january

Meteoroids enter our upper atmosphere at speeds of 10-70 km / second- that is 36000 km/hr at the slow end of the range. Those that survive to earth are travelling at a few hundred km / hr. The atmosphere is pretty thin at 35000 ft where Fl 370 was reported, so a meteoroid is still moving along fast enough to do a lot of damage to an aluminum object in its path! Slowed to perhaps 5-35 km / second? A rifle bullet by contrast has a muzzle velocity in the vicinity of 2600 FEET/ second. january

Further to the possibility that Flight 370 could have been brought down by a meteoroid strike - there is the report that a worker on an oil platform offshore from Viet Nam, claimed to have seen a streak of fire, which he thought was a plane on fire- plunging earthward. This sighting occurred at the same time as 370's last radio transmission. At the time it was the first clue and was briefly, seriously investigated- until some days later, when new reports claimed military radar had seen a blip west of Malaysia over the Strait of Malacca. ---------------- A tiny meteoroid punching through a wing tank like a cannon shell, would likely create a flaming jet of fuel as reported. Much other damage would be likely, including depressurization, and perhaps loss of radio comm. Staggering west to reach an adequate runway, 370 might finally have became unflyable and then plunged into jungle terrain- perhaps in either Malaysia or Indonesia (Sumatra?) A near vertical crash might leave such a small footprint as to be almost undetectable by airborne searchers. january

According to Hubblesite- "Most of us probably have seen meteors or shooting stars. A meteor is the flash of light that we see in the night sky when a small chunk of interplanetary debris burns up as it passes through our atmosphere. "Meteor" refers to the flash of light caused by the debris, not the debris itself. The debris is called a meteoroid. A meteoroid is a piece of interplanetary matter that is smaller than a kilometer and frequently only millimeters in size. Most meteoroids that enter the Earth's atmosphere are so small that they vaporize completely and never reach the planet's surface. If any part of a meteoroid survives the fall through the atmosphere and lands on Earth, it is called a meteorite. Although the vast majority of meteorites are very small, their size can range from about a fraction of a gram (the size of a pebble) to 100 kilograms (220 lbs) or more (the size of a huge, life-destroying boulder). Asteroids are generally larger chunks of rock that come from the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Comets are asteroid-like objects covered with ice, methane, ammonia, and other compounds that develop a fuzzy, cloud-like shell called a coma and sometimes a visible tail whenever they orbit close to the Sun. " ------------------------------- I stand corrected & cover my head in shame! METEOROID appears to be the correct term. january

A little research says that perhaps 19,000 meteorites of over 3.5 oz. are intercepted by Earth each day. Earth acquires about 100 tons of dust sized micro meteorites daily. A few each day, are the size of a baseball or basketball. And it's said that once a week or so, earth is hit by a rock the size of a car! So remember that, the next time you are sipping a cool one at 40,000 ft. !!! january

Depends on the size of the particle- always remember e=mc(squared) ! I would guess a grain of sand/small pebble size might make a hole similar to a 50 cal bullet. You are technically correct- the DC8 that crashed at St Therese Que. was operated by TCA (Trans Canada Airlines- 1938) which was renamed Air Canada in 1965. (as prep for privatization from gov't ownership as I recall.) I flew out of Calgary on another DC8 a few hours after the crash- you have never seen a more subdued load of passengers- almost total cabin quiet and a lot of pale faces -all listening to mysterious flap and gear hydraulic sounds! january

What are the odds of a similar meteorite striking a Boeing 777 shortly after reaching cruise alt. and causing catastrophic damage & depressurization? Such an event would seem to fit what is known of the disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370. ( In 1963 an Air Canada DC8 plunged almost vertically into a swamp. There was literally nothing visible of the airplane. Such a crash in jungle might be virtually invisible to search planes.) january

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

Re the CNN pic headline- "Boeing 777 will struggle to maintain altitude once fuel tanks are empty". Well this is the space age! Everybody knows that a rocket continues on its trajectory and keeps going long after empty fuel tanks. Unlikely it could reach orbital altitude if it still had fuel. Why shouldn't an airplane keep flying the same way? Besides, fuel economy is mandated by our governments isn't it? its likely EPA regs that cause airplanes to "struggle" january

