Page 11 - Acars News Today

That perhaps the partial handshake was the plane reaching out trying to give information. >> yeah, for me thats the only explanation for it. as far as the reliance of the schedule of these pings, the last three or four were every hour. the ones before that were not. there were attempts and it couldnt connect. so there was times when it did that. what concerns me is there was a full hour, a little bit more, where there was nothing, but then after that you had regular for three pings in a row, you...

You dont seem convinced to me? >> im not 100% convinced because of the assumptions weve had to make. were over 17 days into this investigation and we have nothing. so this is the only lead we have. >> theres one change in the time line today that kind of concerned me. we were always saying the route was changed, in other words, the flight path was changed inside the cockpit, meaning it had to be done manually by the pilots, we were told that was done before they said good night. now theyre says,...

It transmits one of those information feeds it will let you know what the next waypoint is, not the route, but the next waypoint. without that, im not sure how people understand what was going on in the cockpit. >> what possible explanation could it be with this shift in path, if not done by design? >> well, again -- >> by either the pilot or someone else on the plane. >> you hit the two nails on the head, the trans responder and the acars are critical. thats how we knew where the air france fli...

Airplane, were scouring as they have been with planes and search vehicles of every type, nothing so far. why make the conclusion that -- the definitive conclusion it went down here? >> yeah, again, i dont think you can. i think its the most likely explanation. and im with michael on the time line issues, because theres no real way to tell who did what when if acars was off. i dont know where theyre getting all that information from. >> even what hes talking about in terms of the waves, the diffe...

It transmits one of those information feeds it will let you know what the next waypoint is, not the route, but the next waypoint. without that, im not sure how people understand what was going on in the cockpit. >> what possible explanation could it be with this shift in path, if not done by design? >> well, again -- >> by either the pilot or someone else on the plane. >> you hit the two nails on the head, the trans responder and the acars are critical. thats how we knew where the air france fli...

You dont seem convinced to me? >> im not 100% convinced because of the assumptions weve had to make. were over 17 days into this investigation and we have nothing. so this is the only lead we have. >> theres one change in the time line today that kind of concerned me. we were always saying the route was changed, in other words, the flight path was changed inside the cockpit, meaning it had to be done manually by the pilots, we were told that was done before they said good night. now theyre says,...

I thought, theres a fact here somewhere. when i find it, ill let you know. >> and we cant change the past. its clear that the design of the black box must change. do you agree, mike? >> well, there are lots of lessons that must occur. the pilot linking data communication system. through the acars, they can talk to air traffic control. midatlantic, they would have to use a radio called hf. now they can talk. and i think youll see expediting technology in terms

Gets information straight from the engines as well. it doesnt have to go through the acars to get there. >> what does that tell you in laymans terms? >> if the engines quit from lack of fuel, whatever it is, it would have sent a signal to satcom and said lets connect. >> bill nye, let me come to you. you worked at boeing. you know about the black boxes. what do you think of where we are now three weeks nearly into this? >> well, what id like to say is, i dont think its any one thing. i think tha...

>> its really a game changer. i really believe thought is. here ease what i think might have happened there, piers. the satcom boxes are way in the back of the aircraft, in the back and upper compartment right below the satcom antenna. theyve been receiving these pings from that satcom antenna. a long way in the front is what the acars is and thats stopped gives us information. its all gathered and sends information from the aircraft. what i suspect happened at this point, satcom is designed tha...

The acars was normal. im not convinced that the transponders were turned off. i think its possible they just didnt receive the request to send the information that far away from the radar station. so lets take that off the table for just a second. now the aircraft drops to 12,000 feet and makes a turn. the only airport i can see it may have been attempting to get to which would make sense is paneng. a maintenance base for malaysia air. a place where if i had a problem with an aircraft thats wher...