KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — With radar confirming that Malaysia Airline flight MH370 flew across densely-populated parts of peninsular Malaysia, investigators are baffled why none aboard the missing flight called out for help when the plane had clearly diverted.
The flight path over the peninsula would have put the plane over the cellular transmission towers on the ground, allowing any who suspected that something was amiss with the flight to use their cellphones to communicate their distress.
But according to Malaysia Airline chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya yesterday, investigators have found no signs of communication from 239 aboard the plane that was now missing for 10 days.
The flight path over the peninsula would have put the plane over the cellular transmission towers on the ground, allowing any who suspected that something was amiss with the flight to use their cellphones to communicate their distress.
But according to Malaysia Airline chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya yesterday, investigators have found no signs of communication from 239 aboard the plane that was now missing for 10 days.
Indeed, what with the violent manoeuvres of the aircraft during the turn back at the point of Malaysian-Vietnamese airspace handover (even if it didn't zoom up to 45,000 feet), there is only one explanation: they were all unconscious or near unconscious. That would mean the aircraft cabin was unpressurized, or to be more exact, depressurized.
A correctly pressurized aircraft flying at 35,000 (FL350) would have a cabin altitude of usually not more than 8,000. This means the passengers would be able to breath normally (without breathing aid like oxygen masks) as if they were at, say, Genting Highlands or Dali City in the north-western sector o of Yunnan Province, China.
But if the aircraft had experienced either slow then rapid depressurization or just rapid depressurization, either by structural failure, system malfunction or through deliberate action, then the aircraft cabin altitude would zoom up to match actual altitude outside the aircraft ...
... and the aircraft safety systems would activate the emergency oxygen system and drop the breathing masks down for everyone in the aircraft, except for those stowaways bunking down in the main undercarriage bays who would be deeply frozen and very dead by the time they arrived at the destination ... unless it's a very short flight, or they have dropped out during the extension of the aircraft undercarriages.
Yes, there had been cases of stowaways found dead in the undercarriage bays at the destination airports and (if they dropped out during undercarriage extension prior to landing) along and around the flight approach path because of not only the extreme cold in an unheated section of the aircraft (around minus 50 deg Celsius) but also due to the lack of oxygen at altitudes (extreme hypoxia). There was only one case (in a short flight) who survived but suffered serious frostbites and other injuries associated with lack of oxygen and extreme cold.
Thus a depressurized airline aircraft like MH370 would have put those passengers and crew (unless they were breathing oxygen from the emergency masks) in the same situation as those silly stowaways in the undercarriage bays. Okay then, what about the oxygen masks in MH370?
Some aviation technical buffs have said (reported in news reports) that the B777 emergency oxygen system would only be triggered if the cabin altitude (ie. the altitude inside the pressurized cabin, and not the actual altitude outside the aircraft) exceeds 13,500 feet.
But what if the MH370 aircraft had experienced slow depressurization (whether deliberately initiated or due to technical faults) which exposed the passengers and cabin crew to cabin altitudes above 10,000 but not above 13,500 feet, say 13,000 feet for 45 minutes, then they would all be pretty near unconscious or certainly very snoozy.
Though people in Tibet and the Andes live above 13,000 quite safely for years, not everyone has that same tolerant capacity for oxygen-deficiency.
MH370 took off at (all local Malaysian time) 00:41 am and would have passed actual altitude of 13,000 feet in around 5 to 6 minutes, which means if the cabin altitude was deliberately set to maintain also 13,000 feet (or there was very gradual depressurization which kept the cabin altitude at around 13,000 feet), the passengers and crew would have been exposed at that cabin altitude for almost 45 minutes until 1:30 am when it all supposedly happened.
If that slow depressurization had been deliberate, then a final but fast depressurization around 1:30 am would have completed the required task, to render everyone in the cabin unconscious.
Was that what happened? I have my theory (posted earlier) but one which still can't explain how the flight after its turn back continued on its way towards the west along established air routes.
Tail-gating SQ68?
On the report that MH370 escaped radar detection while flying over several countries (India, Pakistan etc) by tail gating a SIA aircraft (SQ68) along that route across those countries, it's nonsense.
In aviation, tail gating is just another way to describe close formation flying in 'line astern' station keping.
There are other close formation stations-keeping but only 'line astern' would have prevented anyone in SQ68 to notice MH370 behind it.
That proposition is rubbish because unless the person operating MH370 on that westbound track is a military pilot or was a former military pilot (and who has practiced regularly in close formation flying) it'll be bullshit to imagine he (or maybe even a she, wakakaka) could fly 'line astern' to SQ68. Incidentally, I believe neither pilots in MH370 had military flying background.
Another deterring factor would be the night flight condition when close formation flying would have been already difficult in daylight, ... unless of course you fly close formation for a living like fighter and air display pilots.
Even military pilots can't fly in close formation for hours as that type of flying requires utmost concentration and vigilance and thus would exhaust the pilots after an hour or so. To suggest MH370 flew in 'line astern' behind SQ68 for hours (in two B777) is to suggest near superhuman efforts.
Even military pilots can't fly in close formation for hours as that type of flying requires utmost concentration and vigilance and thus would exhaust the pilots after an hour or so. To suggest MH370 flew in 'line astern' behind SQ68 for hours (in two B777) is to suggest near superhuman efforts.
