[ossiblue]

Latest puzzle piece.

INMARSAT indicates they received a "partial ping" from the aircraft just eight minutes after the last scheduled hourly "handshake" at 8:11am. What this exactly means is not known but what is known is the ping originated from the plane, unlike the six other pings from the handshake protocol. Further, it could not have been caused by someone on board. Like everything else in this case, the cause has multiple scenarios, all plausible.

The significance? Something aboard the plane activated a signal to INMARSAT indicating a sudden change is some system on board--the hourly handshakes were INMARSAT asking "are you there", this was a signal from the plane asking, "we need to talk." It gives a closer approximation as to when the plane went down. We know the next hourly ping, at 9:11 did not happen so instead of guessing the plane could have flown for nearly another hour, this last partial ping may indicate the plane's ability to fly ended at 8:19 am. Not necessarily that it hit the water at that time (though it could have) but that it could have been heading down at that time.

I see this whole thing playing out over several years. I think debris will be found soon, and when it is, the world will lose significant interest in the mystery because all the "hidden airplane and future uses of it" will be eliminated. It will be obvious all are lost. Finding the wreckage and black boxes will take years. During that time, speculation will continue as to cause but it will be on the back pages. Also during that time, the lawsuits will come rolling out (U.S. lawyers have already begun the process for a Chinese client and the investigation still is ongoing.) It will become a water-cooler story that pops up occasionally in the news as something is discovered. Sadly, I think the families will not know the exact location of their loved ones for years, not know how the plane went where it did, for years, and never know who was responsible.