Plenty of theories about the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 have been making the rounds, but one new theory is generating a lot of chatter today.
Keith Ledgerwood, who calls himself a hobby pilot and aviation enthusiast, wonders if Flight 370 possibly shadowed a Singapore Airlines 777, following closely enough to appear as a single blip on the radar.
It is my belief that MH370 likely flew in the shadow of SIA68 [a Singapore Airlines jet en route from Singapore to Spain] through India and Afghanistan airspace. As MH370 was flying “dark” without transponder / ADS-B output, SIA68 would have had no knowledge that MH370 was anywhere around and as it entered Indian airspace, it would have shown up as one single blip on the radar with only the transponder information of SIA68 lighting up ATC and military radar screens.
Did MH370 shadow Singapore Airlines SQ68 enroute to Europe to avoid being detected? An interesting theory. Must read: http://t.co/wRzOLApkVT
— Rishabh Bhurat (@rishabhbhurat) March 17, 2014
The first #MH370 theory that makes sense. "Did Malaysian 370 disappear using another 777?" http://t.co/XmdyNVbEyq via @keithledgerwood
— Zach Honig (@ZachHonig) March 17, 2014
@ZachHonig @keithledgerwood Agreed. Only thing that explains sharp turn.
— Annette Hurst (@divaesq) March 17, 2014
@ZachHonig @keithledgerwood Wow!! Very plausible….it will be fascinating to find out purpose. It does give us hope for the souls.
— David Rogers, Jr. ???? (@brimajr) March 17, 2014
Ledgerwood’s post includes much more detail supporting his theory, but he also answered specific questions through Twitter.
@SteveKrak : Malaysian Airlines 370 disappeared using SIA68 (another 777)… #MH370 http://t.co/e5HRbDRCW4 pic.twitter.com/0V5rIoR2Un
— Keith Ledgerwood (@keithledgerwood) March 17, 2014
@ZachHonig @keithledgerwood the only piece that’s missing is how #MH370 met the SQ flight there at just the right time.
— Stephan Segraves (@ssegraves) March 17, 2014
@ssegraves @ZachHonig Receiving the SQ flight's transponder data would allow the MH pilot to intercept easily. TCAS or ADS-B receiver/IPAD.
— Keith Ledgerwood (@keithledgerwood) March 17, 2014
https://twitter.com/welshpony11/status/445533582476705792
@welshpony11 @shadwell_NTT Mobiles confiscated in flight OR landed in an area with no cell service.
— Keith Ledgerwood (@keithledgerwood) March 17, 2014
@flyingwithfish @keithledgerwood but if MH370 had it on, SIA68 sees them. without it on, they can't find SIA68…
— joe (@travlbum) March 17, 2014
@travlbum @flyingwithfish SIA68 would be responding actively with its transponder while in-range of Malaysia. MH370 could listen and 'see'.
— Keith Ledgerwood (@keithledgerwood) March 17, 2014
@keithledgerwood @ZachHonig if you could tie the distance from the initial turn to southwest to intercept of SQ flight, that’d be awesome
— Stephan Segraves (@ssegraves) March 17, 2014
@ssegraves @ZachHonig Already did on charts. 333nm from SW turn to intercept and NW turn. 122nm from NW turn until 18:15UTC.
— Keith Ledgerwood (@keithledgerwood) March 17, 2014
@flyingwithfish @keithledgerwood you guys know if a transponder on a 777 can be reprogrammed/replaced so it identifies itself differently?
— Abhijit Athavale (@abhijitathavale) March 17, 2014
@abhijitathavale @flyingwithfish Transponders identify themselves with a code that is keyed in manually by the pilot at ATC request.
— Keith Ledgerwood (@keithledgerwood) March 17, 2014
@keithledgerwood interesting #MH370 analysis..not sure how realistic it can be..but never say never
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) March 17, 2014
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