Missing Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 239 triggers Southeast Asia search

[sunshine51]

Satellite images reveals nothing until someone actually picks up the debris floating around in the ocean.

And to my surprise still no real evidence found.....

This is what they are searching in, not hard to understand how difficult it is to locate white objects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bH1nDL3ynY&feature=player_embedded

The video was published on YouTube via Global Leaks, reportedly produced by a 'Salha Zain', and has had more than 100,000 views.

"This footage shows a search vessel in the middle of the Indian ocean attempting to find clues," Global Leaks wrote.

This video is a complete FAKE! It is not from an MH370 rescue ship in the IO.

Have a look here...

This video was Published on Jan 28, 2013 and the ship is the LPG/C Venere, Hurricane, 19/jan/2013.

The supposed "producer" Salha Zain...should be vivisected at high noon in a very public place IMO.

Too much of this type of bullshit is circulating. The relatives of the victims don't need this crap.

No fault to you chooka....I'm just spreading the truth about this video and it's "producer" so

all may know.

I just took it from an Australian news media site and it is what they are showing.

http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/breaking-news-blog/new-lead-in-mh370-search/20140327-35jkx.html

Thanks for that link Chooka....they now have the info I posted stating it's a fake.

Cheers.

[EyesWideOpen]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Looks like the hard drive on the captain's simulator does not have any incriminating flight scenarios.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/26/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

"An ongoing FBI review of the missing jet's pilots' hard drives, including the captain's flight simulator, has not turned up a "smoking gun," a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN."They have accessed the data," the official said. "There is nothing that's jumping out and grabbing us right now.

"The official would not reveal what was on the hard drive, but said the Malaysia Airlines pilot did not encrypt any of the files nor did he appear to go to any great lengths to scrub the hard drive when he deleted files last month."

On a side note, I am not impressed by the blurry blobs from the satellite images. If their resolution is actually

that low, seems like they are a waste of money. I still have a sense they are intentionally blurring the images

to protect the actual capability of the satellite.

Surprise surprise he was using his flight sim as.....a flight sim for professional purposes. I hope all those that accused him of being a terrorist and being 'as guilty as sin' for having a flight sim are now eating a large slice of humble pie. I agree that various lines of investigation should be followed to rule out any possible motive of foul play, but the hang em high brigade would have had this man dancing on the end of a rope long ago.

The images are intentionally blurred to protect the capability of the satellites.

It was a line of inquiry , no more no less. I thought of it by the third day, and the Malaysian " authorities" thought of it as well, as they reluctantly searched his home and sent the hard

drive to the FBI in America. I suspect the solution to this puzzle will not be an obvious one.

The plane has one of the best safety records in the sky, and is always my preferred plane

when I fry abroad. By all accounts the pilot was top notch, hard to imagine personal problems

would drive him to kill everyone on board as he does the suicide thing.

What is now left is the cargo, which to the best of my knowledge Malaysian Air has not released the manifest of. To me this is odd, as I would have thought they would have done that at the very start.

It is an easily obtained piece of information that perhaps could have ruled out an on board

fire from lithium batteries...If they were transporting hazardous cargo improperly, then

that will be the end of Malaysian Airlines...........

[cloghead]

"If they were transporting hazardous cargo improperly, then that will be the end of Malaysian Airlines..."

Well... maybe not. It depends on how far the Malaysian government is willing to (continue) subsidizing them.

MAS has been in the red since the 4th quarter 2010:

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/02/18/MAS-forecast-to-post-core-net-loss-of-RM101bil-for-FY13/

http://stock.osfvad.com/stock_financial_summary.php?stockname=MAS

Hmmmm...I wonder if maybe...

Naw, that scenario is just too farfetched...

