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<br />
	<span><keyword id="2848374" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Remember-Malaysian-Airlines">Remember Malaysian Airlines</keyword> flight MH17 was shot down over <keyword id="6355101" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ukraine">Ukraine</keyword> last year. Keeping such incidents in mind, <keyword id="71" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prime-Minister">Prime Minister</keyword> <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> will get a safe and secure aircraft as new 'Desi Air Force One' is set to be cleared soon.</span>
<br /><br /> His aircraft will be equipped with advanced self-protection suites to jam and will beat hostile incoming missiles in the sky and encrypted <keyword id="6358065" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Satellite">satellite</keyword> communication facilities. <br /><br />

	Some of its features would be- robust defence systems, including 'radar warning receivers'. It will sound an alert if a hostile radar 'paints' the aircraft before letting loose missiles.
<br /><br />

	It would also have a better missile-approach warning systems. Moreover, its advanced electronic counter-measures on board will be able to jam enemy radars, along with defence systems geared to shoot metal chaff or flares to throw off-track radar.
<br /><br /> The Prime Minister, President <keyword id="6359124" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pranab-Mukherjee">Pranab Mukherjee</keyword> and other VVIPs will travel in such aircrafts for extra long-haul overseas flights. <br /><br /> Sources told Economic Times, the defence acquisitions council, chaired by <keyword id="6366153" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Defence-Minister">Defence Minister</keyword> <keyword id="6363133" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manohar-Parrikar">Manohar Parrikar</keyword>, will take up the purchase of two <keyword id="6357957" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Boeing">Boeing</keyword> 777-300 (extended range) aircrafts. They will be acquired from <keyword id="2573" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-India">Air India</keyword> which has many such relatively new wide-bodied planes, especially configured for VVIPs travel and their safety. <br /><br />

	These aircrafts will be used in place of ageing Boeing 747 'Jumbo Jets' under 'Air India One'.
<br /><br />

	"These old aircraft do not have anti-missile defence systems, which the SPG holds is necessary. The decision was taken after a committee of secretaries from top ministries and aviation experts examined the matter," a source told the financial daily.
<br /><br /> Last year when <keyword id="117766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malaysia-Airlines">Malaysia Airlines</keyword> flight MH17 was shot down, Modi's 747-400 aircraft was using a nearby air corridor at the same time to return to New Delhi from <keyword id="12970" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Frankfurt">Frankfurt</keyword>. <br /><br /> The two modified 777-300 (ER) aircraft will be based with the <keyword id="2848376" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-HQ-Communication-Squadron">Air HQ Communication Squadron</keyword> at Palam. <br /><br /> Though, Air India may still collaborate with the <keyword id="15141" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Air-Force">Indian Air Force</keyword> in terms of pilots, engineers and cabin crew, the call sign of the PM's new 777-300 (ER) ride could well be 'Air Force One' like the <keyword id="15548" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-President">US president</keyword>'s iconic 'flying Oval Office'.

PM Modi’s desi Air Force One

The best low-cost airline in the world is taking on Amazon and international banking

