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Malaysia Airlines says flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing lost contact with air traffic control

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Malaysia Airlines says flight MH370 is carrying a total number of 227 passengers, including 2 infants, and 12 crew members. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140307/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA (www.breakingnews.com) Ещё...

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Donnytoots
Don Levine 9
Correction of previous comment:
Socotra Island (SCT) international airport (Yemen) has a 3,300 meter asphalt landing field which is over 10,00 feet. 8,100 feet is the required distance to land for the B777-200. Flight MH 730 would have been able to land there. Most of the flight across the Indian Ocean could have been at a higher altitudes to gain distance and go undetected while the world's attention was focused on (or distracted to) the area where the plane went off the radar. There existed the risk that the info from the motor blips would be relayed to the searching parties but such coordination didn't exists so the gamble by the hijackers was successful. My guess is that there were others on the flight to assist the hijackers get the cell phones or even fly the plane! After landing, the empty plane either was hidden or was refueled and flown to a nearby airstrip to be hidden. My guess/wish is that the passengers may be alive on the beautiful island. The plane may be repainted similar to another airline and used as a long ranged bomber. I hope the first part is correct and the passengers are OK. The second part is the scary part. So get satellite pictures of Socotra.
jrhausman
James Hausman 3
There is also an abandonded airfield in the far south west corner of somalia that could work and no town anywhere close.
tf51d
Thomas Cain 1
Also a possibility, but may be just out of range (Judging by the 7 hour window. Yemen would be about 3300 miles. Somalia would be closer to 4000 miles.
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 2
https://maps.google.com/ Is that large hangar at midfield?
honda705hp
Richard Rael 2
What about some of the old WWII abandoned airfields in East India and Pakistan? There remote and very isolated.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Need Lat and Long to see it. That link only loads google maps.
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 3
Socotra Island Airport, Hadramaut, Yemen try this, sorry
sparkie624
sparkie624 3
Works great... Here is the direct link.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Socotra+Airport/@12.6321477,53.9063797,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x3db6a15786b89f71:0xff61b8921c6aa3d7
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
Also look at Veer savarkaar airport on the south andaman islands. Also very probable landing location.
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
Thanks for the link. This looks totally possible.
adoke
Adoke Ekoda 1
http://oi61.tinypic.com/2rcxvzt.jpg
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Whatever it is, it does not cast a shadow. Note the tower to the right.
It could also be a Google redaction where they hide what is there.
Could also be a big concrete pad.
JMHO
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
I would venture to say that is probably just the concrete ramp.. Right in front of it is the airport terminal.

icywings
Icy Wings 2
This is something I thought of many years ago. I'm a writer and thought of this idea for a film. My idea had them taking the now MH370 aircraft and completely gut it by taking out the galley, seat, etc. Then they would load the aircraft with the absolute minimum fuel required leaving the available empty weight to be used for explosives. The entire aircraft could fly right into the heart of any city and basically level it. They just need to file a fake flight plan, match the livery on the airplane to match what they file. They can join up and flying right into JFK until you report a missed approach and fly into downtown Manhattan. I sure hope that doesn't happen anywhere but it is possible.
Lonewolf24
Larissa Hamilton 1
That's what I'm thinking - hell, they may even just load up on avgas and turn the plane into one massive missile - the jet fuel will burn for a long period of time afterwards, destroying the structural integrity of any building they hit. Basically it's 9/11 all over again.
ALF8247
Alfred Stone 1
I think that you may have a very logical question, theory does not sound crazy, only I would think that someone would have seen something and reported it to the authorities yet who knows.
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 1
If this is possibility I would like to know wind conditions for that day compared to other days, if wind was favoriting this route for that day more than any previous day your theory might be partially true.
giger2
HERMAN GIGER 1
Socrata is overflown many times by OMAN coast guard ,they would have photographed it .
Duoneb
Duoneb 1
tf51d
Thomas Cain 1
I think this site ranks high on the likely destinations this plane may have went. It fits right in the 7 hour window they said the plane was flying, and in range with the amount of fuel that would have been on board for it's flight. As you state, it's pretty remote, has a runway large enough to support it and is near a country with known terrorist ties. Everything fits with the current known parameters. I would hope though the US and other countries would come to the same conclusion and are fully investigating the site. Excellent analysis!!

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EthanWilliams
EthanWilliams 14
Never rule out terrorism, especially with a sudden lost of contact.
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 6
I travel by 777 regularly transpacific. My opinion of this aircraft is that the only way to bring this plane down is flying it into something through sheer stupidity (SFO), or blowing it out of the sky. Hyperbole of course, (Boeing Fanboy), but this is a fantastic airplane.

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hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 5
Pilot had 18,000+ hours. FO 2,700.
bizjets101
biz jets 4
Airline has a fantastic record with the B777, one of the most experienced crews in the world, and the aircraft first flew in 2002 - so by world standards - not new, but definitely not old.
msblowupdoll
msblowupdoll 2
This airframe was less than 12 years old. Still a decade or more of life left.
alexhc
Alex C -1
I stand corrected. Information from Flightradar24 shows that the aircraft (9M-MRO) is 11.5 years old.

It's worth noting, however, that the aircraft was involved in a ground accident with a China Eastern A340 in China. However, I believe that the Chinese maintenance crews are first rate. So maybe a structural failure/fatigue isn't the cause.

I'm thinking that another AF447 has occurred.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish -2
The chain of causality in the AF447 included several factors that are directly tied to the Airbus flight deck design philosophy, like: fly by joystick, controls not providing tactile feedback of the inputs from the person in the other seat. So this incident wouldn't really be an AF447. The pitot tubes freezing over was also sn issue that was particular to Airbus. The flight deck alarm that sounded only when the copilot tried to push the nose back down is also part of the flight deck logic built into the Airbus A330.

So all we're left is maybe one or more of the pilots not knowing how to recover from a stall at cruising altitude. So not too much to have in common.

I'm more concerned about the copilot locking the captain out when he got up to use the lav. Unfortunately, there have been incidents like that, including in the recent past. And we haven't seen the last of those.

Secondly, that crash on the ground last year might have resulted in fatigue/ failure of a structural element.
avihais
Martin Haisman 0
Yeah the A330 auto throttles don't move the levers either so it took a while (too long) for them to figure out to adjust the levers. Initially (initially)supposed to be in anomalous airspeed 80% throttle nose up 5%. Yep and joysticks are for games not airliners. The magenta people - love that video of that seminar. This one unlike FT447 was good weather and markedly different aircraft with good pitot tubes!. Will be interested in a year or two in the final report.
jaseman007
Jason Maley 0
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
Fly by wire wasn't implicated in the crash of Air France 447.

The incompetence of the first officer's flying skills was implicated.
So was the faulty logic of the A330 that alarmed whenever the errant pilot tried lowering the nose of the plane.
Also implicated was the design of the A330 cockpit, particularly the joystick controller that allowed an entire plane of pasengers to get pushed into the ovean by the incompetent piloy inadvertently, and without the other pilot knowing what he was doing.

So it wasn't about fly by wire. It was about bad design of the Airbus flight deck. The poor flying skills of that first officer didn't help any, either. But the 2 together was fatal for 228 souls.
lindros2
Josh Linder -2
Or the Russians and Ukranians?