[coma]

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 pilot 'deliberately' flew jet off course: report

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/malaysia-airlines-pilot-deliberately-flew-jet-report-article-1.1735943

[hawker9000]

Doppler effect is due to distance & speed oilinki, the only thing constant is the speed of light

which all RF travels at...regardless of how far it has to go & return. The shift in the transmitted

frequency and the reflected frequency is so small but it is still there. Most doppler radars are

in a fixed position unless airborne doppler is brought into the arena and yes, they exist. And

we're talking about a transmitted pulse of RF energy...not a steady stream of it. Say that

my transmitted 10MHz pulse has a pulse width of 0.25 microseconds...when it returns it

will still be at 0.25 microseconds in width but the reflected transmit frequency will be a tad bit

off depending on the range & speed of the target...that's the doppler effect.

Nope. It's due speed, but not distance. You do need to give some links/proof where is said that doppler effect is affected by distance as that would alter my view of the physics.

From wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect

The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift), named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave (or other periodic event) for an observer moving relative to its source.

I would assume that the radars measure the distance to the plane by the time how long the ping will take to get to the plane and back. Then multiply the time by speed of light and divide with two. This however does not give the relative speed of the plane, which can be calculated from the frequency shift.

On MH370 the case is different. The plane sent few signals, which the satellite received. Assuming that the signals had an time-stamp embedded, they could calculate the distance between the satellite and the plane from the time the message was sent and when it was received.

After this they could check the frequency, which the satellite received from the plane and calculate if the plane was flying towards or away from the satellite.

OK. Super-dumb question. Are we talking about radio or radar signals here? Radio comms involve SOME kind of modulation, maybe frame data if digital, maybe timestamps or timing bits, etc. (don't they?). The stuff we're getting from the media suggests it's a radar discussion, but I'm wondering if there's more to it than just "Doppler shift" and traditional radar "ranging".

[Asiantravel]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Looks like the hard drive on the captain's simulator does not have any incriminating flight scenarios.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/26/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

"An ongoing FBI review of the missing jet's pilots' hard drives, including the captain's flight simulator, has not turned up a "smoking gun," a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN."They have accessed the data," the official said. "There is nothing that's jumping out and grabbing us right now.

"The official would not reveal what was on the hard drive, but said the Malaysia Airlines pilot did not encrypt any of the files nor did he appear to go to any great lengths to scrub the hard drive when he deleted files last month."

On a side note, I am not impressed by the blurry blobs from the satellite images. If their resolution is actually

that low, seems like they are a waste of money. I still have a sense they are intentionally blurring the images

to protect the actual capability of the satellite.

Surprise surprise he was using his flight sim as.....a flight sim for professional purposes. I hope all those that accused him of being a terrorist and being 'as guilty as sin' for having a flight sim are now eating a large slice of humble pie. I agree that various lines of investigation should be followed to rule out any possible motive of foul play, but the hang em high brigade would have had this man dancing on the end of a rope long ago.

The images are intentionally blurred to protect the capability of the satellites.

It was a line of inquiry , no more no less. I thought of it by the third day, and the Malaysian " authorities" thought of it as well, as they reluctantly searched his home and sent the hard

drive to the FBI in America. I suspect the solution to this puzzle will not be an obvious one.

The plane has one of the best safety records in the sky, and is always my preferred plane

when I fry abroad. By all accounts the pilot was top notch, hard to imagine personal problems

would drive him to kill everyone on board as he does the suicide thing.

What is now left is the cargo, which to the best of my knowledge Malaysian Air has not released the manifest of. To me this is odd, as I would have thought they would have done that at the very start.

It is an easily obtained piece of information that perhaps could have ruled out an on board

fire from lithium batteries...If they were transporting hazardous cargo improperly, then

that will be the end of Malaysian Airlines...........

Pilot Suicide a Taboo Topic in Past Crash Probes

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pilot-suicide-taboo-topic-past-crash-probes-22930150

[webfact]

Thai satellite finds 300 floating objects in jet search

BANGKOK, March 27, 2014 (AFP) - Thai satellite images have shown 300 floating objects in the southern Indian Ocean during a search for the missing Malaysian airliner, an official said Thursday.

The objects, ranging from two to 15 metres (6.5 to 50 feet) in size, were scattered over an area about 2,700 kilometres (1,680 miles) southwest of Perth, according to the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency.

"But we cannot -- dare not -- confirm they are debris from the plane," the agency's executive director, Anond Snidvongs, told AFP.

