Boeing 777 Pilots: It's Not Easy To Disable Onboard Communications (No idea)

NPR ^ | March 14, 2014 | Scott Newman

[Celtic Conservative]

Not to cast aspersions, but there were no less than 20 people onboard that plane that worked for a computer software company.

CC

[Veto!]

A Boeing employee might know. Or other techies. The passenger list is crucial to this investigation, I think.

[therut]

Me Too.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“That’s caused many to speculate that somebody tried to make this plane vanish,” Brumfiel says. “

And it worked. :-)

[tophat9000]

So the satellite sends out a “Hello” packet... wonder if its a general multcast type hello to all aircraft on net and each aircraft id itself in its reply..because this case is so so strange I'm wondering if someone would “spoof” that aircraft to make people think it was still in the air

[ALPAPilot]

I don’t know if this story is accurate or not, but, could it be that any pilot who would speak to NPR possibly isn’t the brightest of the bunch?

I hate to say it, but it is probably the most accurate story about pilot knowledge of the communication systems on the 777. Shutting down the ACARS is not something someone could do without specific training on the 777. Boeing airplanes are pretty standard, but there are major differences in how the ACARS is set up and functions in the 767, 777, and the 747.

[Rockpile]

If ACARS on say a routine flight quits working or trips a breaker does the crew get any notificiation? Audible or visiual cue?

[bigdaddy45]

So do I. And I wouldn’t have a clue.

[PotatoHeadMick]

I agree, none of the information that has come out about all this deviating and turning back has been absolutely confirmed by Boeing, the engine makers, the US government or the Malaysian or Chinese government, it’s all coming from “anonymous sources”.

My suspicion is that when the plane is found, it will be found near where it was supposed to be and a simple catastrophic failure caused by pilot error, mechanical failure or an old-fashioned bomb will be the explanation.

[okie01]

...none of the information that has come out about all this deviating and turning back has been absolutely confirmed by Boeing, the engine makers, the US government or the Malaysian or Chinese government, it’s all coming from “anonymous sources”.

I believe the satellite "pinging" has been confirmed by Inmarsat.

[Smokin' Joe]

Let me put it this way. It is strange sometimes who knows how to do what, and who doesn't. Just because someone doesn't have a certificate on their wall and a card in their pocket does not preclude the sort of intensive, almost fanatical study that will have them know a system, a piece of equipment, a program better than perhaps everyone but those who engineered it.

What these pilots know or don't only indicates that whoever turned those systems off (provided someone did) had taken enough time to do their homework and learn how, and that (at least some) pilots normally don't bother or need to learn these things. Their not knowing doesn't preclude someone else knowing, it just indicates the knowledge is apparently not common knowledge among the pilots.

[ully2]

The transponder is shut off with a switch by pilots, the ACARS system requires a breaker to be pulled in the lower electonics bay, it reqires some knowledge.

[Jet Jaguar]

A very little bit of studying, it would be very easy to pull the circuit breakers of any/all comm equipment. In heavies, they are accessible by the pilot and crew.

[stlnative]

Can anyone explain this? (Was a experienced pilot flying at this point or not?)

The New York Times, quoting American officials and others familiar with the investigation, said radar signals recorded by the Malaysian military appear to show the airliner climbing to 45,000 feet (about 13,700 meters), higher than a Boeing 777's approved limit, soon after it disappeared from civilian radar, and making a sharp turn to the west. The radar track then shows the plane descending unevenly to an altitude of 23,000 feet (7,000 meters), below normal cruising levels, before rising again and flying northwest over the Strait of Malacca toward the Indian Ocean, the Times reported.

[Old Yeller]

It’s easy if that’s what you as a passport stealing terrorist, have been trained to do. Some terrorists pilots don’t bother learning to land or take off. Call them specialists.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Commercial aviation pilots tell NPR that they would have no idea how to disable all the systems designed to automatically communicate with ground stations, though they could probably figure it out from checklists and other documentation available aboard an aircraft...I'll bet they might be able to figure it out if they had enough motivation - say they wanted to hijack a plane - even those stupid enough to want to talk to NPR.....

[GBA]

I'm sure the systems are well protected, but isn't the B777 an all electric, software driven airplane with pilots controlling the computers that are actually controlling the airplane? Is anything completely dependent on software truly hack proof?

If you can get access to where the boxes that are and control the various systems on the airplane are located, you can turn them off by simply by disconnecting the cables hooked up to them.

Regardless, the pilots should be able to turn anything on the panel off, either by its power knob or switch or by the breaker.

If the plane crashed, there's a decent chance the ELT(s) should be broadcasting as designed unless damaged or destroyed.

Information is controlled these days, so are we, the masses, up to speed on what is actually known or are we being strung along like with most everything else on the one stream media?

[Jet Jaguar]

If the pilot was pulling circuit beakers to shut off comm and nav systems to disable them, I could see him shutting off the radar altimeter. Then as he is flying, he has to rely on air data instruments. If they were not calibrated correctly, or he did not have accurate barometric pressure settings, the altimeter could be off by several hundred feet at that altitude.

[Jet Jaguar]

If the pilot was pulling circuit beakers (or hijacker)

Added.

[LadyDoc]

from what I understand, the “pings” were from the engines, not the cockpit...Rolls Royce has it built into their engines.

But one wonders why none of the tech guys etc. didn’t manage to call home? Anyone know the technical aspects of this?