There were a lot of such theories floating around when the plane went missing. But Occam's Razor suggests it's just lost in a big ocean. Here are a few reasons why we can at this point eliminate that it "landed somewhere" and will be used in the future for terrorist purposes:
1. The use of Doppler effect analysis on the satellite pings to confirm a southerly route (over water) versus a northern one (over land) was novel at the time of the crash, and considered speculative. However, in the months since the crash, the validity of the methodology has been proven, beyond any doubt. There is no chance whatsoever that the plane took the "northern route." It went south, over the Indian ocean, until the satellite pings ended. At the time the pings ended, the plane didn't have enough fuel to get anywhere it could land, and the last ping (which was partial, and at an unexpected time) was likely due to fuel starvation being detected and triggering the system to send out a burst.
2. Let's say that despite all the science and observation in #1, the plane actually landed somewhere. One of the "Stans" perhaps. Keep in mind this is one of the most technologically equipped planes in commercial aviation, chock full of special electronics and designed for remote diagnostics. If we're operating under the theory that savvy hijackers took over the plane (which is reasonably likely given the evidence), they still didn't know enough to turn off the satellite pings. At some point the plane would have re-established some sort of satellite communication. But, a year later, the plane is now not flyable. IT takes very specific expertise, equipment, supplies and so on to prep the plane for flight. By now, it's not flight worthy and short of a Boeing-trained crew, it ain't going nowhere.
3. Let's suspend that logic also. You're a terrorist organization, and you've got the 777. It's flightworthy in a hanger "somewhere" and you've muted all it's communications transponders and whatnot. You've even got a suicidal pilot ready for martyrdom. The minute you fly this thing into airspace anywhere near any place you want to attack, it will be recognized as not having proper transponder signals and will be intercepted. Particularly if you are planning to attack Israel, Western Europe, or the US after a VERY long over-water flight.
4. Still not debunked? OK, follow the money. You're a terrorist organization and want to replicate the 9-11 "flying gascan" attacks. There are thousands of aircraft that will do the job that are SO INCREDIBLY MUCH EASIER to get your hands on. Why do this thing with a 777 and park it for more than a year? It's a waste of resources. This isn't how terrorists capable of stealing the plane would operate.
After doing a lot of reading and watching of shows on the subject, my believe is that it was one of two things:
A. A hijacking gone wrong, almost certainly by folks other than the pilots, that ended up in the plane going on a long uncontrolled flight into the Indian Ocean.
B. A multiple systems failure that had progressively severe effects, probably exacerbated by unsuccessful attempts to correct the situation by the crew.
Until we find the plane, we'll never know for sure. But I sleep soundly at night not worried that the plane is out there being prepped for an attack.
Marc
