Random as in they weren't even looking for it and came across it by serendipity, Tom. I believe they were actually looking for the Titanic when they found it.

post deleted...

 

(This is where it pays to read the damn post a few times first, then type out a Reply! I posted a great Reply to january, complete with Scientific Notation and the lot... until I re-read his again and discovered that mine completely missed the point! So, I deleted it.)

 

D'oh!

We've heard about every theory.  Heck, I even brought one up.

 

Let's think outside the box for just a moment.  No disrespect meant to friends and families of the crew or pax in this.  A different application of Occam's Razor, if you will.

 

I was just looking at the wide range of airports in the range of the aircraft that could have accepted the aircraft based on size, weight, etc.

 

• Assuming that the original crew and pax are deceased at this time.
• There's a lot of radical ideologies in some of those surrounding nations, and I don't just mean anti-US or Islamic fundamentalists.
• Assuming after the last turn, the aircraft is on the deck and heads to one of the many airports in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, or takes a turn southwest to Indonesia.
• Get it on the ground and under cover quick.
• Assuming the engine pings are wrong or that they are really somewhere else, possibly without their aircraft.
• Land, hangar or tarp the aircraft, rip and strip the comms, pingers, etc, refuel, and roll on some paint.  Any paint.  Flat white would do.
• Put the aircraft back in the air as a different ident and flight plan.
• Move to a different destination.

 

Bear with me.

 

The initial manifests that were reported on included a MA flight engineer.  There's been nothing but silence regarding this chap, and we here know the T7 has no flight engineer, so chances are good this person was a ferry, probably hitching a ride in the jumpseat out of courtesy to a fellow crew member.  See it all the time on flights in the US and overseas, various carriers.  A person on board with knowledge and access to the cockpit that is not the pilot or FO.

 

I admit that I don't know a lot about commercial aircraft.  But wouldn't it be fairly easy to "hot wire" the comms so that this bird squawks as, say, an old 727 air cargo bird?  Without a set of eyes on her and comparing notes with flight plans, who's the wiser?

 

Seems far-fetched, but who would've considered 9/11 was possible before 9/11?  If you put ten people in a room with time, money, and determination, this scenario is very possible in my opinion.

 

Personally, I hope I'm wrong, it was over very quick, and the bird's at the bottom of the IO for some unexplained reason.  I for one am nervous not knowing where that aircraft is.  And I'll bet dollars to donuts that there's a lot of people much higher up the food chain thinking the same thing in many various countries.

 

And now, alien abductions...

If someone had stolen the plane to use it in some kind of attack they would have done the attack already, waiting just increases risks of getting caught.

 

Besides, pretty much all airports with long enough runways to handle a 777 are located near populated areas. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam & Indonesia... All of those countries have functioning governments that control all the airports, 777 just couldn't land at any of them without the government knowing it. 

 

A group with enough money & government connections to do that could just save all the hassle and buy some old jetliner wreck to handle the whole thing with a lot less risks.

If someone had stolen the plane to use it in some kind of attack they would have done the attack already, waiting just increases risks of getting caught.

 

Besides, pretty much all airports with long enough runways to handle a 777 are located near populated areas. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam & Indonesia... All of those countries have functioning governments that control all the airports, 777 just couldn't land at any of them without the government knowing it. 

 

A group with enough money & government connections to do that could just save all the hassle and buy some old jetliner wreck to handle the whole thing with a lot less risks.

 

I don't disagree with your thought process except that the attack would have been done already.  New paint as, for example, FedEx, or another global "everywhere is our backyard" carrier, and there's little risk. 

If someone had stolen the plane to use it in some kind of attack they would have done the attack already, waiting just increases risks of getting caught.

 

Besides, pretty much all airports with long enough runways to handle a 777 are located near populated areas. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam & Indonesia... All of those countries have functioning governments that control all the airports, 777 just couldn't land at any of them without the government knowing it. 

 

A group with enough money & government connections to do that could just save all the hassle and buy some old jetliner wreck to handle the whole thing with a lot less risks.

 

Ever heard of, 'Strike when they least expect it' or 'Let them think it's over then hit them'. There's also a thrill element in successfully pulling something like this off...

It looks like Australia will become the base of investigations becoming an "accredited representative" of Malaysia in the investigation of the missing flight:

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/9902405/Australia-base-for-MH370-probe

interesting article

 

Malaysians who criticise country over MH370 should have citizenship revoked, says Malay NGO.

 

 

 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysians-who-criticise-country-over-mh370-should-have-citizenship-revoked

Re FL 370 - Aussie Prime Minister Abbot says "I can assure people that the best brains in the world are working on this." 

Nice to have AVSIM simmers recognized !!

january

 

Malaysians who criticise country over MH370 should have citizenship revoked, says Malay NGO.

 

It just gets worse....

Got this image from a friend ... Is CNN really this bad?

 

 

Rob

 

YES

For those who are certain that the plane must be somewhere else because we haven't found the wreckage:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_New_Hampshire_Learjet_crash

 

This plane went down in bad weather, and was not equipped with an ELT.  It went down on land, not water.  Within a few miles, they knew where the plane went down.  Within a few minutes, they knew when it went down.

 

It took 3 years to find the wreckage, despite an extensive search.

 

Finding a crash site is not always easy.

interesting article

 

Malaysians who criticise country over MH370 should have citizenship revoked, says Malay NGO.

 

 

 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysians-who-criticise-country-over-mh370-should-have-citizenship-revoked

 

It's never a good idea to make political criticisms on Facebook or Twitter. All the governments trawl those sites for any anti remarks

Finding a crash site is not always easy.

 

Here is another crash site that was actually visible from the city of Vancouver and it took 47 years for someone to stumble across the wreckage (a female hiker found it).

 

 

 

28 April 1947 Trans Canada Airlines Flight 3 Lockheed 18 Lodestar, Fin 53 CF-TDF disappeared in southwestern British Columbia with 15 people on board with no survivors. The crash site was discovered 47 years later, in September 1994, on Mount Elsay in North Vancouver, B.C.

My government (Malaysia) are full of incompetent fools. 

 

They practice discrimination laws against the minority. 

 

Stay away from the government newspapers (New Straits Times, The Star); only stick with online news like www.malaysiakini.com or www.malaysiainsider.com

 

Anything but UMNO (ABU), the racist party in power now.

 

And you wonder why all our families emigrate...