the radios and radar transponders come together at only one common point where a single failure could make the aircraft vanish from both split and the awacs and also lose voice radio contact with the dubrovnik tower, and that is if the electrical system failed in mid air, while still 7 miles from the crash site and 1/2 mile above the adriatic sea, on the approach path. no other explanation fits the facts reported in aviation week & space technology. the electrical power buss cables share the same conduit as the flight control cables, which run from the control yokes in the cockpit to the various flight control surfaces of the aircraft. any event sufficient to sever the electrical cables would present a real danger to the control cables (especially if the control cables were the real target and the electrical failure a side effect). there is clear evidence that the control cables had indeed failed at the same time as the electrical system. as was mentioned before, the aviation week article reported that the flight crew had acknowledged receiving the weather report, which indicated that clear air was just below them. having just descended into the overcast the flight crew also knew there was clear air above. from the loss of the radar transponder and cockpit radio, we know the plane was without electrical power. the flight crew therefore did not have any means to follow any beacons (real or fake). in such circumstances, the flight crew would have every reason to either climb or descend into the clear air they knew was there, and no reason to stay within an overcast without instruments. there is only one reason to explain why an aircraft without electrical power did not move to clear air and that's if the control cables failed at the same time as the electrical system did. there is no reason for a pilot to stay in the clouds without instruments. none.
United States