"Kurt Ullman" wrote in message
"Robert Green" wrote:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03...ectrical-fire/

A must read article by a pilot who posits a completely logical scenario that
explains everything we know so far. There was a fire on the plane, the
pilots climbed as high as possible to extinguish it and then turned towards
the longest, "best chance" airport.

The left turn is the key here. Zaharie Ahmad Shah1 was a very experienced
senior captain with 18,000 hours of flight time. We old pilots were drilled
to know what is the closest airport of safe harbor while in cruise. Airports
behind us, airports abeam us, and airports ahead of us. They're always in
our head. Always. If something happens, you don't want to be thinking about
what are you going to do-you already know what you are going to do. When I
saw that left turn with a direct heading, I instinctively knew he was
heading for an airport. He was taking a direct route to Palau Langkawi, a
13,000-foot airstrip with an approach over water and no obstacles. The
captain did not turn back to Kuala Lampur because he knew he had 8,000-foot
ridges to cross. He knew the terrain was friendlier toward Langkawi, which
also was closer.