward India.
Its hard to believe that we don’t know anything more than we did on Saturday morning, 12 hours after they announced the plane was missing.
If nothing else, I have learned a lot of about Oceanic geography. I had no clue that Brunei was in this region of the world. I thought Brunei was in the Middle East.
Then, it was at least clear approximately where the plane had to have crashed. So we actually know even less now.
Bangkok has them now.