He said the information had been given to Malaysia.

The pictures were taken by Thailand's only earth observation satellite on Monday but needed several days to process, Anond added.

He said the objects were spotted about 200 kilometres away from an area where French satellite images earlier showed potential objects in the search for the Boeing 777 which vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard.

Thailand faced criticism after announcing more than a week after the jet's disappearance that its radar had picked up an "unknown aircraft" minutes after flight MH370 last transmitted its location.

The Thai air force said it did not report the findings earlier as the plane was not considered a threat.

The Malaysia Airlines plane is presumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean after mysteriously diverting from its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing path and apparently flying for hours in the opposite direction.

Thunderstorms and gale-force winds grounded the international air search for wreckage on Thursday.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-03-27

[T_Dog]

Satellites and Amulets.... Thailand continues to be the master of diversity.

[draftvader]

Thai satellite finds 300 floating objects in jet search

BANGKOK, March 27, 2014 (AFP) - Thailand has spotted 300 floating objects in the southern Indian Ocean during a satellite search for the missing Malaysian airliner, its space agency said Thursday.

The objects, ranging from two to 15 metres (6.5 to 50 feet) in size, were scattered over an area about 2,700 kilometres southwest of Perth, Anond Snidvongs, executive director of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, told AFP.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-03-27

I know that plenty will jump on this. Just to cover whether this is reliable or not. The VERY best resolution available to anybody is roughly 10-15cm however you must understand that these satellites are 200 miles above the ground. This means that they have an useful resolution closer to 20-30cm due to atmospheric pollution, movement, etc. Now, pick up a novel. How big is that? This is roughly .8 of a pixel. So if somebody wants to tell you that you can be spotted on a satellite image then they are really living in la-la land. However even Thailand has access to satellites that can EASILY pick out objects from 2 to 15 metres. They can probably make out lots of smaller stuff too but nothing conclusive as it could easily be waves, etc. 300 objects of 2-15 metres? Either we've found another gyre patch (likely) or we've found our plane.

[webfact]

MH 370
Thaichote satellite detects debris



BANGKOK: -- A Thai satellite has detected 300 floating objects in the Indian Ocean, about 200 kilometers from the international search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH 370.

Anond Snidvongs, executive director of Geo Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, said that Thaichote satellite or Thailand Earth Observation Satellite, has recorded the objects in the Indian Ocean, on March 24 at 10am local time.

The site was about 2,700 kilometres from Perth of Australia and about 200 kilometres from the international search area where the ill-fated flight is thought to have come down. Some objects were more than two metres long, Anond said.

The detection is resulted from Thailand’s cooperation with Malaysia in finding the missing jetliner.

He said images of the findings had already been submitted to the caretaker premier and that caretaker Foreign Minister Surapong Tohvichakchaikul will forward the images to his Malaysian counterpart to examine if they were of the debris of MH 370.

Thaichote or Thailand Earth Observation Satellite is a remote sensing satellite for natural resources observation.

Malaysia has concluded that the flight "ended" in the Indian Ocean and all passengers are presumed dead.

The latest lead was a satellite image showing 122 objects in the Indian Ocean, but the search teams comprising vessels and helicopters for various countries have not yet found them.


-- The Nation 2014-03-26

[boomerangutang]

Pilot Suicide a Taboo Topic in Past Crash Probes

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pilot-suicide-taboo-topic-past-crash-probes-22930150

The 3 most newsworthy suspected pilot suicides/mass murder in commercial jets, are Egypt Air, Silk Air, and now this Malaysian Air. Of the 3, Egypt Air fits most plausibly with that scenario. Is it just a coincidence that all 3 of those flights were piloted by Muslim men?

It's not easy for Airline companies to screen pilots for possible mental illness. However, there are some ways to gauge indications of manic depression and/or suicidal tendencies. It would behoove airlines to do so.

[RickBradford]

Is it just a coincidence that all 3 of those flights were piloted by Muslim men?

No, because they weren't. The captain of Silk Air MI185 was a Chinese Singaporean named Tsu Way Ming and the FO was a New Zealander named Duncan Ward.