While it's not impossible to fly any type of aircraft in close formation, even B777 or B747 or A380, it's not easy for a variety of technical (flying) reasons. I won't go into them wakakaka - just trust me, I'm a Penangite, wakakaka again.
Additionally, to suggest that the person who had commandeered MH370 could coordinate in such precise fashion as to meet up with SQ68 and to fit gnam gnam into a 'line astern' formation with the SIA aircraft is too much of a bullshit, even for those who want to swallow bullshit, wakakaka.
In my next posting, maybe tonight wakakaka, I'll write about another aspect (I want to keep this post reasonably short, so could only fit in two issues).
A large airliner like the 777 leaves behind a turbulent wake much like a big ship.
ReplyDeleteThat wake makes it difficult and dangerous to follow another jumbo jet.
In 2012, a 737 lost control for a short time near Bali when it flew through the wake of a A380 that had passed in the opposite direction some minutes earlier.
http://avherald.com/h?article=4566d392
KT,
ReplyDeleteStop yr hypoxia theory for a minute.
Spread this;
https://plus.google.com/106271056358366282907/posts/GoeVjHJaGBz
This is a much plausible scenario, with the cut of Occam's razor.
It could still save lives, hopefully!!!!!
sounds more plausible though with a fire on board a pilot would put the aircraft down a.s.a.p even in the sea or anywhere near the shore. If the pilot had disconnected the busbars to isolate the electrical fire, I believe the emergency bus would have stilll allowed basic radio communication though I am not sure about the transponder which is also an emergency tool But I accept his explanation sounds very plausible though there are still holes in it, certainly less holes than mine, though we explained the same loss of consciousness but in different ways. Thanks for the link.
DeleteIf the cabin was depressurized resulting in the passengers and crew being unconscious, then what about the pilots? Shouldn't they be affected in the same way? They too would become unconscious unless they have separate oxygen tanks.
ReplyDeleteyes, they have
DeleteOther than a bomb blast or catastrophic mechanical failure, an on-board fire is the most dangerous events which can happen to a plane.
ReplyDeleteBasically, the plane will soon crash unless the fire is brought under control. It would not have made it to the West Coast of Malaysia , and the Straits of Malacca.
The main, main, main reason why hypoxia, on-board fire, total electrical failure and other forms of non-human induced catastrophic failure have been virtually ruled out of the Mh370 case is that the airplane continued to fly in an obviously controlled path far into the Andaman Sea, beyond Pulau Perak.
“Was that what happened? I have my theory (posted earlier) but one which still can't explain how the flight after its turn back continued on its way towards the west along established air routes.”
ReplyDeleteThere could probably a jamming of the flight system. Flight MH370 was in a FBW state – being remote control by a pilot somewhere, like a UAV/Drone. It is possible because Boeing 777 is fitted with FBW.
Perhaps, all hand-phones had been removed by some people and who also pullout all the communication circuit breakers. And the zigzagging was for trail-masking purposes.
The above is just my imagination though.
- hasan
It seemed someone explained about the tail-gating SQ68 this way :
ReplyDeletehttp://keithledgerwood.tumblr.com/post/79838944823/did-malaysian-airlines-370-disappear-using-sia68-sq68
I think there was no tailgating. The plane did not take the northern corridor because there are too many defense radars/primary radars and it is impossible for none of the radar to have not detected the plane.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think they have taken the southern corridor either because I have ruled out the suicide motive. Moreover, the Indonesian/Australian primary radars did not detect the plane unless of course Indonesia and/or Australia is/are not telling the truth.
That would lead me to consider another plausible flight corridor which, according to the last ‘ping’ transmitted out by the plane at about 8.15am (Malaysian Time) on 08.03.14 it indicated that the plane has landed somewhere above water.
I think the group who had masterminded this piracy/hijacking had forgotten to factor in the ‘pings’ transmitted out by the plane for as long as the engine of the plane is not turn off.
- hasan
Three factors about the tailgating theory;
ReplyDelete1)constant breeds leniency - flight path P628 is a KNOWN international aero-navigational route used by commercial airlines, flying from Asia to Europe. It's busy & often commercial planes r almost lining up on queue to use it on a cruising altitude of FL350.
So every military radar observer, worth his/her sock, would known this CONSTANT fact. A case of familiarity breeds tidak-apa even when one of the queuing plane doesnt squawk! So no demand of IFF query, that plane slips though.
2)Tailgating can be done using George (auto-pilot) at cruising altitude & at well-chosen displacement. No need manual input as at close proximity. Easily done via proper parameters setting.
3)The military authorities involved known BUT not telling - 1st avoid disclosing radar monitoring capability & 2nd avoid embarrassment due to factor (1).
Have a pity on poor Hisham....when he took on the "Acting" Transport Minister role, he never bargained on being the point man in the biggest current international news story on the planet. Perhaps the biggest single story since 9/11.
ReplyDeleteEvery day 5 pm, every international electronic and print news organisation is locked in to Sama Sama Hotel in Sepang , where the daily news conference is being held.
Perhaps, it's time to ask Zairil Khir Johari to talk about his daddy's similar situation. His dad kenna screwed by people such as DR Seenivasagam during the parliamentary sittings. His dad was one of the competent politicians I have observed so far. At least he acknowledged UMNO's deficiency in winning the singapore melayu support
Delete