Or Malaysians?
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 5
michaeljinlee
Michael L 2
This is really disturbing, two passports were both stolen in Thailand, one more passport number and name did not match the record according to Chinese official in Fujian province. there three tickets was booked through CZ system since MH370 code sharing flight. I do not work in aviation industry, but what we know right now does not really make sense at all. What could possibly happen to cause aircraft to lose contact all of sudden and even without any trace of distress signal?
michaeljinlee
Michael L 1
michaeljinlee
Michael L 1
I just watch a clip of Chinese media (Hongkong based) referencing the similar incident happened to South Korean flight that two north Korean agents using fake passports and detonated a bomb when the plane was flying over Andaman Sea.
ilikerio
ilikerio 3
Aircraft last seen at 0 feet at 470 kts..
https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1/1958414_638915666157678_1741710137_n.png
superwbd
superwbd 1
Since the data is from ADS-B receiver, it is highly impossible that any signal receiver can receive any message when the plane was really at 0ft... Quite weird we have such data.
captjimfuller
Jim Fuller 1
The last 2 data points show "0" altitude so the sensor has failed. Why? Pitot tube has been taken out or a massive electrical failure that takes out transponder 2 minutes later. Pitot tube fail from a/c impact. Elec. failure leads to fire.
NineMikeCharlie
Dennis Coughlin 1
If that is where radar lost it, clearly not into Vietnam or feet dry.
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 0
Lack of wreckage report so far suggests an event over water.
bizjets101
biz jets 2
I understand the aircraft was two hours into it's flight, which would have put it over Vietnam.
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
According to Vietnam the plane never made it to Vietnam.
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman -1
China's Xinhua news agency: Radar contact with missing Malaysia Airlines plane lost in airspace controlled by Vietnam - @Reuters 160 Chinese Nationals on board.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 0
Sadly that may turn out to be true.
yr2012
matt jensen 0
That would put the flight an hour from takeoff, not the two hours reported.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
I agree with you Ethan. A B-777 has a almost perfect safety record. Asiana put that in the record books....we all know that. An airplane just doesn't fall out of the sky. The bird is down and it's all speculation right now as to what happened. I can't rule out terrorism or mechanical failure...which I doubt. It is always sad when a bird goes down and most likely we won't find out what the hell happened until they can retreive the "Box". God bless the "Crew and Pax". R.I.P.
alombar1
Andrew Lombardi 1
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
Exactly. Not the most stable of regions.
superwbd
superwbd 2
I hate to say that, but thinking the recent attack related with Xinjiang at Kunming, we cannot rule out this possibility... But why should they do that on a Malaysia plane?
SYD1
Michael Squires 1
That probability has to be taken into consideration. Why MH? With a high percentage of Chinese citizens and inbound it could have been considered a soft target.
Moviela
Ric Wernicke 1
Why MH? The stolen passport users booked through CZ. Perhaps they did not know it was a code share flight. Most of the public does not know what a code share is anyhow.

I won't be surprised when the passport thieves are found to be Muslim males between 17 and 41 years old, and having ties to radical Islam.
Paciano
Geoffrey Luck 1
Because it was full of Chinese tourists.
preacher1
preacher1 5
After 8 days, the banana republic is finally saying there was human intervention, aka pilot suicide or outright hijacking. To me, basically a week wasted; if it did crash in water to the West, debris is probably gone by now. Personally, I think it has been hijacked by that militant Muslim group that wants a breakaway and is in Western China, and this whole search is just a smokescreen for either negotiations on pax release or a raid in planning to get them. I might as well throw my 2cts in. Everybody else has. LOL
nipponoze
David Okeefe 1
Interesting Theory ! The Chinese are ultra secretive and the Malay government is so corrupt complacent and prejudice towards any of their non indigenous Malay citizens they treat Chinese Malaysian with contempt.

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MichealBeven
Micheal Beven 1
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Geez, who got suspended and for what???
MichealBeven
Micheal Beven 1
Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman declined to confirm this, but said authorities were looking at the possibility the men were connected to a stolen passport syndicate.
mahmoodkhalid247
Kim Selter 1
finally Iranian is wanted person for interpol

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msblowupdoll
msblowupdoll 21
No matter the reason, I do have to commend Malaysia on their speedy response, from the website to the press conference. Gives me much more faith that it's a well managed airline that I would still consider flying in the future. Huge difference from the Asiana crash. It's like Asiana wanted to pretend nothing happened!
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 4
Actually, it turns out, they waited hours after they were notified that radar contact was lost, to say anything publicly about the flight. It seems that word only came out after the plane's scheduled arrival time came and went without an actual airplane.

Then they shared some information. But after an entire day of searching, they've only shared a little info, eg. The passenger manifest and that oil slicks were found.

It's now been the second night that the plane has been missing. It will be daylight again soon. So hopefully we'll start getting more info. But it seems they are holding their cards close to their chest. They are not telling us all that they know.

I've given them the benefit of the doubt, hoping tgAt they've used the lack of timely disclosure to more effectively gather intel on potential cooperative terrorists that provided material assistance.

But I wouldn't necessarily commend their openness of communication.

In comparing to Asiana, remember there were many injured passengers and crew. There were also lots of eyewitbeses and video.

In this case, Malaysia has rooms filled with family members, without providing much remarkable concrete info about their loved ones. There have also been complaints that the families have only been fed water and bread, despite being in an emotional jail.

The second day is about to begin. So hopefully we'll get a whole new batch of Infirmation.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
I think we've all come to expect instant information in the 24/7 internet age. Asiana occurred in broad daylight, in front of probably a couple of hundred people & in a major news market; still there was a lot of confusion & misinformation flying about even a few days later. I'm not surprised that verifiable information is slow coming out especially if they haven't confirmed the location. Also the governments in the area aren't known for
"playing well" with each other.
Asiana just got fined for lack of a disaster play, Malaysia may be in the same boat.
pscggeforce
Geforce FX 1
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
With over 48 hours passed since the time that the plane lost contact with ATC, we can all agree that information about the plane at the time of the incident has not been forthcoming.

The most significant information released by the airline was the passenger manifest, which led independent parties to verify that stolen passports were used to board flight. It's been mostly silence since then.

The manifest release happened soon after announcement of missing plane. Made it seem to some that they were being quick to share info. But in reality that airline had been notified many hours earlier that the plane was lost/ not in contact. The airline had many hours to prepare for that first impression.

But that well went dry pretty quick.
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
Most intriguing report is that in beijing,some claimed that calls made to the passengers' cellphone rang but unanswered. And MAS director of Operations also said calls made to certain crew's mobile phone also rang but not answered .
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/missing-mas-plane/story/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-family-chinese-passenger-say-0
smoki
smoki 1
Caller side ringing effect does not necessarily mean that the phone called is working or connecting or in any way in working condition.
mariescreations
Jerry Rader 1
I wonder if they tried to use cellphone locating service to help locate the airplane. I know cellphone service is not available in remote areas but locating one seems to work even where the service is not available.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Happens with AT&T all the time!
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 0
AND --- cue the "conspiracy theorists" in: 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1.....
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 2
It's already begun.

Some 20 employees of a semi-conductor manufacturer were onboard. So, there will be a "connecting of the dots" where none actually exist, as people begin to spread utter falsehoods and speculation, and call them "facts".

WELCOME to the "Age of the Internet", where everyone with a computer and Web access can foul the air with their "theories".
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Actually one can give them the benefit of the doubt and suggest that they're running an effective post-incident counter-terrorism investigation (or trying to).

Also, they must just look impotent and incompetent in the face of just having had one of their airliners blown up in mid-flight, being caught flatfooted letting passengers board their flight with stolen passports. They may just be counting the cost of the lawsuit layouts, and realize they gave nothing meaningful to add to the public discourse.

Take your pick. Neither is conspiratorial.

If I wanted to suggest a conspiracy I would be tempted to go in a completely different direction:

I would suggest that Vietnamese or Chinese fighters escorted the plane to a remote military airfield, jamming radio and/or radar contact with MH370 during that encounter.

Also, a Vietnamese fighter could've accidently crashed into the passenger airliner whole practicing. The rest is a cover up by the Vietnamese. Or the same story with a Chinese fighter and a Chinese cover up.

So in short, there are no shortness of conspiracy theories that one can imagine. None if which has any bearing on whether Malaysia is dragging their feet in the provision of information. Personally, I don't find that they were quick at all in disseminating info, with the exception of one item: releasing the passenger manifest the day after the plane was lost from radar.
andromeda07
andromeda07 1
I was surprised to find the actual passenger manifest published in one of the on-line articles I found yesterday (unfortunately don't remember which) -- isn't that supposed to be confidential info? We can't call up an airline to ask if someone is on board by name these days. Or is that only on domestic US flights??
bizjets101
biz jets 2
Silk Air 185 (Suicide that killed all on board B737-300 in the same area - passenger manifest was released the next day.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 0
Someone knows a lot more than they're sharing publicly. There may be legitimate reasons for doing so, like terrorism investigation.

