Skip to main content

tv   CNN Special Report  CNN  March 23, 2014 10:00pm-11:01pm PDT

10:00 pm
hello. welcome to all of you in the united states. i'm john vause. and we begin with breaking news in the search for the missing airliner. there are suspicious objects in the indian ocean. let's get andrew stevens on the line. it seems these objects were spotted by an air crew. what are the details? >> we are getting details now, john. this is from the shinia news
10:01 pm
agency. and the crews reported seeing two relatively big objects with smaller ones around in a radius of several kilometers. that would be a big debris field. objects of great interest at the moment. that plane, that chinese water plane is heading back to perth. controlling that target zone. and for more planes to go back where it was. trying to verify what is in the water there. this is the second eyes-on report, if you'd like, we've had in the last two or three days. we had a corporate jet, with debris, including a wooden pallet, that hasn't been identified since. now, the chinese, they're sorting out in the area, two of their long-range spotter
10:02 pm
aircraft. have found something out there. they call it flotation objects in the southern indian ocean. we don't know how far away those objects are from previous sightings. but the debris and the satellite images that have been provided by the australians and the chinese, whether they are all in the same area. this is already the strongest leads the miss have. and the new information, is only going to heighten the search, john. the reports from xinhua, the debris from the chinese headlights a few days ago. there's a chinese ship in the region, which is en route to that area right now. any idea on a time frame for all of this? >> no. the ships you're talking is a supply vessel.
10:03 pm
it left perth about 1,000 hours ago. it has to sail out to that area. there is an australian warship, "the success," is on-target, in that target zone. it's still a big area. we're talking about 56,000 square kilometers, john. at this stage, we don't know how far the australians are away from that area where the debris was spotted by the plane. we don't know how far the chinese are away. there's a lot of vessels in the search for that area. there are three other chinese vessels. the british are coming out with a special underwater sonar detection equipment. this is a race against time. the flight recorder and box has a life of 30 days. we're past the halfway mark. that's a beacon to be working out to 30 or 35 days.
10:04 pm
this could be a breakthrough on 2 search from the xinhua news agency. there's big objects with smaller white ones around them in several kilometers. we need to get information on when the vessels arrive. and flights going back out there, trying to get more eyes on that flight. >> in terms of credibility, andrew, this coming from the state media, xinhua, in china. that carries some weight. >> that's a good point. xinhua, is the official state media. two days ago, the chinese, one of the government agencies, sending out the satellite pictures of some debris in the south china sea, which turned
10:05 pm
out to be a false lead. and the chinese official said it should never have been released in the first place. we have more images coming from the chinese. these are being taken seriously, in perth. and they correspond with the earlier images found by the australians. together with this, and coming from xinhua, it has much more weight. and it has to go forward with the focus because there's so little to go on at the moment. >> andrew stevens, on the line from perth, where this search is now being coordinated. and the news, which we're getting from the xinhua state news agency, that a chinese air crew has spotted two suspicious objects. andrew reporting. two, big objects. smaller arounds what could be a debris field. the area that they're talking about here is in that area that
10:06 pm
was captured by chinese satellite imagery, just a few days ago, that also showed suspicious debris. also being told that a chinese ship, an ice breaker, is en route. so are other ships in the region. as soon as we get details, we'll get them to you live. our viewers in the united states, will stay tuned to a special on the search of flight 370, already in progress. this is cnn breaking news. >> hello, everyone. i'm don lemon. welcome to a cnn special report, the mystery of flight 370. a few, key things are happening at the same time right now. any of them could finally solve this puzzle. we have new information tonight on how that jet was traveling when it disappeared from radar screens. a source close to the investigation told us, according to military radar, the plane suddenly turned left, when
10:07 pm
dropping more than 20,000 feet in altitude. it was done so quickly, that our experts say it must have been intentional maneuver. if we learn why the pilots made that wild move, it could dramatically change the scope and direction of this search. also, planes are in the air right now and will spend their precious few hours searching here, scanning a section of the indian ocean where some kind of object was spotted from space. u.s. navy aircraft involved in this, too. helping me, the best aviation and air safety professionals in this business, and we want to hear from you as well. make sure you post the question to our panel, on twitter, using the #370qs. making things even more intriguing, a new detail from the malaysian officials today seems to conflict with the sharp turn the pilots made that took the plane off course. officials say the last transmission from the boeing 777 showed nothing unusual as the plane was on course for beijing. joining me now, cnn's will
10:08 pm
ripley in kuala lumpur, malaysia, tonight. what more do you know about the last communication from flight 370? >> reporter: well, don, 1:07 a.m., everything was running as normal. the plane was flying to beijing, things seem to be fine. at 1:19, the co-pilot said all right, good night, and then something big happened. but the question is, what exactly. we know the plane took a sharp turn to the west, started heading to the strait of malacca and plunged down to 12,000 feet. why would a pilot do that? aviation experts tell us 12,000 feet is not low enough to avoid radar detection, put it is an altitude that would be standard procedure if there was a problem on the plane where they needed to depressurize the cabin and make it safe for everybody to breathe. and stay alive. 12,000 feet.