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>It's been nearly a year since MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur for a red-eye flight to Beijing on March 8, 2014.</p><p>The whole world knows <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-with-plane-2014-3">what happened next</a>, but so far, no one knows why the plane still hasn't been found.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We read aviation expert Jeff Wise's book, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TP07B0I/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00TP07B0I&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=extrfear-20&amp;linkId=2KTZDHZQFWO4CR5Y">"The Plane That Wasn't There: Why We Haven't Found Malaysia Airlines Flight 370</a>," in which he e<span>xplains his unorthodox theory about what happened.</span></p><p>In short, he has a theory that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cnn-aviation-expert-theory-on-mh370-2015-2">Russian President Vladimir Putin stole it</a>.</p><p>What's even more interesting is <em>why</em> Wise has this theory. He says Russia may have been acting out because of US economic sanctions levied against the Kremlin. He begins his rationale by noting what happened after Malaysia asked countries with passengers on board to do background checks on those passengers after the flight disappeared.</p><p>You might remember Russia and Ukraine were otherwise occupied in early 2014, with eastern Ukraine <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-putin-speaks-about-crimea-2014-3">trying and failing to fend off a separatist movement in Crimea</a>, so it's easy to understand why the countries may have ignored Malaysia Airlines' background check request.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But Wise says there's something telling about Russia's and Ukraine's inaction amid the flight's disappearance - and Kazakhstan's inaction during the international search effort:</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p><p>Wise says despite the great deal of international brainpower behind the investigation, no one was able to explain what happened beyond all reasonable doubt.</p><p>Here's the meat of Wise's theory. He calls MH370 the unfortunate target of a retaliation ploy by Russian leadership - a sinister response to the US economic sanctions against Russia:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Taken by itself, all of that seems kind of random, and some may wonder why Russia would make a Malaysian plane vanish just to get back at the US. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">However, Wise says there are more signs of Russian involvement - specifically, the shooting-down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, just four months after the first Malaysia flight vanished. Wise says some of the same events preceding the disappearance of MH370 also preceded the downing of MH17:</span></p><p>The aviation expert seems quite firm in his assertion that the ongoing US sanctions against Russia were the direct cause of Russia's supposed involvement with the two Malaysia Airlines tragedies. But, if true, it's anyone's guess why Russia would target an unwitting Malaysia instead of the US itself. Here's his rationale for that:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Wise says American mainstream media have mostly downplayed this theory. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trailer-point-and-shoot-documentary-libyan-revolution-2015-2">This 26-year-old from Baltimore took a 35,000-mile road trip and ended up fighting in the Libyan revolution</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="szNGZoczpV6FOp_YiVp_j5fNW4DvFIZ8" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Here's the most far-out part of the theory that Russia hijacked Malaysia Airlines MH370

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Eunice Mecija, a Taylor Swift fan from the Philippines, shared how she budgeted for the Eras Tour in Singapore.</li><li>Mecija's journey includes a flight to Malaysia, and then a bus trip to Singapore.</li></ul><p><em>This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Eunice Mecija, a 24-year-old graphic artist and Taylor Swift fan from the Philippines. It's been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider verified Mecija's expenses.</em></p><p>I've been a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-airline-replaced-three-flights-a380-qantas-sydney-melbourne-2024-2">Taylor Swift</a> fan for as long as I can remember. When I was in elementary school, my dad and I used to bond over Taylor's music during car rides. We often purchased her burned pirated CDs at a local mall in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, where I live.</p><p>I've had to follow Taylor from afar. The last time she had a concert in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retired-millennial-moved-america-philippines-slow-life-debt-free-2024-2">Philippines</a> was in 2014 during her Red Tour. So when it was announced that Taylor's only Eras Tour stop in Southeast Asia was in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-to-do-in-singapore-taylor-swift-concert-2024-2">Singapore</a>, I knew missing my favorite artist was out of the question. Singapore was one of the five countries I traveled to last year, and knowing how safe the city-state is influenced my decision to secure tickets.</p><div type="image" title="taylor swift red tour" height="2000" width="3000" msid="108197462" hostid="261" sizebytes="385854"></div><p><strong>Expense: Concert ticket</strong></p><p><strong>How much it cost: $294</strong></p><p>My friend's sister lives in Singapore, so she helped me score a ticket during the pre-sale for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-eras-tour-asia-bachelors-uob-credit-card-partner-2023-7">cardholders with United Overseas Bank</a>. There were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-eras-first-concert-tour-gross-over-1-billion-2023-12">over 1 million people</a> in the virtual line to snag tickets.</p><p>I managed to purchase a Category 3 ticket for $294.</p><p><strong>Expense: International transportation — flight and bus</strong></p><p><strong>How much it cost: $260</strong></p><p>The next step was to book flights to Singapore. Direct flights from Manila on carriers like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flight-attendant-slipped-sues-singapore-airlines-1-million-durairaj-santiran-2024-2">Singapore Airlines</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scoot-best-place-to-sit-on-a-plane-booking-flight-travel-2023-7">Scoot</a> were already sold out. I decided to book a flight from Manila to Kuala Lumpur with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-best-airline-in-the-world-low-cost-budget-2023-7">AirAsia</a> instead for 14,000 Philippine pesos, or around $250.</p><p>To get to Singapore, I booked a return bus ticket from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-best-airline-in-the-world-low-cost-budget-2023-7">Kuala Lumpur</a> to the city-state for 664 pesos, which is way cheaper than flying there.</p><p><strong>Expense: Lodging — nine nights</strong></p><p><strong>How much it cost: $1,110</strong></p><p>I've planned to be in Singapore from March 6 to 9 to catch the concert. I'm also planning to spend three days before and after the concert in the Malaysian capital. I invited my parents to join me in Kuala Lumpur in the days following the concert.</p><p>I booked six nights at a four-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur, which cost 335 Malaysia ringgit, or around $70, per night. That amounted to some $420 in total.</p><div type="image" title="a woman on a boat in ho chi minh" height="960" width="1280" msid="108197464" hostid="261" sizebytes="94036"></div><p>In Singapore, I booked a four-star hotel for 311 Singapore dollars, or around $230, per night. For three nights, it cost me $690.</p><p>In total, I budgeted a little over $1,600 for this trip. I avoid being too tight with money on vacations as I enjoy some luxuries on my trips. After all, why settle for less when you can treat yourself a little?</p><p>I'm also gearing up for another trip to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stockholm-sweden-wood-city-sustainable-development-photos-2023-7">Stockholm</a> for Taylor's Eras Tour stop there in May. I managed to snag the "We Never Go Out of Style" package, which cost 2,625 Swedish krona, or $250. That includes a reserved standing room, early entrance privileges, and VIP perks. Surprisingly, international tickets were more affordable than typical concert tickets in the Philippines, which can cost more than $300 for the best categories.</p><p>Overall, I feel like it was absolutely worth it to splurge on this trip. Many of my friends are Swifties, and they were supportive and happy that I could finally see Taylor in person. And I'm excited to indulge in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-michelin-list-ruined-hawker-culture-food-for-singapore-2023-6">Singapore's food scene again</a>. I've been craving the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-cheapest-michelin-starred-meal-singapore-noodles-review-photos-2022-2">perfect fishball noodle</a> for a year and can't wait to have a feast at a local food court.</p>

