Missing MH370 Baffles Local Aviation Experts

By Nur Aimidiyana Zuher KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Bernama) -- The events leading to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in the early hours of March 8 baffles local aviation experts. What more when there was no distress call and the pilots seem to have full control of the Boeing 777 before it suddenly disappeared from the Department of Aviation's (DCA) radar. "Ok roger, good day" was the last communication from Capt Zaharie Shah with Subang Air Traffic Control (ATC) at 1.30 a.m. before all voice communication were lost and 70 minutes later the plane vanished off from the radar screens. However, US invesigators believe the plane may have flown for hours after it dropped of from the radar and could have veered as far as the Indian Ocean. Ismail Ibrahim, a former Royal Malaysian Air Force technician and now an instructor with the Advanced Technology Training Centre's (ADTEC) Aircraft Maintenance Department told Bernama even if there was an emergency on board, the pilot would have informed the ground control or send a distress signal. However, it is mystifying that flight MH370 with 227 passengers and a crew of 12 neither made any distress call through the radio nor its transponder emit any codes indicating emergency on board. WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED Ismail added that the Boeing 777-200 is a new generation plane that boasts for sophisticated avionics and communication systems and therefore it is impossible that the pilots remained incommunicado with ground control during emergency. Then what had stopped the pilots from communicating with the ground? Another senior expert from the Malaysian Institute of Aviation Technology (MIAT) Ahmad Maulan Bardai believed the communication breakdown was due to a catastrophic problem or failure on board. Maybe a sudden explosion had occurred onboard knocking down communication equipment and other onboard flight instrument. This is why the pilots lost contact with the ground, he said adding that this is only one of the possibilities. Nonetheless, the loss of communication with Flight 370 is dumbfounding as even in many of the previous fatal air crashes the crew had communicated with the ATC even up to the final moments," he said. LOST FROM RADAR And asked on why only after 70 minutes of silence the plane vanished from the radar screens, Ismail who was with the air force for 16 years said it has to do with the plane's transponder. "In this instance, it appears that the transponder may have been deactivated," he said. When the transponder is activated, it emits signals to the ATC on the aircraft's altitude and position that can be seen on the ground controller's radar screen. There is no reason for the pilot to deactivate the transponder during flight. Asked on the number of transponders available on a plane, he said there could be up to three depending on the type of the plane. FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A CRASH Asked on what could bring down such sophisticated plane, the former head of Universiti Putra Malaysia's Aerospace Department Prof Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said such catastrophic even is often due to structural failure, engine failure, pilot error and even sabotage. "Aircraft accident statistics indicate about 91 percent of the accidents involving aircraft happen during take-offs and landings," he said adding that MH370 was at a cruising altitude when it vanished. Elaborating further, Dr Ahmad who is also an Aerospace Engineering Consultant noted that every possibility has to be looked into. Also the plane's maintenance records have to be gleaned through to look for any anomalies in its systems and structural integrity. "Maintaining a plane is not like maintaining a car with every component replaced has to be recorded, even when a screw is replaced," he said. At this juncture he said only the black box and the flight data recorder could shed light on what had transpired on the fateful flight MH370. The search for the MH370 had entered day seventh day Friday with a multinational search team involving ships and aircraft extending their search up to the Indian Ocean. -- BERNAMA