Re: The UK news thread.
 

I would agree. A night landing in open seas would have been an entirely different and probably fatal experience.

Under identical circumstances I would have thought that any proficient Captain would have made the same, probably the only, common sense decision as Sullenberger.

It is interesting to note that he actually made one very serious error that could have meant disaster if the aircraft had been forced to land elsewhere out of the reach of immediate assistance.
Indeed Sullenberger could well have been facing a charge of gross negligence if loss of life had occurred.

He failed to activate the Ditch button, a major priority in such circumstances, which seals valves and other entrances from incoming water and the main reason that the aircraft was sinking quite rapidly.

However the US desperately needs it's heroes these days, so understandably in the midst of typical euphoria, this potentially serious mistake was quickly swept under the carpet and almost forgotten.

Re: The UK news thread.
 

With the (limited) evidence so far, it does appear that it wasn't an "accident" in the traditional sense.

Nonetheless, because there's been no credible claim of responsibility (yet), it does suggest that all involved may well have been aboard, and it didn't work out as they'd planned. There could be nobody outside that plane that knows anything!

Bottom of the sea, me still suspect.. The horrifying thing is that there may well have been survivors.. ...trapped underwater.

Re: The UK news thread.
 

Or it could have been perfectly planned hence why nothing is out there, I am sure if they planned to take it they would have planned for the aftermaft.

This story below has not really been pushed in the main press ?

Maldives island residents report sighting of 'low flying jet'

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/54062

Re: The UK news thread.
 

which indicates it was very low
perhaps towards the end of a long long path to eventually ditching in the sea.

but no report of the actual time, so we cant project from the time over the Langkawi islands out to the Maldives

Re: The UK news thread.
 

Somali pirates?

Re: The UK news thread.
 

Somalia is too the direct left of the Maldives, bit far fetched but..........maybe something on the plane, some cargo ?

Re: The UK news thread.
 

The plane itself ought to be worth a few shiny beads.

Re: The UK news thread.
 

How’s this for a silly theory ?

MH370 catastrophically broke up in flight just where the last signal of the transponder was received from, i.e. in or near Vietnam waters. The transponder and the ACARS were destroyed at the same time, but the SATCOM system survived and managed to ping from the floating wreckage for some hours afterwards.

The “red arcs” that show where the plane last “pinged” from, if joined up, pass through the southern tip of Vietnam.

Why was there no wreckage found ?

a) The Vietnamese probably do not have the airborne maritime reconnaissance or naval patrol assets as those of the UK (or Malaysia) and therefore probably did not deploy enough resources for a full search of the very large area.

b) The Vietnamese pulled off the search very quickly after the plane was supposed to have been flying over the Malacca Strait.

c) It would be very difficult to distinguish debris from the usual rubbish found in the not so pristine waters of the South China Sea where I believe the peoples of 15 countries discharge their waste.

d) The Chinese photographs showed the debris, but were withdrawn when the plane was supposedly last seen over the Malacca Strait, so as not to look stupid. Therefore there is no debris in Vietnamese waters.

Best way of finding the plane ? Offer $500,000 for a verifiable piece of the aircraft. You will have every boat in Asia searching.

http://theaviationist.com/2014/03/16...ars-explained/

Re: The UK news thread.
 

I think you will find the Vietnamese Navy has a tad more assets than the Royal Navy in that area

:( because it didn't used to be that way

Re: The UK news thread.
 

Yeah, I didn't mean in the area, I meant in total, just to make a point that the Vietnamese resources aren't that big.

:D

Re: The UK news thread.
 

well with UK's fast shrinking fleet, or should that be flotilla ?? :lol:
it is a good job that what they do have is of top quality (and should be for the money :ohmy:) and with an impressive impact.
but when you run out of butter you can't cover all of the bread.
:(

remember being on an aircraft carrier that was dry docked in the KGV dock in Singapore and walking underneath it hoping the wooden props didn't take that moment to break :eek:
many fine years spent out there, great memories, but we weren't allowed to visit Vietnam, that was for GDY's only for their private war so had to drive past instead. Probably not alot different to Thailand. (?)

Re: The UK news thread.
 

The canberras from Tengah (or was it Changi) used to rattle my rooftop on the way to the South China Sea.

Re: The UK news thread.
 

Going back to the live tracking of the Shark's, imagine if all the Sharks in the world had trackers, then its possible you may find the plane that way, Sharks will find the bodies and when they are swarming they would be able to track the plane.

Re: The UK news thread.
 

after an Australian satellite seemed to find 2 rather large bits of "something" floating 1500miles off Perth they now have a very merchant ship and a couple of warships + aircraft searching but.....
as this is the Roaring Forties the weather isn't exactly playing ball

and still nothing found

is it in a hangar in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan or another 'stan ??

And why have they just found out/released that the pilot had/made a phone call on a mobile just before take off ???

Plot thickens...............

Re: The UK news thread.
 

So despite the over riding feeling among many experts that it's ditched somewhere in a deep ocean you think it's more likely it's been hijacked and is hiding out in a Muslim country for some sinister purpose? Interesting.