Posted on 03/11/2014 6:25:38 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
When I heard that military radar had tracked the airplane headed west for hundreds of miles after losing the transponder, the first thing that popped into my mind was, they decided to turn off the transponder and dash across the Indian Ocean to Mogadishu and ransom the airplane / passengers.
Of course, then, the question would be, who is "they"?
Several weeks ago, an Ethiopian co-pilot locked the captain out of the cockpit and flew the airplane to Switzerland (it was bound for Rome). No obvious reason for his act: if he wanted to defect to Switzerland, why not just fly the plane to Rome as planned and take a taxi to the Swiss embassy?
So, one candidate for "they" might be the co-pilot. Or the pilot. But the pilot doesn't seem the right type. Nor the womanizing, happy-go-lucky co-pilot.
Another possible "they" would be some other critters with muscle and aeronautical experience who hijacked the airplane. Probably not those Iranians with the stolen passports (they probably just hoped to sneak into the EU and collect welfare). But who knows?
However, it has since emerged that the reports of the plane heading west are bogus. Actually, not surprising, since the breathless accounts were bolstered by supposed eyewitness reports of the plane flying low over fishing boats. Not what you'd want to do if you expected to make it across the Indian Ocean without running out of fuel (which raises another question: did they take on extra fuel at KUL? Or just enough for Beijing?).
So, never mind.
I never really bought into the Somalia/selling passengers for ransom angle. It seems to me whatever group that would want to do that would have ample chances/opportunity to hijack a plane that originated in Africa proper. A flight originating in Africa would allow their ‘people’ more control of the situation.
Even though the Malaysian Air Force General is now backing away from the reports of the radar contact in the west, I’m not so sure he’s telling the truth. They(the Malaysian authorities) let that story run for an entire day! And now he wants to backtrack?
I can’t help but think these guys(the Malaysian and Vietnamese Authorities) are having their strings pulled in reaction to something.
Maybe the plane did crash/explode right where the transponder stopped signaling and where the first contact was lost.
Then again, maybe this is an ongoing situation that the Malaysian(and every other country involved) authorities are refraining from elaborating on.
Hopefully we find out this decade. I take with a grain of salt whatever official and unofficial statements come out of the local governments involved.
Show me the plane.
The most logical solution is Malaysia is embarrassed, they lost it on radar, or weren’t doing their jobs, and they haven’t a clue where it crashed.
Could launch out of there, but there would be no covert quality to the op. Indonesia would be complicit.
True. However, that is only one field, I would not doubt there are others in range of their onboard fuel.
I don’t think there is one long enough that isn’t monitored or controlled by some gov’t.
I know it seems farfetched, but we don't have the strongest leadership at the moment, and I'm just exploring possibilities.
The question I think is the right one. But the gov’t in question would have to be able to get the plane there without detection by others. The main reason I think it is in the ocean. Too much snoopery available nowadays.
By the time the plane's trail is located (looking in the wrong places), it could be in different paint and have been moved, even painted to look like a lesser aircraft from above (optical illusion). Then it could be hidden in plain sight, well, from above, anyway.
Joe, I so much agree with that statement. Hope the Dogs and Cats are at Full Alert. Not a time to be letting ones guard down.
While some days are a little more relaxed than others, I have found there is no time to let one’s guard down.
+5 Joe and a hearty 10-4
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