10:09 pm
you can still survive where as you cannot survive at a much higher altitude. here is the big mystery, don. no may day call. why is that? was it too critical the moment where the pilots were doing so many other things or some other reason a question we don't have the answer to right now. any official word? will the officials make a comment in the drop in altitude that this plane took? do we know anything about that? >> nothing official right now on this. this is coming from a source that cnn has spoken to, that has close ties to this investigation. but we know that efforts are focusing on this area about 1,500 miles southwest of perth, australia, in the south indian ocean. this is where three countries, australia, china and france, say they have satellite images, showing possible jetliner debris. and we know nasa satellites are positioning to get a closer look at this, as well. that's going to take a couple days from now. the p-3, the p-8, they're out
10:10 pm
over this area looking. so far, they haven't found anything, don. we identify the piece from the satelli satellite. step two, we find it. that hasn't happened. >> the u.s. navy, sending a special listening device to australia to be on stand-by if any physical evidence turns up. the navy listening device can help locate pingers from the flight's data recorder. joining us is less aldman. and jeff wise. mikey kay, former adviser to the u.s. department of defense. and less, to you first. as a former pilot, as a 777 pilot still, an oceaning aer if experts is joining us, as well. let's talk about all this. as they are looking for the search now, what is this information, you think? what does this change, especially when it comes to the
10:11 pm
pilot's actions? once again, i'm open to any scenarios. i think the data we got from radar and so forth, has been sketchy, at best. i go with a guess, a gut feel. these people -- it was a professional flight. and they were turning the plane to convert it and bring the descent. >> u.s. 7th fleet public director, david levy, onboard, the "uss blue ridge" in the south china sea. thank you for joining us tonight. tell us how the pinger locater is used to locate emergency pings. >> well, don, i want to say, a customary pressure in the event that the debris field is
10:12 pm
located, we are sending it down. this is sensitive equipment. it's towed behind at slow speeds on a commercial vessel, down to depths about -- it can listen down to about 20,000 feet, lynning for the ping coming up from the black box, which is going to be critical. >> another question for you, since we have you here, what can you tell us about today's search? >> right now, the p-8 and the p-3, are actually probably arrived on station right now. and are conducting the searches. but as of now, there's been no reports of any findings or anything from the debris field. >> christine, if the u.s. were leading this investigation, would the ocean search be drastically different? >> no. i think that there's a certain protocol to follow in what they need to do. going back to the debris and finding the debris, identifying
10:13 pm
the debris. secondly, they would deploy in hydrophone that would be pre. they have to follow a pattern. that's to find the debris. then, get acoustics and look for the pinging in that area. >> officer levy, can you explain to our viewers what you're up against here? our viewers sitting at home, watching. many don't know the challenges of the ocean, of the seas, as you're out there searching. can you please explain to our viewers, if you can, just what you're up against. >> it's a difficult task. the indian ocean is a very large area. we're trying to follow -- we go to every lead out there. these are long missions for the crews. they're ten-hour missions.
