Re: Re: MH370
  By: Ward Dossche to Damon A. Getsman on Mon May 19 2014 08:42:32

 > DA> > Over the oceans there is no tracking. Aircraft virtually fly in the
 > DA> > blind.
 > 
 > DA> After an aircraft behaves how this one was said to have behaved
 > DA> the last time that it was tracked on radar?  Not likely.
 > 
 > Once behind the horizon, there is no radar tracking... yet.

	This is true.  I should have been more precise.

	So radar coverage over the horizon is impossible.  The area that
any one terrestrial-based tower or array can cover is determined by the
height of the broadcasting array above mean horizon level, no?  This is
a discrete cut-off of return detection when 'mean' horizon level
deviates only a little from 'physical' horizon level, I believe.  So if
the surface is not permeabale or completely absorbant to the radar
energy, radar returns die a certain distance out; if it is absorbing,
permeabale, or alternating (ie undulating water), radar returns die
within a range of distances out.
	What else do we need to be aware of?  Black box coverage; the
actual contents of this device are purported to contain multiple
different apparatuses.  The capabilities of this are definitely in
question when an incident such as this occurs.  Digging down into the
posts surrounding the current incident will reveal precisely why in
short time; it may only be conjecture and based on unverifiable evidence
at this point in the public eye, but there are thoughts that NORAD and
other defense/intelligence agencies may well be able to grab control of
any plane with the appropriate black box models as well as to control
the aircraft's behavior in other circumstances such as complete
communications severance, and the like.  Theories such as the one about
the 'threat neutralization' protocol for hijacked, high-risk planes such
as ones carrying live physical hijackers, come into play.  One such
protocol for dealing with these situations involves flying the plane up
above 40k feet and depressurizing the entire plane for long enough so
that everyone alive onboard will succumb to hypothermia and not have
sufficient canned air/oxygen backup to be able to weather the trip into
the upper atmosphere alive on passenger backup supplies available.
	Data communcations...  AX.25 I would assume?  No doubt some sort
of connections with the 3/4G networks occur, along with cellular
communications via satellite and custom links.  In service internet
coverage being available on international flights makes this pretty
obvious.
	So no radar tracking...  I'll agree.  From ground-based towers.
Anything else?  I'm thinking it's unlikely that they escaped from the
scopes and readouts on every network that's got contact with them.

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