I live in the Philippines but was committed to seeing Taylor Swift in Singapore. I'm spending $1,600 and making a whole trip out of it.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade</span></p><p class="caption">AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The rise of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-low-cost-airline-world-skytrax-air-asia-norwegian-jetblue-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AirAsia over the past 16 years has been nothing short of meteoric</a>.</p><p>The Malaysian low-cost carrier has transformed air travel in Southeast Asia by bringing it to the masses.</p><p>In the process, its founder, Tony Fernandes, has become a veritable rock star in the business world.</p><p>Fernandes, who spent several years during the mid-1980s as the financial controller at Virgin Communications, is also known for his close friendship with Sir Richard Branson.</p><p>Recently, the music executive-turned airline kingpin spent a morning with Business Insider in New York. Fernandes touched on several topics, including the conversation he had with Branson when Fernandes acquired a failed Malaysian government-run airline that would become AirAsia.</p><p>While at Virgin Group during the early days of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Fernandes told Branson that his decision to go into the airline industry was crazy and advised him to sell Virgin Record. It's something Branson remembered during the early days of AirAsia. </p><p>"One of the first people to call me up when I started AirAsia was Richard who said, 'I thought it was really stupid to start an airline'," Fernandes said jokingly.</p><p>As far as advice goes, it was pretty simple, yet profound. </p><p>"He just said have fun and make it a fun place which we've tried to do," the AirAsia Group CEO added. "But we would have done that anyway." </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad</span></p><p class="caption">Fernandes (L) with Richard Branson at the launch of AirAsiaX.</p></div><p></p></div></div>"Virgin was very informative in my whole cultural experience in that it was a fun place, it was a place where there were no suits, it was informal and ideas and innovation are encouraged," Fernandes said.</p><p>"That rubbed off on me."</p><p>According to Fernandes, this open and innovative culture has defined the company's success. For example, AirAsia encourages its employees to design their own uniform choices and to show off their personality as individuals.</p><p>"If they're comfortable coming to work, they'll be happier and more themselves," he said.</p><p>In 2007, Branson and Fernandes got together to launch AirAsia X, the low-cost carriers long-haul division with Virgin Group taking an initial 20% stake in the operation. </p><p>This is just the first in a series of stories from our conversation with AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes. Stay tuned for more.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-cheaper-flights-other-airline-secrets-2017-10">6 airline industry secrets that will help you fly like a pro</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

AirAsia CEO reveals the one piece of advice he got from Richard Branson that defined his business

