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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy the jet in all likelihood crashed
1. There have not been any contact from the passengers to anyone else, such as cell phone calls. It is a natural human thing to make contact with relatives at once, if possible. So far, none of the passengers appeared to have done that.
2. A jet does not just disappear, or get hijacked, and then secretly fly somewhere and land. Especially not a huge plane like this one.The air controllers are tracking all planes, all the time. You have to get clearance to land, and any aircraft not expected would be noticed.
3. One of the crazier theories, a UFO being involved, makes zero sense. Let's say we take it that UFOs exist, for the purpose of argument. They would never abduct a jumbo passenger jet, with that many passengers, it would be way too public and make too much of a splash, and be a big news story. Any abduction targets would be random people and small planes and boats that would hardly be noticed by the masses. These small craft disappear all the time, and the explanations are easy to understand, being lost at sea, or sinking, or running into bad weather.
4. A plane crashing into the sea is like a needle in a haystack. And it could take weeks for any wreckage to be found. People don't understand how big the ocean is, and overestimate today's technology. There are places even on land that are hidden by trees and the natural environment that no satellites can penetrate.
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onehandle
(51,122 posts)Those seas are deep and choppy. Within a few days, a body or passenger seat material will appear.
Pretty sure Bigfoot did it.
Renew Deal
(85,151 posts)Now if the plane had a successful water landing and sunk, that's a different story, but very unlikely.
onehandle
(51,122 posts)And the search and rescue capability is not exactly cutting edge.
_____________________________
When an Air France jetliner disappeared from radar and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, a daunting search-and-rescue operation ensued.
Bodies and debris from the Rio de Janeiro-to-Paris flight emerged in the days and weeks following the crash, but investigators took nearly two years to retrieve the main wreckage and "black boxes" from Flight 447.
As a massive multinational effort to find the missing Malaysia Airlines jet coalesces over the next few days, aircraft experts warn that the search will be a costly and complicated one. Indeed, it wouldn't be uncommon for several days to pass before searchers found any wreckage of the aircraft floating on the ocean.
If a plane goes down in very deep water — as the Air France flight did — the search is that much more difficult.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/08/malaysia-airlines-search/6203017/
All the interviews I saw and news reports say that the area of sea that they would have flown over is rather shallow.
former9thward
(33,424 posts)The average depth of the Gulf of Thailand is 45 meters. You can't get much more shallower than that. A Boeing 777 is 64 meters long.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Thailand
panader0
(25,816 posts)One of his relatives lives in a trailer across the street from me.
I agree with your assessment. I think Cathay Airlines has spotted some debris.
onehandle
(51,122 posts)Stand your ground once again ends in tragedy.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)mostly not over about 300 feet.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)According to this news report, the last contact with the plane was "within 2 hours" after takeoff. It should have taken only about a little more than an hour or so for the plane to reach Vietnamese airspace, assuming it was flying at 500mph. However, the last contact with air traffic control was only "120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu." It should have been well past that point after nearly 2 hours of flying at cruising altitude. Also, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) confirmed the jetliner never checked into the airspace between Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh City.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-timeline-events-jets-midnight-take-off-its-mysterious-1439613
Logical
(22,457 posts)following the plot of John Varley's "Air Raid" short story which was made in the movie Millenium.
HipChick
(25,612 posts)we have no idea what kind of technology they have...they could be alive and well in another dimension for all we know
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)The BFEE's UFOs or the Aurora. Or something.
I mean, sure, if it fell out of contact for a while and crashed, it would probably be a pile of debris in the deep jungle or dispersed over a large mass of water making it difficult to pinpoint, but that's obviously not it.
egold2604
(369 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)we'll find out what happened to the plane, and a whole lot more.
Gravitycollapse
(8,155 posts)In fact, the odds of those fuel slicks appearing by random are so low as to be almost definitive evidence that the aircraft crashed into the water nearby.