Captain Tsu had ramped up sizeable gambling losses and other debts.

[3NUMBAS]

and smashing their way into the cockpit ,not bang on the money ,daft conspiracy theory again from GJ

[ubonjoe]

A post that is a baseless rumor and replies to it has been removed.

[Jasun]

"Thai satellite images have shown 300 floating objects in the southern Indian Ocean"

Find this hard to believe, the authorities haven't even able to spot the trash building up on Kamala beach.

[nottocus]

"Thai satellite images have shown 300 floating objects in the southern Indian Ocean"

Find this hard to believe, the authorities haven't even able to spot the trash building up on Kamala beach.

They are only saying this cause they cocked up on the earlier radar data and got pulled up by some chick on FOX.

[draftvader]

A post that is a baseless rumor and replies to it has been removed.

Oh, but it was SO juicy

[EyesWideOpen]

So we are having the battle of the satellites ?? Wow, who knew Thailand even had an imaging one......

Currently we have the US , Chinese , Thai, and French satellites all trying to be the first to see the wreckage....

If they have actually shifted orbit to be over the search area, hope there is not a collision....

[3NUMBAS]

Missing plane 'black box' chirps gone by mid-April Chirps that help locate 'black boxes' from missing Malaysian plane will fade by mid-April

By Justin Pritchard, Associated Press | Associated Press – 19 minutes ago

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/missing-plane-black-box-chirps-111836195.html

[Scott]

Troll post removed.

[nong38]

Latest reports (BBC) say that a Thai sattelite has found 300 bits of debris, I kid you not its on the BBC news site.

What is does not say is that the satellite was built in Pattaya and is powered by a som law contraption, the lenses are a combination of Singha/Leo and Chang lenses which when used in a secret combination, late at night can reveal the secrets of the universe and Boyz town.

[sunshine51]

Doppler effect is due to distance & speed oilinki, the only thing constant is the speed of light

which all RF travels at...regardless of how far it has to go & return. The shift in the transmitted

frequency and the reflected frequency is so small but it is still there. Most doppler radars are

in a fixed position unless airborne doppler is brought into the arena and yes, they exist. And

we're talking about a transmitted pulse of RF energy...not a steady stream of it. Say that

my transmitted 10MHz pulse has a pulse width of 0.25 microseconds...when it returns it

will still be at 0.25 microseconds in width but the reflected transmit frequency will be a tad bit

off depending on the range & speed of the target...that's the doppler effect.

Nope. It's due speed, but not distance. You do need to give some links/proof where is said that doppler effect is affected by distance as that would alter my view of the physics.

From wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect

The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift), named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave (or other periodic event) for an observer moving relative to its source.

I would assume that the radars measure the distance to the plane by the time how long the ping will take to get to the plane and back. Then multiply the time by speed of light and divide with two. This however does not give the relative speed of the plane, which can be calculated from the frequency shift.

On MH370 the case is different. The plane sent few signals, which the satellite received. Assuming that the signals had an time-stamp embedded, they could calculate the distance between the satellite and the plane from the time the message was sent and when it was received.

After this they could check the frequency, which the satellite received from the plane and calculate if the plane was flying towards or away from the satellite.

OK. Super-dumb question. Are we talking about radio or radar signals here? Radio comms involve SOME kind of modulation, maybe frame data if digital, maybe timestamps or timing bits, etc. (don't they?). The stuff we're getting from the media suggests it's a radar discussion, but I'm wondering if there's more to it than just "Doppler shift" and traditional radar "ranging".

Here's a link to the US FCC stuff about Inmarsat frequencies...

