I think it's to open the door when the pilot comes back. I was on a flight once (JetBlue) where a pilot went to the bathroom and the flight attendant repurposed the drink cart as a barrier to getting to the cockpit (turned it horizontal in the aisle just before Row 1). she got behind it and was pretty vigilant about not allowing anyone to get near her. she then removed this barrier when the pilot came back from the bathroom. I'd imagine having the flight attendant in the cockpit is just a much more secure version of this

How has this gotten no love yet?

I was just going to post. Made me laugh loudly sitting at my desk.

To be clear I was thinking of a real flight simulator with a cockpit and 180 degree screen. Not the latest Microsoft flight simulator. Maybe I was totally off. A flight simulator on hour desktop I agree doesn't sound suspicious at all.

the indian ocean is like the redheaded stepchild of oceans. this could be little more then an attempt to become relavent.

Thinman, for the Mario Mendoza of posters, this is very well done!

On pprune they are suggesting that having the TCAS on makes you visible to the other aircraft and therefore it's not possible. Is that true?

Warren Buffet should offer a billion dollars for whoever can find this plane.
Increases the chances of it ever being found a huge amount.

Because Warren Buffet cares about increasing the chances?

racially insensitive name too, might as well call it the redskin ocean

So funny the Indians in the US is still called Indians because Columbus thought he was in INDIA India.

If you think about it, would it not have been easier to steal/highjack a cargo configured aircraft. There are loads of Fedex type aircraft (converted 727s, 737s,) and converted other large commercial aircraft all over the world.

In stealing a cargo plane you don't have to deal with 239 passengers.

If this is about stealing an aircraft to do future damage, it was very well planned. If you had that planning ability, you would just steal not only an easier target (cargo aircraft), but one better equipped for your future mission.

I mean really. You need to steal a large bus. Are you going to steal an empty one or steal one full of people?

This theories breakdown when you have to weigh the logistics and brilliance required to pull it off, when people that smart would have had way better options.

Yes. You can't have one pilot alone in the cockpit. The second person doesn't necessarily have to be a flight attendant. If we have a jumpseater in the cockpit, that satisfies the requirement.

It'd be much easier to steal a cargo plane once you're on board. The problem getting onto the plane in the first place. Unless it's an inside job by the pilot or crew member, how do you propose to get on board?

We have both: a flight attendant in the cockpit and one "standing guard." And you're right, the FA's major role is to be there to open the door when the pilot comes back. The flying pilot can't very well get up to do it.

Regardless of the specific alternatives, I think this statement is really true and indicative of why the answer to what happened probably isn't nearly as 'exciting' as some of the scenarios out there.

I always thought it would be easy to hide something on a flight when I lived next to the air field in Dallas that American uses to fix planes. Very little security and looks like it would be easy to sneak in at night.

Very interesting, I didn't realize that.

So I guess that might change the possible scenarios involved in this flight as its not quite as simple as one of the pilots just waiting for the other to leave. They'd likely need to do something to incapacitate the other person in the cockpit.

TCAS operates in conjunction with the transponder. If the transponder is off, so is TCAS.

You have to remember a lot of the security around an airport is little more than theatre or enough to stop stupid people attacks or simple attacks.

But think about how many people and how many supplies need to get into and out of the controlled part of an airport. It's just not practical to be able to have it super secured. I had a friend that worked on jet bridges for a few months and he talked about how they almost never had their car/tool boxes searched.

I find that if you look serious and carry a clipboard, you can get away with almost anything in this world.

With planning and help, hide in cargo or in cargo area during loading. Find the best country/airport where getting airside with fake ID is the easiest.
We have already seen how lax things are in some countries.

I totally agree and personally think pilot failure still seems like the way to go. The hand off and subsequent change in height/direction do kinda counter this imo. The timing would demand a very tight planning around some things that he might not even have influence on, like having the (co)pilot leaving the cockpit. That part of the story seems to speak in favor of 3rd party wrongdoing (hostage/threat situation).

I don't know if these secured cockpit rules are used outside of US and European airlines though.