Hi James L
My thoughts exactly as I posed the question about JORN (Jindalee Over The Horizon Radar Network) on Oz-spotters a few days ago.
JORN has a published range of 1000 - 3000 kms (and possibly more) depending on atmospheric conditions so if the missing aircraft did head southwest it COULD have been within range of JORN, provided of course it was operational as I understand that it does not operate 24/7 !!
The station at Laverton in W A would have been the closest and most likely to detect it. So therefore I presume that even if the transponders were turned off, JORN may have tracked an unidentified aircraft over the Indian Ocean as did the other military radars in South East Asia.
And I also thought about the IFE and iPad if u were a passenger watching the course but I presume the screens would have gone blank if systems had been turned off but I don't know enough to make a really informed comment.
However, I have carried an old fashioned compass in my camera bag for years (a relic of Orienteering and CMF days) and sometimes use it on aircraft when I'm returning from MEL to PER, usually due west on a heading of 270 degrees. The slightest change in course swings the compass so if the aircraft I was travelling did dramatically change course, then I would know about it.
But what can you do when travelling in an aluminium tube at 10,000 metres ? Just panic I suppose.
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