But there are clear signs that information is being withheld from the public.

1. Maylasia Airlines was notified by the Vietnamese early in the course of the flight that radar contact was lost. They only acknowledged that fact the following morning AFTER the plane failed to arrive at Beijing.

2. Two full days of clear weather and sunlight without reports of having found floating airplane wreckage flotsam. If a large airliner crashes into water, there will be floating debris. There are some reports now (after dark locally) that some debris may have been found. We'll see.

But it seems that there is some attemp to delay the spread of information. It may in fact be or reasonable purposes. But that is the opposite of what's claimed above that Malaysia is being very open and forthcoming with info. I wouldn't say that.

Someone is not telling what they know. Maybe the airline. Maybe the Vietnamese. But someone is holding back.
bethster
Laura Linger 2
Yes, that is what upsets me so much about this whole "oil slick" situation. Any airliner that has contact with the water is going to leave wreckage. I keep thinking of the footage of Alaska Air 261 that was taken within the hour of it hitting the Pacific. It was easy to see where it went down. The same is true about Swissair 111 and EgyptAir 990. I can't get it out of my head, I admit it: where in the hell did this airliner GO? A 777 doesn't just vanish, but where is it? (Thanks for listening, I am very upset about this)
avihais
Martin Haisman 2
Yep agree - seems in such a high shipping area and aircraft transit area and ships searching along with aircraft. It was last reported lost off radar at 1:30 NZ time and its now just after 9:00 here and a possible sighting of a door. Something is wrong here.
avihais
Martin Haisman 2
...1:30 on the 8th March now 10th March here in NZ
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
Exactly. The depth of the water alone is shallow enough to find debris and the recorders still ping. The lack of surface debris is also intruiging. This is a turning point day because decomposing remains will appear on the surface as they did with Air France.

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mahmoodkhalid247
Kim Selter 0
this is really really sad. she brought newspaper for her also. i want to cry

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mahmoodkhalid247
Kim Selter -1
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
FlightAware is really not the place for posts like this.
MichealBeven
Micheal Beven 0
she should not loose hope, hats off to her courage

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sparkie624
sparkie624 1

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mahmoodkhalid247
Kim Selter 0
HOPE IS STILL THERE.. #PrayForMH370
MichealBeven
Micheal Beven 0
MYSTERY is still there... I pray for them
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 0
This is already been proven to be a false report.
AONeal79
AONeal79 6
Tracking here: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140306/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA
dbaker
dbaker 3
Here is the correct link: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140307/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA

Notably the aircraft went out of FightAware's coverage in that area at the same place as the prior day's flight, although the prior day's flight came back into coverage later.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 3
Angie, I believe that link is for the previous day's flight. Remember, although it is 7 March in the USA, and North/South America, the date now is 8 March across the International Date Line.
AONeal79
AONeal79 2
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
Looking at the route, at the time of losing the contact, that would put the flight directly over or slightly to the east of Hong Kong and Macau. If something did happen, there surely should have been some witnesses to see something. If not, either transponder turning off or 7500?
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
I thought about the transponder too, but even if the plane kept flying it's would have since run out of fuel.
ssjan
ssjan 1
Xinhua has stated that the aircraft was lost over Vietnamese airspace.
This isn't directed at you: If FlightAware's moderators actually bothered to look at which Squawks were informative vs those that are not, more people would know what happened!
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
Then please enlighten us to which one is informative, and post the links, please.. Everything that is coming up is saying that it lost contact with Subang ATC, which is still in Malaysia. If it was lost over Vietnam airspace, who has authority over Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Hainan?

I ask because something doesn't add up.
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 2
Actually, let me correct myself. The flight mentioned above is the one that took place on 3/6/14. That one stopped being tracked over Hong Kong/Macau. The one for 3/7 did indeed stop being tracked over Vietnam.

Link is here:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140307/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA

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wayne007
Wayne Jeffrey 3
A part of me wants to hope that the aircraft is on the ground at some remote airport somewhere, but sadly the realistic side of me thinks otherwise.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those who are missing.

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MichealBeven
Micheal Beven 3
BREAKING NEWS: Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad is the Iranian who boarded MH370 on stolen passport READ HERE DETAILS http://goo.gl/UDoOaW
mariescreations
Jerry Rader 3
Here is another scenario regarding where the airplane may have stopped flying - After the airplane is commandeered at 35,000 feet and the transponders are disabled, it turns westward and is flown to an altitude of 3,000 feet to avoid radar. Now, instead of having a range of 5 to 6 hours at 35,000 feet, the range is cut to 4 hours because of the fuel efficiency at the lower altitude. Boeing says, according to the news reports, that the engine data signals continued after the turn for an additional 4 hours. What would the range be at the end of 4 hours at 3,000 feet? Look there?
mariescreations
Jerry Rader 1
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 3
CNN filmed a story on Malaysian Airlines and the Co Pilot is featured in this clip. http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/03/08/newday-quest-malaysia-plane-search.cnn.html
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Thanks for posting... Good article.
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
Yeah, and Richard Quest apparently knows the co-pilot as well
bizjets101
biz jets 1
Thanks - one of the better posts so far!!
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 5
The Vietnamese navy has reported that the aircraft has indeed crashed into the South China Sea.

See http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/navy-malaysia-airlines-flight-crashed-into-the-ocean/
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 5
Well, this will continue to be a mystery for the time being. I was wondering when a military radar facility would announce...they sometimes have better coverage than ATC.

I'm bracing, now, for the inevitable rash of "conspiracy theories" (as seen after the loss of AF 447). In this InterNet world, there are no shortage of sick individuals who will take this tragedy, and attempt to make something of it that isn't factual, nor relevant.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 4
There are reports that Vietnamese military radar tracked the plane into the sea. Also there are reports that their airforce planes have discovered 2 oil slicks. Depending on distance between the slicks, this would indicate that the plane came apart before impact. Non-intact plane would suggest explosion or catastrophic failure, rather than suicidal copilot.

The collision on ground involved wingtips contact. That does not seem to be the kind of damage that would lead to the kind of catastrophic failure that would prevent a PAN call from pilots.

There are also reports that an Italian listed on the manifest is alive and well in Thailand, and that his passport was stolen months ago. I would be unusual for someone to steal a passport to get into China. Sonic this report is true, it will likely be an indication of terrorism.

It's still way too early to know for sure what happened, there are only a small subset that would prevent the pilots from making a distress call.
B772L
John Smith 2
Approximate location:

http://skyvector.com/?ll=7.9330273063556325,103.98779295871029&chart=301&zoom=7&plan=A.VV.VVPQ:G.7.519337711921444,103.99511717746003
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 6
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are deeply saddened this morning with the news on MH370.

Malaysia Airlines confirms that flight MH370 had lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am, today. There has been speculation that the aircraft has landed at Nanming. We are working to verify the authenticity of the report and others.

Flight MH370 was operated on a Boeing 777-200 aircraft. It departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am earlier this morning bound for Beijing. The aircraft was scheduled to land at Beijing International Airport at 6.30am local Beijing time.

The flight was carrying a total number of 239 passengers and crew – comprising 227 passengers (including 2 infants), 12 crew members. The passengers were of 14 different nationalities - citizens from:-



1. China – 152 plus 1 infant

2. Malaysia - 38

3. Indonesia - 12

4. Australia - 7

5. France - 3

6. United States of America – 3 pax plus 1 infant

7. New Zealand - 2

8. Ukraine - 2

9. Canada - 2

10. Russia - 1

11. Italy - 1

12. Taiwan - 1

13. Netherlands - 1

14. Austria - 1

This flight was a code share with China Southern Airlines.

We are working with authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft.

Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew.

The flight was piloted by Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a Malaysian aged 53. He has a total flying hours of 18,365hours. He joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981. First officer, Fariq Ab.Hamid, a Malaysian, is aged 27. He has a total flying hours of 2,763 hours. He joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007.

Our focus now is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support. Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members.

The airline will provide regular updates on the situation. The public may contact +603 7884 1234. For media queries, kindly contact +603 8777 5698/ +603 8787 1276.

Next-of-kin may head to the Support Facility Building at KLIA’s South Support Zone. For directions, call 03 8787 1269.
michaeljinlee
Michael L 2
Just read the news update from Hongkong based media ifeng.com: one Chinaissued passport in Fujian province, the holder was confirmed that he was not on the flight, passport number and name on the list does not match the record. Besides two stolen passports report... hmm~ this is really confusing now.
chick3nnn
Eddie Ng 2
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Safest part of the flight. I'm concerned that would be the time that the captain could/would get up to use the lav.

That would open up to the possibility of a catastrophic incident that the firs officer wasn't able to handle, or worse that the first officer would've locked the captain out (as had happened in the past).
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
These are still possibilities.

But I've adjusted to the information that has come to light. The stolen passports suggest that terrorism may have been involved. That there was no distress call suggests sudden catastrophic incident. Together with possible terrorism would point toward explosive device detonated midflight.

If I were the Malaysians, I would've been investagating what happened at KL airport prior to that flight. Everything. Who. What. Where. When. Why. How. (Which may explain the long delay in making the report of the missing plane public, after being notified by ATC that radar contact was lost.)

One of these us bad enough. The Malays don't want another.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
From the discovery of two separate oil slicks (10 & 15 km long), one can infer that the A/C came apart at altitude. Under a suicide by pilot scenario, how hard would it be to tear a 777 apart deliberately while airborne?

Agree that a hard look at airport operations is in order.
preacher1
preacher1 2
I'm curious as to how far apart they were. It could have been in a ditching type config and tore apart on impact if they are fairly close.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
I've discarded the likelihood of ditching, especially if as you say the two oil slicks are far apart. The pilots weren't even able to male a distress call. More information (such as the military radar, transmitted data, debris fields, etc.) will help make a better determination about the last moments of the flight.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Can't find anything yet beyond the number and length. No width or distance. Of course one or both could be unrelated that noone noticed as noone was looking. Occam's razor tends slices toward them being related.

What is the range on the black box transponders?
yasex2006
yasex2006 4
I live in the area where they are searching for the missing plane. I am in possess of the nautical charts with all batimetrics , and the average depth of the waters around To Chau ( Hon Tho Chau) island is 24 meters. This considered, even a Piper's submerged wreckage could be visible from an Search and Rescue plane or chopper flying not over 10,000 ft. A fuselage of a 777 is wide and well visible is such waters. This excludes , in my opinion, an emergency sea-landing , as the wreckage , I repeat, should be well visible. What about the "black boxes"? They should emit a signal. Why this signal has not yet been received by satellites or by the rescue ships and airplanes?
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 2
Fascinating and appreciated coming from a local (to that area). I noticed the depths in that region and given the diversity of the nations in that area I wonder how many high tech submarines lie submerged and able to target the ping?
Doobs
Dee Lowry 2
Good point. They will find the ping! If not by Sonar... why not by satellite? They have found ancient ruins via satelite. Why not the sea? The tech is there.
yr2012
matt jensen 2
24m is too shallow for most boomers.
yasex2006
yasex2006 1
knowing the waters in the area around Phu Quoc and Tho Chau islands, a military submarine can submerge only hundreds of kms west of the searching area. The waters near the Mekong Delta are not enough deep to allow a standard military submarine to navigate in immersion.That's why Vietnamese built Cam Ranh naval base on the middle of the western coast of Vietnam.
Immediately south of Phu Quoc island there are a number of sand barrages, rocks, islets, reefs and zones where the navigation is dangerous even for the local fishermen.
ice21
ice21 4
People need to get back to the point. We are here to share real info on MH370. Not talk rubbish. Have some respect for people of flight MH370. And contribute what you can. Otherwise shut it.
OZAIR
OZAIR -5
tell me your theory i'm curious and i am sticking to the subject and that is why the 777 went missing.
ice21
ice21 1
I'm not here to talk about theories. I just want to see people post real evidence as soon as anybody hears anything
OZAIR
OZAIR -4
well good luck with that,any information will be kept secret until authorities want to feed information,until then the area will be off limits to all except the need to know people,even when they find it you and i will be the last to know,hours later if not more.
OZAIR
OZAIR -5
OZAIR
OZAIR -6
rubbish ? i talk facts only.I live by facts only not rubbish.
ice21
ice21 2
I'm not talking about you. I'm saying the forum needs to get back on track as a whole. With no personal attacks. I want to hear from people who really know what's going on
stephmo
Steve Brown 4
Wasn't there just a close incident with a passenger Jet flying in the path of a missile over Vietnam (North)
AONeal79
AONeal79 2
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303824204579420623335971350
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 3
In the early '90's I flew Thai Air from Bangkok to HK. As we crossed into Cambodia, we picked up two MIG escorts. Not my happiest memory aloft.
Quackers
Quackers 1
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 4
I'm from Saigon, Vietnam. Military helicopters have been sent to the site in an attempt of search and rescue.
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 2
Still no confirming what happened to the airplane in the press conference in Beijing. We are sending Antonov An-26 from Tan Son Nhat airport to the site. The 12 southwestern coastal provinces have been put on high alert for search and rescue readiness. IMHO, we'd better not jump to any conclusion about why, until we found physical evidence.
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 2
Malaysia and the Philippines are sending ships and airplanes.
thanatos1990
Yuxiang Ma 2
2014年3月8日 波音中国总裁马爱仑@小马哥爱747:The plane is found but our sorrows grow. Our technical assistance team is en route to assist the investigating authorities off the Vietnamese coast. Father God, pls grant comfort to those who have lost loved ones.

that's all he said at blog
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 2
There can still be survivors, Yuxiang. Hold on.
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 4
Update - a look at Malaysia Airlines' safety record

Malaysia Airlines Had Strong Safety Record - Many Asian Carriers Have Overcome Poor Reputations in Past Decade
http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-had-strong-safety-record/
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 4
"MH370 pax next-of-kin may head to Support Facility Building at KLIA South Support Zone or to Anjung Tinjau Level 5 KLIA for transportation."
Quackers
Quackers 5
Malaysian Airlines Operations VP on CNN just said the Nanming report is UNTRUE.
chick3nnn
Eddie Ng 1
yea...tht rumour is untrue...and MAS is contractin the next of kins....no updatad yet... hopefully nothing bad is happens
B772L
John Smith 5
Don't report things you have no facts for. Rumors are the last thing that the media need to report! They get it wrong enough on their own.
jwasielewski10
James Wasielewski 0
jwasielewski10
James Wasielewski 1
Never mind, disregard my previous comment.
ilovenutella
ilovenutella 0
NineMikeCharlie
Dennis Coughlin 1
Where did you get that report? Internet shows Malaysian Digest dot com is off the air.
ilovenutella
ilovenutella 1
It's back up
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/282-main-tile/492200-updated-mas-kl-beijing-flight-mh370.html

Contacts at Malaysian Air from a personal source say the plane did land.
bizjets101
biz jets 2
Your on an aviation site, so I'll assume you must or at least have some interest in aviation. There is ZERO chance this aircraft could have flown to China without multiple radar hits - IMPOSSIBLE.

The aircraft was at flight level FL350, 2 hours and 1 minute into it's flight at 02:41 - over vast rough terrain (Vietnam). Whatever happened to this aircraft, they did not have time to issue a Pan, Pan, Pan - so be it a catastrophic airframe/aircraft failure, a terrorist act, or pilot suicide - but it's one of the 3.
ilovenutella
ilovenutella 0
biz jets, I'm not arguing with you in any way, I was simply adding another story to the lineup of information. Unfortunately, there are numerous rumors going around and this came from a news source, so I thought I'd add to the list of speculation.

