"Sharp Changes In Altitude and Course After Jet Lost Contact" NY Times

[applegrove]

Sharp Changes In Altitude and Course After Jet Lost Contact

http://www.nytimes.com/

(I don't have the money to log into the NYTimes except the first page so no outtake. CNN referenced this report. Says that the altitude went up to 45,000 feet. Seems there could have been a struggle on the plane)

[steve2470]

1. Sharp Changes in Altitude and Course After Jet Lost Contact

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/world/asia/malaysia-military-radar.html?hp&_r=0

SEPANG, Malaysia — Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 experienced significant changes in altitude after it lost contact with ground control, and altered its course more than once as if still under the command of a pilot, American officials and others familiar with the investigation said Friday.

Radar signals recorded by the Malaysian military appear to show the missing airliner climbing to 45,000 feet, above the approved altitude limit for a Boeing 777-200, soon after it disappeared from civilian radar and made a sharp turn to the west, according to a preliminary assessment by a person familiar with the data.

The radar track, which the Malaysian government has not released but says it has provided to the United States and China, then shows the plane descending unevenly to an altitude of 23,000 feet, below normal cruising levels, as it approached the densely populated island of Penang, one of the country’s largest. There, the plane turned from a southwest-bound course, climbed to a higher altitude and flew northwest over the Strait of Malacca toward the Indian Ocean.

Investigators have also examined data transmitted from the plane’s Rolls-Royce engines that shows it descending 40,000 feet in the space of a minute, according to a senior American official briefed on the investigation. But investigators do not believe the readings are accurate because the aircraft would likely have taken longer to fall such a distance.

[applegrove]

2. Thanks.

[JimDandy]

12. Above 43,100 feet the passengers and crew are rendered unconscious

The cockpit crew would have know that. So climbing to 45,000 ft while most passengers were sleeping was likely a deliberate act.

I imagine there was a lot of panic and fear in that plane.

[Rex]

3. SPECULATION IS GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION!

WE ARE THE DARLOK!

[elleng]

4. from the link:

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 experienced significant changes in altitude after it lost contact with ground control, and altered its course more than once as if still under the command of a pilot, American officials and others familiar with the investigation said Friday.

Radar signals recorded by the Malaysian military appear to show the missing airliner climbing to 45,000 feet, above the approved altitude limit for a Boeing 777-200, soon after it disappeared from civilian radar and made a sharp turn to the west, according to a preliminary assessment by a person familiar with the data.

A captain of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, Izam Fareq Hassan, right, talked with his team members during a search and rescue operation over the Strait of Malacca on Friday.Satellite Firm Says Its Data From Jet Could Offer Location.

India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Indian Navy is conducting a vast operation to find Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.India Expands Its Efforts in Search for Missing Jet.

An Indonesian sailor scans near the Strait of Malacca. False leads have set back the search for the missing jet.Use of Stolen Passports on Missing Jet Highlights Security Flaw.

A Vietnamese military helicopter on Monday flew over the Gulf of Thailand. Planes and copters from nine nations are scouring the waters near a Malaysia Airlines flight’s last reported location.Q. and A. on the Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight.

The radar track, which the Malaysian government has not released but says it has provided to the United States and China, then shows the plane descending unevenly to an altitude of 23,000 feet, below normal cruising levels, as it approached the densely populated island of Penang, one of the country’s largest. There, the plane turned from a southwest-bound course, climbed to a higher altitude and flew northwest over the Strait of Malacca toward the Indian Ocean.


Primary radar
Sends out radio signals and listens for echoes that bounce back from objects in the sky.
TRANSPONDER
Secondary radar
Sends signals that request information from the plane’s transponder. The plane sends back information including its identification and altitude. The radar repeatedly sweeps the sky and interrogates the transponder. Other planes in flight can also receive the transponder signals.

Investigators have also examined data transmitted from the plane’s Rolls-Royce engines that shows it descending 40,000 feet in the space of a minute, according to a senior American official briefed on the investigation. But investigators do not believe the readings are accurate because the aircraft would likely have taken longer to fall such a distance.

“A lot of stock cannot be put in the altitude data” sent from the engines, one official said. “A lot of this doesn’t make sense.”

[FarCenter]

5. If you are using Chrome, try accessing NY Times in incognito mode.

[applegrove]

6. Don't have chrome.

[FarCenter]

8. In Explorer 11, Control+shift+P brings up an "In Private" window

Not sure that it works in earlier versions of Explorer.

You can also bring up an In Private window by going to Tools, Safety, InPrivate Browsing.

[Voice for Peace]

9. oooh thanks!! didn't know about that...

[jakeXT]

7. Interesting tactic

An Asia-based pilot of a Boeing 777-200, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, said an ascent above the plane’s service limit of 43,100 feet, along with a depressurized cabin, could have rendered the passengers and crew unconscious, and could be a deliberate maneuver by a pilot or hijacker.

[SoCalDem]

10. We probably will never know the whole story

but I certainly hope the passengers & crew were unaware of what was to happen.

Just the thought of hours-long fright, preceding their demise is too horrible to contemplate

[applegrove]

11. Yeah. Unless you survive. Which looks unlikely now. Vibes to those souls onboard

Last edited Fri Mar 14, 2014, 06:53 PM - Edit history (1)