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Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

admiralcloudberg.medium.com

211–220 of 457 posts

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#211
post #133

At this point the data from his computer, at least the data from the flight simulator software, should be released publicly so that those with experience can apply their knowledge to reconstructing the data. It's entirely possible that someone with more knowledge of the software in question, rather than a generic computer expert, might have more luck.

What about the data would require an expert to reconstruct? They have the simulated flight path. It's very similar to the final flight path of the real plane.

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#212
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It won't unless there is some sort of major hull leak. If it was off long enough it would start to be a problem. Its basically the same same as turning off recirc on your car's climate controls. (Also, the pressurization controls are almost always on the overhead panels, which contains things that are used almost always for startup/shutdown steps so it's not like the pilot is going to reach over to adjust a radio or…

I think the difference is that in a car, any action that could kill the passengers is nearly as likely to kill the driver as well. Obviously you can't stop the pilot from crashing the plane and killing everyone, but it's still pretty creepy to learn that there's a "kill all passengers but leave me alive" switch in every plane, in a locked cockpit inaccessible to the people whose lives are affected by that switch.

This is a really weird characterization of a normal airplane function.

First, you are seeming to act as if the power between passengers and pilots should be equal. Why would this ever be? The pilot has all the power and the passengers none. Thinking of past hijackings, it's obvious that it must be this way.

Second, the plane needs to be able to handle all sorts of 1 in a million events. Recall there were around 22 million flights in 2021, and of those, exactly 1 was involving a Boeing or Airbus jet (maybe that's even true for Embraer or Bombardier and that tier of airliner). This is because the pilot has a vast amount of controls that are required to handle various events. A plane is a pressurized tube flying thru the sky, of course controls for pressure in the cabin must exist to allow equalization under aberrant circumstances.

Finally, activating this "kill" switch would drop oxygen masks to every passenger in the plane automatically; the pilot does not have any say in this matter. While these masks obviously have limited duration, there isn't exactly a way the pilot could perform this mass murder without their own death or imprisonment being guaranteed too. Frankly, I find your representation of the purpose of the switch so immature as to be offensive.

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is just a note. I don't mean it to sound anything other than what Wikipedia itself states. I see a tonne of "Wikipedia agrees" but none of "Wikipedia is a living document" and it isn't its place to be a gospel of truth...

Wikipedia is not and cannot, as per their own policies, be the primary source. 'Wikipedia agrees' is shorthand for 'the sources mentioned by this particular Wikipedia article agree'

I think it's shorthand for "the collective Wikipedia editors agree," which is not exactly the same thing as saying every claim is backed by any particular source.

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#214
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine one day all of a sudden a low-quality few seconds long video is uploaded to the channel showing only someone filming their feet as they stroll on on a beach.

Well the found wreckage pieces apparently point to a controlled ditching, so it's not entirely impossible for the guy to be alive somehow.

In the middle of the Indian ocean, thousands of miles from land. It's unlikely.

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#216
post #198

> But Sherlock Holmes was right: once we have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. This matter isn't entertainment fiction, and nobody involved is Sherlock Holmes. Hundreds of people died. Amateurs publicly casting blame on one of the presumed dead seems unfair to the individual accused, and insensitive to the families. Especially when it depends on bits like this:…

Ignoring the fact the route of the plan is close to the path the pilot flew on his personal computer is more insensitive to the deceased than grandstanding that this was an accidental.

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#217
post #189
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unlikely, since about 98% of the Earth has transponder coverage, so you at least have position and what the aircraft think's it's altitude is, with pretty good precision and sample rate. It's only in a few spots in the middle the ocean that this doesn't exist. This was also relevant in that Airbus crash from maybe 15 years ago between South America and Africa. This is not a problem on the main to/from North Amer…

That number can't be right. 98% of the earth doesn't have primary radar coverage, let alone secondary (transponder) coverage. ATC radar is line of sight. At an altitude of 40,000 feet, you're beyond the radio horizon and lose coverage after about 380 miles - and that's the theoretical best case. Oceanic air traffic control is primarily a non-radar environment, using procedural separation. Even over land, most of Cana…

The newer systems that have come online over the past decade or so (partially in response to 370) actually use the iridium satelites

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#218
post #177

one of the best long-form articles i've ever read on this was "Goodnight Malaysian 370" by William Langewiesche in the atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/mh370-m...

It would have been better if it didn’t feature around his personal assumption of what happened (at least that’s how I recall that article, but it’s been years).

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#219
post #118

> ... reaches up and flips the pressurization switch, cutting off bleed air to the cabin. The airplane rapidly begins to depressurize ... I cannot believe that a "kill everyone" switch actually exists, and if it really does this seems like a bug. Especially because not hitting the switch would also kill everyone.

Wait until you hear about this thing called a yoke.

Re: Seven years on, what do we know about the disappearance of flight MH370? (2021)

#220
post #118

> ... reaches up and flips the pressurization switch, cutting off bleed air to the cabin. The airplane rapidly begins to depressurize ... I cannot believe that a "kill everyone" switch actually exists, and if it really does this seems like a bug. Especially because not hitting the switch would also kill everyone.

Being able to rapidly depressurize is fairly critical; the doors are prevented from opening in flight by a pressure differential and their construction. In an emergency, being unable to depressurize would mean being unable to evacuate the aircraft. Passengers would've had their oxygen masks deploy, which works in normal circumstances, but they only last 12 minutes; intended to give the crew time to descend. When the…

In an evacuation event, the aircraft would be at sea level and the interior would not be pressurized relative to outside air. You only need to depressurize if you're going to parachute out, which... is not an option in commercial aviation.
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