.Anti-terror expert said plane’s direction could be changed by radio signals
.Speed and altitude could also be changed from device using ‘codes’
.Possibility that it could be made to land using remote control
.Pilot’s friends said he had always been a ‘gadget geek’ at school
ByWills Robinson
A chilling theory suggests the missing Malaysian Airlines plane could have been hijacked using a mobile phone or USB stick.
An anti-terror expert believes the speed, altitude and direction of the aircraft could have been changed, simply by sending radio signals from a small remote device.
A framework of ‘codes’ created by cyber terrorists would also be able to get into the plane’s in-flight entertainment system and override the security software.
It is also believed, once the systems have been successfully hacked, the plane could be landed by remote control.
The theory has emerged as the search for flight MH370 continues to grow, with 25 countries now involved in the rescue effort.
Yesterday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed the plane’s disappearance was the result of a ‘deliberate act’ and could have flown as far as Kazakstan.
Dr Sally Leivesley, a former Home Office official, said: ‘It might well be the world’s first cyber hijack.’
Dr Leivesley, who now prepares businesses and governments for potential terrorist attacks, told the Sunday Express: ‘There appears to be an element of planning from someone with a very sophisticated systems engineering understanding,’
‘This is a very early version of what I would call a smart plane, a fly-by-wire aircraft controlled by electronic signals.
She added that once the plane is air-side, you can insert a set of commands and codes which can begin a new set of processes.
FROM TERRORISTS TO TINTIN… THE WORLDWIDE CONSPIRACIES THEORIES
The Tin Tin theory
The internet has been abuzz with conspiracy theories about flight MH370’s disappearance, from terrorists to Tintin, some vaguely plausible, others simply ridiculous…
THE PLAUSIBLE
- Flying bomb: According to this theory, the plane has been taken to Vietnam, where it is waiting to be used as a weapon in a 9/11 style attack.
- Passengers alive: Because some relatives of passengers have heard ringing tones on their loved ones’ mobiles, rather than being put straight through to voicemail, they believe it is evidence they were still alive. In fact, not all such calls do go straight to voicemail, especially if the battery is also destroyed.
THE LUDICROUS
- Alien involvement: Cyber posters looking on flight mapping website Flightradar24 spotted one object (identified as a Korean airliner) which appears to streak across the screen at an incredible speed around the time of MH370’s disappearance. A glitch on the website, said Flightradar.
- Silicon connection: With an IBM executive and 20 members of a Texan IT company aboard, some have concluded a Chinese kidnap plot is afoot, with a transfer on to a ‘black site’ for interrogation.
…AND NOT FORGETTING THE HERGE HYPOTHESIS!
Tintin connection: In his comic book Flight 714, published in 1968, Belgian cartoonist Hergé penned a plot which resembles some aspects of the Malaysian mystery.
In the plot, set in the Far East, Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus are offered a lift in a millionaire’s private jet. As event unfold (panel 1 above), the aircraft is hijacked by the pilots and brought to a deserted volcanic island; (2) the jet manages to make a rough landing on a makeshift roll-out runway; and (3) gunmen surround the plane and Tintin’s dog Snowy makes a run for it.
After several close shaves – and even a meeting with aliens – the friends finally make it safely on to Flight 714 and to their original destination, Sydney…
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