Debris Find Sheds New Light On MH370’s Final Moments

According to the Godfrey-Gibson report “the level of damage with fractures on all sides and the extreme force of the penetration right through the debris item lead to the conclusion that the end of the flight was in a high-speed dive designed to ensure the aircraft broke up into as many pieces as possible. The crash of MH370 was anything but a soft landing on the ocean.”

Expert analysis has shown that the flaps were not extended as would be the case for sea ditching.

DEBRIS FIND SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON MH370’S FINAL MOMENTS

apparently, if the pilot had control of the plane and wanted a gentle landing, he would have maneuvered the plane to a near horizontal position and extended the flaps.

presumably, either the pilot WANTED the plane to crash hard, or no one was in control of the plane.

any pilots / aviation people that can enlighten us on this?

I wonder if we'll ever know what really happened

this article says landing gear was down

www.dailymail.co.uk...

The door has been identified as a component of a Boeing 777, known as a trunnion door. It likely penetrated the inside of the aircraft's disintegrating engines.

This, experts have said, makes it highly probable that the landing gear was down when the aircraft crashed into the ocean, The Times has reported.

not sure how much of this is rational interpretation, and how much is alarmism

originally posted by: ElGoobero
This, experts have said, makes it highly probable that the landing gear was down when the aircraft crashed into the ocean

So is this evidence that it was shot down while trying to land? Is there any other reason the landing gear would be down, like for a fire caused by a tire?

originally posted by: trollz

originally posted by: ElGoobero
This, experts have said, makes it highly probable that the landing gear was down when the aircraft crashed into the ocean

So is this evidence that it was shot down while trying to land? Is there any other reason the landing gear would be down, like for a fire caused by a tire?

Land where? It was over the open ocean. Extending the landing gear would ensure greater damage upon impact. This is NOT an indication of being "shot down."

And this is why you should take everything about this with a grain of salt. Because on the one hand, you have experts saying it crashed at a high rate of speed, probably nearly vertically, into the water, shattering the aircraft at impact. On the other hand, you have experts saying that the trunnion door is proof that the landing gear was down, which was designed to cause the aircraft to sink faster after ditching.

The trunnion door isn't proof of the gear being down though. When the plane shattered, the door is going to separate from the aircraft, along with a bunch of other parts and pieces.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Exactly. Another thing is that the landing gear wouldn't be lowered if the aircraft was trying to ditch in the water.

a reply to: ElGoobero

Flaps and gear down are for emergency landings or crashes over land.thought being they will absorb some of the kinetic energy possibly increasing survival.

Over the ocean standard is flaps up gear up to make the plane as boyunt as possible to keep crew/passengers out of the water as long as possible. (Miracle on the Hudson)

If it came in near vertical none of that mattered, if it was out of control I could see flaps and gear down maybe as a last ditch effort to slow down and gain more time to try and gain control.

But doubt we will ever know the truth.

a reply to: Zaphod58

But what 'if' this really was sabotage, and the point was not only to crash the plane into the water, but also to make sure it would sink as quickly as possible to avoid even the slight possibility that the plane would be seen by any other aircraft anywhere nearby?

There was a thread back in 2014 discussing the documentary linked below:
MH370 Documentary

They play the actual recordings from the cockpit that night, and when I watched it, I was struck by the fact that the very last words heard from the cockpit of MH370 did not sound at all like the pilot or the co-pilot's voices...
...it is quite plainly a man with an American accent saying, "Uh goodnight Malaysia, three, seven, zero."

I just now listened to it again, it's very clearly neither the pilot nor co-pilot, as they both have Asian sounding accents, particularly noticeable with the letter 'r', which is pronounced almost as a soft 'd' sound - the word "zero" sounding like 'zedo'...

Whereas the voice that says "goodnight..." (as quoted above) has a very distinct, American 'rrr' in saying "zero".

In the video the pilot can can be heard at about 2:26 - the co-pilot at about 4:07 - and the 'mystery voice' at about 6:38...

Anyway, thought the conspiracy theorist in you might be interested...it's bothered me for 8 years now...

p.s. Here's a link to the original thread: ATS

a reply to: Irishhaf

Thought you might be interested in my reply to Zaphod above - but thought you might not 'come back' to the thread unless someone posted a "reply" to you.

originally posted by: JIMC5499
a reply to: Zaphod58

Exactly. Another thing is that the landing gear wouldn't be lowered if the aircraft was trying to ditch in the water.

