It's usually not the fall but the sudden stop that causes all the problems. 

Flying should be left to professionals, not weekenders. I'm reminded of this whenever some CEO kills himself and his entire family flying to their summer retreat. Some of these people fly once a fortnight, once a month or sometimes less frequently. I don't think you can be prepared for every situation unless flying is your job and you do it every day.

You do know that "professional" pilots are only allowed to fly 20 hours a week, right? 

While large airliners are more problematic to land, by far, than small single engine planes they do NOT have the glide ratios of "rocks", streamlined or otherwise. Flight 370, for instance had a glide path of about 80 miles from 35,000 feet.

craigb
You do know that "professional" pilots are only allowed to fly 20 hours a week, right? 

Which is 16x more than someone who only flies 5 hours a month. 

sharke

craigb
You do know that "professional" pilots are only allowed to fly 20 hours a week, right? 

Which is 16x more than someone who only flies 5 hours a month. 

Would that not depend on which month it is?

A "good" month, I s'pect.  The fewer times a month they fly the gooder it is for everyone.
 
I used to fly and am also licensed to fix those "Wonderful Flying Contraptions". The first thing I learned is how flimsy they really are. There simply isn't enough spongy matter between you and any outside object that's rapidly propelling toward you.
 
If you really think flying is safe, look at how many Wingsuit men are dying to prove you wrong. It's sad to see anyone perish but this has got to be the ultimate in daredevil stupidity.
 
The more recent idea of putting ballistic shoots on planes is a great idea since the science of any person speeding like a bullet toward a hard object can only result in one outcome... ouch! My geniously unpatented idea is to come up with a ballistic airbag that completely envelopes the plane transforming it into a "big rubber ball".
 
 

Here's a good read, the most sensible theory I've seen yet:
 
http://www.wired.com/auto...mh370-electrical-fire/

Karyn

sharke

craigb
You do know that "professional" pilots are only allowed to fly 20 hours a week, right? 

Which is 16x more than someone who only flies 5 hours a month. 

Would that not depend on which month it is?

Nope. Whether it's January, February, March, April, May or any of the others, 5 hours a month is always 16x less than 80 hours a month 

Interesting read.  But still doesn't really account for no distress signals of any kind being sent from the plane. Or does it?