Malaysia Airlines Flight Goes Missing En Route to China

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This story http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/23/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/ indicates evidence that after MH370 made the sharp turn it dropped altitude to as low as 12000 feet. This would have helped MH370 avoid traffic since other plans would be flying at a much higher altitutde, but it is also at an altitude that would be fairly safe for someone or anyone for that matter to parachute out of the plane.

Guys, stop with your insane movie plots. It was cute at first, but now it's obnoxiously insulting.

Exactly how is it insulting? And to whom?

It's insulting to anyone who's lost family members in a crash, especially this crash, because you're clearly using this tragedy to feed your own lust for insane conspiracy theories, or feel out movie/book plots. It's really, incredibly offensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know the answer to this:

If something incapacitates the pilots, can the air stewards get into the cockpit?

I am not an expert, but I did hear that the only way to get into the cockpit when it is locked is to be let in by someone from the inside. So, no, based on what i have heard over the last couple if weeks, if the pilot and copilot are incapacitated, the passengers cannot get in.

Having said that, I do remember that a flight steward was seen in the cockpit of the Greek 'phantom' airplane where the pilots had lost consciousness. Such a sad story. Once he gained entry (as witnessed by military planes flying beside) one of the engines lost power due to running out of fuel and the plane crashed.

There is absolutely a way on every plane for the flight crew to enter the cockpit in case of emergency if the door is locked from the inside. how is not something that airlines reveal as obviously it isn't something they want the general public knowing. However the pilot or copilot can override the attempt to enter (if they are conscious). So if a hijacker is trying to gain entrance to the cockpit and knows how to do so from the cabin, the pilot can bar that entry. If however the pilots are incapacitated then the flight crew can gain entry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they lost air pressure, the pilot tried to land and drop height (hence the sharp turn towards a known, close airport), but it was too late and they just veered on, all unconscious.

Whatever caused it, also caused the communications to drop. And/or, the pilot had no time to communicate.

Perhaps it's human nature that we all want there to be more to the story - maybe we can understand a suicide or hostage taking or even terror activity. But plain old technical errors in the manufacturing or upkeep of the plane is hard to swallow. It's actually far scarier. Are these planes too smart for their own good?

The problem is that the warning alarms would have sounded multiple times and been tracked on the ACARS before communication shut down. Unless there was a catastrophic explosion that blew the plane to smithereens (which didn't happen here) planes are designed to send out warnings at every possible little thing that starts to go wrong. On the air France flight, the ACARS had something like 72 warnings in 4 minutes logged on it. If the plane had started to depressurize, warnings would have been going like crazy long before it even reached the point that anyone would need oxygen. All those warnings get recorded by the ACARS. It makes no sense that the ACARS recorded nothing other than normal flight activity if this was any kind of mechanical issue. Additionally all the communication devices aren't in one location so the pilots could have put out a mayday or distress call - there are multiple ways they can do this, if part of their communication system had gone down.

[Anonymous]

Arrgghhh ... it's such a mystery. And anxiety-ridden because we're all at risk until they discover and rectify the problem.

Devastating for the families, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know the answer to this:

If something incapacitates the pilots, can the air stewards get into the cockpit?

I am not an expert, but I did hear that the only way to get into the cockpit when it is locked is to be let in by someone from the inside. So, no, based on what i have heard over the last couple if weeks, if the pilot and copilot are incapacitated, the passengers cannot get in.

Having said that, I do remember that a flight steward was seen in the cockpit of the Greek 'phantom' airplane where the pilots had lost consciousness. Such a sad story. Once he gained entry (as witnessed by military planes flying beside) one of the engines lost power due to running out of fuel and the plane crashed.

Why did the pilots lose consciousness in the Greek incident?

It seems like a flaw in the system. Surely there's another solution for keeping the cockpit safe, but allowing entry for an emergency? I can only imagine the terror if this happened - knowing someone needs to take control but there's no way in. BTW, I'm only surmising here, but it seems a lot more likely to me than hostage taking or suicide.

I believe the air pressure system had been switched to manual during a repair and hadn't been switched back. So as the place ascended the cabin was not pressurized. The pilots thought the alarms were related to something else and continued to climb. I'm guessing the steward regained consciousness when the place descended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know the answer to this:

If something incapacitates the pilots, can the air stewards get into the cockpit?

I am not an expert, but I did hear that the only way to get into the cockpit when it is locked is to be let in by someone from the inside. So, no, based on what i have heard over the last couple if weeks, if the pilot and copilot are incapacitated, the passengers cannot get in.

Having said that, I do remember that a flight steward was seen in the cockpit of the Greek 'phantom' airplane where the pilots had lost consciousness. Such a sad story. Once he gained entry (as witnessed by military planes flying beside) one of the engines lost power due to running out of fuel and the plane crashed.

There is absolutely a way on every plane for the flight crew to enter the cockpit in case of emergency if the door is locked from the inside. how is not something that airlines reveal as obviously it isn't something they want the general public knowing. However the pilot or copilot can override the attempt to enter (if they are conscious). So if a hijacker is trying to gain entrance to the cockpit and knows how to do so from the cabin, the pilot can bar that entry. If however the pilots are incapacitated then the flight crew can gain entry.

Thanks for clarifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know the answer to this:

If something incapacitates the pilots, can the air stewards get into the cockpit?

I am not an expert, but I did hear that the only way to get into the cockpit when it is locked is to be let in by someone from the inside. So, no, based on what i have heard over the last couple if weeks, if the pilot and copilot are incapacitated, the passengers cannot get in.

Having said that, I do remember that a flight steward was seen in the cockpit of the Greek 'phantom' airplane where the pilots had lost consciousness. Such a sad story. Once he gained entry (as witnessed by military planes flying beside) one of the engines lost power due to running out of fuel and the plane crashed.

