Natural Causes that may have led to Flight 370 disappearance
Flight 370 departed from Kuala Lumpur and was expecting to land in Beijing when it suddenly disappeared from its radar. It has been over a month since the planes disappearance and instead of drawing to a conclusion only more theories are being developed. Some theories are very abstract and place a major emphasis as a supernatural event or government conspiracy. A few of these theories seemed to have been developed before the plane even went missing and are just using this event to add there theory. Some rational or natural theories that may have caused the disappearance of Flight 370 include electrical fires, pilots inability to control the plane, mechanical failure, and weather.
Connecting Flight 370 to other plane disappearances
The ABC News clip narrated by Cynthia McFadden compares Flight 370 and Flight 477 that crashed over the Atlantic. There are some similarities that could help us find the wreckage for flight 370 and conclude on how it crashed. Currently there is still no wreckage that has been found. There has been some questions that have arisen with such a weird disappearance as this one. Questions like “How did two passengers board the aircraft with stolen passports?” and “Why did five passengers fail to board at all after they had checked in?”
ABC’s Elizabeth Vargus spent two years on a night line investigation in a previous catastrophic crash with unsettling similarities. The mystery of the disappearance of flight 370 seems to only grow with time. John Nance an aviation analyst believes it most likely is in the water and it’s a matter of time before we find the wreckage of flight 370. Under the circumstances of flight 370 disappearance, it may seem unheard of happening before but in 2009 there was a similar occurrence. A routine 11 hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Air France flight 447 departed from Rio de Janeiro with the destination of Paris. The Airbus A330 is similar to flight 370 Boeing 777. They both have a strong safety record. At any given flight pilots are only at controls for about 3 minutes (take-off and landing), planes essentially fly themselves. In modern day aviation pilots lack the experience needed in emergency situations since the technology prevents them from having the opportunity to actually fly the airplane. After a few hours into the flight, flight 447, cruising at 37,000 feet, begins to enter a heavy storm system. At the same time the location of the storm happens to be in the same location as a known dead zone for radio communication. During some point before the crash according to cockpit voice recorded the captain stepped out to take a break when the autopilot suddenly switched off after ice crystals form on the airplanes sensitive tubes on the wings. The pilot then came back and rose the tip of the nose straight up which was the wrong thing to do because it can cause the airplane to start falling out of the sky. The planes stall warning then goes off and sounded for 54 seconds, the pilots do not pay it any attention. As the stall gets worse the plane becomes more difficult to fly. |
The black box recorded the Co-pilot saying “I don’t have control of the airplane at all.” and asking where the Captain was, “Where is he?” When the Captain finally returns to the cockpit he sees chaos unfolding. Jean-Paul Troadec a Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis in France states “The pilots did not understand the situation, and they were not aware the stall.” At this point in the stall the plane is plummeting at 120 miles per hour in the dark belly first. The confusion gets worse as the pilots try to fly the plane in opposite directions. At 10,000-15,000 feet is when the plane would have been a lost cause to save but it wasn’t tell that last few seconds that the pilots realized it was doomed. The last few seconds on the black box recorder one of the pilots says “But what's happening?” Showing the utter chaos and confused state they were in. Friends and family were already waiting in the terminals when word spread that flight 447 seemed to disappear. This is similar to flight 370 in Beijing as they awaited for the arrival of their loved ones that never showed. Although back in 2009 it took search and rescue crews five days to find the first pieces of wreckage from flight 447. French investigators went on to spend two years and 50 million dollars to find the rest of the airplane without luck. They then hired Mike Purcell and his team. The team famous for finding the titanic. Mike and his crew found the plane and the black box which was still intact and working after two years in the water. The biggest mystery is where is flight 370 and why is it taking them so long to find it? Once the underwater search begins it is hopeful the plane will be found and then we will be able to know more about what caused the plane to crash and who is to be held responsible.
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Electrical Fire Theory
The electrical fire theory is a natural explanation as to what caused Flight 370 to suddenly disappear. This could explain Flight 370 weird flight pattern as it turns westward, off route trying to find the nearest landing site or suitable runway. If there was an electrical fire, the pilot’s main objective is to land the plane safely as soon as possible. Which makes sense that the plane would turn back towards Kuala Lumpur with intensions of landing there. An Electrical fire could also explain why the responder had been turned off. The fire knocking out the planes transponder and communications equipment. The smoke from the fire would eventually cause everyone on board to loose consciousness.
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At this point the plane would have become a “ghost plane”, assuming it was on auto pilot, that overshot there new landing site and eventually landing somewhere in the Indian Ocean after it ran out of fuel from drifting south.
Picture of a Boeing 777 that had an electrical fire in its cockpit.
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Flight 370's altitude dropped after sharp turn- Mechanical Failure
With new details released from authorities
after airplanes searched the Southern Indian Ocean may lead to a new direction
of what may have happened in the plane’s cockpit. Military tracking shows the
aircraft changed altitude after making a sharp turn over the South China Sea then
heading towards the Strait of Malacca. The plane flew as low as 12,000 feet
before it disappeared from the radar. Most conclude that the sharp turn seemed
intentional. Authorities say the plane did not send any emergency signals
although some argue that the pilots could have tried but were unable due to
some type of mechanical failure.
The theory of someone hijacking the plane and reprogramming the flights path before the co-pilot signed off with air-traffic controllers for the last time has undercut suspicions of foul play. Due to the last transmission reported the aircraft heading towards Beijing. |
These new details gives us a better understanding what went on in the cockpit but it does not give us concluding details of where the plane is located or what caused it to go missing. Because there is currently a lack of evidence that suggest foul play some argue that it’s a sign mechanical failure sent the plane suddenly off course. If the plane lost pressure due to mechanical failure it would make sense that the pilots would deliberately drop altitude and fly lower to save the passengers on board. At about 10,000 feet you don’t have to worry about pressurization. The procedure for rapid decompression is called high dive. Where you go as fast as possible to that altitude. Military radar tracked Flight 370 between 1:19 a.m. and 2:40 a.m. but it was unclear how long it took the plane to descend to 12,000 feet. It is becoming increasingly important to gather more information about the flights descent patterns and times because this could lead to the location of the aircraft and conclude to why Flight 370 went missing.
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