Malaysia Airlines 777 Missing

[Musicat]

@Ken001

5. Why is the likely path calculated from the satellite in a curve rather than a circle? I do understand the gap represents over the horizon.

Is IS a circle, but the westernmost part is too far for the plane to have reached on the available fuel, so we can exclude it right away.

[nevadaexile]

Even if a plane or satellite finds debris, it’s still going to require that ship be sent to the area to determine what it is. That 's going to take a few days. What will the networks do in the meantime???

[Ken001]

The US had two destroyers in the Indian Ocean which are fast ships so they may get there in a day or so. Probably there is a nuclear submarine in the area which at 45 knots could be on site but who knows.

[Ken001]

@Lord_Feldon

That’s about twice as far away.

Fair enough I hadn’t looked at the maps.

@Musicat

Is IS a circle, but the westernmost part is too far for the plane to have reached on the available fuel, so we can exclude it right away.

Ah yes, thankyou.

[Richard_Pearse]

@Ken001

Just going back a step, could Richard or anyone enlighten me on data transmissions please? This is a great discussion but I’ve become confused.

1. Passenger aircraft transmit an identifying radio signal from the transponder. Is that a ground based signal or to a satellite?

From the aircraft to a ground based radar.

2. Apparently Rolls Royce jet engines independently send engine performance signals to Rolls Royce. Correct? If so, how often and are these aimed at a satellite or ground stations?

Probably not relevant as it seems the satellite pings were unrelated to any engine data.

3. The ACARS system is fitted by the manufacturer (Boeing) and sends simple packets of information about the aircraft depending upon what the airline decides to pay for? Ground or satellite?

Ground and satellite. There is a VHF, HF, and satellite ACARS network.

4. The ACARS system is able to be switched off/disabled but has an independant power system that allows it to respond to a signal - handshake?

I don’t use ACARS but I gather that it simply piggy backs on whatever communication systems the aeroplane is equipped with, VHF for the radios, HF for radios, satellite for various types of data transfer including satellite phone. I’m not certain but gather that the satellite pings are just little pings keeping the generic satellite link available and not specifically related to ACARS.

[eastonb]

it’s baffling that a plane just vanished

[Magiver]

I have to admit I was disappointed that they didn’t get a visual on what they were looking for. The ocean is an unimaginably big hay stack to look through without some hint of where to start.

[Mellivora_capensis]

Oz search suspended due to night-time. However, a merchant ship, the Hoegh St Petersburg, has apparently reached the search area. No further news.

[ElvisL1ves]

It should still be possible to work back from the sighting location/time, using oceanographic data on the regional currents, determine where the plane would have crashed, and look for debris on the bottom there.

[Esox_Lucius]

Richard Pearse, when a plane is leaving one ATC zone for another, is it SOP to have both pilots in the cockpit at that time, or is it okay if only one is there? It was at a transfer point when things started to happen, and we know the co-pilot was there, but I’m wondering if we can say with any probability that the captain would have been there too.

[nevadaexile]

@eastonb

it’s baffling that a plane just vanished

Unfortunately, most of the “mystery” involved with this situation was caused by the Malaysian government’s incompetence, the slowness of other nations to reveal the technical information that they had and the media hyping this up. It’s always been the recovery of a missing aircraft which crashed and nothing more.

WHY it crashed will be discovered when the flight recorders are found.

[Marley23]

@nevadaexile

Unfortunately, most of the “mystery” involved with this situation was caused by the Malaysian government’s incompetence, the slowness of other nations to reveal the technical information that they had and the media hyping this up. It’s always been the recovery of a missing aircraft which crashed and nothing more.

I mostly agree. And that’s the main one reason I find it hard to believe a pilot might’ve crashed the plane as a protest of the Malayasian government: even if he had a very low opinion of them, I don’t think he could have predicted they would bungle it like this. And if the wreckage is found and it turns out that he was trying to be tricky and make them look bad, that shifts most of the blame to him.

[Steve_MB]

CNN is still right on top of the story:

There have been many different conspiracy theories thrown out about the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, but on Wednesday night CNN speculated whether a “black hole” could be involved.

CNN anchor Don Lemon brought up the idea when prompted by a tweet from a reader — a segment that was first noted by Mediaite. He also brought up tweets comparing the situation to the television series “Lost” and “The Twilight Zone.”

“That’s what people are saying,” he said. “I know it’s preposterous — but is it preposterous?”

Mary Schiavo, a former Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said it was indeed preposterous…

[ElvisL1ves]

The Onion was already there.

And they still are.

Gotta feel some pity for these people, having to fill air time all day long with pretty much nothing. They must be praying for another blonde girl to go missing someplace.

[Catamount]

@Steve_MB

CNN is still right on top of the story:

Once again, your sig line is totally appropriate for the post at hand.

[Dr.Colossus]

@ElvisL1ves

The Onion was already there.

And they still are.

Gotta feel some pity for these people, having to fill air time all day long with pretty much nothing. They must be praying for another blonde girl to go missing someplace.

that onion post made my whole day.
thanks.

[ElvisL1ves]

Wrong link in the second one. This is more to the point today.

[Steve_MB]

@ElvisL1ves

Gotta feel some pity for these people, having to fill air time all day long with pretty much nothing. They must be praying for another blonde girl to go missing someplace.

Look on the bright side – not that many people actually saw Don Lemon make a fool of himself.

[Musicat]

@ElvisL1ves

It should still be possible to work back from the sighting location/time, using oceanographic data on the regional currents, determine where the plane would have crashed, and look for debris on the bottom there.

Possible, but once you are underwater, your sight distance and travel speeds are severely limited compared to a surface or aerial search. And the last “sighting” was from 1 to 59 minutes along a line that stretches across two continents and several oceans. Not to mention there are huge mountains and valleys underwater and you can’t zoom along a flat bottom.

In the Air France case, it took 2 years. This one might be longer.

[Northern_Piper]

@Indian

Object found in Aussie waters.

“Aussie waters” - only by the most generous interpretation of Australia’s zone of influence The search zone is about 2,500 km from Perth.

The satellite pictures are apparently a few days old, which will make the search more difficult, as the objects will likely have drifted considerably since then.

From the CBC: Malaysia Airlines MH370 debris search to resume in morning

Satellite imagery analyzed by experts discovered two objects of a “reasonable size” bobbing up and down in the southern Indian Ocean, said John Young, general manager of Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority. The objects were spotted about 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth, in an area where the ocean is about 3,000 metres deep.

The largest object appears to be about 24 metres, he said — with the second object being smaller at about five metres. A number of smaller items appear to be scattered around the large object, he said.

The Hoegh St. Petersburg was the first ship to arrive in the area where the two objects were spotted by satellite four days ago [i.e. March 16th] in one of the remotest parts of the globe, around 2,500 km (1,500 miles) southwest of Perth.

David Gallo, the U.S. project leader in the search for a missing Air France flight in 2009, said based on the descriptions provided by officials of two larger objects surrounded by multiple smaller objects, the discovery is sounding increasingly like a debris field.

Based on the size described, Gallo predicts it could turn out to be a piece of the plane’s wing or fuselage, which is the main body of an aircraft.

“It sounds like the plane was landed fairly gently,” said Gallo, assuming the objects are identified as wreckage from flight MH370. “It wasn’t nose-dived into the surface of the ocean, if it is in fact the plane.”

But don’t get your hopes up:

Other experts told CBC News the objects may end up being containers that fell from cargo ships.

There’s also a nice set of maps in the article.