Malaysian Plane Missing

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

Worring developments http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26502843

 

A big concern that is being addressed now is potentially two stolen passports were used to gain entry to the flight. Aviation security has been pretty beefed since 9/11 with watertight procedures in place resulting in minimal incidents of the less severe kind all over the world. This could be a major setback if the terrorism aspect is discovered as the cause of the disappearance of the aircraft. 

[Dr Diamond 407]

yeah im getting on a plane tomorrow


as if i didnt hate flying enough as it is

[jordie1892 681]

yeah im getting on a plane tomorrow

as if i didnt hate flying enough as it is

This was on the news whilst I was waiting in the departure lounge yesterday. We weren't happy...

[Diddums 4,346]

Damn, not cool. Can't even comment because we've no information.

[Docwagon 856]

Can't even comment because we've no information.

 

When has that stopped anyone?

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

http://news.sky.com/story/1222942/malaysia-airlines-suspected-fragments-found

[Drifter 851]

The whole thing seems odd to me. In the article it says Two passports were fake, then in the very next sentence it says Four passports were fake. And how is it possible that they had no radio contact with the pilots, that part I am not understanding what so ever.

[TigerBurge 2,375]

The whole thing seems odd to me. In the article it says Two passports were fake, then in the very next sentence it says Four passports were fake. And how is it possible that they had no radio contact with the pilots, that part I am not understanding what so ever.

My thoughts exactly. Something just doesn't add up to me.

[Docwagon 856]

The whole thing seems odd to me. In the article it says Two passports were fake, then in the very next sentence it says Four passports were fake. And how is it possible that they had no radio contact with the pilots, that part I am not understanding what so ever.

 

The media is way more interested in being first than being right.  I see the local reporting about scenes I was at and sometimes wonder WTF they come up with the stuff they say happened. 

[uberwarrior 373]

I am currently in mainland China and due to leave out via Hong Kong on Thursday night, it will be very interesting to see what, if anything has been done to "beef" up security. I have a colleague flying over this way arriving tomorrow afternoon local time, so I'll be intruiged to find out his experiences.

 

To be honest the current security in place at the airports I've used over here is as good as I see in Europe, except Turkey where you have to put your bags through a scanner before you even enter the airport building due to it's proximity to the Middle East.

 

Obviously, this is big news over here at the moment and there is a lot of frustration over the perceived lack of information, but the airline is caught between a rock and hard place right now until clues start emerging.

 

Bottom line, we all suspect that the plane has suffered a catastrophic failure/incident mid air due to the fact that it simply fell off the radar and there was no communication to say there was a problem. From my perspective, the fact that there are reports that the plane may have turned back without any communication at all is worrying. If it hasn't then where the hell is it?

 

As for the cause, everything is pure conjecture at the moment, meaning nothing can be ruled out. For all we know it may have even been shot down. Until the recorders are found and reviewed we will not have a clue.

 

I just hope that they find out something sooner rather than later as the poor families must be going through hell right now!

[kylebees 242]

What ever happened to black boxes? If there was a catastrophic failure, surely the black box would be pinging, no? I have yet to read one article that questions that.

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

What ever happened to black boxes? If there was a catastrophic failure, surely the black box would be pinging, no? I have yet to read one article that questions that.

This incident echos the Air France disaster in 2009 where the plane en route from Brazil dropped out of the sky without a trace into the Atlantic Ocean. It took 5 days to find the wreckage and two years to locate the black boxes from the seabed. The recovery services had to work on a 35 mile radius to find them as they didn't know how fast the plane hit the water and debris were discovered over 25 miles away.  The black boxes only seem to send out a distress signal if the aircraft reported a fault automatically or if the crew manually sent out a distress signal. I don't think they can be traced in most instances if a plane goes off radar due to weather interference or deep water despite them being able to withstand the hottest temperatures. Recovery teams can only deduce by estimation the location of a 'downed' plane through the last transmission broadcast and it's average speed at the time. 

 

I remember a flight going from Kuala Lumpur to China a few years ago and it took 3 years to find the wreck and recover the black boxes. In this day and age and with all the technology available and in most cases; more superior tech, I still can't believe the black box aspect is so backwards.  

[lepercolony 275]

yeah im getting on a plane tomorrow

as if i didnt hate flying enough as it is

 

vodka helps.  i don't drink though so i just pack brownies.

[Diddums 4,346]

Adam's like a fucking gremlin. Give him vodka and he might just rip your curtains.

[uberwarrior 373]

What ever happened to black boxes? If there was a catastrophic failure, surely the black box would be pinging, no? I have yet to read one article that questions that.

From what I've read and seen on the tv news, the black boxes have a fairly limited transmission range so you would need to be relatively close to before you received a signal. Also, and in all probability they are submerged in up to 300ft of water, which is substantially less than the Air France black box which was located in 13,000ft of water on the Atlantic sea bed 2 years after the crash.

 

They have roughly 30 days of battery life before they stop transmitting. Maybe this is something that needs to be improved upon going forwards to allow for better and quicker recovery.

