Quote:
Originally Posted by Apex Chase
None of those things stopped someone from flying off with the plane in the first place. Who knows at this point?  |
None of what things? The ATC, transponders, and schedules?
None of those things are
supposed to stop a hijacking. That's like saying the VIN and license plates didn't stop a car from getting stolen. They don't stop theft, they provide identification.
Those things I mentioned identify an aircraft, its destination, its crew, and its place of debarkation and destination.
A plane has to come from somewhere and be headed towards somewhere, and a commercial jet on an authorized flight will have a known crew a known destination, and will be coming from a known starting point, and at a certain time on a known schedule, and will be expected to be headed towards a known destination.
The 'weapon plane' will have to either mimic another flight somehow- which means a risk of there being *two* flights being tracked with the same ID (the legit flight and the rogue flight) which is a huge red flag , or it will have to come from somewhere it cannot be tracked and be detected someplace and at some time where detection will not matter, as response (shooting it down) will be impossible.
For the USA, that means on the one hand, eliminating a legit flight by destroying it or by some other unknown means that renders it 'silent' to detection, assuming that plane's identity with the 777 that is missing, and going from there. That seems problematic and difficult in the extreme.
OR, that means coming in over water someplace where detection won't matter, reaction time cannot be swift enough to foil the mission. In the case of the USA, that means over the ocean. The 777 can do that, but does that equal "being undetected"? That depends on the USA's detection capability as well as other countries. That seems an easier problem to solve. However....
A 777 can go nearly 12,000 nautical miles and could be made to go further through modification. But it has to take off from somewhere. That means it would have to take off undetected and remain undetected in order to reach the USA over the ocean. It would obviously have to fly over land somewhere, where it also could be detected. In this case it must not have to land anywhere near a civilized area, so no stops. A 777 traveling further than its known range will also be a huge red flag.
These things are interesting mental exercises and it can be done, but it would be a fantastic plan and execution to succeed. that would make me theorize that the USA is not the target.