re: #205 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

Hopefully someone with more knowledge of aviation than I have (which would be just about anyone) can answer this. A few commentors in articles about the missing Flight 370 ask why it’s even possible for the flight crew to deactivate a plane’s transponders. Why/when would you as a pilot need or want to switch it off?

Pilots mention that a) in an emergency, you WANT to switch off an electrical system that could be the source of a fire. and b) transponders get out of whack sometimes. How to fix? Well, you go through a power cycle….just like a PC.