There is absolutely a way on every plane for the flight crew to enter the cockpit in case of emergency if the door is locked from the inside. how is not something that airlines reveal as obviously it isn't something they want the general public knowing. However the pilot or copilot can override the attempt to enter (if they are conscious). So if a hijacker is trying to gain entrance to the cockpit and knows how to do so from the cabin, the pilot can bar that entry. If however the pilots are incapacitated then the flight crew can gain entry.

Thanks for clarifying.

And so even in the case of pilot suicide, the flight crew could know there was something wrong but the pilot could bar them from being able to enter. If the pilots locks the emergency entrance lock, no one can get in.

[Anonymous]

Before you use the Air France comparison remember this: Within 2 days of the crash, in the middle of the Atlantic, they started finding debris from the crash. The TOTAL fuselage was found 2 years later.

[Anonymous]

There was no communication from the pilots of the ghost flights in the US and Australia. There's only seconds between losing pressure and losing consciousness on the smaller planes. It's difficult to think without enough oxygen. The Greek flight was a larger plane. The pilots reported an air conditioning issue before they stopped communicating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before you use the Air France comparison remember this: Within 2 days of the crash, in the middle of the Atlantic, they started finding debris from the crash. The TOTAL fuselage was found 2 years later.

That's because they knew exactly where to look. Right now, the area is as big as the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they lost air pressure, the pilot tried to land and drop height (hence the sharp turn towards a known, close airport), but it was too late and they just veered on, all unconscious.

Whatever caused it, also caused the communications to drop. And/or, the pilot had no time to communicate.

Perhaps it's human nature that we all want there to be more to the story - maybe we can understand a suicide or hostage taking or even terror activity. But plain old technical errors in the manufacturing or upkeep of the plane is hard to swallow. It's actually far scarier. Are these planes too smart for their own good?

The problem is that the warning alarms would have sounded multiple times and been tracked on the ACARS before communication shut down. Unless there was a catastrophic explosion that blew the plane to smithereens (which didn't happen here) planes are designed to send out warnings at every possible little thing that starts to go wrong. On the air France flight, the ACARS had something like 72 warnings in 4 minutes logged on it. If the plane had started to depressurize, warnings would have been going like crazy long before it even reached the point that anyone would need oxygen. All those warnings get recorded by the ACARS. It makes no sense that the ACARS recorded nothing other than normal flight activity if this was any kind of mechanical issue. Additionally all the communication devices aren't in one location so the pilots could have put out a mayday or distress call - there are multiple ways they can do this, if part of their communication system had gone down.

ACARS was disabled about an hour into the flight. Isn't it possible that the depressurization happened after ACARS was disabled? The fact that ACARS was disabled makes it impossible to say that depressurization did or did not happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before you use the Air France comparison remember this: Within 2 days of the crash, in the middle of the Atlantic, they started finding debris from the crash. The TOTAL fuselage was found 2 years later.

That's because they knew exactly where to look. Right now, the area is as big as the US.

Not to mention the Indian Ocean is very different than the Atlantic Ocean, and there very large swaths of the floor that have never been charted - the waters are also a lot more rough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know the answer to this:

If something incapacitates the pilots, can the air stewards get into the cockpit?

I am not an expert, but I did hear that the only way to get into the cockpit when it is locked is to be let in by someone from the inside. So, no, based on what i have heard over the last couple if weeks, if the pilot and copilot are incapacitated, the passengers cannot get in.

Having said that, I do remember that a flight steward was seen in the cockpit of the Greek 'phantom' airplane where the pilots had lost consciousness. Such a sad story. Once he gained entry (as witnessed by military planes flying beside) one of the engines lost power due to running out of fuel and the plane crashed.

There is absolutely a way on every plane for the flight crew to enter the cockpit in case of emergency if the door is locked from the inside. how is not something that airlines reveal as obviously it isn't something they want the general public knowing. However the pilot or copilot can override the attempt to enter (if they are conscious). So if a hijacker is trying to gain entrance to the cockpit and knows how to do so from the cabin, the pilot can bar that entry. If however the pilots are incapacitated then the flight crew can gain entry.

Thanks for clarifying.

And so even in the case of pilot suicide, the flight crew could know there was something wrong but the pilot could bar them from being able to enter. If the pilots locks the emergency entrance lock, no one can get in.

Pp here. I think I heard it on CNN, which simplified the scenario indicating if one pilot got up and left the cockpit the other one could simply lick the door behind him/her. It left me with the impression that it was a one step locking process.

[Anonymous]

Regarding access to the cockpit: this came up before and the airlines said, that it is generally that crew CAN get in (like on the Greek Helios flight), if pilots are unconscious or incapacitated etc. but that entry can actively be prevented from inside the cockpit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone know the answer to this:

If something incapacitates the pilots, can the air stewards get into the cockpit?


I am not an expert, but I did hear that the only way to get into the cockpit when it is locked is to be let in by someone from the inside. So, no, based on what i have heard over the last couple if weeks, if the pilot and copilot are incapacitated, the passengers cannot get in.

Having said that, I do remember that a flight steward was seen in the cockpit of the Greek 'phantom' airplane where the pilots had lost consciousness. Such a sad story. Once he gained entry (as witnessed by military planes flying beside) one of the engines lost power due to running out of fuel and the plane crashed.


There is absolutely a way on every plane for the flight crew to enter the cockpit in case of emergency if the door is locked from the inside. how is not something that airlines reveal as obviously it isn't something they want the general public knowing. However the pilot or copilot can override the attempt to enter (if they are conscious). So if a hijacker is trying to gain entrance to the cockpit and knows how to do so from the cabin, the pilot can bar that entry. If however the pilots are incapacitated then the flight crew can gain entry.

Nope no way to get in once the door is locked.