Random (weird) stories

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:I think they have tried locating cell phones that were supposedly still ringing, but no luck.

Send in the Seals. They found Saddam in a hole in the ground... they can find anything.

I'm not talking about locating any phones, just tracking their position in the couple hours after takeoff.  Castle/Beckett seem to be able to do it on a weekly basis.

Cuz TV is real life.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:I think they have tried locating cell phones that were supposedly still ringing, but no luck.

Send in the Seals. They found Saddam in a hole in the ground... they can find anything.

I'm not talking about locating any phones, just tracking their position in the couple hours after takeoff.  Castle/Beckett seem to be able to do it on a weekly basis.

my guess is that no one uses phones on planes because most people don't use satellite phones and no one gets coverage 9000 feet up in the air? most cell phones have antennas on top of buildings or towers. you just can't triangulate something that is up in the air beyond reception. this is my guess

Wouldn't it be nuts if this plane was hijacked and actually landed somewhere and all the passengers are being held prisoner?

tim1_2 wrote:Wouldn't it be nuts if this plane was hijacked and actually landed somewhere and all the passengers are being held prisoner?

Quite a few people think that. I've heard people suggesting this was a massive kidnapping operation, but we haven't heard any ransom demands yet, so who knows.

There were two men traveling on stolen passports. One has been identified as a 19-year-old Iranian man who has been trying to emigrate to Germany; he's been referred to as an asylum seeker. The second man has also been identified as Iranian.

There has also been a recent report (not confirmed yet, I don't think) that the plane was detected at 2:40 am (that's 1:20 after the initial "last contact" reports, and 2 hours into the flight) near Pulao Perak -- an island several hundred kilometers NxNW of Kuala Lumpur.

It was also reported that the plane was flying at a low altitude (so maybe cellphones could still be tracked -- however it seems extremely unlikely that there would be cell towers in the Malacca Strait. But while it was still flying over Malaysia you could certainly at least try to confirm if it was headed to Beijing or if it banked left toward the strait.

Actually strike that. The initial "last contact" was 40 minutes into the flight when it was above the South China sea, which is on-course for Beijing. If it really was later detected near Pulao Perak then it turned completely around.

#BlameMelnyk

shabbs wrote:#BlameMelnyk

Did it have enough fuel to make it to the Ukraine?

honestly i'm starting to wonder if there's not a major cover-up going on on the part of malaysian officials. Having spent over 6 months of my life in malaysia I know how much that state hates losing face and how strong of a hold they try to have over media and how it's perceived. lots of corruption in that country.

thing is this thing is getting out of hand as far as how much coverage this is getting. this is going to blow up and in the end we'll find out that there was so incredible mishandling of the situation and wwhat not on the part of the government. BOOK IT!

This whole event has been a handling donkey rodeo. Totally out of control. The families have got to be going crazy with all the info that is being leaked and released.

shabbs wrote:This whole event has been a handling donkey rodeo. Totally out of control. The families have got to be going crazy with all the info that is being leaked and released.

This entire situation is random and (weird).

NEELY wrote:Nope, air traffic controller union doesn't want them because it could cost jobs... thus no GPS on planes.

Yes aircraft have GPS (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-26544554) , however they are not certified for use as a primary navigation device. They serve as backup.

Primary navigation device is INS.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:I think they have tried locating cell phones that were supposedly still ringing, but no luck.

Send in the Seals. They found Saddam in a hole in the ground... they can find anything.

I'm not talking about locating any phones, just tracking their position in the couple hours after takeoff.  Castle/Beckett seem to be able to do it on a weekly basis.

You can't track a phone that's not in range of a cell tower. A cell expert said that people leaving their phones on when flying would appear to be still connected (ringing) because they would remain registered on the network when they went out of range of the cell tower.

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:Wouldn't it be nuts if this plane was hijacked and actually landed somewhere and all the passengers are being held prisoner?

Quite a few people think that.  I've heard people suggesting this was a massive kidnapping operation, but we haven't heard any ransom demands yet, so who knows.

There were two men traveling on stolen passports.  One has been identified as a 19-year-old Iranian man who has been trying to emigrate to Germany; he's been referred to as an asylum seeker.  The second man has also been identified as Iranian.

There has also been a recent report (not confirmed yet, I don't think) that the plane was detected at 2:40 am (that's 1:20 after the initial "last contact" reports, and 2 hours into the flight) near Pulao Perak -- an island several hundred kilometers NxNW of Kuala Lumpur.  

It was also reported that the plane was flying at a low altitude (so maybe cellphones could still be tracked -- however it seems extremely unlikely that there would be cell towers in the Malacca Strait.  But while it was still flying over Malaysia you could certainly at least try to confirm if it was headed to Beijing or if it banked left toward the strait.  

Actually strike that.  The initial "last contact" was 40 minutes into the flight when it was above the South China sea, which is on-course for Beijing.  If it really was later detected near Pulao Perak then it turned completely around.  

I like my wife's theory. A heist.

What if the plane was carrying gold or something else valuable. This would give the crew incentive to ditch the plane somewhere and split the proceeds with a predetermined accomplice. The pilot in command had an elaborate home simulator setup. He practiced on his off hours. He could practice and perfect a low fly getaway.

Number Twenty Nine wrote:

NEELY wrote:Nope, air traffic controller union doesn't want them because it could cost jobs... thus no GPS on planes.

Yes aircraft have GPS (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-26544554) , however they are not certified for use as a primary navigation device.  They serve as backup.

Primary navigation device is INS.

Wow. So it's not the unions this time? Hard to believe.

#BlameTheUnions

Crazy.  Saying that it must've been hijacked, and diverted somewhere?  How the hell do you land a plane illegally with hundreds of people on it, and the entire thing is kept under wraps?

Jacob had something to do with it.

tim1_2 wrote:Crazy.  Saying that it must've been hijacked, and diverted somewhere?  How the hell do you land a plane illegally with hundreds of people on it, and the entire thing is kept under wraps?

North Korea.

So, Rodman to the rescue?