民航飞机不是敌对飞行物，所以就可以简单一些。雷达扫描过来，同时也发个信号。飞机接到这个询问信号，也发一个信号回去。这就是次级（或二级？）雷达（Secondary Radar，见上图下）。这一来一回，就自报了家门。就好比你在河这边喊：天皇盖地虎；对面要是答：宝塔镇河妖。那就对上号了。飞机上的这个回复器，叫做transponder。偏偏马航370航班上的transponder在1:30以后就不再回复了。

但是马航370并没有从马来西亚军用雷达上消失。《纽约时报》有篇报道说马来西亚军方的初级雷达看到一个不明飞行物，现在怀疑就是MH-370。

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/world/asia/malaysia-military-radar.html?hp

因为还不止是一个雷达，而是两个，这样信息就比较可靠了。说MH-370在泰国湾马越航空管理交接的地方，关掉了transponder，然后转了一个大弯，又往西南方向飞，越过了马来西亚和泰国的交接部，飞到了马六甲海峡上空，然后消失了。这个时间，是2:40左右。为什么军方开头不说明？不是让人在泰国湾白费功夫么？不知道。有说法是军方开始并不清楚这就是MH-370。可这是来路不明的飞行物啊？军方怎么能没有反应？也不知道。

再往下，就离奇了。在飞机消失了将近一个星期以后，有消息说Inmarsat这家公司接到了MH-370自动发来的信息，而且在MH-370失联之后3-4小时都有信号。这个信号，硬文的说法叫ping。当年互联网刚开始的时候，也经常用“ping”这个指令，看网速的快慢。如今MH-370的这个ping，不知道传递了多少、还有什么样的信息。

上网查了一下，Inmarsat这个公司很有意思。这里有他们的网址：http://www.inmarsat.com/

另外，维基百科也有介绍：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inmarsat

这里摘录几段：

Inmarsat

Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT) is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites. Inmarsat's network provides communications services to a range of governments, aid agencies, media outlets and businesses with a need to communicate in remote regions or where there is no reliable terrestrial network. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index as of December 2011.

History

The company was originally founded in 1979 as the International Maritime Satellite Organization (Inmarsat), a not-for-profit international organization, set up at the behest of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN body, for the purpose of establishing a satellite communications network for the maritime community.^[2] It began trading in 1982.^[3] From the beginning, the acronym "Inmarsat" was used. The intent was to create a self-financing body which would improve safety of life at sea. The name was changed to "International Mobile Satellite Organization" when it began to provide services to aircraft and portable users, but the acronym "Inmarsat" was kept. When the organisation was converted into a private company in 1999, the business was split into two parts: The bulk of the organisation was converted into the commercial company, Inmarsat plc, and a small group became the regulatory body, IMSO.^[4] In 2005 Apax Partners and Permira bought shares in the company. The company was also first listed on the London Stock Exchange in that year.^[5] In March 2008 it was disclosed that U.S. hedge fund Harbinger Capital owned 28% of the company.^[6] In July 2009, Inmarsat completed the acquisition of a 19-per-cent stake in SkyWave Mobile Communications Inc., a provider of Inmarsat D+/IsatM2M network services which in turn purchased the GlobalWave business from TransCore.^[7] On 15 April 2009, Inmarsat completed the acquisition of satellite communications provider Stratos Global Corporation (Stratos)

也就是说，Inmarsat负责用卫星跟踪全世界的轮船和飞机的行踪。现在Inmarsat说MH-370在飞行过程中，发了5-6次信号，大约是每小时一次。这个信号，飞机上的人似乎不知道，所以也就没想到要关这个信号发生器。所以我们就知道了飞机在失联以后还应该再往前飞了4-5个小时，然后就没有信号了。Inmarsat为啥等了这么久才说，照理说做一个搜寻就有了。这就是很成问题的事了。

这下需要搜寻的范围就大多了，而且是在印度洋里面，情况完全不一样了。不过现在还不能肯定飞机继续往前飞向了哪里。又说可能飞到安达曼群岛降落了，但印度政府马上出来辟谣，说没有这回事。

再说这飞机的飞行高度也很怪。在失联后，飞机的飞行高度曾经上升的45,000英尺，相当于15,000米。这远高于飞机的最大升限，结果就是飞机中的气压下降，人很可能会昏迷过去，但驾驶室里的人好像没事。不过接着飞机的飞行高度有降到23,000英尺，相当于8000米。有消息说最多降低到1000米上下。在飞越了马来半岛之后，飞机的飞行高度又上升的29,500英尺，继续往西北方向飞。而民航客机一般是在30,000英尺，这样就可以避开正常飞行的飞机。

这么看来，飞机不是因为失控无目的地飞，而是一切都在人的掌控之中。那么要问这人是谁啊？这就不知道了。