A Plane disappears

[glatt]

Yeah, the guy came up with the theory two days ago, before the timeline was known. But he argues in the comments that there could have been an electrical fire or other problem that took out the transponder and that the radio call a few minutes later was before the pilots realized there was a problem.

I like it that he's looking for the simplest explanation to fit the facts. Mechanical problem, plane turns to nearest convenient airport, they put it on autopilot while dealing with problem, they become incapacitated and the plane just keeps flying until it can't fly any more. It fits what we know.

I think all the terror theories rely on too many leaps of reason. It's very hard to hide a plane that big from satellite view. It would have to be sitting on an airstrip, and we know where all the airstrips are and could have checked them all by now by satellite.

[Beest]

Originally Posted by glatt

It would have to be sitting on an airstrip, and we know where all the airstrips are and could have checked them all by now by satellite.

Apparently that model is capable of non airstrip landings.

here is an article from the BBC discussing 10 theories, landing on a beach or in the desert is given as a possibilty ( not necessarily in a condition to take off again), also that it turned of it's signals and shadowed another aircraft, appearing as one blip on radar.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26609687

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Beest

Apparently that model is capable of non airstrip landings.

Absolutely, every plane can. It's when you want a non-fatal landing, or going for the brass ring of a non-fatal, plus reusable aircraft, that it gets infinitely more difficult.

When I read that article about landing on the beach, I was picturing this 777, 200 ft long by 200 ft wide, skipping down the beach like a Frisbee. Then some guys jump out high-fiving each other, and the boss says, quick, cover it with sand before somebody sees us, we'll dig it out when we're ready to leave. Better than the cartoon channel.

[Spexxvet]

If it landed, it must have landed where nobody saw it, or where somebody saw it and isn't telling.

[tw]

Originally Posted by glatt

It's very hard to hide a plane that big from satellite view.

Thieves can strip a car in less than five minutes. How many minutes for an airplane?

Airline industry is a cut-throat business. But hundreds of throats?

Anybody need parts for a 777?

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by tw

Thieves can strip a car in less than five minutes. How many minutes for an airplane?

You really are educated beyond your intelligence, aren't you?

The Boeing webpage 'Boeing 777 Facts' says there are 3,000,000 parts on a 777. I guess you could measure strip-time in minutes, but, that number would contain a fair number of zeros & commas.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

You really are educated beyond your intelligence, aren't you?

Gilligan proved you wrong. They built an entire residential island on but a few simple parts like sand, coconuts, and the Professor's magic glue.

Once lost on a deserted island, things become easier. Apparently a lack of government regulations makes life simpler. Even Rush says so. Why did you not kow that?

A car door has hundreds of parts. Even Gilligan, using the right bamboo, could remove it in seconds.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by tw

Gilligan ...

My son discovered Gilligan's Island and watches it as much as he can, which works out to every weekday at 8PM. So I watch it with him.

The Island is a really fascinating place. The Polynesian natives have somehow picked up the Voodoo practices of Haiti and Africa, even though they are a hemisphere away. The castaways also frequently encounter mountain gorillas, which have somehow gotten half a world away from their African home and across a vast ocean to the Island. The laws of physics are such that spiders are able to grow to the size of a human. Oxygen is able to reach the tissues a foot or so inside their bodies, even though they have no lungs or blood vessels. And NASA rockets keep landing on or otherwise observing the Island. Lightning bolts on the island have the ability to make a person invisible. And perhaps most amazingly, the Island geography changes dramatically over time. Sometimes it is several days journey across, perhaps 100 kilometers or so. Other times, it is only a few hundred meters across. Sometimes, the largest cave on the island can only fit 6 of the 7 castaways in it. Other times, the largest cave can fit all 7 castaways, and a giant spider with plenty of room between them for a chase scene with a pigeon. Fascinating stuff.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by glatt

The Polynesian natives have somehow picked up the Voodoo practices of Haiti and Africa, even though they are a hemisphere away.

Those Polynesian natives commute from L.A. where they're libel to pick up anything. Ask Sheldon.