Hey all. Sorry if this is the 482,582,559th thread about the Malaysia flight. I had a specific question about the protocol when being passed along from one controller to another.
I know that close to an airport when going between things like Tower, Approach, Departure, Ground, etc. the communication is very quickly. As in, a pilot will be asked to switch frequencies, they'll confirm, switch frequencies, and immediately contact the next controller usually within a few seconds. Is this common during cruise as well? My thought process being that since the last known transmission from the flight was to the Malaysia Area controller and everything seemed normal, the fact that there was no subsequent transmission to the next controller (Vietnam??) means that whatever happened must have happened within that relatively short period of time. Of course I'm making the assumption that pilots will always contact the next controller immediately after being passed along. If this is wrong, my whole thought process doesn't work. But if my assumption is correct wouldn't you think that it takes away from the argument that some fire or other on board emergency was the explanation for the incident? I mean, the pilots would have had to go from all normal (when saying goodnight to Malaysian controllers) to OH CRAP! within seconds for them to not contact the new controller in Vietnam. The timing there seems off.