A new report suggests the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 made its first off-course turn to the west after a heading change was entered into the aircraft’s flight computer, a move that requires advanced knowledge of the plane’s flight systems
The missing Malaysia Airlines
airliner first deviated from its set flight path following an entry into its
flight computer, according to a new report.
The New York Times, citing “senior American officials,”
reports Flight MH370’s first unexpected turn to the west was made “through a
computer system” in the aircraft’s cockpit. That revelation is significant
because changing the aircraft’s route via the flight computer requires a more
intimate understanding of the Boeing 777’s flight systems than manually
manipulating the control yoke to change heading.
Commercial jets and other large
aircraft typically travel the skies via a system of waypoints, each identified
by a five-character code. Those waypoints are manually entered into an
aircraft’s flight computer so the airplane’s autopilot system can fly the
desired route. Pilots can insert new waypoints into an aircraft’s flight
computer to change the aircraft’s course midflight if asked to do so by an
air-traffic controller or for other reasons.
The Times report
suggests that someone on board the aircraft did indeed enter a new waypoint
into Flight MH370’s computer. However, it remains unclear whether the waypoint
change was made before or after the flight began.
The Wall
Street Journal reported last week that data from the
aircraft indicated “someone made a manual change in the plane’s direction.”
That report, though, didn’t specify whether someone on board the plane had made
a change in the aircraft’s flight computer or used the aircraft’s yoke to
change its direction.
Flight MH370 has been missing since
disappearing from radar screens on March 8, triggering a huge search operation
that currently involves 26 nations. Many theories have been considered to
explain why the plane would go so drastically off course in the absence of much
solid evidence.
The missing Malaysia Airlines
airliner first deviated from its set flight path following an entry into its
flight computer, according to a new report.
The New York Times, citing “senior American officials,”
reports Flight MH370’s first unexpected turn to the west was made “through a
computer system” in the aircraft’s cockpit. That revelation is significant
because changing the aircraft’s route via the flight computer requires a more
intimate understanding of the Boeing 777’s flight systems than manually
manipulating the control yoke to change heading.
Commercial jets and other large aircraft typically travel the skies via a system of waypoints, each identified by a five-character code. Those waypoints are manually entered into an aircraft’s flight computer so the airplane’s autopilot system can fly the desired route. Pilots can insert new waypoints into an aircraft’s flight computer to change the aircraft’s course midflight if asked to do so by an air-traffic controller or for other reasons.
Commercial jets and other large aircraft typically travel the skies via a system of waypoints, each identified by a five-character code. Those waypoints are manually entered into an aircraft’s flight computer so the airplane’s autopilot system can fly the desired route. Pilots can insert new waypoints into an aircraft’s flight computer to change the aircraft’s course midflight if asked to do so by an air-traffic controller or for other reasons.
The Times report
suggests that someone on board the aircraft did indeed enter a new waypoint
into Flight MH370’s computer. However, it remains unclear whether the waypoint
change was made before or after the flight began.
The Wall
Street Journal reported last week that data from the
aircraft indicated “someone made a manual change in the plane’s direction.”
That report, though, didn’t specify whether someone on board the plane had made
a change in the aircraft’s flight computer or used the aircraft’s yoke to
change its direction.
Flight MH370 has been missing since
disappearing from radar screens on March 8, triggering a huge search operation
that currently involves 26 nations. Many theories have been considered to
explain why the plane would go so drastically off course in the absence of much
solid evidence.
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