EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo has vanished from Radar

A 2011 article from "WIRED" appeared on my Twitter feed earlier today.

Ban the Black Box

The technology exists to retire the boxes.

Notable is the part about pilots not wanting cock pit conversation being live streamed but this was 2011 so I don't know what they would say now.

Some smaller carriers and charters use backup technology.

Hmm... I guess pilots would have to use other means to keep private the parts of their conversations they don't want under surveillance.

a reply to: Zaphod58

i believe that in a situation like this there should be an agreement worldwide and states that if an accident happens like this one the country that the plane belongs to should not be offered help to find the boxes, that's if this country doesn't have the tech to locate them and recover them , if so then the nearest country with that tech rushes to locate and retrieve them without a permission , because this isn't a joke and everybody should know the cause of this tragedy and as soon as possible.

and one more thing why isn't there a small cylinder attached to those boxes that will inflate a small balloon when touching the water ? isn't it simple ?

a reply to: Dr UAE

The airlines will say it adds 1000s of dollars to a ticket cost to implement. The game is make as much money for the shareholders and CEO by cutting corners and resisting any control of the business. Remember the pushed idea that business should get to do as it pleases - control and regulations are evil and the reason the economy is so bad. It's the money game.

The uncertainty now is good for the speculation that can be used for instill policy into people. No matter what the outcome, terrorism has been made a fact in many people now.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Under the new tracking rules being put in place they're developing a recorder that will float for a short period of time, and burst transmit its data before it sinks.

a reply to: Zaphod58

anyone see these stories? www.dailymail.co.uk... downed-fire-toilet.html

French tv station claiming pilot talked to cairo as smoke filled the cockpit was going to make a decent...egypt air denies.

and.....www.dailymail.co.uk... e-Turkey-s-biggest-news-outlets.html

2 turkish pilots saw ufo with green lights fly over their craft,and suddenly disappeared... 1 hour before air egypt plane crashed

I heard them mention on CNN a while ago about an ATSB (the Australian equivalent to the US's NTSB) discovering a potenial issue with the system that heats the sliding windows in cockpits of A320's and A330's (and possibly several other AirBus models) some time ago.

So, I did some digging on the Internet, and I think I found the ATSB finding they are talking about, which seems like it was based on a fire that occurred on a flight back in 2009. Specifically, what I found is ATSB document as-2009-027.

It seems to imply that the particular manufacturing issue possibly only applies (or AirBus assumed it only applied to) 2007 to 2009 models?

Here's a quote from the summary "Safety Section" near the end (Page 21):

Minor safety issue

Windshields manufactured with terminal block fittings containing polysulfide
sealant (PR1829) have been shown to be predisposed to premature overheating
failure that could lead to the development of a localised.

Action taken by Airbus

Worldwide windshield replacement program

In May 2010, the aircraft manufacturer issued a service bulletin (SB) A330-56-3009
that implemented a windshield recall, removal and replacement program. The
program applied to a batch of approximately 1,500 windshields that had been
manufactured between January 2007 and October 2008 where PR1829 polysulfide
sealant had been used as a filling agent within the terminal block. The SB
recommended a visual inspection of the left and right windshields to determine
whether they were part of the batch containing PR1829 sealant. If identified, Airbus
recommended that the affected windshields be replaced within 900 flight hours.
Airbus reported to the ATSB that the airlines which had been initially affected by
in-flight windshield overheat events would be prioritised in the replacement
program.
Due to limited fleet-wide completion of the windshield retrofit program (SB A330-
56-3009), Airbus have also indicated that they are in discussion with the European
Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) with the view to implement an Airworthiness
Directive that will require all European operators of applicable Airbus aircraft to
comply with the windshield replacement program. Once released, it has been
indicated that aircraft operators will be required to comply with the Airworthiness
Directive within nine months from the date of its release

originally posted by: tweetie
A 2011 article from "WIRED" appeared on my Twitter feed earlier today.

Ban the Black Box

The technology exists to retire the boxes.

I would never want to eliminate the "black boxes", all this other stuff should be "in addition to" having the black boxes. Even after radios stop transmitting, the black boxes could be collecting data for later analysis to figure out what happened after all transmissions stopped.

If we had all that technology on MH370, we still might not know WHAT happened (short of ejectable floating black-boxes). But, at least then we would know better WERE the plane ended-up - instead of such a gigantic search area.

I am still hopeful that EVENTUALLY we will find the black boxes for MH370 - even though it might be years later (ala Air France 447).

a reply to: research100

Egypt has denied there was a conversation. As for the UFO, even for the Daily Fail that's a reach.

Now this is interesting.

NEWARK, N.J. — As United Flight 731 climbed out of Newark with 107 people aboard, the pilot and first officer were startled to find screens that display crucial navigational information were blank or unreadable and radios were dead.

They had no way to communicate with air traffic controllers or detect other planes around them in the New York City area’s crowded airspace.

“I made a comment to the captain about steering clear of New York City, not wanting to get shot down by USAF fighters,” first officer Douglas Cochran later told investigators. He wasn’t joking: “We both felt an extreme urgency to get this aircraft on the ground as soon as possible.”

Within minutes, Cochran and the captain had turned around and safely landed the Denver-bound Airbus A320 at the Newark airport. Cochran later told investigators that clear weather might have been the only thing that saved them from a crash.

www.denverpost.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58
WOW. That is incredibly scary. Hopefully those avionics do not run on Windows Embedded.

a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator

They said they issued ADs in both the US and Europe that would have had them repaired by 2014, but we've seen how that goes sometimes.

Now Egypt is claiming that the aircraft did NOT make any maneuvers before it disappeared from radar.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Now Egypt is claiming that the aircraft did NOT make any maneuvers before it disappeared from radar.

Didn't Greek radar show the turns. Have they withdrawn that statement.?

a reply to: Zaphod58

Does anyone know yet what was in the cargo hold, has that info been released ? My main concern is if those lithium batteries are still being transported by air. Or have they been banned yet.
My apologies if this question has been asked/answered previously. Just jumped in on this thread now

a reply to: nelloh62

EgyptAir said that there was no hazardous cargo on board, but they haven't released any kind of cargo manifest.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Thanks Zaph.

originally posted by: roadgravel

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Now Egypt is claiming that the aircraft did NOT make any maneuvers before it disappeared from radar.

Didn't Greek radar show the turns. Have they withdrawn that statement.?

I wonder if that is just their way of saying they do not have the same level detail available on their systems (civilian and military combined) as the Greeks do, without directly admitting that.

a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator

That's what I was thinking. They only had a Secondary radar available to track the aircraft, so it only saw the transponder data, not the actual skin paint that a Primary would see.

I wonder if we had any Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in that area? If so, they might have have gotten a good look (with radar) at what happened.

Looks like the Sixth Fleet has several based in Spain. Some of those might be engaged in North or South Atlantic operations, but would have been convenient if one was in the Eastern Mediterranean at that time. Wishful thinking I guess.

a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator

The Cook was in the Med, but they didn't say where exactly she was, as is normal. There was a Sealift Command ship there as well.