Malaysia Airlines MH370

[etech0]

T&C:
This story is subject to change without prior notice. We reserve the right to change it every 24 hours.

[dudi]

T&C:
This story is subject to change without prior notice. We reserve the right to change it every 24 hours.

or 15 minutes depending on the mood of the Taliban guys in tora bora

[Achas Veachas]

or 15 minutes depending on the mood of the Taliban guys in tora bora

Well no one said the T&C themselves can't change more often then that...

[BigDanFan]

perhaps the place landed in the Indian Ocean. Or not.
Maybe it's time to have parachutes on board the planes (loaded with location tracking devices) so that the emerg door can be opened before impact and people can sail out.

Although, I guess the water would get cold after a while.. 

[ushdadude]

perhaps the place landed in the Indian Ocean. Or not.
Maybe it's time to have parachutes on board the planes (loaded with location tracking devices) so that the emerg door can be opened before impact and people can sail out.

Although, I guess the water would get cold after a while.. 

Besides for the impracticality, it's not physically possible. Ever watch "Airforce 1"?

[dealfinder85]

Besides for the impracticality, it's not physically possible. Ever watch "Airforce 1"?

GET OFF MY PLANE

[CS1]

Besides for the impracticality, it's not physically possible. Ever watch "Airforce 1"?

nope.
However, if we're talking just practicality, then a waterproof, fireproof GPS device that is hidden and cannot be manually turned off makes the most sense and should not be costly to place in each place.

(I know that's what the black boxes are supposed to do, but the voice activation and the turned-off mode seems to have been an issue in this circumstance.)

[churnbabychurn]

Why on earth don't the black boxes have GPS tracking capabilities?

[Ergel]

under 17,000 feet of water? LOL

[CS1]

Why on earth don't the black boxes have GPS tracking capabilities?

they do -- Apparently these aren't working; or, someone turned them off.

[churnbabychurn]

under 17,000 feet of water? LOL

last known location? These things are designed for crashes!

[CS1]

last known location? These things are designed for crashes!

+1
Exactly! It should work for at least the first 5,000 ft (one mile under water)  Prob a well wrapped iPhone could do it, too...

[Achas Veachas]

+1
Exactly! It should work for at least the first 5,000 ft (one mile under water)  Prob a well wrapped iPhone could do it, too...

Water is actually very good at blocking radio waves. I don't have exact numbers but pretty sure nothing can transmit from as low as a few tens of feet.

[CS1]

Water is actually very good at blocking radio waves. I don't have exact numbers but pretty sure nothing can transmit from as low as a few tens of feet.

even if that's the case, then the final "message" upon impact/underwater limits would have been transmitted from a specific location.

Perhaps that would even be accurate within a 5 mile radius with the Indian Ocean.
Had they known that from Day One, then even if it took 24 hours to get helicoptors there,
perhaps there would be survivors, or at least un-sunk wreckage.

Which bring us to the next point:
Why can we practically see the make and model info of our cars from Google Earth space satellites, but not what's on the ocean's surface!?

[PlatinumGuy]

even if that's the case, then the final "message" upon impact/underwater limits would have been transmitted from a specific location.

Perhaps that would even be accurate within a 5 mile radius with the Indian Ocean.
Had they known that from Day One, then even if it took 24 hours to get helicoptors there,
perhaps there would be survivors, or at least un-sunk wreckage.

Which bring us to the next point:
Why can we practically see the make and model info of our cars from Google Earth space satellites, but not what's on the ocean's surface!?

More satellite coverage on earth. And countries aren't keen to admit their surveillance capabilities in foreign territory.

[dudi]

Just a q. If the person that for it was trained to fly that low with a 777 the chances are that he trained for a long time then what the hell did he train for? Taking it till it has no gas and then falling into sea? Something is not making sense. Maybe he trained landing in water?

[Achas Veachas]

Which bring us to the next point:
Why can we practically see the make and model info of our cars from Google Earth space satellites, but not what's on the ocean's surface!?

Pretty sure Google Earth images are from planes, civillian satellites can't see nearly as much detail and military satellites

And countries aren't keen to admit their surveillance capabilities in foreign territory.

:

[ariIs]

Pretty sure Google Earth images are from planes, civillian satellites can't see nearly as much detail and military satellites:

They do have pretty good resolution. But google earth images are taken once every few years, because a satellite has to be pointed at a specific location to do a zoomed in image. Here they needed to survey a very large area, so the sattlite had to be 'zoomed out'.

[MarkS]

It's pretty cool how they figured it out

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/24/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-satellite-tracking/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/03/24/nr-intv-inmarsat-missing-plane.cnn.html

[CS1]

It's pretty cool how they figured it out

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/24/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-satellite-tracking/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/03/24/nr-intv-inmarsat-missing-plane.cnn.html

Thanks for those links (we don't have cable/TV)
Interesting how he (Inmarsat Senior VP) says (at the end of Link #2) that "they can make it possible tomorrow" that every 15 minutes,
there can be a communications "handshake" that would determine location of each aircraft.
However he said that it will not happen as there is no mandate.
Well then, spending tens of millions of dollars on a search may just happen again.