10:14 pm
it doesn't include the pre and postflight. it's very daunting. it's very tasking on the crews to find this stuff. to locate it. but they're doing their best. we're dedicated to the mission. we'll keep going. >> lieutenant levy, thank you very much. we appreciate it. good luck to you guys out there. i want to tackle some of you viewer questions right now. i want to ask you this one. this one is for mikey kay. the plane dropped from 35,000 feet to 12,000, what would have been its fuel range? i don't know if you know that. >> that's a great question. what we're seeing at the moment, is conflicting reports. we're seeing complementary information. we know that the lower an air force goes, the less efficient
10:15 pm
it becomes in terms of endurance. it would bring into question whether a boeing 777 could make it down to the area that all of the focus has been on. so, they're noncomplementary in that respect. what i would like to see in the investigation, is trying to think outside of the box, and corroborate with the evidence we got. and drawing a line back up to the last part of the ping. looking how long that would be. it's probably on the outer bounds of the endurance. it would have to fly close to singapore. they would use it as a leapfrog to get to europe. and through ind knees ya. are we getting radar traces from them? there's a lot of conflicting evidence going on. and the sad thing is, if we're talking about something in the south indian ocean, it makes the credibility of the search area.
10:16 pm
>> the short answer to the question, it would be double fuel consumption of what it normally would be at 12,000 feet. >> i would imagine jeff may want to tackle this. we have this 12,000 feet or below. if the flight was at 12,000 feet flying west over malaysia, would any passenger cell phones still be in a position to register with a gsm mast? >> it's got to be well below 10,000 feet. and it would have to be right over there. talking about being over the water. not likely. >> one more. does the new info on radar and altitude fit in with the salad doe plane theory at all? >> that's hard to say. i would think not because it would be so abrupt because of the altitude and trying to time.
10:17 pm
and traveling that long route under them and up to europe. i think it's impossible. >> you want to answer that? >> i want to highlight how difficult it is to fly formation. usually with night vision goggles. it seems out of the bounds of reality for someone to know how to fly in formation, at night, as well. without night vision goggles on, you have various small lights on the aircraft. we have lights put on an aircraft. i think that theory -- >> yeah. >> we know it also doesn't jive with what we know about the route. >> great. stand by. up next, a live report from australia, where planes left a couple hours ago to hunt for clues. plus, a look at the weather that awaits them once they reach the search zone.
10:18 pm
now, the work to find that
10:19 pm
plane and the 239 people on it. search aircraft headed for the open ocean. we go live in perth right now, australia. that's a home base for the search. do we know if the planes are in the search area yet? and will you hear an update from them when they're on mission, so to speak? >> yeah. we're not getting those types of details. but if you do the math, from what we've seen over the last several days, we do know that some of the planes are there. i can definitely tell you the u.s. navy's p-8 poseidon took off a short time ago. that's when it was scheduled to. this is america's -- one of america's highest tech planes. it is going to do some painstaking searches. this area is a very difficult area. you have to fly four hours down just to get there and then they'll comb through that area. the split is being divided into
10:20 pm
two different sections. that's a new tactic. the reason why is they want to try to cover as much ground as possible. why? because the weather is going to take a turn for the worse later today. that area extremely difficult. when i talked to the head of the squadron, he told me when you're looking out, it already looks like a washing machine sometimes. this is very difficult. it is very tough work. and now they have to fight the weather. don? >> kyung lah, thank you very much for that reporting. we'll get back to you, especially if you hear something from the searchers. searchers could use better weather out over the water today as you heard kyung lah say. meteorologist p.j. is here with us now. what are they looking at today? >> today looks like as good of a day we'll see over the next couple of days. the data to take action as far as the search is concerned, southwest of perth. i want to take you to the northwest of australia. this region we're watching a
10:21 pm
tropical cyclone, this is a category 5 equivalent. healthy category 5 cyclone. equivalent to 161 miles per hour. the reason i show you this first, keep in mind, the two arks where the final satellite ping was detected and we know the search was put in the southern fringe of the southern ark, the region here, that's an area of search taking place as well. the seas, 31 feet high. any sort of search to the northern portion of this southern ark, impeded here today and back down to the south where we have the initial and nearly the focus zone of search at this area. you see colloi see clouds moving in. high pressure, typically good news, causing the air to sink, drys the conditions out. unfortunately, it is doing this northeast of an area where a front is coming in. it is impeding the movement of that front, so later on tonight,
10:22 pm
being monday night local time, we know the winds will pick up. generally in this region, winds 25 to 40 miles per hour. today and later on tonight, winds increase to 55, 60 miles per hour. the clouds thicken up. white caps a major concern. miles indicating the surge in the area, the wave heights could be 12 to 13 feet. if you're down in the boat, because of airplanes tomorrow, it will be hard to see from above. the for a second you able to see the top and see a lot of white caps and then right back down to the sea level area. maybes it very, very difficult. that's the case for tuesday an maybe early wednesday before conditions improve. >> thank you very much. appreciate that. we have more on flight 370 straight ahead. there is another big story we want to tell you about, a landslide in washington state. we're learning that the death toll has just climbed dramatically higher. live report from the scene next.
