As we reach the 11th day with little additional information on MH370, many interesting theories have emerged. While we do not like to speculate, some of the theories being espoused raise interesting questions.
One of those theories, detailed here by Keith Ledgerwood, a hobby pilot and aviation geek, is intriguing. Could MH370 have shadowed another commercial flight to avoid radar detection? Theoretically, this is possible, until the conclusion of the trip, where it would need to break away from the other flight and would be potentially visible on radar through a descent and landing.
If the MH370 aircraft did indeed shadow SIA68, as indicated in his analysis, the question is when would it have it broken off, and what happened to the flight after that point. Was it visible on radar, or in an area with poor radar coverage? We are aware that in some remote regions, radar may not be manned in early morning hours. The big question is where the airplane could have gone?
It is hard to hide a Boeing 777 with a Malaysian Airlines paint job and registry 9M-MRO on the fuselage, even in remote or sparsely populated areas, without somebody knowing. And there aren’t that many empty hangars big enough that they can’t all quickly be checked by authorities. Of course, a large runway would also be needed, assuming one wanted to take off again, upwards of 8,000 feet with a full fuel load. That also narrows the range of places that could be quickly checked. It is highly unlikely that a 777-200 could land in a remote desert in Central Asia and simply disappear.
The mystery deepens. While this theory is only such, it does provide a potential future terrorist playbook that is somewhat alarming. If a plane could remain invisible by shadowing another airliner, could that technique be used to mount an attack on a target and execute it before interception is possible. Precision flying, yes. Improbable, yes. Totally out of the question, unfortunately no. It makes for an interesting read while we all await more information on the fate of MH370.
This sounds like a scary possibility. I also wondered whether the transponder ID itself could be hacked to announce itself as some other airplane, real or not.
I don’t buy it. Navigating at night shadowing another aircraft is implausible.
Equally implausibility is its down on land, it was hi-jacked for its cargo (absurd) or it went the Norther Arch.
I think we can say there are only a few items known, Malaysia (with no help from Thailand) has mangled the facts so completely as to make them incomprehensible at this point (and a joke)
One day no talk, then a co-pilot said good night, the next he did not, timelines change as to what was done what and when and if and when the ACARS was turned off at what time. While I doubt it will happen, Malaysian conduct as a country has been criminal and deserves to be prosecuted by Hague, (PM) as should Thailand for not telling them they had confirmation of the target in the Straights of Malacca.
Fact we know 13 DAYS! After
1. MH 370 is missing
2. All communications stopped.
3. Aircraft Turned and was under full control (see item 5)
4. Last seen headed N.W. in the Straights of Malacca.
5. Antennae (or the switch/router its attached to) continued to respond to hourly Ping for 6 hours after
6. Passengers made no cell phone contact despite passing over Malaysian cites after the turn.
Fairly Solid: The turn and maneuvering is deliberate as was the com loss and the course was flown or programed in the dark which means a very experienced pilot. No hijacker could do that and its not possible a hijacker would know to turn ACARS off or have the pilot do it. Ultimately it leaves only two logical suspects with possibility that both were involved at least initially and one may have had a different agenda than the other knew about.
Also competent people (NTSB and or their experts or US intelligent support) believe it was on the Southern arch and the far regions for reasons not yet stated.
About your last statement, I think that a plane supposed to be in the deep of an ocean could be a good way to close a strange case.