British Expats - Malaysian 777

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Re: Malaysian 777

Does anyone know how far that plane could of got with '5 Hours of fuel' left?

That plan had to of landed... or it's in the sea....

Re: Malaysian 777

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexcore (Post 11178713)

Does anyone know how far that plane could of got with '5 Hours of fuel' left?

That plan had to of landed... or it's in the sea....

A few reports said it was possible it flew as far as Kazakhstan.

At this point, I'm thinking it's in the sea. You don't exactly hide a 777 jet... and as a lot of the news sources said, if it had flown over land, it likely would have been picked up somewhere, and even if it managed to evade radar, surely someone's noticed it on the ground? That and you can't exactly just put down a 777 in someone's backyard, I read it needs 7000ft to land (I think)... so either it's in pieces somewhere, or it's in the sea. Given no one has claimed any responsibility, and no one has been heard from at all...

Re: Malaysian 777

There's a Google Earth file, available for download, with the estimated range, known positions of the flight and the arcs (determined from the satellite pings) here:

http://www.ogleearth.com/mh370.kmz

And further details here: http://ogleearth.com/2014/03/flight-...-google-earth/

Re: Malaysian 777

I think the electrical fire theory makes sense

Pilots pull the bus fuses to control the fire they turned to try and make Langkawi runway and were at some point overcome with fumes and the plane flew on into the Indian ocean.

I can't comment first hand on planes but I can tell you on a boat at sea electrical fires can have you off air and navigating by dead reckoning very quickly.

And the 777 has a history of electrical issues.

A summary of the theory from another site is
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/ma...ne-fire-2014-3

Shortly after takeoff, as Malaysia 370 was flying out over the ocean, smoke began filling the cockpit, perhaps from a tire on the front landing gear that had ignited on takeoff
The flight’s captain immediately did exactly what he had been trained to do: Find the closest airport and turn the plane toward it so he could land.
The closest appropriate airport was called Pulau Langkawi. It had a massive 13,000-foot runway. The captain programmed the destination into the flight computer. The auto-pilot turned the plane west and put it on a course right for the runway (the same heading the plane turned to)
The captain and co-pilot tried to find the source of the smoke and fire, but it soon filled the cockpit and overwhelmed them (a tire fire would do this). It also shorted out cockpit systems one by one, including the transponder. The pilots passed out or died.
With no one awake to instruct the auto-pilot to land, the plane kept flying on its last programmed course… right over Pulau Langkawi and out over the Indian Ocean. Eventually, 6 or 7 hours after the incident, it ran out of fuel and crashed.

Re: Malaysian 777

http://www.independent.ie/world-news...-30102740.html

Quote:

The Haveeru news website has reported that witnesses saw a plane flying low at around 6.15am on March 8.

It was flying north to south-west, according to the report.

"I've never seen a jet flying so low over our island before," a witness told the organisation.

If you draw a line through the Maldives over to Langkawi you have a southwest course that passes through the last known location of the plane and matches the military radar path known showing the plane on a southwesterly course back across the Malay Peninsula into the Strait of Malacca.

Re: Malaysian 777

Occam's razor would dictate that hijacking by one of the pilots is the most likely cause.

Anyway if he did take it up to 45,000 ft, maybe that was just to asphyxiate everyone in the passenger cabin. Then he descended to try and avoid radar, went up to cruising altitude and with the pressure lower that would slightly increase the range of the aircraft too. So he may have intentionally asphyxiated himself too and just left it on autopilot.

There's nowhere down there that a 777 can land except Diego Garcia and I think they would have noticed by now.

The only question to my mind is whether the captain or first officer did it. Clearly the captain was more experienced but the only reason I can think of why he would do it would be for his family to get the life insurance. Plus his family would be more important to him than the lives of the passengers. But maybe the first officer was just bonkers. Or maybe the captain was fiddling with the fuses for ACAR when the first officer radioed in.

I doubt anyone will ever know, the flight recorder isn't likely to say much. If they find some documentation for ACAR in one of their homes that might give an indication.

Re: Malaysian 777

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwtimmon (Post 11178763)

And the 777 has a history of electrical issues

It does?

Can't be that widespread considering how few incidents and accidents the 777 has had in its 20 years of service now.

Re: Malaysian 777

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwtimmon (Post 11178763)

And the 777 has a history of electrical issues.

It does?

Re: Malaysian 777

Didn't 777 have some fire issues or something?

Re: Malaysian 777

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviator (Post 11178917)

It does?

Maybe he's confusing the 777 with the 787.

Re: Malaysian 777

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 11178924)

Didn't 777 have some fire issues or something?

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...er-two-396797/

Seems to have had a pretty good record. A couple of dodgy landings and a fire last year.