10:23 pm
10:24 pm
10:25 pm
welcome back, everyone. we'll have the very latest on the search for malaysia airlines flight 370. first, here is rosa flores with a few other stories right now. rosa, what do you have? >> good evening. it is 22 minutes past the hour. total devastation comparable to mount st. helen's. that's how conditions are being described at the scene of a deadly landslide in washington state. that scene just got deadlier. cnn's george howell is there. what can you tell us? >> reporter: the latest information we have confirmed with the governor's office here
10:26 pm
is that now eight people are confirmed dead in this mud slide. the number that we were given earlier today was four. we have been monitoring some of the search and rescue operations, basically over scanners listening and talking to officials here to understand what is happening. we can confirm that eight people are confirmed dead. we know the number of unaccounted for still at least 18 people and several people are still in the hospital, we know five people are in the hospital including a 6-month-old boy and 81-year-old man in critical condition. >> talk to us about the challenges of getting to these impacted areas because of just the instability of the ground. >> reporter: well, i think the biggest challenge right now is simply -- the land itself. it is very porous land here in the pacific northwest. you consider the amount of rainfall they get, your record rainfall in this area over the last month, that's where you
10:27 pm
have the situations where these bluffs, these cliffs can give way very quickly. that's what happened in this one community. we're talking about an area, that one square mile, land that gave way really in a matter of facts. i spoke with a woman who told me about a friend she came to visit here to shelter. she said her friend was away at work, the family was there, at home, when this came through, and she doesn't know if her family is still there. she doesn't know if if people are still alive. another night of uncertainty for her as are many of the famiies waiting for answers as the search continues. >> you said eight dead, 18 missing. what about those injured? any word open those injured who have been hospitalized, george? >> the latest information from harvard view medical center, the main -- the big hospital there in seattle where people were
10:28 pm
taken, we know five people are there. the states of condition vary. we do know the condition. we know the 6-month-old boy remains in the hospital in critical condition. this 81-year-old man also in that area, in critical condition. we're waiting for more nfbs as we get it. we should keep in mind, as the search continues, as they continue to look over this area over helicopter and if more people are sent to the hospital, the number of hospitalized could grow -- these numbers are changing, you know, by the day, as the rescuers got a better grasp and handle on what goes on in that area. >> george howell, live for us from washington state, thank you so much. again, 8 dead, 18 people still missing. we're going to switch gears here. president obama is on his way to the netherlands. first stop in his trip overseas. the president left on his trip
10:29 pm
sunday evening, he's to meet with g-8 leaders at the hague tomorrow. his message will remain the same when he gathered wednesday with european leaders in belgium. there are fresh fears that russian president vladimir putin could seize a second chunk of territory in the former soviet bloc. nato warns russian troops are massing on the eastern border of ukraine, close to transnitra. it is a pro-russian region neighboring moldova. remember, putin first sent troops to ukraine in his word to protect russians living in that area. thousands marched in a major city in ukraine's east, urging for a referendum so they could split off too and become part of russia. of course, no trace of flight 370, more than two weeks after it vanished. ahead, another question.
10:30 pm
how long will the search last? our special report continues in just a moment. could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk. so, what'd you think of the house? did you see the school rating? oh, you're right. hey, babe, i got to go. bye, daddy. have a good day at school, okay? ♪ [ man ] but what about when my parents visit? okay. just love this one. it's next to a park. [ man ] i love it. i love it, too. here's your new house. ♪ daddy! [ male announcer ] you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen.