I can only hope that people take everything on websites with a grain of salt until Malaysian Air and Boeing comes up with an official report. I was under the impression that this feed was to report any information received on this horrible incident.
mlstove
Michael Stover 2
Thanks to all for the responses from earlier questions, very informative!
vanstaalduinenj
Jon Van Staalduinen 2
Just awful I hurt for the families of the lost
ejh2000usa
EJ Howard 2
I find it amazing that it takes so long to get more concrete information. The latest I heard was an oil slick spotted in the water. Too sad for the families and for everyone who has to suffer shock from another horrific tragedy.

Thanks to Jim Tillman (former Chicago weatherman and airline pilot) for pointing out this nifty mobile app.
preacher1
preacher1 2
Well that oil slick find was about the last bit of anywhere near concrete information that came out. I am sure that there is more info already known, probably from ACARS but until a full review of all that data can be reviewed, just like on an FDR, I doubt it'll be released. There will be enough speculation proffered on it's own without throwing bits and pieces of that into the mix. LOL
ejh2000usa
EJ Howard 2
For sure. Based on many posts here, it's better to get accurate information than speculation as many news broadcasts provide. Don't know about you, but it tires me out and I barely remember the true timeline of events. The questions: will we ever know what REALLY happened?

Just got a news flash that there were 2 others who were supposed to be on that flight but reported their passports stolen. Hhhhhhmmmmm!
preacher1
preacher1 3
Well, I hadn't heard about 2 others. I had heard 1 then 2. And for whatever reason, the 40 minutes and the oil slick seem to coincide rather than an hour and a half. It will be interesting
joelwiley
joel wiley 2
I've heard about 1 Italian and 1 Australian passports stolen. Are these in addition the them?
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
My bad- Austrian, not Australian
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 2
I'm not in the Aviation business but I travel back and forth to Asia and am quite freaked out about traveling now.
You have a great board here and I really appreciate being able to read all of these posts from so many smart people & veteran pilots. I sent the link to my brother who is a former Air Force pilot- he will love this board.
Thanks for letting me join you
stephmo
Steve Brown 2
Wasn't there just an incident yesterday or the day before on another passenger plane flying through the path of a missile in that same region? I hope all is ok but it's not sounding very promising. Prayers to all the families
wyomnc1
wyomnc1 2
Falconus
Falconus 1
Wrong side of China. No way that North Korea would test-fire a missile over hundreds of miles of Chinese land (their ally) and into Vietnam.
Bigboy1942a
Richard Stiller 2
The airplane could be sitting in a hangar at an airport in North Korea. It had enough fuel to fly that far and Kim Jung Un is known for doing crazy stunts. Airplane could have been taken down to 500 feet at last radar contact and flown to N.Korea at that altitude.
seesha
jack shannon 1
I would say it has as good as any chance that it is presently being repainted in Yemen or Iran as we theorize. And where would they fly it? Load it up with their new nuclear bomb and in to the heart of their great enemy......
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 2
True enough. But the balance of probabilities does point to a 40-minute flight duration vs. the 2-hour flight implied by the official media statement. And 2-hours would have put the plane well into Vietnamese territory instead of the Gulf of Thailand. We have to wait till dawn breaks in 4 hours to get proper images of the oil slick. That would confirm that the flight ended around the 0120 GMT+8 ballpark.
msblowupdoll
msblowupdoll 2
Looks like it was aircraft 9MMRO. About 12 years old.
johneecc
jc contarino 2
With the latest news of this flight flying for several hours after the last control center contact is a little unnerving. I strongly feel the search needs to be at every possible landing place in the middle east or Iran. If this plane was stolen and flown there it can easily show back up on our door step with some dangerous cargo. I think the search should change or include this area very fast.
Scabbard
Mike Yorke 4
I suspect all manner of photography is taking place from aloft. Satellites,astronauts etc.
USA is good at engaging resources in a hurry on such as this - quietly.
pany
Sabino Escobedo 1
Yes, whether people like it or not, the US always investigates incidents properly, without making a big deal out of things - quietly.
I trust US investigations results more than any other investigation entity, specially those from NTSB. NTSB is a serious entity.
I hope NTSB can take the incident under its leadership and responsibility soon, and forget about those Asian government inefficient authorities just interfering in the process.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
thanatos1990
Yuxiang Ma 2
I'm from China and I'm,suspecting that this may have something to do with terror( recall the kunming terror happened one week ago) .
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
thanatos1990
Yuxiang Ma 2
some plane pieces have been discovered (chinese news 1 min ago) ill bring more
thanatos1990
Yuxiang Ma 1
plane pieces have been discovered at the water area between Vietnam and Cambodia
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
We're back at square one. There are new revelations that seem to indicate that the stolen passports may have more to do with a stolen passport syndicate than terrorism.

Also, it is being reported that the US has reviewed their infrared satelite data that looks for missile launches, and did not find the signature of a fuel explosion mid-air.

So the plane likely traveled some distance from the point of last radar contact.

Now the question is, where did the plane go?:
1. Did it slowly lose altitude and crash into the sea at a point further away and away from where everyone is searching?
2. Did they land somewhere (whether at the direction of hijackers or not)?
3. Did they crash on land and are covered by the triple canopy jungle endemic in the area?
mojocoops
mojocoops 1
I am thinking point 1 is the case, but still very odd that all contact was lost and the reports of mumbling on the radio from the pilot that was ahead. Unless for some reason all occupants of the plane succumbed to hypoxia - but surely that would've sent off alarm bells from the monitoring system also.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
From another site:

"The early warning system for the North American Air Defence Command detected no anomalies related to Flight 370, said one of the officials. Norad’s infrared and visual imagery can pick up heat sources such as explosions and missile launches, the official said."

As you and others have pointed out, there is a certain lack of information disclosure. Can we assume the above information is complete?
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Check out my post for an idea of what could have happened... text search for: "Looking for opinions..." Would like to know your opinion.
zackstieber
Zachary Stieber 2
Her's an overview of what's happening with the flight and the search http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/549074-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-plane-has-lost-contact-with-air-traffic-control/
ice21
ice21 2
They need to first find the site and get the recorders asap. No use speculating with no evidence. That only fuels fear in the industry.
Iewiew
Ivan Warrington 2
Latest update is that plane was in air for 7 hours. Could be anywhere in Middle East, Africa,Russia. It looks like the increased altitude was to put the passengers to "sleep". Most likely it is now gutted and hidden, turned into a Cruise Missile. Be some overtime at CIA this weekend.
risgoh
Ris Goh 2
The plane could have landed earlier... But was shut down at 8:11am. These people know what they are doing!
Investigators now need to triangulate these last bit of info to narrow down where they landed.
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 2
I think the authorities know a lot more than they are prepared to tell us yet. How come this is all only starting to filter out now? They are doing a lot behind the scene I think
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 2
dirceuhernandes
Dirceu Hernandes 2
yr2012
matt jensen 1
they give out lil tidbits of info - then sit back and watch everyone scurry around.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Just had a bad thought... If not Terrorism, then maybe it could have been crew suicide... This would not have been the first time. Reference "Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771" with a BAE-146... Over the ocean would be an excellent place for it (so to speak) as if the crew disabled all the communications, Pointed the NOSE DOWN and that kind of impact in the water would literally leave nothing to very little to investigate....

I hope I am wrong on that.
OnTheHorizon
Tony Smith 1
Definitely precedent there - recall the perfectly good Egypt Air 767 put into the Atlantic by the F.O. on behalf of Allah after the pilot left the cockpit for a bit.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish -1
That was my thought when I read the Muslim sounding names of the pilots. Particularly yr younger pilot could've been radicalized while flying for the airline.

Vietnamese airforce planes have been reported to have found TWO large oil slicks. Ifbit turns out there is a large separation between them, it would indicate that the plane likely broke apart prio to impact. That would make suicide by pilot less likely. Catastrophic failure would be what's left, either due to an explosion or structural failure.

