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

admiralcloudberg.medium.com

251–260 of 457 posts

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

#251
post #24

Just noticing the medium author, this guy posts fantastic breakdowns of plane crashes on r/catastrophicfailure Have to say the simulator part makes me lean heavily towards the pilot crashing it purposefully, from the article - "The most widely reported piece of evidence tying Zaharie to the disappearance was a course he had charted on his home flight simulator about a month before the crash. Zaharie had a number of h…

[flagged]

What was the plane doing near Diego Garcia in the first place?

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

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your question is literally answered in the article: > Even without finding the plane, a number of lessons have been drawn from the disappearance of MH370. Many of the responses to the disappearance centered on the fact that in the 21st century, commercial airliners should not just disappear. In the interest of knowing where every plane is at all times, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) began requir…

Note that none of those things would "prevent the next MH370", only be able to locate the wreckage faster. There isn't much that can be done to "prevent" incidents like this.

Actually two things were proposed, real-time flight tracking and real-time virtual blackbox, the former was accepted but the latter was not.

If real-time flight tracking data is frequently and continuously monitored 24/7 like in NoC, it probably can prevent the disaster like MH370 from happening again.

The latter real-time virtual blackbox proposal if accepted can be even more pro-active in preventing future incidents, and it can be easily integrated and embedded with the real-time location tracking albeit with extra cost to the airline operators.

Apparently the latter proposal according to ICAO was rejected due to the complaints from the pilot's union that cited privacy concerns. It seems that pilot's privacy is of higher pririty than the passengers' safety. You can have all your privacy in your house but when you are piloting aeroplane with many people life is your responsibility, pilot's privacy probably the least of your concern.

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

#253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes. Probably most of the time. But not always. Petty Officer JD Bridges on a US Navy aircraft carrier got sucked into the intake of a fighter jet. Somehow his body got wedged in such a way that he did not go through the engine and managed to climb out a few seconds later. Video of the incident in question, also an interview with him the next day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF3Iz7b95-8&t=46s

As I recall, along with getting somewhat wedged, his helmet come off and was digested by the engine. Which is one rapid method of equalising pressure at the intake and exhaust.

See, wear your helmet.

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

#254
"For the reasons listed above, most experts believe MH370 was the victim of some kind of deliberate action."

What if the plane was struck by a meteorite? It certainly sounds like there was some kind of incident that caused them to turn around abruptly to head back but they were disabled. It is possible they experienced an extreme rare event. Rare dpesnt mean impossible, just highly unlikely.

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

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That scenario seems wildly improbable. First, the existence of the large U.S. airbase at Diego Garcia isn't remotely secret. As for an accidental shoot-down of an airliner before any visual identification or confirmation, I suppose it could happen but it goes against every policy and procedure the U.S. is known to follow. If an unidentified aircraft approached an airbase, they would scramble an intercept for visual i…

> Also, there are many examples of the U.S. military making such mistakes and NOT trying to cover it up. Including shooting down an airliner. No coverup.

This one

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

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

#256
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Unlikely that he's still alive, but the evidence of a controlled landing makes the whole thing more puzzling from a psychological perspective. Why slowly and consciously drag it out until the very bitter end when you've already completed your suicide mission?

I find the controlled ditching hypothesis less psychologically puzzling, not more, for at least three reasons: ego, agency, and practicality.

First, successfully ditching an aircraft at sea is the ultimate test of piloting skills, and possibly one difficult to resist for the ego of a seasoned captain on his final flight.

Second, it seems out of character for a meticulous pilot to just let the aircraft slip out of his control and crash haphazardly at the very end of a carefully-plotted sequence of murderous steps.

Third, a ditching would better obfuscate the final resting place of the aircraft compared to an uncontrolled dive, as it would result in fewer scattered debris floating away.

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

#257
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US two people must be in the cockpit at all times. If one of the pilots needs to use the bathroom, a flight attendant has to take their place in the cockpit until the pilot returns. This prevents a suicidal pilot from taking down a plane (or makes it much harder anyway). This wasn't a requirement on Malaysian Airlines at the time. (I don't know if the regulations have since been updated.)

That requirement became widespread after Germanwings 9525, which happened a year later.

And even that requirement seems to have been dropped. From Wikipedia:

"Aviation authorities swiftly implemented new recommendations from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency that required two authorised personnel in the cockpit at all times, but by 2017, Germanwings and other German airlines had dropped the rule."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525

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

#258

> As of January of 2021, some 33 pieces of wreckage found on beaches have with varying degrees of certainty been tied to MH370. Of these, more than one third were found by Blaine Gibson. This is amazing.

Just to be sure for anyone else reading this, this is a different Blaine Gibson to the Rooster Teeth guy.

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

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What joke? was it related to https://cdc.gov/chikungunya

I believe they're talking about this one: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/catapoultry/

An iconic Mythbusters episode also :) They made an air cannon to fire frozen chickens into a plane.

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

#260
post #29

Fascinating article. I had a chuckle at this excerpt: >The Malaysian investigators did look into whether the cargo could have started a fire, noting that it consisted mainly of ripe mangosteen fruits along with a small number of lithium batteries. Extensive attempts by the investigators to get mangosteen juice to react with the batteries and trigger a fire were unsuccessful. I'm sure plenty of people here have spent…

I have no flying experience but if there was a fire in the cargo hold wouldn't the crew at least send a message? I thought this flight veered off the flight path before disappearing

Yes, my understanding (as purely a bystander) is that even the most aggressive fires in the past have allowed time for a mayday. See for example UPS flight 6, with a huge uncontrolled lithium battery fire: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6

In general, onboard fires are one of the most dangerous scenarios in-flight, as I understand it. Crews are trained extensively for it.

I think this is, in part, what the analysis in the article concludes — even a fire would have to cause a very specific, never-before-seen combination of failures to lead to the outcomes observed from the outside.

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