10:31 pm
zillow. you're looking for a place for your life to happen. millions have raised their hand for the proven relief of the purple pill. and that relief could be in your hand. for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms from acid reflux disease. find out how you can save at purplepill.com. there is risk of bone fracture and low magnesium levels. side effects may include headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. if you have persistent diarrhea, contact your doctor right away. other serious stomach conditions may exist. avoid if you take clopidogrel. for many, relief is at hand. ask your doctor about nexium.
10:32 pm
all right. we're tracking a major
10:33 pm
development tonight about the missing malaysia flight 370 and what may have happened inside the cockpit. it is about the heading and altitude of the plane before it vanished from radar. a source close to the investigation tells cnn that according to military radar records, the plane made a sharp turn, dropped a considerable distance toward the ground. that's important because our source tells us that maneuver was done abruptly and just two minutes. meaning the pilots likely did it intentionally. we'll explore some reasons why they might do that just ahead. and also, we're taking an answering your questions about that missing airplane. go to twitter and use #370qs. joined by my panel of experts. first, now, to jeff wise. i want you to take this question. brendan, here is what brendan says. can large objects in satellite images be makeshift raft with survivors?
10:34 pm
would survivors make it this long with no food or fresh water? >> it would be tough. three storms went through the area. >> let's be honest with the viewers, the water is so cold, so treacherous -- i'm not saying anything i don't think people don't know. >> not to be completely depressed though. we don't know what happened to the plane. >> we don't know what happened to the plane. but if they're in open water like that -- >> if they're in a raft, it has some supplies on the raft. >> concanada tweets, has malaysian airline made any changes to any procedures relating to pilots signing off. >> i can't answer for malaysia airlines. they're a professional flight crew. we operate according to iko standards. i would assume they would do the same thing. >> we have been talking some instances, aboard a life raft,
10:35 pm
there are some supplies. there are also some storms that have gone through there. very hopeful, but i want to present the stark reality because considering what the searchers are up against. these are people in airplanes and on ships and they're having a hard time navigating the ocean. >> that's depressing. don't forget malaysian has not given up on the land theory. >> not giving up. we want to be real about this. this is news, not a reality show, it is the news. jim, i want you to take this. if catastrophic failure suspected, why aren't all boeing 777 planes grounded until it is determined. >> we don't know if the airplane crashed. i think what is very, very dangerous for us, to assume we have all the answers. i'm concerned about all awl the money being spent over the ocean.
10:36 pm
we have to be careful about making a decision now too early. let me see some evidence of the airplane to break it up or whatever else before you make me say anything about that. >> that's a good point. i have another question. i think a follow is warranted on that one. >> in the history of aviation in the u.s., we have grounded a couple of models of airplanes. one was the dc-10 when the engine fell off and that was a -- had to do with the engine mounts and pins and that was necessary to work that out. then the other one, the dreamliner, 787 with two onboard fires. it is rare we actually grab them and there was real evidence there was something wrong with the plane. that's why the maintenance records are so important here.
10:37 pm
and we hope malaysia has reviewed them and is reviewing them. >> real quickly, i want to take this one. from grandma ocean. i heard three people checked in but did not board. what has been discovered there? i think that's important. >> yes. and what has been discovered is they removed the bags, a few more than that. they removed the bags from the flight. that's the protocol from the united states and all nations. it is an iko, international civilization guideline or rule. that if someone has a ticket, the luggage goes on the plane. and they don't get on, the luggage comes off. and they did do that, they said. >> christine, search crews are looking for the plane or the remnants of that plane. they're basing their searches on satellite images. that are two, three, four days old sometimes. that has to be frustrating. >> not only just frustrating. you're looking at potential debris field that has drafted as much as 1,000 miles in 17 days. i think they're being hammered
10:38 pm
by weather. the crews are incredibly trained and prepared. but they are battling the elements and fatigue. the ships carry enough fuel and can also run lower than they expect just because they're being forced to wait around and follow this debris more than they may have anticipated. at a certain point, they may have to turn back and bring in a second ship or a third ship, just because of the fuel consumption issues they're having, as well. >> mikey kay, you want to get in on this? >> i want to say it's frustrating, as well. the satellite images are the third one we had now. what they're turning up is no equivocal evidence. you get the i'd one out there, a freighter that was out there, the potential containers that can be pushed off ships.