The plane is only 12 years old and those 777s are among the sturdiest airliners flying. Plus the on ground crash only involved wingtip contact.

So my current favorite is some kind of terrorist action.

Especially if it's true that the report of the Italian passport theft resulted in some unknown person boarding this plane to China. People are not trying to get into China illegally. That would make no sense, apart from terror.

This is just the beginning. Much more information will come out.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Suicide tends to make more sense a Terrorist group usually wants credit... With as much destruction as this appears to be that the only thing found is an oil slick, it will be hard to prove anything.
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 1
Wasn't Lockerbie similar though because I'm almost certain nobody came out to claim responsibility. Now granted, that was a govt. "funded" terrorist act of Libya but still, they didn't rush out to claim responsibility.
yr2012
matt jensen 2
Beware of FB malware
http://www.ibtimes.com/new-facebook-malware-fake-video-claims-malaysia-airlines-missing-plane-mh370-has-been-spotted
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Thanks for the heads up... Even the Hackers are praying on this...
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Another reason to kill your facebook account.
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 2
Press conference video here: http://english.astroawani.com/

it may start off in Malay, but includes English as the video advances. I believe the report to be live
RedRackham
RedRackham 2
Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority says a navy plane has found parts suspected of belonging to the Malaysian Airlines plane, Reuters reports. The sighting has not yet been confirmed by Malaysian Airlines, which said an hour ago that it was waiting for information from search and rescue teams. 
spencerdog9576
Steve Remy 2
Whatever the reason, a 777 went down in the ocean. All souls lost. In time, the who, what, when, where, why, will all be sorted out. A sad day in the aviation world.
spencerdog9576
Steve Remy 2
Not to disagree with you sparkle but Swiss Air 111!hit the ocean with a force of, they say, 350 g's. The fdr and cvr survived the crash. The only reason they stopped recording was a power failure.
ssjan
ssjan 2
Nothing much coming out about the event... This article will be updated when anything is said: http://jansaviation.com/news.php?art=malaysia-airlines-plane-loses-contact-with-air-traffic-control
LITTLEDOLORES
ALLAN WISE 2
My National Geographic World Maps suggest that the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea are relative shallow along the probable flight path of MH370. Less than 100 meters. Much different than the recovery of AF447.

Have not heard this mentioned anywhere.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Read down in the post. There is a link to a nautical chart for the area. 60 metres
jrhausman
James Hausman 1
Plane would have gone down in what is technically the Gulf of Thailand.0-45 meter

Average depth is 40-45 meters and max depth of 80-90 meters. Divers can recover the plane.

Very similar to SA111 in Nova Scotia in 1998.

[This poster has been suspended.]

Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
1. Mobile phones will not work under water.
2. Mobile phones will surely cease to work if they have been involved in an explosion.
3. WHY can the connections to these mobiles not be traced?
preacher1
preacher1 1
Well, they are either false reports or there is a lot more known than the authorities are telling. That part could be a culture thing in that they really don't give a damn about the media and the feeling of the American public with their insatiable appetite for "I want it right now". We saw a little of this in the 214 saga.
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
So much of it all just doesn't add up!
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
The phones that ring have already been confirmed as being forwarded to another number - this is why it doesn't go straight to voicemail.
nasdisco
Chris B 2
A sighting claim of a plane on fire....not reported until now. Questionable?

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/missing-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh370-british-sailor-saw-plane-on-fire-with-black-smoke-trailing-behind-over-indian-ocean-9479900.html
Quackers
Quackers 2
Not good. Kind of reminds me of AF 447 just "vanishing". Hopefully this ends better.
stevooz
steve rogers 2
at flt level 035 a cargo door or a 3 inch crack can take down a plane pretty quick ,these things also have to be considered ,
dm831
Dave McCoy 2
Wouldn't surprise me if the authorities know something and they are not disclosing it until they are able to do some investigating e.g. if it is a terrorist attack they may be trying to track down some of the people involved. Seems strange the lack of information coming out. I was surprised that the FlightAware data isn't really the flight path, it shows the flight went at least two and a half hours. I noticed they took of the altitude and speed data for the flight.
fireftr
Dale Ballok 2
Is it still possible to breach the cockpit door? I thought they were inpenetrable after the post 9-11 redesign. Anybody know if the captain was single or married? I'm sure the Feds are checking into the crews' background. If the plane put down somewhere for a hostage situation, it would have had to have a complex plan including many other people on the ground, trying to keep 235 or so people alive. Demands would have been made public by now.
ALF8247
Alfred Stone 2
Well not if the pilots allow beautiful girls into the cockpit as the co pilot has done in the past. Bang there is the security breach facing the crew in the face. All is needed the wrong organisation to be on board wait for the correct time and calculate the correct moment when one of these ladies need the toilet, the rest is history.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Somebody would have to fly the plane. I don't think you advertize for a 777 qualified hijacker on craigslist. If the plan was to keep the plane somewhere, do you think the planners would bet the rent on the air crew cooperating? Unless it was an inside job.

On the other hand, the plane may be in small pieces somewhere in a big ocean.

Theorizing in the absence of data is unproductive.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
And simulators have pilots without planes. . .
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Gosh... I have a very complete flight simulator... Never knew that would create suspicion. LOL...

There is nothing wrong with that... Now if they could find proof in the simulator that he was practicing water or very short field landings, then that may go somewhere.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Or, airports, waypoints, flight plans, or other smoking guns.
Scan the hard drives for erased data too.
flyingcookmosnter
flyingcookmosnter 2
Hong Kong ATC has reported this morning an aircraft has spotted a debris field found 280NM north east of current search area. Picture is up on Aviation Herald and it doesn't look good.

Peace and hope for the families - could be nothing.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4710c69b&opt=0
wallypiper
Wally Piper 1
The debris has been inspected and determined not to be from and aircraft.
RedRackham
RedRackham 2
Hong Kong’s Air Traffic Control Center reported on Mar 10th 2014 around 17:30L (09:30Z) that an airliner enroute on airway L642 reported via HF radio that they saw a large field of debris at position N9.72 E107.42 about 80nm southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, about 50nm off the south-eastern coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea and about 281nm northeast of the last known radar position. Ships have been dispatched to the reported debris field.
Oogleboogle
Cyrus Sakhaee 1
kea001
Tom Kearney 1
Already been discounted. Sorry.
kea001
Tom Kearney 0
The coordinates for the debris field are the same coordinates for this recently discovered unmarked shipwreck

http://www.thecrewreport.com/features/20927/unmarked-wreck-off-vung-tau-vietnam

marine debris around 09043'N, 107025'E
shipwreck 10-17.7°N, 107-03.00°E

Subsequently no debris was found by searchers. This is also 500km away from waypoint IGARY, where ACC lost aircraft transmission.
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 1
I'm not here to argue either side, but the coordinates for the shipwreck are a degree west of the coordinates for the debris field. Also, when you compare the two on a map, the debris is SE of Ho Chi Min, while the shipwreck is S/SW. Furthermore, this debris field location is consistent with the one that a passenger on a PEK-KUL flight claims to have photographed SE of Ho Chi Minh
pilotenthusiast
Ethan Begrowicz 2
I find it interesting that there were 2 passengers listed on the manifest that never boarded the plane. Maybe the were terrorists and maybe their luggage had something in it and that got on the plane
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
I was wondering the same thing...
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 0
That there are multiple countries claiming the individuals listed on manifest are in fact alive and that stolen passports were used. These reports make pilot suicide much less likely.

They don't need to bother with stolen passports if they have one of the pilots agreeing to take down the plane. One pilot is sufficient. No need to add more operatives in the back to send them to their death. So pilot suicide is highly unlikely (despite mine and others speculating about the possibility).
teutz
daniel klein 2
http://www.planecrashes.org/malaysia-mh370-plane-probe-narrows-on-mid-air-disintegration-source.html
RedRackham
RedRackham 2
The Guardian's graphics team has put together this map showing the flight path and the two main search sites:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/3/10/1394448464928/967f1f35-06f3-4140-ba2f-509a95372457-486x540.jpeg
anhngq
anhngq 2
Just a little side news:

<
One woman, whose mother was on the plane, said: “We hope the Chinese government sends search teams as soon as possible.”

