5 ms·

What would be the theory of least effort? By that I mean least people involved, least criminal energy, least planning. Could a pilot do this completely on his

by itry 13y ago

What would be the theory of least effort? By that I mean least people involved, least criminal energy, least planning. Could a pilot do this completely on his own? Turn off the communication system, fly 4 hours into a different direction and then nosedive into the ocean?

confluence 13y ago
Slow burn fire randomly taking out communications systems and electronics undetected over a long period of time. Pilots freak out and head West for the coast, program way points on autopilot. Fire then cracks the hull, leading to a slow depressurization, incapacitating crew. Plane heads into the Indian ocean with all onboard unconscious or dead, until it runs out of fuel.
- TheAnimus 13y ago
  this fire just happened to cut out all four radio circuits, both transponders (physically separate systems) before he could squark about it, or contact anyone on the radio? I really doubt that. If I thought that was possible, I wouldn't fly the little sheds I do for fun.
- hga 13y ago
  The thing that bothers me is that the transponder(s) were turned off/failed right at the boundary between Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control. Could be a coincidence, but it's also a good location for those of bad intent.
jfoster 13y ago
One difficulty in creation of theories about what may have happened to this flight is that it depends what evidence the theory needs to fit, and there is still quite a lot of confusion about what evidence is factual and what evidence has been reported in the media but then denied by authorities. What exactly is known for certain?
Steko 13y ago
Major mechanical event involving electrical fire and possible incapacitation of flight crew. Whoever's flying the plane attempts to turn back, correct again after an hour to try and follow where they think the peninsula is, crashes into middle of ocean after running out of fuel.
caf 13y ago
Yes. They would probably need to incapacitate their co-pilot. The circuit breakers for the ACARS and radar transponder are accessible.
- Tuna-Fish 13y ago
  Or wait until he visits the bathroom, then don't open the door for him.
TheAnimus 13y ago
>Could a pilot do this completely on his own? Turn off the communication system, fly 4 hours into a different direction and then nosedive into the ocean? Yes. Egypt Air is an example of a pilot committing suicide, before doing so he pulled the circuit breakers for most systems including some for the flight data recorders (black boxes). For safety reasons a pilot needs to be able to quickly isolate any system (even ones that are 'vital'). If the pilot wishes to kill everyone, he will, there is no point trying to design against that. However as the vast majority of pilots are frequently making changes to the automated systems idea of the world for the better of the plane. At the moment on many forums there are a lot of comments from people saying we need to clip the wings, so to speak, of pilots, limit what they can do. These people have never sat on the left.
- dictum 13y ago
  > For safety reasons a pilot needs to be able to quickly isolate any system (even ones that are 'vital'). If the pilot wishes to kill everyone, he will This seems like really good news for would-be plane hijackers.
  - devnonymous 13y ago
    It really isn't a state secret you know. Also, I'd put potential hijackers in the 0.1 or lower percentile of HN readership population. ;-)
  - glesica 13y ago
    Because taking control of a 60 meter long hunk of aluminum hurtling through the air at 400 mph wasn't already good news? From what I can see it means absolutely nothing to would-be hijackers.
    - dictum 13y ago
      Maybe "hijacker" isn't the right term. I'd just never stopped to think how a pirate, or anyone interested in stealing a plane for whatever reason, could take control of a plane and force the pilot to disable all systems and nobody would ever find the plane again.
Zigurd 13y ago
Assuming the hijackers had a plan, the closest airstrip that might be disused is on Car Nicobar. The base there was destroyed in the 2004 tsunami and subsequently evacuated. The rest of the island was also devastated, with thousands dead. If not there, I would guess a landing in a dry lake bed in Tibet is next most likely. But since there has been no communication, it raises the odds it crashed, either at sea or attempting to land.

by itry 13y ago

confluence 13y ago

Slow burn fire randomly taking out communications systems and electronics undetected over a long period of time. Pilots freak out and head West for the coast, program way points on autopilot. Fire then cracks the hull, leading to a slow depressurization, incapacitating crew. Plane heads into the Indian ocean with all onboard unconscious or dead, until it runs out of fuel.

TheAnimus 13y ago
this fire just happened to cut out all four radio circuits, both transponders (physically separate systems) before he could squark about it, or contact anyone on the radio? I really doubt that. If I thought that was possible, I wouldn't fly the little sheds I do for fun.
hga 13y ago
The thing that bothers me is that the transponder(s) were turned off/failed right at the boundary between Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control. Could be a coincidence, but it's also a good location for those of bad intent.

jfoster 13y ago

One difficulty in creation of theories about what may have happened to this flight is that it depends what evidence the theory needs to fit, and there is still quite a lot of confusion about what evidence is factual and what evidence has been reported in the media but then denied by authorities. What exactly is known for certain?

Steko 13y ago

Major mechanical event involving electrical fire and possible incapacitation of flight crew. Whoever's flying the plane attempts to turn back, correct again after an hour to try and follow where they think the peninsula is, crashes into middle of ocean after running out of fuel.

caf 13y ago

Yes. They would probably need to incapacitate their co-pilot. The circuit breakers for the ACARS and radar transponder are accessible.

Tuna-Fish 13y ago
Or wait until he visits the bathroom, then don't open the door for him.

TheAnimus 13y ago

>Could a pilot do this completely on his own? Turn off the communication system, fly 4 hours into a different direction and then nosedive into the ocean? Yes. Egypt Air is an example of a pilot committing suicide, before doing so he pulled the circuit breakers for most systems including some for the flight data recorders (black boxes). For safety reasons a pilot needs to be able to quickly isolate any system (even ones that are 'vital'). If the pilot wishes to kill everyone, he will, there is no point trying to design against that. However as the vast majority of pilots are frequently making changes to the automated systems idea of the world for the better of the plane. At the moment on many forums there are a lot of comments from people saying we need to clip the wings, so to speak, of pilots, limit what they can do. These people have never sat on the left.

dictum 13y ago
> For safety reasons a pilot needs to be able to quickly isolate any system (even ones that are 'vital'). If the pilot wishes to kill everyone, he will This seems like really good news for would-be plane hijackers.
- devnonymous 13y ago
  It really isn't a state secret you know. Also, I'd put potential hijackers in the 0.1 or lower percentile of HN readership population. ;-)
- glesica 13y ago
  Because taking control of a 60 meter long hunk of aluminum hurtling through the air at 400 mph wasn't already good news? From what I can see it means absolutely nothing to would-be hijackers.
  - dictum 13y ago
    Maybe "hijacker" isn't the right term. I'd just never stopped to think how a pirate, or anyone interested in stealing a plane for whatever reason, could take control of a plane and force the pilot to disable all systems and nobody would ever find the plane again.

Zigurd 13y ago

Assuming the hijackers had a plan, the closest airstrip that might be disused is on Car Nicobar. The base there was destroyed in the 2004 tsunami and subsequently evacuated. The rest of the island was also devastated, with thousands dead. If not there, I would guess a landing in a dry lake bed in Tibet is next most likely. But since there has been no communication, it raises the odds it crashed, either at sea or attempting to land.