10:39 pm
there's pods of dolphins. even light that can turn up these images. i think that's adding to the frustration and, again, posing the question, when do you call it a day and when do you start focusing the search efforts somewhere else? it doesn't seem that the sat lime imagery we're getting can give us the evidence that would make the search a little bit easier. >> there's a third question here. i don't know the name of it. they're asking, is it possible to fly as far as perth with 12,000 feet. >> i can almost guarantee you they didn't have fuel in the center tanks. i'll have to do some pilot math on this. but i don't think so. i think that's a short answer. i don't. >> as we were sitting here, reporting this, 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, when they first reported that satellite image off the coast of australia. everyone seemed to think they found something. all they have to do is identify it, get to it.
10:40 pm
it is not that easy just to fit to it. this isn't like map quest and going to the open ocean and trying to find something. >> that's right. you two different sets of delays. you have the delay between when they had the image, you know, took the picture, if you will, to put it in layman's terms, and then the searchers get it to ten to four days earlier. a lot of movement can occur in two to six days. sometimes, a current can go 50 miles a day. >> let's talk about this. as we sat there, we had a debrief last night. and we were talking about this story. it is so fascinating about the radar images they're finding. as we're sitting there, we pull up a globe on our iphones to show the open water and it is
10:41 pm
just amazing. when you look at the depths -- miles of depth, and currents and what have you. it is going to take a while to find. and it's not like mapquest. it could be refraction of light, as we're looking at this. is it possible, i would imagine it is, that we would never find because of the conditions this airplane. >> i would say it is a very realistic possibility that will be addressed at a certain point. that's not to say that we're going to give up the comes and put a hydro phone down when we have a debris fieldic indicative of the plane crash. how far do we go after that? if it isn't this area, you're looking at depths as shallow as
10:42 pm
3,500 feet, down to 25,000, 24,000 feet. that's not really going to be an easy task. normally, they want to bring up this wreckage. we want to locate the black boxes to get an idea of what happened. then the task of finding the fuselage or more of this wreck and seeing where it lies. what the conditions are. if it's something we can get to and find more answers. i think it is a possibility we will not. we did with air france. we were able to locate that. but still, that's just too deep. it is not a recovery -- after certain amount of time will go on. >> there are -- commercial aircraft don't fly over this area. this isn't a route, doesn't go over this water. >> correct. this area, south china sea,
10:43 pm
there is no really -- not heavily trafficked by ships, by air. it is very strange that we're finding all this activity going on there and hopefully that debris field will lead us to that is accurate. >> i hate to be negative here. but mr. abend, thanks. les abend, thanks to so many of you. do you think in today's technology and the advances we have, you think we will absolutely find this plane? >> i'm optimistic. >> okay. thank you very much. we now know that flight 370 had a dramatic drop in altitude. coming up. we'll take you inside our flight simulator and let you know what that looks like.