 

Imagine a plane breaking up at 30,000ft doing 500mph and how far debris could be spread across. Even if they find floating debris it could a be long time before they even close to the flight recorders and other clues. I don't think we are going to get any definitive answers for quite some time.

 

First and foremost they simply need to find something that confirms it went down, to at least give the families of those involved a definite answer despite the fact that it will all but extinguish any hope of finding survivors. 

 

The Chinese are getting more and more frustrated at the perceived lack of information which is somewhat understandable, but would they have been able to do better in the same circumstance? Possibly they might by sheer weight of resource available, but they need to bear in mind it did take 5 days to find any debris from the Air France flight.

[Dr Diamond 407]

something tells me we would be lucky to ever find this plane now

[Drifter 851]

Supposedly yesterday they found what they believe could be a large piece of the wreckage via a satellite image. Haven't heard anymore since then though so who knows.

[Palle 491]

Saturday, march 8'th:

- Malaysia Airlines MH370 departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 00:41 on Saturday (16:41 GMT Friday)and was due to arrive in Beijing at 06:30.

- Malaysia Airlines lost contact with the plane one and two hours after departure. No mayday or distress signal was transmitted from the plane, weather was good.

- The last contact with the plane was 120 nautical miles of the east coast the Malaysian coast city Kota Bharu.

- Vietnamese aviation authorities confirms that the MH370 didn't confirm their entry into the airspace between Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh City at 01:21 (1 hour and 20 minutes after departure).

- Flightsurveillance site flightaware.com is showing the plane fly in the northeast direction over Malaysia, after departure it shows data of the plane climb to 35.000 feet, a minute after it disappears while it's still climbing.

- Malaysian search and rescue ships find no parts or debris from the plane at the last known location.

- Two men from Austria and Italy, whom were listed as passengers on that flight identify themselves as alive and say that their passports were stolen.

Sunday, march 9'th:

- Malaysian airlines fears the worst, and is cooperating with an American company specialized in emergency search and rescue.

- Evidence of radar data shows signs of a possibility that the plane have turned around before it disappeared.

- Malaysian search and rescue expand searches to the west coast of Malaysia.

- Interpol confirms that the two stolen passports are registered in their database as stolen, and were used by two passengers on board.

- Malaysian state news agency quotes Minister for Home Affairs Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the two passengers that traveled with stolen passes were from Asia.

- A source from a security agency states to the news agency Reuters that the Malaysian authorities focus on investigating on the theory of the plane "exploding in the air".

Monday, march 10'th:

- American spy satellites provide proof that show no sign of explosions in the air during the time.

- Multiple ships and airplanes from 7 countries search around the sea of Malaysia and south Vietnam.

- Chief of Malaysian airforce says that a hijack scenario can't be disclosed.

- Malaysian Airlines stocks drops to a historical low.

- The one of the passengers that traveled with a stolen pas is identified to be non-malaysian.

- Oilspot, which was thought to be from the MH370 was in fact not from the plane, but from ships.

- China criticizes Malaysia for the poor effort in the investigation.

Tuesday, march 11'th:

- China sends 10 satellites in the air to search for the airplane.

- Ground search and rescue on the Malaysian west coast and north of Sumatra has begun.

- Vietnam asks fishermen to fish for everything else but fish.

- Interpol identifies the two men that traveled with a stolen passport and say that it's not likely a terror attack. The two guys were from Iran.

- Malaysian authorities say that the two men were immigrants trying to apply for asylum.

- There's been data reports on the plane that it turned 180 degrees, lost a bit of altitude while flying several hundreds kilometers back over the Strait of Malacca, west for Malaysia. The data reports comes from a source in the Malaysian military.

Wednesday, march 12'th:

- The Malaysian military say that they have not spotted the plane in the Strait of Malacca.

- Information has surfaced that one of the pilots - Fariq Abdul Hamid - earlier on has made himself unfortunately known by breaking rules and regulations at the airline company. A couple of years ago, he invited two females into the cockpit were they smoked.

- Malaysian Airlines say that there's no reason to believe that the crew on board were the cause of the accident.

- Malaysia asks India to help in the investigation.

Source: Reuters and AFP.

[Palle 491]

Body in lifejacket reported found off Malacca

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140312000154&cid=1103

Liferaft found near Port Dickson

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-fishermen-find-life-raft-near-pd-1.509222

6 important facts you are not being told about Malaysian Airlines MH370

http://www.naturalnews.com/044244_Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370_vanished.html

Five checked on but did not board

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2577185/Missing-Malaysia-flight-Probe-5-passengers-checked-never-boarded.html

Two Iranians used stolen passports

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2014/03/10/Hijacking-not-ruled-out-in-missing-Malaysian-jet-.html

Notice anything strange about these photos?

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/12/notice-anything-strange-about-the-photos-of-the-men-who-used-stolen-passports-on-the-missing-malaysian-plane/

[Palle 491]

[Baabcat 1,646]

This story gets more bizarre. Now it appears the plane flew for hours more after disappearing, and was deliberately taken off radar whilst between the Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control

How can it take a week for all this to come out?

