Malaysian Jet

Quote: boymimbo

If all statements are true, then this is the only possibility.

I'd put my money on all statements being lies.

Can you steal an airplane? I assume it would be of some use, if you were planning a suicide mission, and you wanted fully loaded fuel tanks.

But could you fly an airplane for drug smuggling or human trafficking? Would you be able to develop a route that would allow you to operate a full size jet without being detected?

What if you simply wanted to put your drug lab and quarters for your elite onboard the plane, and if your only goal was to fly to different fields in Burma that were only 200 miles apart, to keep your operations away from potential compromise? Could you land in fields? Could you camouflage the jet?

Burma is one of the world's most corrupt nations. The 2012 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index ranked the country at number 171, out of 176 countries in total.

It seems as possible as many other theories.

It is so much smarter to simply buy an airliner than to call attention to yourself and run the risk of someone opening their yap to a bartender or reporter or something.

Ideal drug planes have different capabilities and short fields with unimproved runways are common as is contaminated fuel. Who wants a finicky pampered airliner in the jungle? I want Beach Bum Bab's rugged stretched Caravan RG, not an airliner that is on everyone's front page.

Even in stealing aircraft for drug runs, you want to keep those N numbers pure and out of computers. Canadian helicopter firms fuel a helicopter and leave it parked outside for you just so you won't have to steal it. Only if you are long, long overdue on your flight will the firm suddenly discover one of their helicopters is missing. Or the drug runners steal a plane from a padlocked hangar and carefully replace the padlock with an identical one. Most owners only drive by and check that the doors are still locked, they don't actually check inside the hangar.

Drug lab in the air. Heck those chemicals are volatile enough at ground pressures they are even worse at high altitude with recycling.

Quote: Pacomartin

Can you steal an airplane?

You can steal anything that's not bolted down and/or well-guarded; and some of those things, too (war is often theft on the grand scale, really, and the land is both well-guarded and "bolted down"). So in other words: you can steal anything.

What about cell phones and other devices? Any chance recordings made by passengers on any device survives and is recovered?

It makes me wonder how long the passengers were completely in the dark about what was going on. Convincing everyone they were headed somewhere would keep them quiet enough. I assume only the in-cockpit flight crew would know otherwise.

I really think that airliner got stolen at this point. There are plenty of rogue nations within range that have a landing strip long enough for it. And there are plenty of holes in ATC coverage and procedures over there to sneak it into an unsuspecting nation. I think it will show up again in a very ominous scenario. But I don't think the human cargo has survived.

Perhaps one too many political thrillers read. Perhaps not.

Quote: beachbumbabs

I think it will show up again in a very ominous scenario. But I don't think the human cargo has survived.

A quick calculation says American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into WTC was a plane with a 24,000 US gal Maximum fuel capacity, and a range of 7,348 mi. Presumably since it was only flying cross country there was about 10,000 gallons (75,000 lbs) in the fuel tank.

A Boeing 777 has a capacity of 31,000 -45,000 gallons, and a payload of 180,000 lbs. If the intent is to use this stolen plane as a bomb, then it would have many times the explosive potential of the 9-11 jets.

And there would be no passengers or flight attendants to give advance warning.

There's probably a thousand movie and tv scripts with a similar line like the following:

Quote:

SCOTT: A vessel doesn't just disappear.
UHURA: There's nothing, Mister Scott. All channels and frequencies are clear.
SCOTT: Mister Chekov?
CHEKOV: Nothing, sir. If it were destroyed, I'd pick up debris readings of some sort

The other common version is usually a count of a large number of people who have vanished.

Quote: rxwine

There's probably a thousand movie and tv scripts with a similar line like the following:

I think it's a primal fear. Either you or a loved one boards car, train, plane, rocket and just vanish without a trace. These latest gyrations are particularly cruel since they are reviving the hope that they are miraculously on some mountain, field, or island and are still alive.

A particular creepy thriller with such a theme.


Rated R for terror and violence, and for language
Sandra Bullock in a small, but critical roll.

FOX NEWS is saying the most likely outcome is the plane is landed.
CNN is saying the most likely outcome is the plane crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Are gaming flight simulators sophisticated enough to use for practice inflight hijacking?

Quote:

The most complete 777 simulation out there"
FlightSim Network

"I highly recommend the PSS Boeing 777 to anybody wanting to pilot one of the most technically advanced aircraft in the world... PSS and Just Flight can rest assured that the triple seven is definitely remaining on my computer"
FS-Reviews.com


"If you want realism, the 777 is quite the aircraft model, giving you a taste of what it must be like (almost!) to fly the 'Heavies!"
FarmboyzimsFlightSims.com

"If you're looking for a 777 to fly that has accurately modeled flight systems including a functional weather radar, then this addon's for you"
ScreenshotArt.com

"This is a title that truly justifies a five-star rating... and sets a benchmark in terms of what can be achieved by Flight Simulator 2004 add-ons"
Aircraft Illustrated