The San Fran crash was the one where the Fire Dept. ran over one of the passengers a couple of times.

Re: Malaysian 777

Without the changes, the FAA says, pilots could lose control of the planes if smoke or fire should break out.

Quote:

The proposed order requires installing wires and changing electricity load-management-systems panels to ensure pilots are able to use a switch in the cockpit to turn off power to the entertainment systems if a fire breaks out.

Without such capability, the FAA says, pilots might not be able "to control smoke or flames in the airplane flight deck or passenger cabin" and could lose control of the plane.

AAIB issues Special Bulletin on Boeing 777 electrical fire incident

Quote:

The UK AAIB issued a Special Bulletin on a recent Boeing 777 electrical fire incident on the ground at London-Heathrow (LHR). After pushback and after starting the engines, smoke was detected in the Main Equipment Centre (MEC). Evidence of fire and electrical arcing damage was present within the P200 electrical power panel, and to the Right Generator Circuit Breaker and the Right Bus Tie Breaker in particular. It was also apparent that fire had been associated with the thermal/acoustic insulation blankets behind and beneath the P200 panel. The manufacturer has investigated 11 in-service reports of similar power panel events on B777 aircraft, and has published details of preventative action that operators may take. The AAIB will conduct an investigation into the circumstances of this accident. (AAIB)

THE US air safety regulator warned two years ago of problems with the structure of the fuel tank of the Boeing 777-200

Quote:

The FAA said Boeing had alerted it to the problem, which involved possible “electrical arcing” on, or inside, the fuel tank.

“This airworthiness directive was prompted by fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer, which determined that electrical arcing on the fuel tank boundary structure or inside the fuel tanks could result in a fire or explosion,” the FAA wrote.

“We evaluated all the relevant information and determined the unsafe condition ... is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design.”

Boeing 777 lithium battery fire

Quote:

An Air France Boeing 777-200, registration F-GSPK performing flight AF-681 (dep Dec 8th) from Atlanta,GA (USA) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) with 219 passengers, was enroute at FL380 over the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland about 90 minutes prior to estimated landing in Paris when cabin crew noticed an electrical burning smell near passenger seat 4F. Cabin crew disconnected power from the inflight entertainment system, removed the seat cover from seat 4F, saw open flames and doused the fire with water. After the fire was identified positively extinguished the captain decided to continue the flight to Paris, where the aircraft landed safely.

and I'm pretty sure there was a cockpit fire in Egypt or maybe an Egyptian airline where high levels of oxygen caused an unstoppable fire in the cockpit and the crew and passengers evacuated. Lucky the plane was on the ground :)

edit found it

http://www.avherald.com/h?article=44078aa7&opt=0

Quote:

About 30 minutes after the oxygen masks were checked the first officer heard a pop followed by a hissing sound from the right hand side of his seat, fire and smoke came out of the right hand console underneath the #3 cockpit window to the right of the first officer. The captain ordered the first officer to leave the cockpit immediately and notify cabin crew and emergency of the cockpit fire. The captain discharged the fire extinguisher available in the cockpit, however did not manage to put the fire out. The first officer in the meantime notified cabin crew of the cockpit fire prompting an immediate rapid disembarkment via the jetways, then moved on to find somebody with a radio unit, stopped a car on the service way underneath the jetway and radioed the fire department, first fire trucks arrived about 3 minutes after the fire was first observed. Rapid deplanement was completed in about 4-5 minutes. Fire fighters were able to extinguish the fire quickly, all works to extinguish and cool the aircraft were finished about 94 minutes after the onset of fire.

Re: Malaysian 777

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwtimmon (Post 11179314)

Without the changes, the FAA says, pilots could lose control of the planes if smoke or fire should break out.

AAIB issues Special Bulletin on Boeing 777 electrical fire incident

THE US air safety regulator warned two years ago of problems with the structure of the fuel tank of the Boeing 777-200

Boeing 777 lithium battery fire

But the plane continued to fly for 7 hours after it went off the official radar, so how does this relate to the missing Malaysia Airline plane?

:confused:

Re: Malaysian 777

As posted above

The captain and co-pilot tried to find the source of the smoke and fire, but it soon filled the cockpit and overwhelmed them (a tire fire would do this). It also shorted out cockpit systems one by one, including the transponder. The pilots passed out or died.

Or from my first link

Quote:

For me, the loss of transponders and communications makes perfect sense in a fire. And there most likely was an electrical fire. In the case of a fire, the first response is to pull the main busses and restore circuits one by one until you have isolated the bad one. If they pulled the busses, the plane would go silent. It probably was a serious event and the flight crew was occupied with controlling the plane and trying to fight the fire. Aviate, navigate, and lastly, communicate is the mantra in such situations.