MH370 Gentle Landing Theory
Experts believe the missing MH370 flew on autopilot until it ran out of fuel, as an assumption Australian safety investigation officials are pronouncing in establishing that an underwater search must go further south to find the Malaysia Airlines jet’s most likely resting place.
After analyzing data between the plane and a British firm Inmarsat satellite, officials believe Malaysia Airlines flight 370 was on autopilot the entire time it was flying across a vast expanse of the southern Indian Ocean, Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan said.
Investigators searching for flight MH370 now believe a catastrophic event, leading to oxygen starvation, is the most likely scenario in the disappearance of the Boeing 777-200 airliner.
The Australian-led search team say that the plane was flying on autopilot on a consistent course when it finally crashed into the southern Indian Ocean when its engines flamed out. ASTB Chief commissioner Dolan said it was “highly, highly likely” that MH370 was on autopilot for hours before it crashed, because of the orderly path the plane took.
“Certainly for its path across the Indian Ocean, we are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it ran out of fuel,” Dolan said.
Asked whether the autopilot would have to be manually switched on, or whether it could have been activated automatically under a default setting, Dolan replied: “The basic assumption would be that if the autopilot is operational it’s because it’s been switched on.”
But exactly when the Boeing 777 began running on autopilot is still not known.
“Autopilot theory would explain plane’s ‘orderly path’,” says Australian Transport Minister, Warren Truss.
“We could not accurately nor have we attempted to fix the moment, when [the Boeing 777-200 airliner] was put on autopilot,” Truss said. “It will be a matter for the Malaysian-based investigation to look at precisely when [the airliner] may have been put on autopilot.”
Efforts to find the Boeing 777-200 airliner is now focusing on an area near to where the original search off Australia’s west coast began, upon the March 24 shocking revelation of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, announcing the airliner ended its journey on March 8 in the southern Indian Ocean. “We are now shifting our attention to an area further south of the 7th arc – broadly in the area where our first search efforts were focused,” Truss said.
Oliver McGee is CEO-Founder, Partnership Possibilities for America