[Drifter 851]

 

How can it take a week for all this to come out?

 

Basically because some of these foreign countries are simply no where near as professional nor have the high level of accountability that countries like the USA or UK have. Something major happens in our country and there's there's high levels of protocol that are enacted immediately and a very thorough investigation gets underway. Other countries such as Malaysia are so far behind when it comes to protocol during major incidents that it is ridiculous. Case in point- Just a day or two ago I was watching the news and they were talking to some of the people in charge of the investigation over there, the person they were talking too said "We have not yet searched the pilots place of residence"...

 

Say what?? a plane disappears inexplicably and after a whole week no one has even searched the pilots house for clues as to an explanation? wow

[Baabcat 1,646]

I'm less sure this is incompetence, its just so strange. Just seen on the BBC news that Malaysian airforce radar knew the plane had turned around and flown back over the peninsular. But the Malaysian government has let a international task force search the wrong sea for a week before divulging this

Makes me think that if Boeing hasn't been tracking the engines the Malaysians might never have admitted this

[Racist Giraffe 73]

This is horrible. Most people are just thinking about what happened to the plane, or making up their own conspiracy theories and jokes, but you have to spare a thought for the families in this. Imagine your wife/dad/friend/whatever just completely vanished. Thousands of people and multiple countries are searching, but nobody has any idea in the slightest what happened to them.

 

Hoping it turns out well but you couldn't imagine that happening at this point..

[Dr Diamond 407]

Think we all knew it, but now it seems for certain


RIP MH370



 

 

 

There were 227 passengers on flight MH370, many of them Chinese.

Relatives of those on board who watched the announcement at a Beijing hotel wept with grief, and some were taken away on stretchers by medical teams.

Passengers' relatives in China took in the news with a mixture of deep anguish and some anger

Flight MH370 disappeared after taking off on 8 March from Kuala Lumpur.

A big international search operation has been taking place in the southern Indian Ocean, along the southern arc or corridor of the plane's possible route, more than 1,500 miles (2,500km) off the south-west coast of Australia.

Continue reading the main story Shock at Beijing hotel

John Sudworth BBC News, Beijing

The news that the Malaysian authorities had now given up hope of finding anyone alive was met by the families with a mixture of deep anguish and some anger, at the hotel where many are staying.

As they emerged in front of the world's media some people collapsed.

One woman, falling on the floor, said that her only son, her daughter-in-law and only grandson were on the flight, and that her family had been destroyed.

A number were taken from the room on stretchers.

It is more than likely that the families' mistrust and suspicion about the message they have been given will linger. Many of the relatives here will want to see pieces of wreckage.

One woman said after the briefing: "If my daughter is alive, I want to meet her. If my daughter is dead, I want to see her body."

In the past day, both Australian and Chinese air force crews have reported spotting debris.

The unidentified objects have been seen in separate parts of the vast search area, in some of the world's most treacherous and remote waters.

Heartbreaking

The announcement by Prime Minister Najib Razak came at a late-night news conference in Kuala Lumpur.

It was based on new analysis by British satellite firm Inmarsat, which provided satellite data, and the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

The firms "have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth," Mr Razak said.

"This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."

Mr Razak appealed to the media to respect the privacy of the families of the passengers and crew, saying the wait for information had been heartbreaking and this latest news harder still.

Footage from an Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft shows a smoke marker where an object was spotted

Malaysia Airlines later said it informed the majority of the families in advance of the prime minister's statement in person and by telephone, and that text messages "were used only as an additional means of communicating with the families."

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

It is with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean ”

Najib Razak Malaysian Prime Minister

• Text of PM's statement

The text messages read "Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived... we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean."

Selamat Omar, the father of a 29-year-old aviation engineer who was on the flight, said some family members of other passengers broke down in tears at the news.

"We accept the news of the tragedy. It is fate,'' Selamat told Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur.

Fresh analysis methods

Inmarsat had already revealed that it did indeed receive signals - automated "pings" - from the plane over its satellite network after the aircraft ceased radio and radar contact.

Sources told the BBC that flight MH370 continued to ping for at least five hours after the aircraft left Malaysian airspace - which indicated the plane was intact and powered.

And initial analysis showed the location of the final "ping" was probably along one of two vast arcs running north and south.

Monday was the fifth day of operations to search remote areas of the southern Indian Ocean

On Monday, the Malaysian prime minister said Inmarsat had been able to shed further light on the plane's flight path by performing further calculations on the MH370 data "using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort".

According to Inmarsat, this involved a totally new way of modelling, which was why it took time.

The company told the BBC the new calculation involved crunching far more data and that engineers spent all weekend looking back at previous Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flights.

They compared the satellite data from those flights with flight MH370 and were able to work out that it went south.

As far as the engineers could tell, the plane was flying at a cruising height above 30,000ft, but its final position could not be pinpointed more clearly, says BBC Transport correspondent Richard Westcott.

Inmarsat gave the AAIB the new data on Sunday, it said, which had to be checked before it could be made public.