I Am Missing

I have ignored posting anything on this Malaysian airline for almost two week now. Naturally, I opted to draft this right before they think they found debris.

Of course, like most folks, no one thought a missing Boeing 777-200 could just disappear for this length of a time.

As you've come to know me over the years, through these "pages", it would be no shock that airplane disasters would capture my interest.

One of those OCD things I did as a child was read every single book on the Bermuda Triangle. ...which seemingly doesn't seem to exist anymore, does it?  There are certainly no new books out about it - no new planes disappearing out of thin air..........well, until now. Though Malaysia is a long way from Bermuda.

Even a week ago, on social media, I made a "joke" about the situation being like the updated version of LOST.

Mind you, a number of folks chimed in hoping the ending would be more satisfying.

But like that frustrating show, I am guessing this story and ending are going to be just as convoluted, dissatisfying and debated upon years after the fact. And with this, there seem to be no Easter egg clues.

The only thing that seems to still be LOST is Matthew Fox's next acting gig.

....well, and Malaysian flight 370.

There are no known answers to this mystery, but lots of guesses, including UFO abduction. I mean, c'mon, if that frickin' crazy-assed bitch, Courtney Love, is chiming in and claiming to know things about this plane and flight, then this is one fucked up situation.

I'll take Close Encounters over the lead singer of Hole.

Naturally, I have a few questions - none of which have been touched on that I can tell from the 24 news cycle - not that I have really been reading too much detail - because there isn't much detail. It's all speculation. The networks are busy trying to figure out the whens, wheres and whys of the current situation, not the bigger questions.

I love all of CNN's on-line headlines. They all end in a question mark:  WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE IS FLIGHT 370?   IS THIS IT?  WHAT DO SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW?

I'm not sure if it is supposed to be a headline or if they're truly asking, hoping one or more of their viewers to just help them fill in the blanks.  Or maybe it's a Sex in the City thing, where Carrie starts all her columns in an upward inflection.

All 24/7 new orgs are pointing fingers at everyone and none of it is panning out, just casting doubt on any one and every one's character. They've all become Nancy Grace: guilty until proven innocent.

So here are a few questions I have:

• Why is it even possible to ever turn off an airplane's transponder?  I figured after 9/11, that flaw would be done away with immediately. Don't say it's because in case of potential power failures the crew needs to conserve power. Transponders draw the most minimal amount of power than most any other part of a plane. 
• Why can communication systems ever be disabled? I love that the majority of 777-200 pilots said, when questioned, they don't even know how to, but why in g-d's name (again, after 9/11), is this even an option? Of course, would the pilots actually admit to knowing how to do it in the first place?
• People are so fucking worried about the CIA, NSA, Interpol etc finding shit out about them, yet 2 million passports are stolen and reused each year. You can book tickets on them and board planes. Satellites can and do track plane movements, but not exact locations and yet no one can fucking find an airliner with 237 passengers. I've feeling pretty safe no one is truly listening to my phone calls or reading my emails. 

I guess the last one isn't really a question, but I'll be curious how and when my first two questions are ever addressed by the airlines, or national transportation safety.

As for the plane, maybe it was UFOs, or maybe an electromagnetic burst had the plane crash on a remote island with smoke monsters, wild boars and an endless supply of food and fresh water, and with beard trimmers you were forced to use every three days (for the males). Perhaps it is purgatory, perhaps not.

Nahhh.

Like the show's characters, everyone on board is actually dead.     ....just like Matthew Fox's career.



Song by: Dashboard Confessional