“We don’t trust the Vietnamese people.”

She added: “Nobody has got in touch with us. Nobody talks to us except volunteers and hotel staff.”
>

Source: http://www.euronews.com/2014/03/08/beijing-anxious-wait-for-relatives-of-passengers-on-missing-jet/
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 2
Even in grief these people find time to spew their hate. Disgusting.
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 2
Read Malaysia Airlines' PR Statement:
http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/my/en/site/dark-site.html
spencerdog9576
Steve Remy 2
Sorry if someone has said this before. The 777 has live ground monitoring from the ground on many levels. The most telling might be the RR Trent engines. The are so many redundancy systems on that aircraft it would appear that they know more than the are telling the public at this point. Don't want to make assumptions, but something doesn't add up. Just my 2 cents.
preacher1
preacher1 2
I would imagine the info is there but they aren't going to release any data until it can be reviewed and analyzed, much like an FDR. Single points of it would fuel wild speculation, more than has been seen already.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Keep in mind that the ACARS data does not get sent every time there is an update, but rather on a schedule... Therefore a problem that happens and takes things down very quickly probably will not be reported. ACARS is a packet data system and is actually quite slow by comparison... Unlike the Air France when the pilots did not know they were having an aircraft in a stall, lots of data was sent via ACARS because they had plenty of time... This happened all at once, so they may not have any viable data at all, and if things happened all in the same second it would not have had time to transmit.

How ACARS Works:

1.) ACARS receives data (from A/C or Pilot)
2.) ACARS then sends a request via VHF Com to ground station for permission to send data.
3.) Once permission is received (they have to wait their turn, other a/c may be on at the same time).
4.) Once permission has been received the ACARS will send the data to the ground station and wait for an Ok Acknowledgement. This could take several seconds. If another a/c was transmitting at the same time it may have to resend.

ACARS operates within the VHF Com System, usually COM 3. Many times there will be 5 or 6 communications between a ground station before all the data is transmitted, and this is not like the internet... It is like using a Bulletin Board System of yesterday at 1200 baud rate... The VHF Communication system cannot do it any faster.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Yes and No.. That is an option that most (not all) airlines opt for... With this Malaysia Airlines reputation, I would guess that they would have that feature. As far as redundant systems, the entire 777 has plenty...
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 2
Every Trent 800 is monitored in Derby England.

[This poster has been suspended.]

preacher1
preacher1 2
There is some talk of it below but not much credence given to it as it was awhile back. The results and find will be interesting. There is still a big discrepancy of how far into the flight it was. I think it's safe to say that things are in a recovery mode though. Whatever did happen, it was catastrophic though.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
The damage was only about 18 months ago. So it's probably not back in service for much more than a year.

Certainly could be that the repair was not properly done.

It's still my second best theory, after terrorism, if the stolen passports were not for terrorism, but for something else like drug smuggling.


It's still one of only 3 likely theories. The third being the suicide bit. So 2 possibilities involve the possibility of terrorism, and one is the plane breaking apart. If that one, with the 777's sturdiness, the likeliest cause of structural instability would be an improper repair.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
A repair such as a wing tip could be done in just a couple of months or less with the right people on the Job.... Just hope this does not turn into another JAL123.
bizjets101
biz jets 2
JAL 123 flew for 7 years with faulty repairs - 12,318 flights until the ill repaired jetliner was brought down, killing 520 people on board (4 survivors).


However China Airlines 611 flew for 22 years after the aircraft was originally damaged - before the improperly repaired jetliner was brought down with the loss of all 225 on board.
rayngmelb
Raymond Ng 2
Report: Civil aircraft spots suspected metal debris in search for missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft, Vietnam says - @BloombergTV
BREAKING [7:04pm]: According to VN Express, a commercial plane from out of Hong Kong has reported seeing several large pieces of debris 60km southeast of Vung Tau, a coastal city in Vietnam.

Could that be CX719 that's spotted it? Why is CX719 backtracking towards VN when it's only an hour from it's destination?
kea001
Tom Kearney 2
The coordinates for the debris field are the same coordinates for this recently discovered unmarked shipwreck

http://www.thecrewreport.com/features/20927/unmarked-wreck-off-vung-tau-vietnam

marine debris around 09043'N, 107025'E
shipwreck 10-17.7°N, 107-03.00°E

Subsequently no debris was found by searchers. This is also 500km away from waypoint IGARY, where ACC lost aircraft transmission.
petervee
Peter Vee 2
it seems to me that these are the possibilities for what happened to MAS370: either there was a catastrophic failure (although a fully fuel laden plane crashing would have created a fireball visible for miles and there have been no reports or debris); someone did try to get in the cockpit, turned off the transponder and after a fight with the crew the plane crashed (but no signs of that), or we are witnessing a new type of extortion: no point commandeering ships/tankers; more money can be made by high jacking planes and flying them under the radar to pretty much any small airport anywhere (777 requires about 1850m/6200ft). I have asked Google to uploaad recent images of the area so that folks like us can search for either debris or the aircraft. Does any one else share these thoughts?
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 1
Everything becomes sophisticated over time ever airplane hijacking! I am starting to believe that this airplane did not crash.
sblank
sg blank 2
Given the sparse pings of the ACARS system but no data, - a hypothesis to explore is: could this be this is another SwissAir Flight 11 – a fire in the Main Equipment Center (MEC) underneath the cockpit? If there’s a fire a smoke detector illuminates the ‘EQUIP COOLING OVRD’ message on the cockpit EICAS.

see diagram here: http://www.skybrary.aero/images/B772_MEC_FIRE.jpg

It’s possible after seeing a message the crew began a turnback to Malaysia. But if the fire continued it could knock out communications equipment, which would explain the loss of comms, and blow out the crew oxygen bottle which could cause rapid decompression and crew hypoxia if it went off through the fuselage and/or the fire could have damaged the fly-by-wire flight controls which could explain the continued flight.

While just a hypothesis, unfortunately a 777 had a fire in this exact location – luckily for them on the ground in London Heathrow in Feb 2007. See the UK AAIB report:
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/S2-2007%20N786UA.pdf

The report said, “…Prior to this accident the aircraft manufacturer was involved in investigating 11 in-service reports of power panel overheat events, three of which involved major damage to the panels. The affected panels were the P200 and P300, and the affected contactors were the RBTB, Auxiliary Power Breaker (APB)and the Primary External Power Contactor (PEPC).

Now imagine if the fire occurred in the air at 35,000 feet.
tregter2
tregter2 1
must correct some things, cb's for ATC and TCAS are on the P11 overhead panels. acces by cocpit crew. the P110 and P210 have airground relays..
fire to the P panels or melt down, have been in both these panels. in ELMS block 2 planes. mostly current mode couplers and 1 incident the APU feeder cable was burned away. this without warnings during flight.
ifo based on 15yr avionics experience and findings with B777.
moldenhd
Dan Moldenhauer 2
The AP reports that the Vietnamese Navy thinks they may have found some evidence just off the southern tip of their country: "Vietnamese Air Force planes have spotted two oil slicks which they suspect may have come from the missing airplane, AP reported. The Air Force said the slicks were discovered off the southern tip of Vietnam and resemble the kind of trail left by fuel from a jetliner."
http://rt.com/news/malaysia-airlines-plane-beijing-570/
bizjets101
biz jets 5
Wow - still missing - thought I'd wake up to news but I see they are still searching - so I'll provide my own update - the news services kinda suck.

http://www.nst.com.my/ seems to be the most updated news site - noted is one person - an Italian whose name appears on the flight manifest - did not board the flight - so either there is one less person on the plane, or someone unidentified as yet???

