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

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341–350 of 457 posts

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

#341
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Risk has to be put in context. It's one of the biggest risks, where all the risks are fantastically low against number of flights and passenger/miles. All airline risks are lower than driving. I would have said the 787 lithium battery risk was more concerning personally. Or the 737 Max problem.

To be fair, the oft cited “air travel is safer than cars” statistic is on a passenger mileage basis. When you pack an order of magnitude more people at a time going an order of magnitude faster than a cad it looks super safe. If you compare it on an hourly basis it is still safer but not nearly as safe as people would like to think. Especially if you add in small commercial/charter planes

Absolutely agree. That's why I said passenger/miles in my comment.

Because of more active drivers and low occupancy cars, I would think from first principles for a constant rate of suicide ideation in the population the risk of death by driver suicide as a side effect is high, and must actually be higher than pilot suicide risk. You are not in the car but the accident affects you. You are driving more often that it's more statistically likely to drive near another driver who deliberately drives dangerously, than the risk of a pilot ending it all.

But if we stop obsessing with the risk of pilot suicide and were just talking overall risk, passenger/miles is the best measure there is. Trains might win.

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

#342
post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Investigations have some weird bits. I've always wondered if there's a certain title for the person who prepares the chickens for the 'chicken gun' in airplane testing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_gun

Those guns are not cheap. I once worked in a startup that wanted to put thermal cameras on commercial planes to measure volcanic ash concentrations. The cameras had to be behind a special glass that is transparent for thermal radiation. But as the glass size exceeded certain size, it required to certify against bird strikes. It turned out the cost of the certification was like 500K euros.

For engines presumably the major cost is dismantling and inspecting the engine under test

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

#343
> Zaharie was also deeply involved in Malaysian politics and was a big supporter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. In a strange coincidence, just hours before MH370 disappeared, Ibrahim was sentenced to prison on sodomy charges that were widely considered to be politically motivated.

I don't think this "strange coincidence" should be dismissed as the reason so easily.

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

#344
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest being swallowed into a jet engine is as quick of a death as you can get

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

Years ago I saw a picture on reddit of a similar event that did not end as well. I'm still scarred.

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

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Major structures of a 777 are aluminum. I wouldn't expect many large, easily identifiable, parts to float (for long).

Aluminium floats Edit: was wrong

Not in water.

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

#346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I created an OpenAI account solely so I could ask was it worth it? no. Feel free to ask OpenAi whatever happens to amuse you. Please don't waste the rest of our time or attention or bandwidth on it. Nobody cares.

I at least got a chuckle out of it. So it's good enough for me

We're all glad you got an AI-induced "chuckle" in a thread that ponders the tragic death of 200 or so people. Cool stuff. Reddit is just over there to the left...

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

#347
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.

Maybe a rendezvous with a recovery vessel ? Any evidence that he had access to piles of cash ?

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

#348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I created an OpenAI account solely so I could ask was it worth it? no. Feel free to ask OpenAi whatever happens to amuse you. Please don't waste the rest of our time or attention or bandwidth on it. Nobody cares.

There is a great demand for a site full of AI-generated (unintentional) humour.

Great... start that site, get it off of HN, and get rich in the process

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

#349
post #91

The strangeness of this story - a 777 disappearing into thin air in one of the most surveilled and monitored (due to geopolitics) places on earth leaving no traces behind - has spooked people so much that there is a section on the wikipedia page debunking theories related to black holes.

Isn't this how the show Lost starts?

Time to get A.I. to patch the opening episode to be MH 370.

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

#350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I created an OpenAI account solely so I could ask was it worth it? no. Feel free to ask OpenAi whatever happens to amuse you. Please don't waste the rest of our time or attention or bandwidth on it. Nobody cares.

Thank you for your contribution to this discussion.

My contribution was generated by an actual human, I guess that small detail is irrelevant at this point
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