Is there any other indication that it was "trying to ditch"?

a reply to: lostgirl

Then you simply fly to a remote area, at cruising altitude, and push the nose over. By the time you impact, you’ll be going so fast there won’t be much left off the aircraft, and what is left, other than small, light pieces is going to sink almost instantly. Look at TWA &00, and EgyptAir 990. The TWA flight, regardless of what you think happened, hit the water in pieces, the vast majority of which sank very quickly. EgyptAir was near Mach 1 at one point, and eventually impacted the water vertically. The only things left on the surface were paper, some fabric, and a few hollow, lightweight portions of aircraft.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: lostgirl
Then you simply fly to a remote area, at cruising altitude, and push the nose over. By the time you impact, you’ll be going so fast there won’t be much left off the aircraft...

That's what happened to flight MU5735 in China last March. I don't thing the cause of the crash has been released yet but I recall the theory was it was in a nose dive and it left a crater where it hit. If the goal is to leave as little evidence as possible, that's the way to do it. Crashing into the ocean makes it less likely that black boxes would ever be recovered.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Okay, but it doesn't explain who the man in the cockpit with the American accent was...

Aren't you even curious enough to listen to the recording minutes I referenced?

a reply to: lostgirl

Or, I’m too busy right this second to drop everything and listen to it. Replying to your order points takes much less time.

a reply to: lostgirl

was a long day dealing with the kid and dogs right now, so havent listened to the recordings..

But based off what you said, ill offer an anecdote, when I was an FE in the USAF I was dating my wife who was an airborne com tech. She has told me my voice can come across the airwaves way different depending on my rest/stress levels/relaxation levels.

Not saying you are not right, just a possible reason for the change in tone from the pilots. IF like the early conspiracy one of the pilots did lose it and decide to take the plane with him that could be why he sounds different.

Is this going to become a serial reality show, where they come up with another piece of wreckage every six months or so, setting off another round of speculation and theorizing?

originally posted by: trollz

originally posted by: ElGoobero
This, experts have said, makes it highly probable that the landing gear was down when the aircraft crashed into the ocean

So is this evidence that it was shot down while trying to land? Is there any other reason the landing gear would be down, like for a fire caused by a tire?

WRONG AIRCRAFT. MH-17 was the one shot down over Donetsk.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Look, it's okay if you just don't care...
....I honestly just thought you'd be interested, because when I pointed out the 'third' cockpit voice in the other thread, every person who listened to the recording agreed with me -

- well, except one, but it turned out she was listening to the wrong part of the recording and hearing the air traffic control person. Once she listened to the correctly indicated voice, she also agreed - American accent, definitely not the pilot or co-pilot.

In posting about the cockpit recording, I certainly never expected anyone to "drop everything" in order to rush me a reply - I'm sorry if I gave that impression.

a reply to: Irishhaf
Yes, you make a good point, and I know you have a busy life, so no worries if you're not really interested -

- But...the whole 'voice thing' takes place within the first 7 minutes of the documentary, and ends only 40 minutes into the flight, there are no changes in 'tone'...

...(In between comments from the narrator) you hear the pilot twice in readying for take off, you hear the tower giving instructions, the co-pilot says something to the tower -
- they all sound very low key, relaxed (there's even commentary talking about how 'normal/business as usual' it all sounds)

Then the tower gives a final instruction for the pilot to make the routine switch to Ho Chi Minh City Air Traffic Control, as the plane is exiting Malaysian air space, approaching Vietnam's -

- and a calm, American accented male responds, "Uh, goodnight Malaysia, three, seven, zero."

Here's the link again, so no one has to scroll back up:

MH370 documentary w/transcript

Specific times for the cockpit voices: the pilot can can be heard at about 2:26 - the co-pilot at about 4:07 - and the 'mystery voice' at about 6:38...

a reply to: lostgirl

If you listen to other sources for the audio tapes, the "first officer" voice that you hear in the documentary is the actor portraying the first officer. The first officer in the actual audio recordings doesn't sound the same, and has what is claimed to be the American accent. You can hear him after they take off talking to Departure.