Boeing 777 used low altitude 'terrain masking' manoeuvre practised by fighter jets...

[kentuck]

<snip>

Investigators told the New Straits Times that they were now convinced the aircraft flow low over Kelantan, which is in the north east - exactly the same area where the villagers and fishermen who saw bright lights in the sky on the night the jet vanished are living.

At least nine people - fishermen, farmers and villagers - have made reports to police about seeing lights in the sky and some said they heard the loud noise of an engine.

These accounts appear to match the conclusions of investigators who say the jet flew low after making a sharp turn and heading west from its course over the South China Sea.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2582595/Boeing-777-hijackers-plunged-5-000ft-used-low-altitude-terrain-masking-manoeuvre-practised-fighter-jets-avoid-radar-detection.html

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I know this is the daily mail.

But there is something very fishy going on with this airplane. Is it a test run of some kind to see how they can hide and attack without being found by radar?

I think there is a plot afoot. But who knows what it is?

[jmowreader]

1. Isn't this like part of the plot of one of the Airport movies?

In the third one, people trying to steal a 747 and its priceless cargo planned to drop off radar and fly to a deserted island. (It didn't work.)

So what's the angle in this one? The crew doesn't get a cargo manifest a week ahead of time so they can't plan this out, and a 777 is rare enough that if East Goat Screw Air suddenly showed up with it people would ask questions. The major parts all have serial numbers so they can't be anonymously sold.

[Niceguy1]

26. they can be easily

Sold in parts of the world that dont care about that kind of thing.

[Iggo]

2. Investigators are now convinced about this....

...until they become convinced about something else.

[NightWatcher]

3. Excuse me, stewardess, why did we just do a barrel roll?

Uh yes, I'm going to need another Dewars.

[Auntie Bush]

4. Maybe out to get the worlds tallest building..recently the second worlds tallest.

I wouldn't want to work or live anywhere in the area. However, I guess the mission failed.

Did those people who saw the lights also hear the crash...did anyone?

[kentuck]

5. There are many airstrips big enough for the plane to land...

all around that area.

[seveneyes]

6. If any of this were to be factual

The biggest question would be why have your bright/landing lights on...unless you are landing?

[kentuck]

8. Excellent question?

If they landed. would they be holding the passengers hostage??

[avebury]

22. They might keep a small number as hostages, but I

just don't see them keeping all the passengers alive. They would be a drain on the hijackers' resources and if they want to use the plane for something else there would be way too many people to keep quiet.

[HipChick]

10. Flying so low...they might be coming on automatically on a 777

If you are that low, the plane thinks its going to land..

[Fumesucker]

7. That is the sort of thing it's possible to practice with a flight simulator

You could even practice on the actual terrain you plan to fly over.

[kentuck]

9. If you were making a movie...?

Your camera angle would focus in on the flight simulator in the basement...

[kentuck]

12. Also...

It sounds a little like there may been some military background in regards to the radar and terrain maneuvers?

A little background on the pilot and co-pilot? The pilot, in his fifties, had been with the airline since 1981. He had been slightly involved with protests about the existing regime in Malaysia. The younger man, a son of a high level "civil servant", was in his twenties and was known to bring young ladies into the cabin and take "selfies" - but no photos of the pilot - and was later reprimanded for it. That was a couple of years ago. Also, it has been reported that he is a devout Muslim.

[stevenleser]

11. If you were planning to use a plane later on for a 9/11 style attack or some other mission

you might do this. This would take a lot of resources. Fuel, etc.

There aren't many sane sounding scenarios for this information.

[kentuck]

13. Unless you could make a couple of stops and re-fuel on the way over?

I hate conspiracy theories. However, that doesn't mean there are never any conspiracies?

I would like to know the history of the flight simulator. Both the pilot and co-pilot lived in a gated neighborhood, but they were not next-door neighbors. I would like to know more about that.

????

[JHB]

19. If the simulator has any role, the important thing would be the files...

...i.e., any saved sessions, autosaves, unusual destinations, waypoints, high-res terrain sets, etc. If it was used to train for anything unusual, that's where there would be some indication (or better yet, a record).