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/inmarsat-list

There is a lot more to this than just simple radar ranging and it's too much

to post here. The link below may help...

http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2014/03/how-did-inmarsat-really-find-flight.html

[sunshine51]

Doppler effect is due to distance & speed oilinki, the only thing constant is the speed of light

which all RF travels at...regardless of how far it has to go & return. The shift in the transmitted

frequency and the reflected frequency is so small but it is still there. Most doppler radars are

in a fixed position unless airborne doppler is brought into the arena and yes, they exist. And

we're talking about a transmitted pulse of RF energy...not a steady stream of it. Say that

my transmitted 10MHz pulse has a pulse width of 0.25 microseconds...when it returns it

will still be at 0.25 microseconds in width but the reflected transmit frequency will be a tad bit

off depending on the range & speed of the target...that's the doppler effect.

Nope. It's due speed, but not distance. You do need to give some links/proof where is said that doppler effect is affected by distance as that would alter my view of the physics.

From wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect

The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift), named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave (or other periodic event) for an observer moving relative to its source.

I would assume that the radars measure the distance to the plane by the time how long the ping will take to get to the plane and back. Then multiply the time by speed of light and divide with two. This however does not give the relative speed of the plane, which can be calculated from the frequency shift.

On MH370 the case is different. The plane sent few signals, which the satellite received. Assuming that the signals had an time-stamp embedded, they could calculate the distance between the satellite and the plane from the time the message was sent and when it was received.

After this they could check the frequency, which the satellite received from the plane and calculate if the plane was flying towards or away from the satellite.

Try here for a start...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_radar

Yes speed is more important than distance however distance is also a

factor due to "maximum range to ambiguity"... look that up too...as it

applies to radar and radio signals.

Apols for going OT.

[davidstipek]

Looks like the hard drive on the captain's simulator does not have any incriminating flight scenarios.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/26/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

"An ongoing FBI review of the missing jet's pilots' hard drives, including the captain's flight simulator, has not turned up a "smoking gun," a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN."They have accessed the data," the official said. "There is nothing that's jumping out and grabbing us right now.

"The official would not reveal what was on the hard drive, but said the Malaysia Airlines pilot did not encrypt any of the files nor did he appear to go to any great lengths to scrub the hard drive when he deleted files last month."

On a side note, I am not impressed by the blurry blobs from the satellite images. If their resolution is actually

that low, seems like they are a waste of money. I still have a sense they are intentionally blurring the images

to protect the actual capability of the satellite.

On a lighter note I wonder how large his porn collection was?

But seriously, many pilots have fltsims at home so whatever he had on his HDD is not surprising,

not even the erased stuff.

With that said here's a report from the SMH yesterday that reveals more speculation on a much more

serious note...links below...

http://media.smh.com.au/news/world-news/mh370-pilot-in-no-state-of-mind-to-fly-5295827.html

http://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-pilot-terribly-upset-by-marriage-breakup-20140326-zqn4p.html

I'm not one for the pilot suicide theory but I do know Lindsay Murdoch (The Age) quite well and I will

vouch that he wouldn't put his name to a BS story.

In other news....

Seems that what appears to be an aircraft fire suppression bottle (fire extinguisher) has floated

onto a beach in the Maldives. In one report it has been dismissed as an explosive device. I have

practical knowledge in many explosive devices including antiship mines and what has washed

ashore in the Maldives is way too small to be an antiship mine. So what is it? I reckon it's

an aircraft engine fire extinguisher bottle....but then again...I have only seen one of these in

my life at that was a long tome ago....here's a pic & some links to verify what I have hacked

here and to help you come to a conclusion on your own...

http://www.maldivesfinest.com/mh370-evidence

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/54178

http://aae-ltd.com/extinguisher-bottle-assembly/

Bjo64JaIQAAzLAn.jpg

Inmarsat & Doppler extrapolation says Southern IO.

Eyewitnesses & some verifiable debris (even though

some say explosive device) indicate otherwise. Why?

The haystack is becoming rather hard to locate IMO.

And yes the satellite images are purposly blurred to hide

the true imaging capabilities of whichever satellite grabbed

the images....especially if they originated from a Cosmos or

KH series intelligence satellite.

NB...edit to add an "A".

An interesting story.....To the best of my knowledge, every single aircraft part has a

serial number on it. A simple inspection of it, a quick phone call to Boeing, and they

could instantly say if it was off of the Malaysian flight. But yeah to my eye, it sure looks

like a fire extinguisher bottle that is used in the cargo hold of a 777..... Saying it is an

anti ship mine is a bit silly, as I am not aware of any country sprinkling anti ship mines

in the Indian Ocean.

