having been involved in a couple of "aircraft lost" incidents it was obvious to me a false trail, even the Chinese took 3 days before releasing the pictures. Which they did (presumably) knowing that particular area had already been extensively searched as it was high on the projected flight path.

Although normal radio and data connections were lost as reported, according to the pilots forum the automatic engine management system continued to ping the satellite on the hour for four more hours.

I wonder if the only power it had left was the tiny emergency generator system which would only give enough power for it to be partially controlled in a long glidepath mostly below radar coverage and well away from the search area?

If the aircraft made a crash landing on the sea with only partial damage maybe it could have immediately sunk in one complete piece leaving no sign of debris and no opportunity for emergency evacuation ?

Otherwise maybe the only other credible option was that it made landfall in the middle of some remote jungle or similar.

Apart from AF447, anyone recall the Steve Fossett mystery ?

His plane went missing over land in the States in a very limited search area due to the very limited range of the plane itself.

After massive failed search and rescue operations, it still took over a year to trace it and then only due to a hiker who was out walking close to the crash site.

now seems the 4hrs of engine data has been debunked - RR and Boeing say they never received anything after 01:20

seems the GDY's are treating the Malacca Straits/Andaman Sea theory very seriously.

So is this a case of a pilot who lost all communication systems in that impossible event of Total failure trying to do a 180 back to KL and not completing it and flying across the mainland and over the western sea
or
The plane was hijacked, all systems were switched off to "hide" the aircraft and then flown to another destination.
the article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ng-theory.html
says that an aircraft without a squawk was tracked and appeared to be following navigational waypoints - the turn at the top of the Malacca Straits would put the aircraft in the normal lane for aircraft from KL and Singapore flying through that area.

But why didn't the Malaysian Air Force scramble a jet to get a visual??
One of the reasons for the search seeming so disjointed is the mistrust between the different nation's military and not discussing radar returns etc in case someone finds out what they have and how they use it.

Much as I said,

.....however it has once again been confirmed today and also reported on Sky news, that the automatic system related to the engine data continued to ping it's satellite connection on the hour every hour for at least 4 hours after all other contact was lost.

Now consider the size of the search area that this could give rise to.

Looking for a needle in a haystack would be quite simple by comparison.

Apart from opening the door to a million and one conspiracy theories, some of which may seem quite credible.

I may turn out to be correct

OK, I'll bite if no one else does....

How can a plane heading West or North West arrive in Korea

but pinging is different to downloading information, AFAIK Rolls Royce still haven't recanted their earlier report that they didn't receive any engine data in that period

I have heard of a South China Sea Triangle but not one in the Andaman's

`

Domino. There was another alternative in the Mail which showed it heading east Total bollox of course but was just tongue in cheek.

Looks as if the M word will be back soon

not surprising - both pilot and co-pilot are/were both IIRC

`

It has been said there was a communications ping to a satellite at 8am, so either someone forgot to switch the module off, didn't know it was even there or ..................

but wouldn't it have run out of fuel by 8am

I never said it was communicating data, simply that it continued to ping on the hour every hour.

From the ping they have worked out 2 possible tracks, the time lapse of each ping giving the estimated distance from the satellite and another reading possibly giving angle of elevation also, but there is no way to estimate how far along the possible tracks the plane continued to travel, so it is still a vast search area.

Maybe the timing of loss of contact was pre-planned making it less noticeable until daylight and also throwing up the possibility that it has landed safely, which in itself throws up more options regarding intentions or purpose.
Even kidnapping and ransom have been mentioned.
Obviously no major airfields have been used, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of a wheels up crash landing on some remote strip in a jungle after which it could be camouflaged.
Just one possibility amongst many that comes to mind.
At least as things stand, there may still be some hope for the passengers.

For J2s info Korea is not a possibility, also the Southerly track of the two options over the Indian ocean seems highly unlikely due to lack of landing areas as well as lack of land itself.

All things considered, it still appears the most likely scenario is that it's at the bottom of the south china sea somewhere.

It's likely a greater probability that it would have endured a water landing without much debris than some diabolical hijack that landed it in some unknown remote place without anyone noticing (although one can't completely rule that out). Those oil slicks they found initially may well have been the only sign of it hitting water, and that forensic evidence could be long gone by now.

Besides, it's pretty odd that nobody's made any claim or ransom demand yet... and that would be the whole reason for nicking it in the first place. An operation of this magnitude would have to involve a lot of conspirators to be able to pull it off, and one thing's for sure, most people can't keep secrets for very long.

This one's a head scratcher, for sure. I watch with anticipation...

This is the ultimate 'grassy knell' with bells on, a grassy knell times ten.

Our most efficient spy agency, the CIA, is strangely silent, the Chinese can't do much despite their citizens on board because the plane flew away from China in the opposite direction.

Pakistan's tribal lands as a destination? Only if the US fleet in the Indian Ocean was asleep last Saturday. Somalia - Ditto.

Suicide by pilot? There would have been wreckage.

The pilot had a home made flight simulator at home, he could have trained up many 'friends' to help him fly away last week.

But Why?

think you should sit down and have a rioja with pilot Sullenberger who put the 737 into the Hudson without loss of life.
he reverted back to his experience as a military aviator, putting a large aircraft down in relatively calm waters in broad daylight.
I am sure he wouldn't give much for anyone's chances if it had been at night, although he would have done his best.

no one incident is ever the same, even the quality of support of the co-pilot makes more difference than can ever be imagined.

that active "pinging" from onboard systems is reported to have still been occuring 7-8hrs after last contact indicates that the plane is NOT in the water. Firstly none would work if they got wet, secondly if at the bottom of the ocean and still working the signals would not get out of the ocean.
Hence the problem with finding the black box on the 747 lost flight lost in 2009 (Brazil - France), although some wreckage was found within a couple of days it took 2 years to find the black boxes.

Every incident means an update to electronics/communications to improve the likelihood of finding the remains if nothing else. But in this instance the indicators are that the aircraft did a turn, cut across the Malay Peninsular and then turned North/North West over the Langkawi archipelago of 104 islands at the southern end of the Andaman Sea.
This is a well known aeronautical waypoint for aircraft from KL, Singapore, Jakarta and even Perth in WA. The reason being - the Malacca Straits are full of memorable locations if there is a need to fly without instruments.

hth

And if you was going to top yourself, why switch everything off, surely you would just down the plane regardless ?