Page 35 - Acars News Today

>> that would kill that theory from my perspective. >> but we have the record are that supposedly they went to 45,000 feet. we dont know if thats correct. >> scott, good to have you was tonight. do you see this as a possible hijacking? >> i thought from day two this was a criminal act. as tom pointed out the transponder was turned off -- all two transponders were turned off. the acars were turned off. thats the system that monitors the health he of the airplane and send s it back to the airline....

Also, the satellite communication element of acar which is available technically but not all airlines describe to it because it is expensive. i dont know whether malaysian airlines subscribed to the satellite communication. it appears from what ive heard, it appears that maybe at one point they subscribed to it. the airplane was properly equipped with that capability. but it seems to me that currently theyre not subscribing to that satellite communication aspect of acars. >> so, then, hans, what...

Hold? in fact, we use them in certified -- >> it wouldnt be unusual for pilots to have those systems? >> no. its their passion. its even, its a lifestyle. thats part of the lifestyle. >> martin, another thing that is interesting is that we know that the communication systems, the acars and transponders were switched off before the last words heard from the pilot, "all right, good night." does that give you or mitchell any indication that the pilots were involved or were somehow coerced? >> i wou...

Now why is that important? it just so happens to contradict a government assertion made only yesterday. and its important, because if the pilots had said that a normal good night actually happened after the acars was switched off, it could suggest they had a deliberate role whatever happened to that aircraft. in either case, the u.s. official says the jet climbed to 45,000 feet after ground controllers lost contact. and then it dropped to 23,000 feet before climbing yet again. and as i mentioned...

Are to get into the electronics bay. so -- >> richard quest wants to jump in. hes finding what youre saying intriguing. >> quick question from quest. you cant disable it, but you can switch off the various vhf or s.a.t. com or data communication abilities, cant you, from one of the screens. >> lets talk to the expert, mitchell. you understand the question? >> yeah. so from what i understand -- youre asking if you can disable the vhf and hf communications? >> no, im asking by going -- my understa...

To come in, and it does not. so sometime in that 30-minute period, thats when the transponder is turned off. but effectively, we dont know what happened first, right? something could have happened to acars first. the transponder could have happened first. and that is significant why? >> well, heres the problem. all these issues keep conflicting each other. all these reports conflict each other. the fact that its been talking to the satellites for seven hours, its the acars system that typically ...

Map but the point is in the very southern indian ocean, the australians are moving their ships and plane s out into that area looking for any signs of this wreckage, if there is any. they -- theres a good map. so come off of the western side of australia there and they are now searching in that portion of the indian ocean. its a vast expansive ocean and some areas two to three miles deep and the -- in its entirety, 28 million square miles. but all of those countries to the north, the last known ...

Range due to fuel usage? >> well, they would have to adjust for fuel. this could still be a technical problem and the aircraft headed out over the eindian ocean and theres nothing new to suggest otherwise. when the malaysian prime minister stated and quoted authorities that the transponder was switched off and that acars was disabled, this suggests considerably more information than they actually have. all they could say is these two pieces of equipment ceased to transmit, an entirely different ...

The cockpit believed to be the co pilot makes the last verbal contact with air traffic controllers. and he says the words "all right, good night." nothing out of the ordinary so far. but then at 1:21 a.m., the planes transponder goes out. nine minutes later, civilian radar contact is lost. and it is never again restored. at 1:37 a.m., another acars transmission is due to come in 30 minutes after the last one. but it doesnt. its silent. at 2:15 a.m., the plane is last detected by malaysian milita...

Before or after one of the flight data transmitting systems was turned off. lets bring in don gorelli and captain john cox. good morning gentlemen. lets start with what we just learned. they believe the co-pilot was the last one to talk to air traffic controllers. nothing seemed to be amiss. where we stand right now, what strikes you? >> i think the routineness of the first officer says at that point everything was normal. we know shortly thereafter several of the communication devices were eith...