破壞失聯飛機系統需是專業人士所爲

If multiple communication systems aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 were manually disabled, as investigators increasingly suspect happened, it would have required detailed knowledge of the long-range Boeing Co. 777's inner workings.

調查人員愈發懷疑馬來西亞航空(Malaysia Airlines)失聯370航班上的多個通訊系統是被人爲破壞的，如果真是這樣，則蓄意破壞的人需要對波音(Boeing Co.) 777客機的內部情況擁有詳細的知識。

The first loss of the jet's transponder, which communicates the jet's position, speed and call sign to air traffic control radar, would require disabling a circuit breaker above and behind an overhead panel. Pilots rarely, if ever, need to access the circuit breakers, which are reserved for maintenance personnel.

首先被關閉的應答器可向空中交通控制雷達發送飛機位置、速度和呼叫信號，關閉它需要切斷頂部儀表板上方和後面的一個斷路器。飛行員很少需要動用斷路器，這些斷路器是爲維修人員準備的。

Pulling one specific circuit breaker, which is labeled, would render inoperative both of the 777's transponders, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and bolstered by comments from according to aviation industry officials and those who have worked with the 777.

根據《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)見過的文件、航空業官員，以及曾服務過波音777的人員提供的信息，拔掉某一個斷路器（斷路器上有標籤）將導致飛機上兩個應答器停止工作。

Becoming familiar with the 777's systems requires extensive training for pilots and aircraft mechanics alike, experts said. However, considerable technical data on the airplane is also available online in discussion groups or other websites.

專家稱，要熟悉波音777系統，需要接受大量有關飛行員和機械師的培訓。不過這種機型的相當多技術數據也可以在討論小組或其他網站上獲得。

Investigators are trying to establish a sequence of events that transpired on the jet, which vanished from radar March 8, most critically the loss of communication.

對於這架在3月8日消失在雷達屏幕上的飛機，調查人員正試圖對機上發生的事件理出一個順序。

The shutdown of the on board reporting system shortly after the jet was last seen on radar, can be performed in a series of keystrokes on either of the cockpit's two flight management computers in the cockpit. The computers are used to set the performance of the engines on takeoff, plan the route, as well as other functions to guide the 777.

在飛機最後一次出現在雷達屏幕後不久機上應答系統關閉，這一操作可以通過在駕駛艙內兩臺飛行管理電腦中的任意一臺上敲一系列鍵就可完成。這些電腦用於設置發動機在起飛時的性能、規劃飛行路線以及指導777飛機的其他功能。

After vanishing, the jet's satellite communications system continued to ping orbiting satellites for at least five hours. The pings ceased at a point over the Indian Ocean, while the aircraft was at a normal cruise altitude, say two people familiar with the jet's last known position. Investigators are trying to understand that loss, and whether or not 'something catastrophic happened or someone switched off' the satellite communication system, says one of the people.

在失聯後，飛機的衛星通訊系統在至少五個小時內繼續向衛星發出連接請求。兩名知情人士表示，衛星連接請求在印度洋上方某處中斷，當時飛機處在正常的巡航高度。其中一人稱，調查人員正試圖瞭解中斷原因，是否發生了一些災難性事情，或者是有人關閉了衛星通訊系統。

A physical disconnection of the satellite communications system would require extremely detailed knowledge of the aircraft, its internal structure and its systems. The satellite data system is spread across the aircraft and disabling it would require physical access to key components. Disconnecting the satellite data system from the jet's central computer, known as AIMS, would disable its transmission. The central computer can be reached from inside the jet while it is flying, but its whereabouts would have to be known by someone deeply familiar with the 777.

物理阻斷衛星通訊系統需要極爲詳細地瞭解飛機、其內部結構和系統。衛星數據系統遍佈機身，要關閉這一系統需要能夠實際接觸到關鍵部件。從被稱爲AIMS的飛機中央電腦關閉衛星數據系統可以切斷數據傳輸。在飛機飛行過程中，機上人員可以接觸到其中央電腦，但是需要對這架波音777極爲熟悉。

Getting into the area housing the 777's computers would 'not take a lot' of knowledge, said an aviation professional who has worked with the 777. However, this person added, 'to know what to do there to disable' systems would require considerable understanding of the jet's inner workings. Some airlines outfit the access hatch to the area below the floor with a special screw to prevent unauthorized intrusion, the person added.

據一位曾服務過777機型的航空專家稱，進入777飛機放置電腦的區域不需要許多知識。但是這位專家表示，知道如何關閉系統需要相當瞭解該飛機內部工作原理。這位專家還說，有些航空公司會爲進入這一地板下區域的艙門安裝一個特別的螺絲，以防未經允許的進入。

Orbiting satellites are designed to check in with the aircraft's satellite-communication system hourly if no data is received during that time. The pings from the aircraft became a subject of scrutiny earlier this week, said a person familiar with the matter, several days after the plane first went missing.

軌道衛星如果沒有接收到數據的話，每小時都會檢查一次飛機的衛星通訊系統。一位知情人士稱，在馬航客機失聯數天之後，該架航班的數據連接請求在本週早些時候成爲調查目標。

Because the pings between the satellite and the aircraft registered that the aircraft's satellite communications system was healthy and able to transmit, the data did not immediately raise any red flags in the hours after the jet's disappearance.

由於衛星與這架客機之間存在數據連接請求，顯示飛機的衛星通訊系統情況正常且能夠進行信號傳輸，所以在飛機失聯之後的幾個小時裏，相關數據並沒有立刻引起警惕。

At first, the origin of the final ping from the Malaysia Airlines jet seemed like an anomaly to investigators, according to a person familiar with the matter, given that the plane was believed to have crashed off the coast of Vietnam, hundreds if not thousands of miles from the location of the final ping.

據一位知情人士稱，最初階段，考慮到這架馬航客機被認爲已經在越南海域墜毀，距離最後發出數據連接請求的位置有數百甚至上千英里之遠，客機最後發出數據連接請求的地點在調查人員看來似乎有些異常。

Until just a few years ago, the satellite communication system used by jetliners didn't include data on an aircraft's location in the pings, the electronic equivalent of handshakes used to establish initial contact.

直到數年之前，客機使用的衛星通訊系統並不包含有關飛機發出數字連接請求的位置信息。

For instance, before Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, the jet sent some diagnostic data indicating problems with various onboard systems, including the autopilot's deactivation. But notably the plane's position wasn't transmitted with that data.

比如，在2009年法國航空公司(Air France) 447航班在大西洋墜毀之前，該機發送的診斷數據表明，飛機上多個系統出了問題，其中包括應答器關閉。但值得注意的是，該飛機的位置信息並未得到傳輸。

Partly as a result it took nearly two years to locate the plane's 'black boxes' and the majority of the wreckage. In the case of the missing Malaysian jetliner, precise locations were provided. However, it is unclear why the transmission ceased and where the plane may have ended up after the final ping.

其中一個後果就是，尋找這架飛機的黑匣子和主體殘骸用了將近兩年的時間。而在馬航失聯飛機事件中有精確的位置信息。但目前還不清楚爲何這種信號傳輸會中斷，以及在最後一次數字連接請求發出之後飛機可能最終去了哪裏。