That Vanishing Act
"A pilot rather than a hijacker is more likely to be able to switch off the communications equipment. The last thing that I, as a pilot, want is suspicion to fall on the crew, but it's happened twice before."
Mike Glynn, Australian and International Pilots Association
Mr. Glynn's considered opinion is that pilot suicide may be the most likely explanation for the strange invisibility of Malaysian Flight MH370. He cited a SilkAir crash during a flight in 2997 from Singapore to Jakarta and an EgyptAir flight in 199, where the senior pilot was recognized as having committed his plane and passengers to his suicide wish.
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Search crew on a Chinese military aircraft look for missing flight MH370 in the South China Sea, March 12. (Photo/Xinhua)
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Other experts believe one of the pilots, or someone with flying experience hijacked the plane for other purposes. Or committed suicide with all on board unwitting participants. And although initial reports out of Kuala Lumpur by authorities lauded the professionalism and expertise of their pilots, Zaharic Ahmad Shah, 53, and Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, other information has been revealed that Pilot Shah might have been implicated.
That he might very well have used the flight simulator that he'd had installed in his home to plan out a trajectory that would keep his flight invisible to authorities for some mysterious purpose of his own. Meaning, perhaps to land somewhere, and to declare himself and the purpose of the hijacking. On the other hand, rumours of his having been given a bomb to place in his footwear have also surfaced.
That he had malevolent connections with opposition parties whose agenda was of a ferociously dangerous kind. And that Malaysian terrorists had given him instructions on how best to proceed with plans that have not yet been disclosed by authorities who have been reluctant from the outset to offer the public much in the way of information.
But someone, both Malaysian and U.S. officials state, with aviation skills is responsible for that course change for Flight MH370. The jet was discovered to have turned back after its final radio contact with air traffic controllers. And investigators are examining "human intervention" in the plane's strange disappearance, perhaps "an act of piracy", perhaps other than that, but the "other" is the mystery.
Malaysia Airlines while not subscribing to the Boeing satellite tracking service, has been made aware that the missing plane had the capability to connect with the satellite, automatically sending regular pings as it pursued its strange course over unknown waters. Seven hours of flight after last contact is considerable.
India's Tri-Services Command began land searches after sweeping seas to the north, east and south of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Something concrete will eventually emerge to reveal what a host of experts and authorities are hedging their bets on.
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, March 16, 2014
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