Archive Big passenger jet may have gone down

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Manhattan Buckeye

Posts: 7,566

Mar 7, 2014 9:53pm

Horrible if the worst happened:

http://news.yahoo.com/malaysia-airlines-hunts-missing-plane-carrying-239-022306014.html

edit- apparently this was a triple-7 Boeing, hard to believe that a bird that big could fail.

Terry_Tate

Posts: 7,606

Mar 7, 2014 10:09pm

Think it's been missing since like 130pm ET. Hard to believe it's been 9 hours and still no idea where it is.

Trueblue23

Posts: 7,463

Mar 7, 2014 10:44pm

AP just tweeted that they've picked up a signal from the plane, not sure if that means a crash or it's just flying around

Terry_Tate

Posts: 7,606

Mar 7, 2014 10:58pm

Not sure how accurate that picture is but apparently thats where it was when it lost contact. Was at 35k feet though but not a very promising path.

Trueblue23

Posts: 7,463

Mar 7, 2014 11:53pm

Just broke on Twitter, the plane crashed into the ocean.

-Society-

Posts: 1,348

Mar 8, 2014 12:02am

Trueblue23;1587949 wrote:Just broke on Twitter, the plane crashed into the ocean.

No major news source is reporting this.

Trueblue23

Posts: 7,463

Mar 8, 2014 12:25am

-Society-;1587950 wrote:No major news source is reporting this.

It was reported by the Vietnam Navy

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Manhattan Buckeye

Posts: 7,566

Mar 8, 2014 1:30am

BBC is reporting it went down in the ocean. Terrible news, still not sure why a triple-7 would go down in mid-flight.

SportsAndLady

Posts: 35,632

Mar 8, 2014 2:07am

-Society-;1587950 wrote:No major news source is reporting this.

Wrong.

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Manhattan Buckeye

Posts: 7,566

Mar 8, 2014 3:28am

This is getting crazier by the moment, now the Malay government is saying that they are still trying to locate the aircraft. It is a triple 7, what else would it be doing? Flying in circles?

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gut

Posts: 15,058

Mar 8, 2014 4:31am

Manhattan Buckeye;1587964 wrote:This is getting crazier by the moment, now the Malay government is saying that they are still trying to locate the aircraft. It is a triple 7, what else would it be doing? Flying in circles?

Report I saw said it would have run out of fuel @9PM EST.

A plane that size doesn't make an emergency landing at an unknown airport and remain off the "radar" (no pun intended). Best-case scenario is some very savvy hijackers knew exactly how to make the plane "disappear", but that is extremely unlikely.

What sickens me is the idea that a pilot may have chosen to commit suicide, in complete disregard for his passengers. But more realistically, the tolerances are not 100% and even a 777 would eventually go down.

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Manhattan Buckeye

Posts: 7,566

Mar 8, 2014 4:56am

"What sickens me is the idea that a pilot may have chosen to commit suicide"

That was my first thought, but who knows?

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gut

Posts: 15,058

Mar 8, 2014 5:14am

Manhattan Buckeye;1587966 wrote:"What sickens me is the idea that a pilot may have chosen to commit suicide"

That was my first thought, but who knows?

Someone reported that was the "confirmed" cause in another major crash...Sounds like BS to me, but who knows maybe he left a note. Just hard to believe someone could do that, but we do see that and it's inevitable that eventually such a person would be a pilot.

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Manhattan Buckeye

Posts: 7,566

Mar 8, 2014 5:21am

Egypt Air 990, no doubt in my mind that was a suicide. Pilots at domestic carriers have routine psychology tests, it isn't that controlled in other carriers. Not saying that is what happened in this situation, but 777's don't just fall out of the sky.

salto

Posts: 2,611

Mar 8, 2014 6:22am

Manhattan Buckeye;1587960 wrote:still not sure why a triple-7 would go down in mid-flight.

Gravity.

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gut

Posts: 15,058

Mar 8, 2014 6:23am

Manhattan Buckeye;1587968 wrote:...but 777's don't just fall out of the sky.

Disappearing from radar...no distress call...you are probably correct.

But consider this:
Airplanes are manufactured to beyond 6-sigma (3.4 defects per million). There are 3 million parts in a 777 (granted, the critical number is far less). 777's have logged 5 million flights since being put into service. Eventually, YES, one will just "fall out of the sky".

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steubbigred

Posts: 1,392

Mar 8, 2014 6:25am

4 Americans were on board along with 2 infants. Pray for a miracle that there are some survivors.

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Manhattan Buckeye

Posts: 7,566

Mar 8, 2014 6:29am

It would have to be a fire, no way there was an engine failure, one of those twin engines can carry the bird for a continent's length. The jets on a triple 7 are massive.

TedSheckler

Posts: 3,974

Mar 8, 2014 9:44am

I wonder if they even had passports.

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sportchampps

Posts: 7,361

Mar 8, 2014 9:50am

I know two guys who are airline mechanics and both of them are two of the dumbest people I've ever met. All they did was move to Florida and take a 18 month program. I'm sure the jets are incredibly engineered but if the two people I know can work on airplanes in the US then I don't even wanna know who works on them overseas.

Ytowngirlinfla

Posts: 2,295

Mar 8, 2014 9:57am

sportchampps;1587987 wrote:I know two guys who are airline mechanics and both of them are two of the dumbest people I've ever met. All they did was move to Florida and take a 18 month program. I'm sure the jets are incredibly engineered but if the two people I know can work on airplanes in the US then I don't even wanna know who works on them overseas.

That's actually good length of training. The Navy doesn't train their mechs that long and we seem to be doing just fine with our jets and helicopters.

-Society-

Posts: 1,348

Mar 8, 2014 10:02am

SportsAndLady;1587962 wrote:Wrong.

How was I wrong? At the time, no MAJOR news source was saying this. Even today, they are not sure where it is exactly.

"We have no idea where this aircraft is right now," Malaysia Airlines Vice President of Operations Control Fuad Sharuji said on CNN's "AC360."

updated 8:27 AM EST, Sat March 8, 2014

-Society-

Posts: 1,348

Mar 8, 2014 10:09am

Ytowngirlinfla;1587988 wrote:That's actually good length of training. The Navy doesn't train their mechs that long and we seem to be doing just fine with our jets and helicopters.

From a quick search:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/navy-fighter-jet-crashes-western-nevada-22735493
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/08/us/navy-craft-down/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/navy-f-18-jet-crashes-45-miles-virginia-beach-report-article-1.1580857

I don't think you are "doing just fine".

Curly J

Posts: 7,282

Mar 8, 2014 10:13am

Ytowngirlinfla;1587988 wrote:That's actually good length of training. The Navy doesn't train their mechs that long and we seem to be doing just fine with our jets and helicopters.

True. I was an Avionics Tech when I was in the USAF, Comm-Nav-ECM, and our training wasn't that long. 6 weeks Electronics, 6 Weeks at a F-16 Field Training Detachment, and less than 6 months after that I was Certified to work on the aircraft with out having to be supervised. If it took you 18 months to get trained in the USAF then more that likely you were an underachiever and on your way to getting discharged. (I've seen this happen)

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Manhattan Buckeye

Posts: 7,566

Mar 8, 2014 10:16am

God, this is a mess. I can't imagine how the families are doing now.