[andyt]

It would have to be something very sudden to not even get a distress call. Like a bomb that incapacitated the pilots. Add that two people with stolen passports were on board.

Terrorists don't always claim right away, or ever, depending on their aims. We've seen every variation before.

I bet this is Putin's doing.

[ShepherdsDog]

Faulty oxygen canisters blew Swiss Air 111 out of the sky, but the fake passports are definitely troubling

[Regina]

Strutz Strutz:

If it was terrorism then the group responsible likely would have already said so. Those idiots tend to like getting the recognition right away.

Mechanical failure is very possible. I hope they are able to locate some wreckage and soon to help determine what happened. Whatever the cause, it appears that it was very sudden end for the victims since the flight crew apparently did not even have time to indicate any distress.

The water depth in that area is up to 300' so it won't be too hard for them to get the black box. There's been an oil slick reported so they should have a good starting point. The box is supposed to ping for about 30 days but I doubt it will take that long to find. Some similarities are being made with the crash of Air France in the Atlantic Ocean. Outside air probes froze and airspeed readings weren't accurate so it stalled and crashed. But......who knows.

[Jabberwalker]

Regina Regina:

Strutz Strutz:

If it was terrorism then the group responsible likely would have already said so. Those idiots tend to like getting the recognition right away.

Mechanical failure is very possible. I hope they are able to locate some wreckage and soon to help determine what happened. Whatever the cause, it appears that it was very sudden end for the victims since the flight crew apparently did not even have time to indicate any distress.

The water depth in that area is up to 300' so it won't be too hard for them to get the black box. There's been an oil slick reported so they should have a good starting point. The box is supposed to ping for about 30 days but I doubt it will take that long to find. Some similarities are being made with the crash of Air France in the Atlantic Ocean. Outside air probes froze and airspeed readings weren't accurate so it stalled and crashed. But......who knows.

The 777 is another "fly by wire" aircraft, is it not? We live in the new era of software errors and logic paradoxes.

[llama66]

But you'd think there would be SOME wreckage floating... a suitcase, a seat cushion, a part of the plane. When that Air France flight crashed, part of the tail was found floating. This crash, there is nothing; only an oil slick.

This is a very interesting case. I guess we will learn more in the days and weeks to come.

[andyt]

$1:

The stolen passports may be indicative that the Boeing 777 was infiltrated by terrorists or criminals. It's a thin thread of evidence and it may be premature to leap to such a conclusion.
But the sudden disappearance of the aircraft off radar screens, with no radio contact or mayday call, also indicates that whatever brought the aircraft down occurred quickly.

[Yogi]

RIP. I'm going with mechanical failure until proven otherwise by professional experts!

[Regina]

Fly by wire is refers to the way the flight surfaces are controlled by the yoke and rudder pedals. You're thinking of the avionics that give the pilots information.

[Jabberwalker]

Regina Regina:

Fly by wire is refers to the way the flight surfaces are controlled by the yoke and rudder pedals. You're thinking of the avionics that give the pilots information.

I'm thinking about fully automatic, computerized systems that control the entire aircraft. I know, our cars are like that now, as well. How many Toyotas have been recalled because of software issues?

[Gunnair]

Yogi Yogi:

RIP. I'm going with mechanical failure until proven otherwise by professional experts!

Agreed.

[andyt]

None that I know of. It was some gas pedal mechanical problem, if it ever existed at all.

[Jabberwalker]

andyt andyt:

None that I know of. It was some gas pedal mechanical problem, if it ever existed at all.

Oh, there's been many. The latest one (Feb 14th this year) involves 2 million vehicles, previous ones have involved 5.2 million, 2.3 million,

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2097180/ ... litch.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80 ... le_recalls


That Air France flight that crashed in the Atlantic was caused by faulty sensor data (frozen pitot tube) feeding incorrect data to the computers who control the aircraft which took fatal corrective action while trying to fix a problem that didn't exist. I understand that the crew tried to gain control over the computers in vain. This sort of software issue has happened in other Airbus aircraft but I believe that it hasn't yet emerged in a Boeing product.

[Count_Lothian]

It doesn't seem to be something terrorists would target.
Where's the connection.

Could be a good ole fashioned insurance scam.

It took a French Canadian to come up with that strategy . the first person ever to put a bomb on a plane with his wife.
He got caught for he really spent a lot of money on insurance.

wow it's in wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Guay

[jj2424]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

The 777 is another "fly by wire" aircraft, is it not? We live in the new era of software errors and logic paradoxes.

The 777 is the only Boeing to use a "fly by wire system" but Airbus is all fly by wire.
The pilot still has a lot more control over a 777 than in an airbus, there is a big difference between the two systems.

This sounds like an explosion are catastrophic failure since there was no warnings or distress call.

[commanderkai]

Count_Lothian Count_Lothian:

It doesn't seem to be something terrorists would target.
Where's the connection.

Could be a good ole fashioned insurance scam.

It took a French Canadian to come up with that strategy . the first person ever to put a bomb on a plane with his wife.
He got caught for he really spent a lot of money on insurance.

wow it's in wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Guay

I'm not sure if you've been in an airport, or in an airplane in the last...oh...70 years, but security at airports has been a bit more strict than 1949, and planes are built a bit stronger.