Page 2 - Transponder Code News Today

Four-digit code. its called the squawk. you do not receive the squawk until you file your flight plan, receive your atc clearance. that clearance is received usually by a computer printout in the cockpit, and sometimes on a radio transmission. somehow, yes, you could poach a transponder code and put it in, but if you took off as soon as you got the gear up, you would be discovered. it would be the same if somebody stole your credit card, you reported it, and then the thief tried to use the credi...

Their financial situation. all of these can build to the clues that are already out there. >> would you look at the cockpit? >> yes, i would. if you look -- to be an investigator, you have an open mind and i would look at the cockpit because right now with the facts we have, which have been inaccurate. you can probably rule out terrorism, hijacking for the most part. the probabilities right now are the cockpit, someone was in control of that aircraft, someone turned it, nobody communicated, some...

Its called the squawk. you do not receive the squawk until you file your flight plan, receive your atc clearance. that clearance is received usually by a computer printout in the cockpit, and sometimes on a radio transmission. somehow, yes, you could poach a transponder code and put it in, but if you took off as soon as you got the gear up, you would be discovered. it would be the same if somebody stole your credit card, you reported it, and then the thief tried to use the credit card. as soon a...

Of mh 370? is that possible? >> no. youve got a transponder code. so youre assigned a code, you put it in -- >> the reason im asking that, im answer the viewers question, if the pilots -- if other people were in on it with the pilot, if the ground crew is on it and got more fuel to go somewhere, there are ways to despise an airplane and wondering if this was one way, th thats it. >> you cant just switch your code. it is like all of a sudden -- >> you draw attention to that. all of a sudden youre...

Whats the cargo on that flight before they take off? >> i have never been informed of the cargo. i used to go to bolivia every night for a while. and they put $1 million in cash on the airplane every night. i found that out by talking to the security guard. nobody officially tells you whats in the cargo. >> well, vito tweets us and says why not install silent alarms on board for the crew in the event of pilot sabotage. there are codes in the cockpit, arent they? certain codes you enter if there ...

Happened with the ethiopian airliner several years ago. the hijacker commanded the pilots to fly them to a certain place. the pilot said were going to run out of gas, we wont make it there and tried to do it anyway. >> wouldnt they have a moment to push a may day button to let the ground know whats going on. >> there isnt a may day button. would you have to put in a discreet transponder code of 7600 or 7700, depending on what the circumstance, is and then push the ident button so the air traffic...

Then it finally landed in istanbul and the fact that it was able to make that landing suggests quite likely that the people on board didnt take either the threat that seriously or werent necessarily concerned enough to divert their course. they still managed to finish their journey and land in istanbul itself, michael. >> yeah, nick, lets turn now if we can. thanks for that. richard quest is in new york. richard, youre sort of our transport expert among many other hats that you wear. what normal...

Clarify. earlier we were hearing the plane may have transmitted a distress signal on a transponder code. were told definitively that did not happen, they detected no coded or squawked emergency code. in fact it now appears it was air traffic control in france that put out the first distress signal when they lost contact with this plane at 6800 feet and apparently as you can see the plane went into a mountain. so a lot of questions about whether the crew was incapacitated. if that happened what w...

The instruments look the same. theres a lot of redundancy in this cockpit. when it-- you hear a lot about squawk codes and transponders. they are related. a transponder is a piece of equipment that youll find in the cockpit right here and theres two of them. thats part of the redundancy. the pilot and the co-pilot would each have a transponder to operate. if the aircraft is hijacked the transponder code would be 7500. the pilot would digitally punch in 7500. air traffic control would know right ...