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Malaysia Airlines Loses Contact With 777 en Route to Beijing

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  • Originally posted by Highkeas View Post
    The Geosynchronous satellite is 22,236 above the earth's surface. So with a 20 degree cone half angle the arc at the earth's surface is 22236 x Tan 40 = 8,093 miles. Since there are quite a few Inmarsats in GEO orbit I suspect the 40 degrees applied to some other antenna feature (maybe antenna pointed at 40 degrees but with a tighter viewing angle).
    Highkeas:

    To draw on the surface of a sphere a circumference (or an arc of it) that has a radius/diameter/perimeter longer than that of the sphere itself is a mathematical impossibility. Period.

    So if you calculate the intersection between a cone and a sphere and get a circumference with a radius/diameter/perimeter longer than that of the sphere itself, either you managed to do something that is mathematically impossible or you did Sum Tim Wong. For some reason that I don't completely understand, I am a tad biased to believe it's the second option.

    I don't have time right now, but later I will come back on this to see if I find what's wrong and how it would be correct. That, or we can publish this puzzle in the Brain Teaser thread in the The Briefing Room sub-forum here.

    I invite you to check your notes in the meantime.

    --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
    --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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    • In the middle of the night, two fishermen near the Malaysia-Thailand border saw a plane flying low over the South China Sea -- at the same time that air traffic controllers lost contact with Flight 370 over the same body of water, at 1:30 a.m. or almost 50 minutes after takeoff.
      Fisherman Azid Ibrahim and a friend had taken people fishing that night off the coast of Kota Bharu.
      "I was fishing when I saw the plane -- it looked strange. Flying low. I told my friend that's not normal. Normally, it flies at 35,000 feet. But that night it touched the clouds. I thought the pilot must be crazy," Ibrahim said.
      "It was really low. I saw the lights they looked like the size of a coconut," he said.
      Their fishing grounds lay under a flight path, but the predawn plane was unusual to see because of its low altitude, they said.
      The fishermen filed a police report about their sighting, but Malaysian officials haven't commented.
      Several ground witnesses claim they saw Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 flying low or even crashing, but no account has been confirmed by authorities.


      I believe this sighting by fishermen in Kota Bharu is genuine. Were they attempting to land at WMKC? (6°10'1"N 102°17'33"E)

      or, if not, why didn't they?
      AirDisaster.com Forum Member 2004-2008

      Originally posted by orangehuggy
      the most dangerous part of a flight is not the take off or landing anymore, its when a flight crew member goes to the toilet

      Comment


      • Hmm. Latest update on avherald seems to be quoting officials contradicting other reports. Again.
        On Mar 19th 2014 Malaysia's Transport Minister said, Malaysia contacted the Maldives, the Air Force Chief of Maldives told Malaysia the reports of an aircraft sighting at the Maldives Islands are not true. Both corridors are of equal importance in the search operation, the southern corridor is much more challenging however. The logs of the captain's flight simulator have recently been "cleared". There were no findings of any signficance with any of the passengers. The aircraft followed its regular flight plan to Beijing via waypoint IGARI, there is no evidence that waypoints have been added or modified.

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        • Originally posted by Quench View Post
          He also said the system was cellular so presumably that's why the give an arc as opposed to a circle. Why there Are two arcs is unclear.
          In fact the two arcs are two segments of the same circumference, so perhaps if the plane was in the zone of that circumference between the two arcs (where there is a gap) it would have been in the zone of another satellite, and since it wasn't with the other satellite, then this zone can be excluded.

          --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
          --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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          • Originally posted by eTang View Post
            The story so far: a perfect crime ... except for one unexpected glitch: those pings! Without those SAR would still be focussed on the sea area between Malaysia and Vietnam ... while the aircraft is thousands of thousands of kilometres away.
            So you read the last 10 pages but didn't see that there are primary RADAR data that shows the plane turning left West back towards Malaysia/Thailand and then North-West along the Strait of Malacca towards the Andaman Sea? And that that is NOT the sea area between Malaysia and Vietnam?

