Sandeep Unnithan New Delhi, March 26, 2014 | UPDATED 22:46 IST
A Boeing 777-200 cockpit like Flight MH370. The centre pedestal with all flight communication is at the bottom of the picture, between both pilot seats.
Over several cups of coffee, they pieced together what they thought was the most likely scenario. One of the pilots present at the meeting, an Air India captain, recounted a likely sequence of events.
1) A fire broke out in the communications console of MH370. Called the Aft Control Stand or "Centre Pedestal" it holds three Very High Frequency (VHF) sets, two High Frequency Sets (HF), a Transponder (a vital component of a radar based aircraft identification system), a Control Display Unit (CDU) that controls Satellite Telecommunications and a VHF Data Link Interface Unit. This is located between where the two pilots sit.
2) The fire short-circuited electronics and instantly severed all air-ground communication.
3) MH370's last reported voice exchange with Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control was abrupt and unusual. A voice identified as co-pilot's Fariq Abdul Rahman signed off with "All right, good night" at 1.09 am. It seemed to indicate something unusual had already begun to occur and his mind was pre-occupied with it. The normal communication would be: "Roger. Changing over to Ho Chi Minh Control on (the next frequency). Malaysian 370. Good night."
4) It is likely one of the pilots was away, perhaps in the toilet, when the fire broke out. (The fire extinguisher is situated behind the left seat, hence the copilot may have not been able to reach across to it in time, while he was seated and strapped to the right seat).
5) The pilots would have immediately pulled out the Quick Donning Oxygen Masks(QDM) situated an arms length away on either side, that are specially designed for emergency use but the use of pure oxygen near a cockpit fire may have actually exacerbated the situation.
6) They would have followed the The Standard Operating Procedure in an emergency by vacating the active airway and making an immediate turn towards the nearest suitable airfield and to follow the golden thumb rule of "Aviate (control the aircraft) Navigate (fly towards the intended path) and Communicate (to air traffic control)". This could explain the left turn, they were attempting to reach the nearest airfield, in this case either Langkawi or back to Kuala Lumpur.
7) It is possible that they failed to put the fire out and were likely overwhelmed by the fire, smoke or invisible toxic fumes and knocked unconscious before they could land the aircraft.
8) The cabin crew and the passengers would have been totally unaware of this emergency. This explains why no passenger tried to operate their cellphones while the aircraft flew over Malaysia and the late night timing of the flight would have meant that most passengers were fast asleep. There are no cameras fitted in the cockpit. The cabin crew would not have been able to see the blazing inferno inside and the intercom system in the cockpit is situated in the same centre pedestal that was probably on fire. Hence, the crew would not be have been able to contact the pilots on the intercom system either.
9) The pilot-less plane continued flying south on a steady heading on its autopilot system until it ran out of fuel which is another six hours. By the time the cabin crew may have realised something was amiss and tried to open the cockpit door by using a secret code, the Door Locking System may have either failed (since major components are situated in the cockpit aft aisle stand) or there was very little the cabin crew could do, except to look on helplessly, far away from land and over a remote ocean with no cell phone network anywhere in the vicinity.
10) This particular flight would typically have had a fuel endurance of around seven hours. This would have included fuel to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, a small percentage of this as enroute contingency and approximately additional one and a half hours of additional fuel (about one hour for a diversion to another airfield and another half hour of fuel for holding or circling above the alternate airport).
11) When it finally ran out of fuel, MH370's two gigantic turbofan engines, each capable of producing an enormous 100,000 pounds of thrust, flamed out one by one. Yet the aircraft continued gliding as it approached the ocean. The highly sophisticated Thrust Asymmetry Compensator (TAC) and Automatic Flight Director System (AFDS) would ensure that the aircraft maintained a steady course and did not stall and fall from the sky but descended gradually at a minimum control speed. This would result in a glide with a relatively shallow descent.
12) Depending on its final cruising altitude the death glide continued for the final miles till the aircraft finally hit the water. The impact may not have been severe enough, which meant the Emergency Location Transmitter, that activates beyond a certain force of impact,did not deploy. Or even if it did , the signals or "Pings" would have been too weak to detect , given the remote location of the crash site ,the enormous depth of the ocean and the rugged mountainous terrain under water.
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For news and videos in Hindi, go to AajTak.in. ताज़ातरीन ख़बरों और वीडियो के लिए आजतक.इन पर आएं.
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