Missing Malaysian Plane Believed To Have Been Hijacked

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The moment the Malaysian Airlines flight went missing, the thought that it was because it was hijacked by Islamic terrorists was immediate.  But few said so, because we have been taught by an over-sensitive society not to be too quick to jump to conclusions.  Now, however, all other possibilities have been discounted, and it has become conclusive, the plane was hijacked.  There have been no demands, and there is still no wreckage, but there is no doubt the flight was deliberately taken over, and deliberately steered off course. . . in the direction of the Middle East in a manner that it could avoid being detected by radar.

Data reveals the plane, when it changed course, rose to an altitude higher than the recommended maximum for it's type of aircraft, and then descended to a level below normal flight altitudes, and below detection, across the Indian Ocean, in a westerly fashion.  Malaysian officials claim that the way the plane was flown, it was necessary to be done by only a skilled aviator.

American officials used the words "human intervention," when suggesting what happened, saying that contact with the Boeing 777's transponder stopped about a dozen minutes before a messaging system on the jet quit. Such a gap would be unlikely in the case of an in-flight catastrophe.

Remaining fuel would allow the plane to fly at least five hours after its disappearance.

The USS Kidd, a 1982 guided missile destroyer, is included in the search for the missing plane.  A P-8A Poseidon, the most advanced long range anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft in the world, will arrive Saturday to also assist in the search.

Satellite data is also being scrutinized, and is the best possible source of information at this point, but we are being told it is "inexact."  The satellite data is based on a kind of "pinging" done to check location about once an hour, not much different than how traveling cell phones are pinged when between the ranges of cell towers, in case a message comes in.  The ping is being called a "handshake," by the officials, and simply triangulates the general area of where the plane was.  The fact that that the handshake is telling officials the plane continued to operate after its disappearance is what has led them to believe it was hijacked.

The American search, I believe, is closer to where the plane vanished, due to the advanced technology the United States Military possesses, and they are searching in a location west of the flight's last known location, towards the Middle East.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Malaysian official says missing plane hijacked - Associated Press/Yahoo! News