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Christopher Allen, a&#xa0;<span>25-year-old freelance journalist,&#xa0;</span>was among 19 killed on Saturday morning when fighting erupted between opposition and government forces along the border between South Sudan and Uganda.</p><p><span>South Sudan army spokesman Col. Santo Domic Chol told The Associated Press that Allen was killed Saturday morning when opposition rebels attacked the town of Kaya near the borders with Uganda and Congo.</span></p><p><span>He was "caught in the fighting" that also left 15 rebels dead, Chol&#xa0;said.</span></p><p><span>"On the ground, about 16 [bodies] have been found around the defensive position of the SPLA including this white man," Chol&#xa0;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southsudan-unrest-idUSKCN1B60M6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a>&#xa0;Reuters news agency.</span></p><p><span>But an&#xa0;opposition spokesman, William Gatjiath Deng, told the Associated Press that&#xa0;Allen was&#xa0;in the rebel barracks when South Sudanese troops attacked, adding that he&#xa0;</span>"was targeted and killed by the government forces for photographing the fight."&#xa0;</p><p>Chol&#xa0;dismissed the opposition account as "rubbish," saying the government forces acted in self-defense and Allen was killed in the crossfire near the town of Kaya, 2 kilometers (1 mile) from Bazi.</p><p>Allen had previously worked in Ukraine since the war broke out there in 2014, and was one of the first reporters on the ground after Russian-backed separatists allegeldy shot down the <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/christopher-allen-sudan-war-killed-20170827.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Malaysian</a> airliner.&#xa0;</p><p><span>"I did history at the [university]," Allen's friend, Victoria Zhuhan, quoted him as saying on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/victoria.zhuhan" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a>. "I saw that the history was happening on your Maidan, and I came over."</span></p><p><span>"I left academia because I believed that out here in a place where humanity is at its most exposed and raw, I might better understand something fundamental about the way the world works and the way history is made-about who people really are," Allen had <a href="http://thepenngazette.com/with-the-donbas-battalion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">written</a> in the Pennsylvania Gazette.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>"He was not afraid to stand up for himself and for what was right, not afraid to go straight to hell. He knew what he was doing and he knew the price," Zhuhan said.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>"He fought with the Guardian for paying less than 100 pounds for a story from the frontline, fought with the Washington Post for wrongly rewriting his article, with Al Jazeera for cutting out a piece of his story" after lawsuits were threatened, Zhuhan said.</span></p><p><span>"Before going to South Sudan, he had that crazy look in his eyes: he was after The Big Story," Zhuhan said, adding that he told her that "When I find myself in a truck with the rebels with Kalashnikovs all around, then I will calm down."<br /></span></p><p><span>"Had he read the headlines about his death, I know what his reaction would have been: "Well at least the death of an American journalist made them remember there's a civil war in South Sudan. I hate this hypocrisy!", he would yell, gesturing emotionally, and I would have been confident he would keep on fighting," Zhuhan said.</span></p><p><span>"He had a passion for telling the stories of people touched by war," a family friend, Pat Hughes,&#xa0;<a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/christopher-allen-sudan-war-killed-20170827.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a>&#xa0;the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He went to South Sudan for the same reason all good journalists go to trouble spots: to get the story and to bring that story to the world's attention."</span></p><p><span>South Sudan'&#xa0;is in its fourth year of civil war, which has killed&#xa0;tens of thousands of people.&#xa0;</span></p><p>It's also one of the harshest climates in the world for journalists, according to press freedom groups. Recently the government has cracked down on the press, blocking several South Sudan news websites.</p><p>In the past few months, 15 South Sudanese journalists have been detained, beaten or denied access to information, according to the Union of Journalists in South Sudan and more than 20 foreign journalists have been denied entry or kicked out of the country.</p><p><span>South Sudan's leaders should "condemn this killing, investigate how it happened and hold those responsible to account," Jehanne Henry, senior Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press.</span></p><p><span>"When we were saying goodbye," Zhuhan wrote, "I wished him to get The Story in South Sudan. I don't remember if I told him to take care. When once again he was sharing some of his crazy journalist adventures, I asked him to write memoirs. He laughed and dismissed it, but the only thing I wish now is that I could just keep on listening."</span></p><p><span>Allen was&#xa0;a Pennsylvania native who&#xa0;graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013.&#xa0;</span></p><div></div><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/uss-indianapolis-wreckage-discovered-navy-worst-disaster-at-sea-2017-8">The wreckage of a WWII-era US warship that the Navy called the worst disaster at sea has been discovered</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

