Malaysian official says missing plane hijacked

[one...two...tree 2,762]

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian investigation into the missing flight 370 has concluded that one or more people with flying experience switched off communications devices and deliberately steered the airliner off-course, a Malaysian government official involved in the investigation said Saturday.

The official called the disappearance a hijacking, though he said no motive has been established and no demands have been made known. It's not yet clear where the plane ended up, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The official said a deliberate takeover of the plane was no longer a theory. "It is conclusive," he said, indicating that investigators were ruling out mechanical failure or pilot error in the disappearance.

He said evidence that led to the conclusion were signs that the plane's communications were switched off deliberately, data about the flight path and indications the plane was steered in a way to avoid detection by radar.

The NYT is now reporting that shortly after Malaysian Air Flight 370 lost contact with ground control (in other words, went off of civilian radar), the plane climbed to an elevation of 45,000, well above standard cruising altitude, and then went down to 23,000 feet, well below standard cruising altitude.

All of this occured after the plane had done a more-or-less u-turn.

They know this because of new Malaysian military radar data.

Then, after the plane descended to 23,000 feet, it turne from a southwest direction to a northwest direction, gained altitude and flew in the direction of the Indian Ocean.

One of the NYT reporters responsible for the story, Michael Schmidt, was just on CNN. Schmidt says this has led investigators to determine the plane was clearly not flying itself. So the question is “who” was flying the plane?

Schmidt also said that the “pings” from the Rolls-Royce engines suggested that the plane dropped 40,000 feet in one minute, but that information is considered imprecise, at least per Schmidt’s article.

______________

EARLIER STORY: Reuters is reporting, and CNN has further explanation, that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was spotted by military radar passing near various way points for a period of hours after its last official communication with ground control.

This is different from the “pings” the equipment reportedly sent to satellites (a theory that still has not been debunked, by the way, according to reports).

This is actual military radar that plots a series of “waypoints” along a flight’s path. In this case, the plane passed near at least 3 waypoints after it did it’s u-turn around one hour into the flight.

http://americablog.com/2014/03/military-radar-says-plane-intentionally-piloted-via-various-waypoints.html

[luckytxn 2,264]

It didn't drop 40,000 feet in one minute.

[Pooky 3,784]

It didn't drop 40,000 feet in one minute.

Not if it resumed flying afterward.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Exactly. Makes me wonder about the other info being given out.

Not if it resumed flying afterward.

[Pooky 3,784]

And the figure of 43,100 ft is not the cruising altitude, it's the service ceiling for a B777. It's not designed to sustain a higher altitude.

[luckytxn 2,264]

No passenger jets are that I know of. Why even go up to that altitude? And to drop down to that altitude is not going to evade radar.

And the figure of 43,100 ft is not the cruising altitude, it's the service ceiling for a B777. It's not designed to sustain a higher altitude.

[Pooky 3,784]

No passenger jets are that I know of. Why even go up to that altitude? And to drop down to that altitude is not going to evade radar.

Not since Concorde, anyway.

Highest I've ever cruised at was 41,000 on an AA B757 on the way to DFW.

And the abrupt altitude change may be a direct result of climbing to 45,000 ft, in that the B777 may have entered a stall. If this is the case, it points to the flight crew, or someone trained on the B777, still being on the flight deck at that time.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Yeah I forgot about the Concorde.

That is why it seems more likely that a malfunction happened and not hijackers. That experienced pilot somehow got them out of the trouble and stabilized the jet. He may have had limited control over the aircraft at that time and started flying to his waypoints he could get to from his memory while he figures out what to do.

It should be impossibe to go from that high to that low and still have an aircraft to fly so the damage had to be pretty bad.

Not since Concorde, anyway.

Highest I've ever cruised at was 41,000 on an AA B757 on the way to DFW.

And the abrupt altitude change may be a direct result of climbing to 45,000 ft, in that the B777 may have entered a stall. If this is the case, it points to the flight crew, or someone trained on the B777, still being on the flight deck at that time.

Edited March 15, 2014 by luckytxn