Plane with 239 people on board crashes in Southern Indian Ocean

[muon2]

This seems like a pretty simple, compelling argument: https://plus.google.com/106271056358366282907/posts/GoeVjHJaGBz

OK, but then how do you explain the satellite pings?  If it kept going for hours on that heading, then it would be very far away from either the northern or southern "arcs" on those maps.

I haven't posted in this thread yet, and if someone knows the answer, please point me at it. But here's my curious thought about the satellite pings.

From what I've read there are pings every hour or so from the plane's antenna to the Inmarsat satellite, that data includes the unique identifier for the plane and the angle of the antenna. The 8:11 am ping at 40 degrees provides the information to construct the search arc like the one below.



Note that the last radar contact at 2:40 am is not along the 8:11 am arc. This is important since there should be approximately five hourly "handshakes" with the satellite after 2:40 and before 8:11. If there is one a little after 3:00 am then it should define an arc on a smaller circle centered around the satellite position. With each hour there would be a slightly different radius circle for the plane's position. If one starts with the 2:40 am position, there should a more restricted range of flight paths that would link the circles at a cruising speed for the 777.

For example a series of circles that slowly move from a circle consistent with the 2:40 position and end at the 8:11 arc would suggest a long relatively steady flight. A couple of intermediate circles then some repeats at the same distance would suggest a shorter flight that ended before 8:11 but still had power to communicate. However, I haven't read anything about any satellite ping except the one at 8:11.

[muon2]

So finally they let us know about the intermediate satellite pings and indeed they narrow the path to a corridor to the south. It is somewhat amazing that they consider the Doppler effect from these intermediate pings to be "groundbreaking", but I guess no one ever thought they'd be stuck with only one satellite to reconstruct a path.

This seems like a pretty simple, compelling argument: https://plus.google.com/106271056358366282907/posts/GoeVjHJaGBz

OK, but then how do you explain the satellite pings?  If it kept going for hours on that heading, then it would be very far away from either the northern or southern "arcs" on those maps.

I haven't posted in this thread yet, and if someone knows the answer, please point me at it. But here's my curious thought about the satellite pings.

From what I've read there are pings every hour or so from the plane's antenna to the Inmarsat satellite, that data includes the unique identifier for the plane and the angle of the antenna. The 8:11 am ping at 40 degrees provides the information to construct the search arc like the one below.



Note that the last radar contact at 2:40 am is not along the 8:11 am arc. This is important since there should be approximately five hourly "handshakes" with the satellite after 2:40 and before 8:11. If there is one a little after 3:00 am then it should define an arc on a smaller circle centered around the satellite position. With each hour there would be a slightly different radius circle for the plane's position. If one starts with the 2:40 am position, there should a more restricted range of flight paths that would link the circles at a cruising speed for the 777.

For example a series of circles that slowly move from a circle consistent with the 2:40 position and end at the 8:11 arc would suggest a long relatively steady flight. A couple of intermediate circles then some repeats at the same distance would suggest a shorter flight that ended before 8:11 but still had power to communicate. However, I haven't read anything about any satellite ping except the one at 8:11.