Hey, stranger things... We haven't found the thing after all this time searching, so it is not hard to believe that it landed. i have no idea why there would be pings sounding in the water if the jet isn't there, but there aren't any more pings now, and underwater devices have uncovered nothing. And Israel has become more vigilant in protecting itself. --
634 runways within range. All you need is one. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat...aysian_airlines_flight_could_have_landed.html
You tell me. Do you think a pliant Muslim politician might allow use? These are just the 634 strips that produce traffic. It would take about a month for a jihadist group to construct an airstrip anywhere else not under government control. Add to this all of the abandoned WWII Japanese and Allied airstrips that had to handle the larger bombers. These could be reclaimed and running in less than two weeks as they have already been leveled. All that needs to happen is to be reclaimed from the jungle/forest.
You claimed there are abandoned airstrips that the plane could haw landed at. A 777 requires a mile long runway to land without damaging the aircraft. So where is there an abandoned mile long airport within range of the planes last position in jihadist hands?
You aren't going to land a 777 on a dirt airstrip carved out of the jungle and have it still be flyable afterwards. And are you saying that there is a government complicit in this? You have any evidence beyond wild speculation?
Who says it is a dirt airstrip? Concrete is cheap. If you have a plan to grab a 777, you think you'd make sure the airstrip was concrete and ready. Don't need proof. I'm answering the possibilities presented by the OP with plausible speculation. No one saw 9/11 coming. It was wild speculation until it happened.
Who said anything about an airstrip in jihadist hands? Just in friendly moslem country... you do not believe Usama was living in Pakistan for all these years without Pakistani authorities knowing about, do you?
You seriously think no one is going to notice a gigantic, logistically complex endeavor to build a mile long concrete runway in the jungle? - - - Updated - - - So now you are claiming that a government is complicit in this?
Umm. They can't find a huge plane. No one was tracking it sufficiently. I'm surprised you give them the benefit of the doubt on being able to track the logistics of runway construction, but you give them a pass on losing a plane. Anyway, jihadists are patient. They could easily hide the logistics over the course of a few years. No one said they suddenly woke up, built a runway in 30 days and then stole the plane.
No one can find it because it went down into one of the harshest oceans in the world. So you are now arguing that Jihadists launched massive logistically complex operation spanning years and not a single intelligence agency on the planet heard about it?
Sounds like 9/11 or nearly ANY large scale operation they have launched. You sure seem to think government agencies are flawless, don't you? The hard part is getting the plane. Buying concrete, rebar and anything else they need to build a runway could easily be hidden in the purchasing orders of any big global construction firm that is up for a jihadist's cause. They only need to build a runway that can survive one landing and one takeoff, not LAX or Logan.
9/11 involved sending a half a dozen guys to get flying lessons. Do you have any idea what building a mile long airstrip involves?
Concrete. rebar. Lots of it. A few old cement trucks and flatbeds and lots of workers. You could build the whole thing under the jungle canopy, then clear the foliage when ready. Sound like you have no imagination. Money is never a problem with them. Under decent supervision, the locals could easily be paid to work and paid to keep their mouths shut. Like I said. It only has to handle the jet twice. After any attack with the plane, the airfield will be found. That's when it gets real fun. That's when the ATF comes knocking on your door, because you bought a 100 bags of cement.....
In the jungle it also involves things like bulldozers, grading machines, you have to set up sufficient runway lights, etc. Its not something you can do without communications and terrorist groups have their communications monitored.
You don't need bulldozers or grading machines. The work has already been done if you have taken over an old war-time runway. It's basic land-clearance and patching the runway. You don't need runway lights. Planes take off all over the world on grass and dirt runways with no illumination. Once again, the plane only needs to land and take off, once.
777's don't take off and land on grass and dirt runways with no illumination. And where exactly is one of these abandoned war-time mile long air fields that Jihadists could take over?