            --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
            --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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            • Originally posted by James Bond View Post
              I believe this sighting [...] is genuine.
              Sighting claim: Kota Bharu, Malaysia
              Sighting claim: Oil rig off Vietnam
              Sighting claim: Maldives atoll
              Sighting claim: Off Indonesia coast

              --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
              --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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              • Originally posted by Gabriel View Post
                Sighting claim: Kota Bharu, Malaysia
                Sighting claim: Oil rig off Vietnam
                Sighting claim: Maldives atoll
                Sighting claim: Off Indonesia coast
                The Kota Bharu sighting is the only one that fits with the radar data reported (Between IGARI & VAMPI), timeline and witnessed by multiple people.

                As for the oil rig, could that have been a meteorite/space junk?

                Not sure about the other two.
                AirDisaster.com Forum Member 2004-2008

                Originally posted by orangehuggy
                the most dangerous part of a flight is not the take off or landing anymore, its when a flight crew member goes to the toilet

                Comment


                • Originally posted by James Bond View Post
                  The Kota Bharu sighting is the only one that fits with the radar data reported (Between IGARI & VAMPI), timeline and witnessed by multiple people.
                  Makes sense. If the plane crossed the Malaysian peninsula from the Gulf of Thailand to the Malacca Strait approximately along the border between Malaysia and Thailand, a lot of people must have seen this plane.

                  That of course doesn't mean that the plane was trying to land somewhere. And to your question, why they were not trying to land, well, I can hardly imagine a scenario where that turn back, ACARS off, TXP off, radio silence and subsequent maneuvering back to Malaysia and over the Malacca Strait towards the Andaman Sea and then the plane keeping flying for another 6 hours is compatible to someone trying to land back near the point of departure.

                  So, they were not trying to land because they had other plans.

                  --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
                  --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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                  • Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced objects possibly related to the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane have been found in the southern Indian Ocean.

                    Mr Abbott says new satellite images show two possible objects in the ocean and an Australian Orion aircraft is en route to the area.



                    We'll have to wait and see if this report pans out. Until they pull something out of the water which is clearly from a 777, I will remain highly skeptical.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by B757300 View Post
                      Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced objects possibly related to the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane have been found in the southern Indian Ocean.

                      Mr Abbott says new satellite images show two possible objects in the ocean and an Australian Orion aircraft is en route to the area.



                      We'll have to wait and see if this report pans out. Until they pull something out of the water which is clearly from a 777, I will remain highly skeptical.
                      Is it typical for the PM to report such a preliminary finding? Infinitely better, mind you, than "sources close to the investigation report". I'm actually a bit hopeful that if it's a satellite image, it shows something recognizable from an aircraft.

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by Fear_of_Flying View Post
                        Is it typical for the PM to report such a preliminary finding? Infinitely better, mind you, than "sources close to the investigation report". I'm actually a bit hopeful that if it's a satellite image, it shows something recognizable from an aircraft.
                        Agreed. It might just be he wants to control the information to keep the BS to the minimum, or it might finally be the end of the search.

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by B757300 View Post
                          Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced objects possibly related to the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane have been found in the southern Indian Ocean.

                          Mr Abbott says new satellite images show two possible objects in the ocean and an Australian Orion aircraft is en route to the area.



                          We'll have to wait and see if this report pans out. Until they pull something out of the water which is clearly from a 777, I will remain highly skeptical.
                          Yup, just seen that on the news......lets hope the mystery is starting to be unravelled...

                          Comment


                          • Good link with updates directly from the Australian government.

                            Access content you need for your news stories. For all media enquiries call +61 1300 624 633 during regular Australian business hours, or email [email protected]. We will respond outside of business hours during search and rescue operations and emergencies.

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                            • Originally posted by B757300 View Post
                              Good link with updates directly from the Australian government.

                              https://www.amsa.gov.au/media/
                              I think it crashed. Probably half of the world media trying to get on it.
                              AirDisaster.com Forum Member 2004-2008

                              Originally posted by orangehuggy
                              the most dangerous part of a flight is not the take off or landing anymore, its when a flight crew member goes to the toilet

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by James Bond View Post
                                I think it crashed. Probably half of the world media trying to get on it.
                                It's been very slow, but it was working a few minutes ago.

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