If this were a competition between two competing arguments they would be the following:
1. That no debris or bodies have been found yet indicates a conspiracy
2. That no debris or bodies have been found yet indicates inadequate search and rescue attempts thus far.
Now which one is more likely to be true? Undoubtedly the latter.
geckosfeet
(9,644 posts)
rocktivity
(45,006 posts)But then it was said that they "had nothing to do" with the crash.
Where did they come from then? If they are from the crash, why would they lie about it?
rocktivity
undeterred
(34,658 posts)which came from the only planet less advanced then ours.
Skittles
(171,716 posts)
Gravitycollapse
(8,155 posts)I was under the impression they were fuel slicks. If they were oil slicks then they could have come from many other sources. For instance, it could be seepage from the sea floor or from a drilling platform.
Either way, the latter part of my argument still stands. People who assume this is a conspiracy are likely overestimating the capacity or aggressiveness of the search and rescue operation thus far.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)who seems to be in the know say the slick they found was diesel fuel and not jet fuel.
Loudly
(2,436 posts)Chan790
(20,176 posts)It was always more likely they were from a shipping freighter. They said that early on, but few people paid attention to it.
Have you ever seen the Port of Elizabeth, NJ? It's one of the largest freight port on the east coast. Poorly maintained large boats often leave slicks of oil from engines and props. There is more oil skimmed out of P of E every year as a result of poor boat maintenance than spilled in the Exxon Valdez crash. The entire port is subject to environmental controls to keep the oil from spreading out into the Atlantic Ocean or settling on the adjacent beach areas.
hack89
(39,181 posts)as ships illegally clean their bilges and dump the oily water overboard
undeterred
(34,658 posts)a huge splash?! You're making crazy assumptions about beings you haven't met yet.
They chose the biggest plane they could find! And everyone in the world is talking about it! 
quinnox
(20,600 posts)I can see that being one possible explanation as far as the alien abduction theory goes. And further, you are correct, I am looking at this from human eyes. I really don't know how an alien would think, so I could be wrong in this.
ProfessorGAC
(76,706 posts). . .who wanted to announce their presence would just say hi! Abduction isn't what i'd call friendly first conact. And if they were malevolent, their introduction might be something more dramatic that disappearing a plane.
Now, if we had started this conversation with "aliens with the tech to create wormholes at will who explore the cosmos without having to leave home" then i'd be a taker!
Separation
(1,975 posts)rocktivity
(45,006 posts)
...The possible debris area is 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of the Vietnamese coastal city of Vung Tau, said Lai Xuan Thanh, chief of the country’s civil aviation agency. Vietnam is also sending ships to investigate what appears to be metal pieces.
A plane alerted Hong Kong air traffic controllers about the discovery, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said in a statement on its website. Malaysian officials said they were directing ships toward the Hong Kong region, and Vietnam said the multinational search flotilla totaled 40 vessels, backed by 34 aircraft...
Sounds like they've finally found it, but Vung Tau is nowhere near Hong Kong. I guess Bloomberg is having trouble re-adjusting to being a private citizen...
rocktivity
Niceguy1
(2,467 posts)which may be a factor in the whole situation. To this day Science cannot determine why so many airplanes and ships are lost in these areas.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)They coincide with heavy shipping and pleasure lanes. They lose ships and planes at no higher a rate than the rest of the world.
Sen. Walter Sobchak
(8,692 posts)The crash was caused by atheists and homosexuals. Their divine revelations on the subject do not however appear to mention the whereabouts of the plane.
DemocraticWing
(1,290 posts)Me and my homosexual band of marauders did it. Leave the atheists out of it though, they're too busy causing hurricanes.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)No, fuck, don't even bother answering that.
quinnox
(20,600 posts)Yea, but maybe in a sarcastic or joking manner.
I am just trying to nip this in the bud! I have to protect my extraterrestrial friends honor! They call themselves "XZYZOTL" 
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)it gave me swamp gas.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,876 posts)1) A suicide by one of the pilots. One of the 2 is determined to crash the plane, kills the other one then dives it straight down into the water. No radio call at all.
2) A bomb or something else that killed both pilots instantly as well as perhaps destroying the entire sharp end of the plane, thus sending it into a dive. No radio call at all.
