niteye, on Jun 1 2009, 07:08 AM, said:
If it was a hijacking. I'm speculating that if they turned off the transponder, they could still see him on primary radar momentarily before the plane flew out of their range, but I find it unlikely to be hijackers because it is not usual for them to simply disappear with a plane full of passengers. They'd land somewhere and make demands using the passengers as hostages, or in the case of 9/1 use the plane as a homing missile but they haven't done that.
No, there are FAA/ICAO procedures the flight crew takes in the event of a hijacking. One of them is setting the squawk code to 7500 which alerts ARTCC of a hijacking and the controllers will notify the respective agencies. The transponder wouldn't be shut off unless it was a demand by the hijackers.
JET PILOT, on Jun 1 2009, 08:51 AM, said:
Would a search be conducted for the black boxes on the bottom of the atlantic ocean? Would that be possible or practical at those depths and location?
The news is reporting an "automoatic" message was sent from the aircraft. I think the truth was lost in translation. I think they meant "Automated" message by ACARAS.
It's possible to recover a black box from the Atlantic.
mhockey21, on Jun 1 2009, 10:37 AM, said:
Isn't that a pretty long flight on the A330? It is mostly over water and in a twin don't they have to stay within a certain amount of miles from a diversion point? Which would make that even longer? I fear the worst for the people on the flight.
As stated before, it's called ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) in which certifications are given in accordance to the aircraft and operator.
Any more details given on this yet?