With news now coming from the Wall Street Journal and followed up in most of the international media that Malaysian Airlines MH370 flew on for another four hours, this site is now taking a break for a few hours, out of respect for the families and to allow Rolls Royce, to confirm that the engines on the Boeing 777 were in fact still operating long after this flight was reported in flames off Vietnam, and that said Trent 800 engines have been subject to a rigorous lie detector test.
And if the engines were whining long after the plane had stopped? Did nobody ask them at RR or Malaysian Airlines?
If Rolls Royce comes in as the thundering hero and solves this mess, that would be good. The company is in the mire in Vietnam (two of its Vietnamese partners have been sentenced to death) and in India, where it has had to pay back millions and in the US where, like in the UK it’s under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, it is also under investigation for corruption. However there is no suggestion that its engines fib, unless they have, er, taken control.
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What secrets does this engine hold?
What may be subject to interpretation is how Rolls Royce translates what the engines, as above, are trying to say or indeed how the Wall Street Journal translates what they have been told from a third party by way of a first and second.
As sources say that the plane might have been hijacked ‘for further use’ one has to assume that it now has in fact landed and the world’s super surveillance agencies are not any better finding a plane on land than they are in finding one under water.
I am leaving this in the capable hands of PPRUNE and the Aviation Herald. This story is almost too cracking to stay with. So I am off to the Mucky Duck. If RR’s engines can rustle me up some french fries it would be appreciated.
To the newspapers I serve. I have not deserted my post. I am just taking a break while a zillion more miles of land mass or sea, which this plane has now apparently flown over, are adequately searched.
If I end up in Suzie Wong’s I will keep the bill as it is clearly within the new search zone. I will merely be doing my bit leaving no stone unturned.
And thanks to the 600,000 who have tuned in here! Slante!
A day after this was published the Malaysian authorities denied that RR’s Trent engines had sent back info. However the aircraft did appear to ping to a sattellite by another method.
Interesting development, maybe the PPRuNe poster about a thousand posts ago who suggested a planned heist is onto something.
They were also of the opinion the plane would have landed in Myanmar where it was further claimed that many secretive airfields exist.
My prediction for the Magic Million is 27th April.
Can we start a book ?
Your being too optiistic Sam – numbers are surging at the moment due to MH370. They will have to drop considerably until next major regional story I fear
In Malaysia talking to people in the know – that is people with a few pints of Tiger in front of them who claim to know.
Theory 1 – the pilot had 30 years and 20,000hrs. He was educated at Penang Free School and is an opposition supporter. This week the leader and 3rd i/c of the opposition were sentenced for invented crimes – he has taken the aircraft to show just how incompetent the Govt are and had the skills to avoid radar and take the plane somewhere else. The people are starting to turn on the incompetent politicians – this may be working.
Theory 2 – Somali pirate attacks are decreasing but there has been a mountain of Chinese cash paid in ransoms already. Somalis have hijacked the plane and it is in Africa whilst the Chinese get the ransom together.
Theory 3 – MAS have lost a lot of money in the last two years, cutting ticket prices to fill big new aircraft as no one really wants to fly MAS (SA is miles better). They have culled the expat servicing teams and aircraft engineers leaving half trained Malays (well trained Malays get elevated to head office) who have not actually serviced the aircraft properly and it crashed. MAS do not want to find it as they fear there is something seriously wrong.
I am on MAS tonight so in the 13 hours of boredom I will investigate further.
With all the superb technology and forensics theory where is the plane my friend,