http://news.yahoo.com/good-night-hau...6--sector.html

Is this true?

it's probably nothing.

https://twitter.com/Alicia2050/statu...02048863436800

How the hell is Iceland on the way from Dulles to Dubai?

Flight paths are not straight lines. Look at any international flight, especially this one.

holy **** that chick takes "days of our lives" way too seriously.

It's actually closer to fly "via the north pole" than along the equator.

I think you mean ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter). And, yes, there is some logic to what you're saying. But remember: I fly the planes. That doesn't make me an expert on every component.

Yes, it's true. We are supposed to acknowledge a frequency change with a readback including our callsign and the new frequency. But...it's not at all uncommon to hear guys respond very informally to a frequency change. I've even heard exactly what is mentioned in the yahoo article above ("All right. Good night.")

I actually know this and have been burnt on it before, but I was like, DC to UAE via Iceland? No way!"

Than I looked at a globe.

Spheres, man. ****ing spheres.

Well yes, but this wouldnt be considered any big deal. Standard radio transmission says you always repeat the last thing said to you as confirmation you both understand the instructions given. If ATC told him to switch frequencies to 127.66 a pilot would never just say "ok", he'd say "127.66" followed by the planes ID. The fact that he didnt could simply be interpreted as lazy piloting and would not necessarily create any alarm bells for ATC.

Yes but it probably means nothing. Pilots seldom respond in a textbook fashion. If this was a clearance he would need to read it back verbatim, but it was handoff instructions on which frequency to contact Vietnam ATC on.

Keep in mind that ATC is required to give this frequency information, even though he is aware that the Malaysian Air pilots heading north have heard this frequency instruction a 100 times.

Also, if the pilot was required to read this back, and did not, then ATC would have said Malaysian Airlines 370 Heavy, go ahead readback. This didn't happen as far as we know. In other words, ATC had no problems with it.

Saying goodnight or whatever is pretty much confirmation that he heard the info.

If there was another pilot in control he would probably be anything but casual. He would probably be more inclined to follow exact comm procedures.

Such as.. Malaysian Airlines 370 Heavy, Roger. Contact Vietnam Centre on 132.4..

PS. (j don't know what the enroute Vietnam ATC unit is called, so I used centre for an example).

It is good we have WOXOF here because he is giving us the straight goods. Most of these idiot pilots in the news know that the only way they will be on the news is the willingness to speculate on stupid things.

some quick google...


the international (Cospas-Sarsat) standard frequency for ELTs changed recently.

the older frequency is no longer tracked worldwide.

malaysia does not register ELTs with the international agency Cospas-Sarsat

I'll find out for sure on Tuesday.

While it's true that we have so many employees that I might fly with a pilot or flight attendant and never see them again in my career, it would definitely not be easy for an imposter to do what this says. For one thing, we all meet and brief together before the flight. And there is no video; we look through a peep hole in the cockpit door before opening. We also have a procedure in place to ensure that we are talking to a fellow crew member and not some random person.

There is an axe on board. Only one. And its location is no special secret. It's in the cockpit with the pilots.

It's not necessarily "via Iceland", but Iceland is the divert point for that portion of the flight. So, when they realized that they had a problem requiring a divert, they headed to Iceland.

If you're preparing for an emergency/crash landing, do you leave the cockpit door open?

Google "great circle routes"

I've never been faced with that consideration, but we have nothing in our training or emergency checklists which addresses this. So I'm going to say "No."

Also read goodnight type statement is more common with local (to the pilots) ATC

Can check out routes on http://www.gcmap.com/

Confusing information coming out today. Malaysia revealed that ACARS had already been disabled at the time that whoever was in control made the final "All right, good night" transmission. Investigators also said that they have not found any aviation training in the background of any passengers of the plane, although some countries have not responded to requests for information.

This would all be consistent with the theory that the captain stole the plane. His friends and colleagues have been vehement that he's not the kind of guy who would do that sort of thing, but then they would be, wouldn't they. But then there's this:

This seems to point more to the hijacking and plane theft theory.

I assume they'll be able to identify the voice who spoke to ATC, that should shed some light.

A delta flight from Florida to Atlanta lost part of its wing tonight in flight. Was able to land safely on an emergent basis. Wierd.

You seem easily impressed.

Secret handshake?

This was a question I gave been wondering about...the US navy is doing their search missions off the USS Kidd in the China Sea, nowhere near that southern corridor near Australia.

Kind of implies the US doesn't have much faith in Malaysian intelligence

The USS Kidd is searching in the Indian Ocean

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

WOXOF: Who is it?

Knocker: Sup bro

*CLICK*