DOH,this plane was not a 4 seater Piper:)
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DOH,this plane was not a 4 seater Piper:)
The evidence in a forested area comes long after the crash when the trees in the immediate area die from the fuel/oil spill (if there was any left in the plane).
Any airplane is miniscule when compared to the nearly 40 million square miles of possible crash sites with this incident.
I'd have to disagree with your first point, at least partially, in that there are indeed indications of a light plane crash in a heavily forested area immediately after the incident not including a fire. At least from the aerial photos we were shown of what to look for. The evidence is extremely difficult to detect from the air and a lot of initial air searches come up empty handed because of that. Better evidence may very well come later but once the initial air search has been called after a week or two a later search almost never happens.
No quibbles with the last one though.
Bob
Still unknown....
This is the best summary I have seen in the last 48 hours.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Get up to speed on latest developments - CNN.com
Been there and done that.
The last one I found was in an area that had been well searched twice. I went out alone after the CAP had quit for the day with my homebuilt. We suspected the incident aircraft had been practicing off field landings. I went to a couple of places that I had done the same thing. I was beating up a couple of mud flats looking for "tricycle" tire tracks that just start and end on the flat. I found some and looked pretty hard but couldn't find the plane (a bright red super cub). I decided to go to the next...as I made a turn I caught a flash of red out of the corner of my eye. There is was just barely into the scrub mesquite at the edge of the mud flat. The plane was down in trees that did'nt exceed 8' yet had been missed by at least 3 aircraft at altitude and then almost by me at 50'.
Down in trees is very tough, I think the only thing harder is water...Despite all the aircraft civil/military (including photo reconn) and satellite crowd sourced search, Steve Fossett's plane in the Sierras wasn't found for more than a year.
Most searches for small planes that I have been on the search pattern was flown at 1500 feet IIRC and that was in a military C130 or twin Otter. You only went lower if a spotter called it. A moose looks surprising large from that height it would make you wonder how you could miss a colourful light plane. Anyway it is frustrating and in most cases futile with an a active ELT.
Bob
Here's an interesting take on the HOW, though it sheds no light on the WHY. The guy spends many words saying that 370 could have been flying in the communications/radar "shadow" of another plane.
Keith Ledgerwood
rs,
Tack
Tack, You might very well have something!!