The simulator itself looked like a gaming rig with with all the bells and whistles the flight sim community likes: multiple screens, fancy joysticks & pedals, etc. Nothing an airline pilot (or copilot, or steward) couldn't afford to put together over a few years.

[kentuck]

27. Would it be unusual for a pilot to have a flight simulator?

And for what purposes? To hone his skills?

[JHB]

39. Anything from "fly" for fun to practicing for requalification...

...to combat sims, to just "trying out" planes he doesn't usually have the opportunity to fly. Even flights of fancy, like a plane that has all the flight characteristics of a Sopwith Camel, but the in-sim model looks like Snoopy on his doghouse, in full "world famous WWI ace" regalia.

There are hundreds of thousands of flight sim hobbyists, a significant portion of whom are also pilots. Most have a bit simpler setups, like a PC with a fancy joystick, but there's probably thousands of people who go whole hog and get all the toys. An actual pilot would probably be even more inclined to do that, just out of familiarity.

My point is, simply having a setup like his is not remarkable on its own: it's pure men, boys, price of toys-type stuff. If it has anything significant, it will be in how he used it in the weeks prior, and whatever the authorities can recover from it.

[FarCenter]

14. They had me right up to the "sonar barrier" thing.

Investigators told a Malaysian newspaper that the Boeing 777 had dropped to a lower altitude to avoid ground radar, using the surrounding terrain as a sonar barrier.

[kentuck]

15. If they had landed...?

Last edited Mon Mar 17, 2014, 08:14 PM - Edit history (1)

I don't think any of the authorities would want to publicize it? Why not just deny them publicity?? It's a very interesting mystery, to say the least.

[MattBaggins]

16. I joked with some friends a few days after it went missing

saying it was in Korea.


Maybe it is after all.

Still believe it went down but this is weird.

[kentuck]

17. The last radio message heard....

was from the co-pilot, not the pilot. He wished them a good night and minutes later the plane had changed course. My guess is that it is hid somewhere in a long valley in Thailand. That is where the illegal passport business was operating. It's a mystery to me...

[MattBaggins]

18. I was playing on the whole bit of that company that had 20 people on board

Korea got them to get trade secrets out of them.

[kentuck]

21. Was it an American company??

It's hard to imagine that either one or both, the pilot and the co-pilot, are not involved? I keep returning to the flight simulator.

[MattBaggins]

25. I believe it was an American company.

I doubt Korea would really do it though. They may be carzy but not that cray cray

[malaise]

20. Good night is a pretty normal sign off

early in the morning.

[kentuck]

23. And it was 14 minutes after that good night message...

..that radio communications were shut off. 14 minutes? Was there a discussion during those 14 minutes? Or, if it was planned ahead of time, wouldn't they have done that almost immediately? Strange occurrence.

[malaise]

24. It gains significance

because of what followed.
It's one hell of a mystery

[kentuck]

28. Then they turned the plane back toward Malaysia and southern Thailand?

I wonder if the stolen passports have any significance? And if they could fill it up wherever they landed and have a stolen flight plan? Did they plan on flying into a place that was surrounded by mountains?

[malaise]

37. The stolen passports were for asylum

Mothers were expecting their sons.
I don't even know if the pilots did anything. The aircraft could have been compromised.

[kentuck]

38. True but...

Were the passport thieves in Thailand into any other business, forgery or doctoring documents? Hell, it could have been aliens, that breathe water, that came from deep in the Indian Ocean, for all I know?

[JimDandy]

30. 2 minutes after the good night the plane turned around.

Interesting that they didn't turn off the radio comm until 12 minutes after that.

[kentuck]

32. Did they turn off the transponder first?

And then the radio? They probably did that for a reason?

[JimDandy]

34. Apparently in that order. n/t

[applegrove]

29. America has kept airplane technology out of the hands of the Iranians for 34 years.

Their airplanes regularly fall out of the sky. Maybe they really, really wanted a prototype to copy.

[JimDandy]

31. So no Boeing 777 ever lands in Iran? n/t

[applegrove]

35. They can't get it and copy all the systems on a layover. Come on!!! I'm just speculating of course.

[kentuck]

33. Interesting point.

Now we are entering James Bond territory.

[applegrove]

36. I know. I'm out there with my speculation.