10:44 pm
10:45 pm
latte or au lait? sunny or bubbly? cozy or cool? "meow" or "woof"? wheels or wheeeels? everything exactly the way you want it ...until boom, it's bedtime. your mattress isn't bliss: it's a battleground of thwarted desire. enter the all-new sleep number classic series. designed to let couples sleep together in
10:46 pm
individualized comfort. starting at just $699.99 for a queen mattress. he's the softy: his sleep number setting is 35. you're the rock: your setting is 60. that works. he's the night owl. his side's up while you're in dreamland. you're the early bird. up and at 'em. no problem, because you're in it together... keeping the love alive. and by the way - snoring? sleep number's even got an adjustment for that. crazy? only if sleeping peacefully with your soulmate is crazy. find your sleep number setting only at one of our 425 stores nationwide. you can afford a sleep number bed, you can't afford another mediocre night's sleep. know better sleep with sleep number. it is our breaking news tonight. a source close to cnn that the 777 made an abrupt changing and then lost more than 20,000 feet
10:47 pm
in altitude. to get an idea of how that look and would feel, martin savage re-created it in a boeing simulator. >> here's what we would say a sharp turn in an aircraft like this would feel like. and taking off. and -- you see the alarm that goes off. it says we're already turning more than the aircraft should. and you can see by the horizon, there is a very dramatic -- what is the degree of turn here? >> 40 degrees. >> so that's a really sharp turn. now, send it back up straight, put it on auto pilot again. remember, in the information that this source is giving us, it says that turn took two minutes to complete. that is a very long time to make a 90 or 180 degree turn. extraordinary amount of time for this aircraft. in fact, we'll try to give you a sense of what that kind of a
10:48 pm
two-minute turn would feel like. you're doing it now. it is barely perceptible. it is slight. you'll get it. but if you're a passenger, once we straighten out, you would not sit here an say this is like something really, really wrong. this is a very subtle, slow turn. it is sharp in that it will deviate you from the course of beijing, eventually. but the perception that you're, like, banking like in a fighter craft, that's not what the simulator reflects on that. let's go into the altitude. the plane was at 35,000 feet. we say that it drops to 12,000 feet, but that reading on radar was over an hour and 40 minutes. so here is a precipitous drop. let's do a real -- if you threw this over the top and set us down kind of a dive. nose down, again, all the alarms you're getting and bells and whistles warning you you're going way too fast, you are going to overspeed.
10:49 pm
doubtful they did anything like this. there is the ocean straight ahead. pull it back. remember, if it really was over an hour and 40 minutes, that descent could have been very, very gradual. what we're saying here is that those actions do not indicate emergency. it is not a sharp turn to go to some emergency landing and it is not necessarily a steep descent to get down for the passengers to breathe. it could have been a slow descent and gradual turn. that's what the simulator tells us. >> you know, they're calling it the shadow theory. in the shadow of another commercial flight. we'll explain why it is not as far fetched as it sounds.
10:50 pm
10:51 pm
10:52 pm
17 days into the search for malaysia flight 370 and they're no closer to determining what happened or where that plane is. one possibility being looked at now is being referred to as the shadow theory. chad myers lays it out for us. chad? >> reporter: the shadow theory. the shadow theory says flight 370 flew to the northeast, but only to waste time. to turn around and fly back over here in order to catch up with a plane that had left singapore later and that would fly together as one plane on the radar off toward the north and toward the northwest, somewhere up that way. we don't even care about that at this point in time. is it possible? i've talked to a lot of pilots, they say, yes. they have seen the shadow theory
10:53 pm
work in fact, with other people, bad people, trying to keep either drug planes or other planes away or whatever. if you get the planes close enough together, they'll show up as one spot on the radar. and if you get a secondary radar, it squawks sq 368. a 68 doesn't even see 370 because what the transponder off, there is no proximity alert to this plane. it doesn't work that way if this is turned off, that plane doesn't know it. to come from behind and to the back, you may never see that plane is there. is it possible? for right now, yes. it is still possible until we get more pings from inmarsat, the pings, knowing how far away from this spot right there. that's inmarsat satellite, 22,000 miles in space, but at 64.5 degrees east. way above the equator. so we know how far that is.
10:54 pm
these are all circles. i'll put them in. as we know how far away the circles are, we'll know whether that could have been a shadow of 370. there would have been the first ping, one hour after the merge. there is the line. there is the line that could have -- it is parallel to this line. the next hour, then the next hour, then the next hour, and we fly on up toward afghanistan, pakistan and to the north here. there is one ping that doesn't work, and that's the ping here, this blue line, because that's where 68 would have been at 8:11 a.m. but it is not there, so for this to work, 370, malaysia air 370 would have had to turn away, break away and end up on that line up here somewhere, somewhere here. can only go so fast. but the breakaway would have had to occur and somebody on radar probably could have seen it. if they didn't or weren't watching or weren't expecting it at all, this is the theory. it is out there.