I only mentioned antiship mine for an example as they are quite large and no longer

spherical....however I also believe it's a fire extinguisher...from where is anybody's

guess.

Yes! Fire suppression tanks are Serial Numbered and Records of pressure tests and charge level results are filed monthly. doing a carbon transfer of the tag would enable a reliable Outside source to ID from not only what Airline but ID the Plane and possibly the flight Number. This would give the world a second look outside any military or Government,,, If there is suspected cover-up!

Then we would know...... without a doubt if it was the flight where it was REALLY headed! Tie everything together up here... earthquakes... after shocks... viewed flight...to where?? refueling and sent where....? Was it Knocked out of the Sky??? Maybe they should search for Mangosteens also! (They also will Float!!) 4 Ton would be hard to miss.... ANYWHERE!

[davejonesbkk]

Has this already been posted? Apologies if it has

http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/missing-mas-plane/story/malaysia-says-theres-sealed-evidence-mh370-cannot-be-made-publ

Sealed evidence??

[balo]

What if the cockpit door was locked and all the passengers were alive for 7 hours ? Only the pilots were dead and its impossible to open a cockpit door from the outside.

That would have been a nightmare scenario for everyone, at least they had time to think about their loved ones, but 7 hours is a long wait when you know you're going to die.

.

[hawker9000]

OK. Super-dumb question. Are we talking about radio or radar signals here? Radio comms involve SOME kind of modulation, maybe frame data if digital, maybe timestamps or timing bits, etc. (don't they?). The stuff we're getting from the media suggests it's a radar discussion, but I'm wondering if there's more to it than just "Doppler shift" and traditional radar "ranging".

Here's a link to the US FCC stuff about Inmarsat frequencies...

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/inmarsat-list

There is a lot more to this than just simple radar ranging and it's too much

to post here. The link below may help...

http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2014/03/how-did-inmarsat-really-find-flight.html

'I think, in simplified terms, what they're saying is that, yes, with one observation (one ping or one echo) Doppler shift can be used to determine velocity (only). But with multiple observations (there were eight for MH370 I guess), there will be eight different doppler shift and velocity determinations. If the satellite's position is known and is used as a reference point (even if moving itself, due to wobble), then from the pattern or progression over time that arises out of these multiple determinations, a flight path can be determined (via 3-dimensional trig calculations I don't pretend to be able to follow). Apparently, they successfully validated this process, which was new and unprecedented, against other known aircraft flight paths, and so are confident of their results.

[metisdead]

Another troll post has been removed.

[guru]

What if the cockpit door was locked and all the passengers were alive for 7 hours ? Only the pilots were dead and its impossible to open a cockpit door from the outside.

That would have been a nightmare scenario for everyone, at least they had time to think about their loved ones, but 7 hours is a long wait when you know you're going to die.

.

Not possible. If the captain and first officer are incapacitated, the cabin crew can access the fight deck by inserting a code on a keypad to unlock the door.

[MrWorldwide]

What if the cockpit door was locked and all the passengers were alive for 7 hours ? Only the pilots were dead and its impossible to open a cockpit door from the outside.

That would have been a nightmare scenario for everyone, at least they had time to think about their loved ones, but 7 hours is a long wait when you know you're going to die.

.

Not possible. If the captain and first officer are incapacitated, the cabin crew can access the fight deck by inserting a code on a keypad to unlock the door.

Like the rest of the speculation around this tragedy, I've also thought about this and I agree that it would have been far worse to sit on that plane for 7+ hours (longer if you count the time from takeoff to the assumed crash landing ~2500 km off the WA coast) knowing it was only a matter of time. If we consider the possibilities - fire, attempted hijacking, pilot suicide or bizarre mechanical/computer failure - my #1 preference as a passenger would be hypoxia. Easy to say, I guess, but given that I've long advocated the Whitney Houston option for those who want off this planet, it's not a particularly large leap.