Glassunion
(10,201 posts)It's been mentioned that their first and foremost priority is to fly the plane, the second priority is to navigate the plane, and lastly is to communicate. There have been many crashes where the pilots did not communicate with air traffic before the plane crashed because they were too busy fighting to keep the plane in the air.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)
gollygee
(22,336 posts)I can't imagine an airplane full of people being hijacked with no one knowing, or at least he highjackers making some kind of demands. Even without the highjackers making demands, like you said, an intact airplane is being tracked at all times.
I can easily imagine a plane crashing into the ocean and the debris being difficult to find. The ocean is huge, and you're right that people overestimate our level of technology.
Is anyone actually suggesting UFOs are involved? I don't even know how to respond to that.
Loudly
(2,436 posts)We're in the age of Allah hates China and will make its citizens aboard planes disappear.
Dorian Gray
(13,850 posts)or care about the why. I just feel sorry for all the families who don't have conclusive word on what happened to their loved ones.
FSogol
(47,623 posts)
CatWoman
(80,290 posts) 
longship
(40,416 posts)
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)
FreeJoe
(1,039 posts)Or maybe Snowden
Orrex
(67,111 posts)Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)Orrex
(67,111 posts)Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)from Fast and Furious
catbyte
(39,153 posts)
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)and no one is even bringing up the fact that William Ayers wrote Obama's books.
catbyte
(39,153 posts)Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)catbyte
(39,153 posts)Unless you aren't a rich White male, in which case he has no use for you or what you have to say...
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Understatement of the year.
librechik
(30,957 posts)it really kind of gives me vertigo, every time. And there's 10 hrs yet to go before landing.
That fucking ocean is BIG.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)I think very few can wrap their heads around. It can be somewhat daunting to think about. Thankfully it is as large as it is. If not we would truly be able to discuss it in terms of destruction with respect to our actions. Not that we aren't well on our way to that point, just the vastness dilutes and helps to clean our assault on it.
librechik
(30,957 posts)
Ligyron
(8,006 posts)Baitball Blogger
(52,346 posts)As to your reference number 3. If an alien species had the power to snap a jumbo jet out of the air, do you really think they would give a crap about hiding their trail?
3. One of the crazier theories, a UFO being involved, makes zero sense. Let's say we take it that UFOs exist, for the purpose of argument. They would never abduct a jumbo passenger jet, with that many passengers, it would be way too public and make too much of a splash, and be a big news story. Any abduction targets would be random people and small planes and boats that would hardly be noticed by the masses. These small craft disappear all the time, and the explanations are easy to understand, being lost at sea, or sinking, or running into bad weather.
parkia00
(583 posts)I'm not interested right now in why the plane disappeared but more interested in why it cannot be found. It basically comes down to two points.
(1) They can't find it cause it's not there. They are looking in the wrong place. For some reason the plane was way off course or flew much further after contact was lost.
(2) Plane crashed in the original search area but debris was not found. Again two possibilities. Debris cannot be seen cause it is too small. Something cause the plane to shatter into tiny pieces. Rather unlikely. Even a massive explosion will leave large chunks of the aircraft intact and even the impact on the water's surface of these pieces will not shatter to tiny pieces. Which leaves the final option which is what I think happened. The plane went down in one piece at high velocity and sharp angle leaving a small impact area. Also one has to understand the seafloor in the area. It is part of the Sunda shelf. Very shallow on average no more than 100meters deep. But what is most important to note is that there are many areas in the gulf that are very shallow with sand and mud bank rising to just a few meters below sea level. The sea floor of these areas are composed of marine clay and mud which are very soft. Even quicksand like. If you hold this mud in your hand and squeeze it will squirt out between your fingers.
Remember the ValueJet crash in the Everglades and how it impacted the swamp? It left only a small impact area and the entire plane penetrated into the swamp and was completely hidden.I think this is what happened leaving the only visible clue a depression in the seafloor... under water that is not clear. Almost impossible to be seen from the air. What little debris that managed to seep out of the plane's mud tomb would be small and easily missed in an area where the waters already have a lot of debris floating around.