10:55 pm
keith ledgerwood is the author of this, go to twitter and look at his stuff. he has animations and plots. when we find out from inmarsat this here didn't happen, with the flight 370, then we'll know this didn't happen, but for now, we don't have that data yet and we have asked. don? >> all right, chad, thank you very much. we're tackling your questions on the mystery of malaysia flight 370. my panel is with me now, including aviation and ocean experts. okay. hash it out. you believe this is completely plausible. you guys are saying no way. you feel completely confirmed and -- go ahead. >> there is so much i need to say here. listen -- >> be brief. >> we have the data. the data, we have it. we reported it on slate on friday. we have data. we have information from inmarsat. do we have the specific pings? no.
10:56 pm
but this is what the spokesman told me on friday, every ping gets further away, so we know go to my website, it is kind of hard to explain, go to jeffwise.net, i explained it all. that analysis we saw was great. it was great, but it lacked the data that let us know whether it was plausible or not. we have the data that says it is not plausible. >> hang on. jim, you can beat up on jeff wise. first jim. go ahead, jim. >> i got to tell you, i don't think it is possible. and i don't think it was possible because this is a very, very tricky maneuver. it would take a lot of practice and a pilot with a lot of luck. >> i got 500 hours formation flying. formation joined by day is a tricky maneuver in an agile jet or helicopter. something with momentum of a 777, it is even harder. if you overlay the fact that it is at night, the only night formation i've done, 300 hours flying, senior instructor, very experienced, on night vision
10:57 pm
goggles, for me this is not a plausible option and not what we should be looking at. it is taking people right down the wrong route. we should be concentrating on the facts, getting back to whether the transponders and acars has been and focusing on that. this is pie in the sky. >> les? >> orchestrating something -- somebody is on the same route, it might be semiplausible. but the way this scenario was going out, there was a triangulation that had the airplane had to catch, just too much. >> before i go to mary, jeff is like, one more thing. >> yes. >> one thing i want to say, which is this, people are trying to understand whether a northern route is possible. some say it is impossible because you can't get through so many countries' military radar. here's the thing. it has been done in the past. you can't say this is impossible. is it hard, yes? how is it done? we don't know. >> what's a quick example of it being done in the past? >> the israelis flew two 707s through very hostile air space,
10:58 pm
egypt and sudan, to get to stage this raid. no one knows how they did it. >> integrated air defense systems in india and iran and pakistan are very, very sensitive and very complex. >> mary schiavo? >> impossible. wake turbulence and fuel starvation. those are your two problems to overcome. >> mary is very -- she's like, weight turbulence and fuel starvation. very decided about that. let's move on just a little bit here. reaching for my glasses. and i can't find my glasses. christine, let's talk about this one. this one talks about depressurization and what would happen below. this is from neshua, if there is a catastrophic depressurization before the turn, why aren't we searching for cabin degree below the turn? >> well, as i understand it, at the moment now they are
10:59 pm
potentially looking -- or they will be looking in the south china sea, but they -- looking initially. i think that's where they originally sent the search crew out. there was no debris that was discovered earlier on in that area. and so they have been able to find debris further south. this is why we're concentrating in this area. i think they have been looking for debris on the ocean and, again, these radar images that maybe several days old at this point is what they have to go on. i'm sure that there will be more coming in. and you have to follow the leads. i think there is no choice. they're doing what they can do at this point. >> it is very interesting to me that, you know, here we are, going into another monday, another week, and still we don't know where this plane is. that's the big question, where the plane is. i have ten seconds. >> no distress call, nothing on the transponder, and if it was on military radar, the fact it was descending rapidly to 12,000 feet would raise my suspicions.
11:00 pm
>> there are planes out looking now, boats out looking now, trying to scour the ocean for any sign of debris, satellites are being moved to look for debris as well and we should remember 239 people on board and that's why this is so important and we'll continue to cover it. i'm don lemon. thank you for joining us. good night. chinese crews say suspicious objects have been sighted in the search for missing malaysian airlines flight 370. we will have the very latest. >> plus, families of the 239 people on board are anxiously awaiting any news about their loved ones. >> u.s. president barack obama heads to europe for a nuclear security summit and talks about ukraine. and in washington state, a deadly land slide devastates a rural community in the u.s.

127 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on