Vietnam Boeing experts talk MH370 scenarios

>> Search for missing plane moves east

Nguyen Nam Lien and Nguyen Hong Linh are both seasoned Boeing 777 captains and pilot trainers.

Lien is the general manager of the Bay Viet flying training company, while Linh is the head of a Vietnam Airlines Flight Crew Division.

A large-scale sea and air search for the MH370, which disappeared early Saturday en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, remains fruitless in its fourth day now.

Bad weather, lightning

Linh said he would immediately rule out the possibility that flight MH370 had been struck by lightning or crashed due to foul weather.

“The weather in this season is fine with no storm or rain, and it is impossible for the plane to explode after being hit by lightning,” he said.

Even if it had been struck by lightning, the aircraft would not have crashed immediately as the crew would have had enough time to deal with the situation, he added.

Mechanical failure

Linh, citing the 2009 crash of Air France flight AF447, said one of the mechanical failures that could lead to a crash is the temporary inconsistency between airspeed measurements.

In the AF447 case, the aircraft's pilot tubes were allegedly obstructed by ice crystals, causing the autopilot to disconnect, he said.

The plane eventually crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in the deaths of all 216 passengers and 12 crew members.

However, Linh noted, such a technical issue has never been recorded with a Boeing 777.

If there had been anything mechanically wrong, he added, the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) on the plane would have been activated and relevant agencies would have received its mayday signals.

“There is little likelihood that an in-flight technical error occurred on such a modern aircraft as the Boeing 777,” Linh concluded, while dismissing the possibility that one of the pilots might have committed suicide, saying the other pilot would have controlled his behavior had this been the case.

Crash

“A giant aircraft like a Boeing 777 cannot just disappear,” Lien said.

If the jetliner had crashed into the sea, it would have broken into pieces and the debris would be floating on the water, since many of the plane’s parts can float.

“The fact that no piece of evidence has been confirmed from the reported crash site of the plane suggests that we may have predicted the wrong location,” he said.

Hijacking

Lien said it is unlikely that flight MH370 fell victim to hijacking or terrorism, as finding a place to land the jetliner would be a tough task for the attackers after taking over the plane.

“The Boeing 777 must be landed in a large airport; otherwise it would probably crash, after which emergency signals would be sent,” he said, adding that no islands near the reported crash site of the plane would be possible landing spots for the aircraft.

“Don’t forget that all the people onboard had mobile phones and it is unlikely they were kidnapped and taken to a secret place,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Linh backed the hijacking possibility.

“So it is possible that the hijackers forced the pilots to change direction and turn off all communication devices,” he said.

Linh added that the attackers would have to have specialized knowledge about Boeing 777s to be able to do so.

UFO, parallel universe

Both experts agree that the possibility that flight MH370 was kidnapped by a UFO or taken into a parallel universe is a ridiculous idea, believable only in science fiction.