Rule 7 works for me! january

Not familiar with X Files- I get my giggles from Wolf Blitzer et al. january

Rules of investigation- 1. Never rule out a possibility until proven not possible. 2. Improbabilities often turn out to be most probable. 3. No matter how much you speculate on mysterious events, you will most likely be wrong. 4. Always consider that someone may be trying to mislead you. 5. Be cautious in accepting mathematical evidence. Remember the mathematician who drowned while wading across a creek with an average depth of only 2 ft. 6. Think. january

Has anyone considered that the oceanic "search" for 370 might be a cover for other secret efforts to free 239 hostages being held somewhere else? january

Did Flight 370 have Rolls Royce engines & if so, did they have the fuel heat exchanger modification mandated after the crash of the 777 at Heathrow ? january

Would any Myanmar radar have been "alertly" manned at about 1AM on a Friday evening ? Or notice a blip at, say 40,000 ft after a climbing turn northward from the Andaman Islands area where FL370 was last reported - about 800 miles south of Myanmar- (formerly Burma). North of Myanmar is Tibet (Xizang) which is very unhappy with Chinese claims to ownership and then northwest of Tibet lies Xinjiang (Uighur) province. Plus a number of long runways! And all within the range of fuel sufficient for the original Beijing destination. And for what it's worth, Xinjiang borders on Afghanistan & Pakistan. january

Well, the muslim Uighurs in western China are demanding their own homeland- a piece of Chinese turf if you will. They have already shown an inclination toward terrorism by slaughtering 29 subway travelers in Kunming - just one week before the disappearance of FL 370 ! A 777 with 150 Chinese nationals aboard would have substantial bargaining power. january

I heard of a mathemetician who drowned while wading across a creek that had an AVERAGE depth of only two feet. Perhaps the same mathemetician who did the calculations predicting global warming. january

The LM lawyers would have been remiss in their contract to purchase FSX-ESP, if they didn't include a clause prohibiting MS from offering any type of flight simulator software to the marketplace. That is very likely the reason that FLIGHT was suddenly canned. january

Consider that LM would almost certainly NOT have purchased USAGE AND DEVELOPMENT rights to FS unless there was a No Compete clause in that agreement. Or as Wikipedia states- "Lockheed purchased the source code to MS ESP." That seems to make it quite obvious that MS can not sell an entertainment version of FS, at any time in the near future- if ever. january

History repeating itself??? In Nov 1996, FL 961 of Ethiopian Airlines- 767-200ER was hijacked by 3 Ethiopians intent on flying to Australia to seek asylum !!! It crash landed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands due to fuel starvation. 125 of 175 died. Perhaps a similar motivation in the case FL 370- which could explain the apparent turn southward and other peculiar events - if flown by amateurs. january

Good idea. Then I'll have my lovely wife change her name to "Mitzi". january

One of the best ideas yet! Why didn't we think of that- they have flown to Shangri La in the Himalayas!! That is the secret valley - guided by Lamas where aging slows down dramatically and where all live in harmony. (1933 novel "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton.) january

An interview in Beijing with a spokesman for relatives of FL370 passengers, also seemed to hotly criticize searchers for looking in the Indian Ocean- implying that searching should be directed to those locations where there might possibly be survivors. (As opposed to searching where the plane "probably" went down.) That is- search for people- not downed airplanes! An interesting cultural difference in thinking perhaps? january

Yes- Now at age 82, I have decided to come back in my next life as a psychiatrist- there will be an incredible amount of business, judging by the number of wacko theories being proposed on CNN regarding the disappearance of Flight 370 . Can you advise if I should grow a beard or goatee? january

Yes- explosive decompression would be devastating. How many remember the pics of the nearly roofless Aloha Airlines B737 flight 243 in 1988? It survived decompression & flew to a safe landing- albeit with a flight attendant missing and much of the cabin roof disappeared!! That was metal fatigue A pebble sized meteorite could do a lot of damage AND disorient / incapacitate the crew who might be vainly struggling with a "wounded bird" and themselves too injured and/or busy to communicate the impending catastrophe, as they fought to remain aloft. Then perhaps finally succumbing to hypoxia while the airplane flew on like the Flying Dutchman of legend. In recent years, meteorites have crashed into bedrooms in Alabama, dining rooms in Connecticut and a car in New York. Not as uncommon as many believe. january

Comm failure in FL370 was instantaneous, (as would be with a meteorite strike)- perhaps even explaining the abbreviated (uncompleted?) message "all right, goodnight ------(no call sign)-----" january