Attempt to call missing jet may alter search area

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Shortly after the missing Malaysian airliner disappeared from radar, airline officials on the ground tried repeatedly to call the crew of the Boeing 777 using a satellite phone that might have left clues to the jet's flight path.

Now an analysis of those failed attempts to reach Flight 370 could alter the search for the plane.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan said Thursday that the sprawling search area in the southern Indian Ocean may be extended farther south based on the new analysis, which suggests that the aircraft turned that direction earlier than previously believed.

There have been instances where planes have depressurized resulting in unconsciousness for the entire crew and passengers. Then the aircraft simply flies on autopilot until it runs out of fuel. I remember hearing a story of a Cessna pilot who was overcome by carbon monoxide and passed out in the air. Miraculously, the plane few until it ran out of fuel, and then glided to a gentle landing in the trees, and the pilot woke up with a terrible headache in a wrecked plane, but no serious injuries.

[size=13px]I hope they can find a needle in a haystack. These planes would benefit from having GPS. Too bad the airlines are too cheap to invest in satellites and GPS technology; otherwise, this $200 million dollar plane, and its passengers, would have been found by now.[/size]