South Sudan rebels say US reporter killed by government 'for photographing the fight'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Amanda Macias/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">This is the cocktail menu at Mother's Ruin on April 2, 2014. The 'Flight 370' is the fourth drink listed from the top. </p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>Amid the looming search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner that disappeared nearly a month ago, a 'cocktail temple' in New York's Nolita area is serving up a "Flight 370" cocktail - and no, it's not for charity.</p>
<p>I was a patron of <a href="http://www.mothersruinnyc.com/" target="_blank">Mother's Ruin</a> last week and inquired about the $13 cocktail - a mixture of gin, lemon, aperol, and grapefruit bitters - clearly posted behind the bar.</p>
<p>"We change our drinks up every other day. We added that one [Flight 370] to our menu on Monday," a male bartender told me.</p>
<p>Just a week after the Malaysian Prime Minister said "<a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-timeline-3370836">beyond any doubt</a>" everyone onboard Flight 370 had perished, the drink was apparently added to the menu.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Co-owners T.J. Lynch and Richard Knapp opened Mother's Ruin three years ago and both have expansive backgrounds in the hospitality industry.</span></p>
<p>According to Knapps' resume uploaded to Shakestir.com, he is "a devotee of the cocktail."</p>
<p>Also noted on his resume, "Richard's passion for spirits lies in the belief that when mixed in good company, a drink can become more than the sum of its parts, that it can become a communal experience to be shared and remembered.</p>
<p>Mother's Ruin management did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Business Insider.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Amanda Macias/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></p>

New York Bar Serves Crass 'Flight 370' Cocktail 

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Junaidi Hanafiah </span></p><p class="caption">Members of a rescue team use a pair of binoculars on the deck of a Basarnas rescue ship during a search and rescue operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, in the Andaman Sea, March 15, 2014. </p></div><p></p></div>Over the past 10 days, investigators and observers have come up with ever-more elaborate theories for what might have happened to Malaysia Airways Flight 370.</p>
<p>What was originally assumed to have been a tragic mid-air explosion or mechanical problem soon bloomed into a criminal investigation of a meticulously planned hijacking, commandeering, or otherwise stealing of a fully loaded commercial 777 in mid-air.</p>
<p>The perpetrator(s) knew the plane so well, one of the latest theories goes, that they climbed through a trap door outside the cockpit to reach circuit breakers necessary to shut down one of the communication's systems. They shut down the transponder. They made the plane disappear and fooled the world into thinking it had crashed. They flew one of two "arcs" for 7 hours - a "southern route" over the Indian Ocean on which, eventually, they crashed the plane in the ocean in a complicated suicide, and a "northern route" in which, perhaps, they slipped past land-based radar, flew to a destination in central Asia, and landed, perhaps preparing to use the plane again soon for a terrorist attack or other mission. This latter plan was executed so flawlessly, one observer theorized, that Flight 370 slipped in behind another commercial airliner for much of the route so as not to be noticed on radar.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Or maybe the plane was "cyber-hijacked."</span></p>
<p>The pilots' houses have been searched. Terrorist connections have been probed. Passenger backgrounds and possible motives have been scrutinized. And still, 10 days after the plane disappeared, we know nothing.</p>
<p>Perhaps that's because we're overthinking it.</p>
<p>A few days ago, a former pilot named Chris Goodfellow <a href="https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z13cv1gohsmbv5jmy221vrfyiz3vdhbop04">articulated an entirely different theory on Google+</a>.</p>
<p>This theory fits the facts.</p>
<p>And it's one of the most plausible yet:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Shortly after takeoff, as Malaysia 340 was flying out over the ocean, smoke began filling the cockpit, perhaps from a tire on the front landing gear that had ignited on takeoff</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The flight's captain immediately did exactly what he had been trained to do: Find the closest airport and turn the plane toward it so he could land.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The closest appropriate airport was called Pulau Langkawi. It had a massive 13,000-foot runway. The captain programmed the destination into the flight computer. The auto-pilot turned the plane west and put it on a course right for the runway</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The captain and co-pilot tried to find the source of the smoke and fire, but it soon filled the cockpit and overwhelmed them (a tire fire would do this). It also shorted out cockpit systems one by one, including the transponder. The pilots passed out or died.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">With no one awake to instruct the auto-pilot to land, the plane kept flying on its last programmed course... right over Pulau Langkawi and out over the Indian Ocean. Eventually, 6 or 7 hours after the incident, it ran out of fuel and crashed.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This theory fits the facts. It makes sense. It explains the manual course change as well as the "pings" that a satellite kept hearing from the plane. It requires no fantastically brilliant pre-planning or execution or motives:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>MH370  A different point of view. Pulau Langkawi 13,000 runway.</span><br /><br /><span>A lot of speculation about MH370. Terrorism, hijack, meteors. I cannot believe the analysis on CNN - almost disturbing. I tend to look for a more simple explanation of this event.</span><br /><span> </span><br /><span>Loaded 777 departs midnight from Kuala to Beijing. Hot night. Heavy aircraft.  About an hour out across the gulf towards Vietnam the plane goes dark meaning the transponder goes off and secondary radar tracking goes off. </span><br /><span> </span><br /><span>Two days later we hear of reports that Malaysian military radar (which is a primary radar meaning the plane is being tracked by reflection rather than by transponder interrogation response) has tracked the plane on a southwesterly course back across the Malay Peninsula into the straits of Malacca.</span><br /><span> </span><br /><span>When I heard this I immediately brought up Google Earth and I searched for airports in proximity to the track towards southwest.</span><br /><span> </span><br /><span>The left turn is the key here. This was a very experienced senior Captain with 18,000 hours. Maybe some of the younger pilots interviewed on CNN didn't pick up on this left turn. We old pilots were always drilled to always know the closest airport of safe harbor while in cruise. Airports behind us, airports abeam us and airports ahead of us. Always in our head. Always. Because if something happens you don't want to be thinking what are you going to do - you already know what you are going to do. Instinctively when I saw that left turn with a direct heading I knew he was heading for an airport. Actually he was taking a direct route to Palau Langkawi a 13,000 foot strip with an approach over water at night with no obstacles. He did not turn back to Kuala  Lampur because he knew he had 8,000 foot ridges to cross. He knew the terrain was friendlier towards Langkawi and also a shorter distance.</span><br /><span> </span><br /><span>Take a look on Google Earth at this airport. This pilot did all the right things. He was confronted by some major event onboard that made him make that immediate turn back to the closest safe airport.</span><br /><span>For me the loss of transponders and communications makes perfect sense if a fire. There was most likely a fire or electrical fire. In the case of fire the first response if to pull all the main busses and restore circuits one by one until you have isolated the bad one.</span><br /><br /><span>If they pulled the busses the plane indeed would go silent. It was probably a serious event and they simply were occupied with controlling the plane and trying to fight the fire. Aviate, Navigate and lastly communicate. There are two types of fires. Electrical might not be as fast and furious and there might or might not be incapacitating smoke. However there is the possibility given the timeline that perhaps there was an overheat on one of the front landing gear tires and it blew on takeoff and started slowly burning. Yes this happens with underinflated tires. Remember heavy plane, hot night, sea level, long run takeoff. There was a well known accident in Nigeria of a DC8 that had a landing gear fire on takeoff. A tire fire once going would produce horrific incapacitating smoke. Yes, pilots have access to oxygen masks but this is a no no with fire. Most have access to a smoke hood with a filter but this will only last for a few minutes depending on the smoke level. (I used to carry one of my own in a flight bag and I still carry one in my briefcase today when I fly).</span><br /><span> </span><br /><span>What I think happened is that they were overcome by smoke and the plane just continued on  the heading probably on George (autopilot) until either fuel exhaustion or fire destroyed the control surfaces and it crashed. I said four days ago you will find it along that route - looking elsewhere was pointless.  </span><br /><span> </span><br /><span>This pilot, as I say, was a hero struggling with an impossible situation trying to get that plane to Langkawi. No doubt in my mind. That's the reason for the turn and direct route. A hijack would not have made that deliberate left turn with a direct heading for Langkawi. It would probably have weaved around a bit until the hijackers decided on where they were taking it...</span> </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Chris Goodfellow's <a href="https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z13cv1gohsmbv5jmy221vrfyiz3vdhbop04">full explanation for his theory is here</a>. </span></p>

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