Photo; confirmation of last known location; http://i.imgur.com/ikl7rNi.jpg which puts the aircraft in open water between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Photo; last known location of aircraft; http://i.imgur.com/eKzlqEY.jpg

From 9M-MRO's wingtip strike when it collided with a China Eastern A340 and was repaired,

Photo - 9M-MRO's wingtip sitting on China Eastern A340; http://i.imgur.com/eKzlqEY.jpg

Photo - 9M-MRO - with wingtip missing; http://news.xinhuanet.com/energy/2012-08/10/123563968_11n.jpg and another photo; http://cdn.feeyo.com/pic/20120810/201208100956203830.jpg

Important to note; two aircraft in the past have crashed due to work performed from damage years earlier;

Air China 611 (tail strike) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_611

Japan Airlines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_123

along with several aircraft (4) were pilot committed suicide;

Silk Air 185; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SilkAir_Flight_185

Eygpt Air 990; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_990

There was also the China Airlines 006 crew that became spatially disorientated 10 hours into the flight - badly damaged their aircraft but landed safely in USA; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_006

So that leaves a terror act (bomb), or some catastrophic and sudden event - so far a real unknown.

RIP and GodSpeed to those onboard, condolences to families and friends involved.
stiri
stiri 2
according to italian press it seems the italian guy's passport had been stolen last august in Thailand, see the link i posted before, so the unidentified person suggestion could be true
wopri
Wolfgang Prigge 1
Addition to your list of murder/suicide by pilot:

Mozambican Airlines flight TM470 left the capital Maputo bound for Angola on 29 November, but crashed, killing all 33 people all board.

The Civil Aviation Institute said the pilot made a "deliberate series of manoeuvres" causing the crash.



http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-25482083
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 4
New info from a tweet:
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiN32qFCEAAsBqH.jpg#twimg
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
The infographic linked here, does a phenomenal job of explaining the situation as currently understood, including the many options that we've been discussing here in the forum.

The also show the map of the events and explain the timeline.

Many people's questions will be answered by looking it over.
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 3
Updated look at Boeing 777 Safety Record just published:

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/popular-boeing-777-has-solid-safety-record/
iciviuja
Uniza Azizul 3
http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-pilot-i-established-contact-with-plane-1.503464
Valvetronic
Valvetronic 1
If it is true,they should change the area for searchin 370.cause the aircraft flew minutes after lost contact.

[This poster has been suspended.]

preacher1
preacher1 3
I know this sounds crass, but since it is obviously down, I hope it is from terroristic activity rather than anything to do with aircraft failure of any kind.
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 0
either way , its horrific enough. Dont think one method is better than the other
KevinBrown
Kevin Brown 2
BREAKING: Vietnamese officials report that they have picked up signals from missing aircraft

http://www.china.org.cn/world/2014-03/08/content_31714878.htm
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 4
No signal picked up: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/malaysia-airlines-missing-vietnam-idINDEEA2701L20140308
B772L
John Smith 1
Did either of you verify your information? Is the "nmot detected" information older than the "detected" information????????

DATES AND TIMES PLEASE!!!
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 2
I hope they didn't suffer. A quick death like the people on air France.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 0
They say the passengers of that flight never knew what was going on. While that was probably true for most of them, a few awake and astute passengers probably noticed that the aircraft was descending and that was unusual at that point of the flight. And some, like me, probably the aircraft information screen up on the seat back and noticed the constantly stopping altitude, as it went from 38,000 feet to 0. You have to wonder if any of those people started asking questions in the cabin before the fatal crash.
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
London reporting a sudden 650 foot drop followed by continued flight and then disappeared from the radar.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 1
geez, I should proof read better. I'm sure you guys can figure out what my typos are supposed to be.
avihais
Martin Haisman 2
Definitely agree with that. Wish I could edit at least within 10 minutes of publish.
preacher1
preacher1 1
avihais
Martin Haisman 1
Who say - what a load of rubbish. There is no indication of what happened and how. How quickly or slowly or whatever. The investigation, if they can locate wreckage/FDR, ADR or whatever it is called and CVR combined with ACARS broadcasts, weather etc..it will be at least a year before they can define probable cause. Even if it seems blatantly obvious all aspects have to be investigated thoroughly and eliminated. Some have reiterated AF447 which was faulty pitot tubes causing multiple Airbus ADIRU's to fail during bad weather. The pilots lost control not adhering to correct procedures. MH307 was clear weather flying in a Boeing with totally different systems. Unfortunately we will know nothing comforting for the families and can only hope and wish it was not distressing for the passengers.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 1
I was speculating about the passengers on AF447, not the Malaysian incident. Of course we can't speculate about the Malaysian incident until we know what happened.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 2
Again, this is why this site needs to have an edit function. I would have changed some things in my post to make it a lot clearer. This is the worst message board I have ever seen.
avihais
Martin Haisman 0
Nothing could be confirmed about the passengers of FT 447 either. Without visual reference especially in turbulence in the dark the body can't discern the difference between a 90% roll and a 15% roll. It's especially worse with consecutive motion. You can not assume anything that you can't prove therefor as per MH307 we can only hope that there was no distress to the passengers of the past Ft 447 either. I guess you are entitled to opinion but I like to stay with the facts or solid reasoning based on facts. Dredging from memory there was loss of cabin pressure on 447 so could that have meant lessening stress on the passengers? We honestly don't know. I have studied too many crashes so that is dangerous "information"to pass on either.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 1
There was no loss of cabin pressure on 447. Somebody looking at the information console on their display would have noticed the altitude dropping, just like they noticed in the cockpit. You are right about feeling the difference in a roll, especially if it is constant, the Gs will stay the same. But it is different for changes in altitude. The feeling of losing altitude is not normal during cruise flight and some of the passengers certainly would have noticed.

[This poster has been suspended.]

krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 2
Apparently this photo/link was taken by a passenger on another MH flight from KUL to Beijing the next day. Reportedly 90 minutes out of KUL showing the debris field. If its true its kinda sad how they can't find this, seems pretty obvious (again, IF its real). I don't think this is a repost but sorry if it is.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-pictures-claimed-be-showing-wreckage-plane-posted-chinese-1439484
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 1
Check that...reportedly on a flight FROM Beijing to KUL, that would put it on the perfect timeline with when the photo was claimed to have been taken.
syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 1
Really. That's no way real. Have you ever looked it an airplane window from 35,000 ft? Clearly not if you think that's a real pic!!
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 0
Well that's why I said "IF its real" haha. But no, I had my doubts. Although, I have to say its potentially believable, just depends on the size of the debris we're seeing and the zoom on the camera.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
This is why I have trouble with that picture. Open google earth and look at your house from 5,000 ft. Then zoom out to 30,000 ft. What kind of detail go you get? Or look at the boneyard in Tucson, AZ.
thanatos1990
Yuxiang Ma 2
the news release conference wll be begin soon, ill bring more here
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 2
Just to say something. I love how the community is digging into this incident instead of being spoof fed information from public outlets. 10 year back all this wouldn't have been possible. There are 2 obvious groups of information. One is centralized and that would be official reports. And the other is open source and that would be from communities like this. Yes there is a lot of bullshit in such communities but lets not throw the baby out with the water.
superwbd
superwbd 2
Bad news:

The plane should had run out of fuel, but no sign of its location...

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane-missing/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
"The jet was carrying about 7.5 hours of fuel and would likely have run out of fuel, Sharuji said.
"

God bless them...
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 2
Probably just a coincidence, but flight time appears to be EXACTLY 2 Hours. Tick Tock.
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 1
Now appears contact lost at 1:20 AM local time. Disregard post above.
bethster
Laura Linger 1
My thoughts exactly. I feel sick to my stomach.
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 2
According to local news, the airplane had crashed in Malaysian airspace, a short while before it entered Vietnamese airspace. Radio contact was down before the airplane entered Vietnamese FIR. Unfortunately, there came no miracle, it didn't land in Nanming (the Malaysia Airlines said so). Vietnam has already sent search and rescue ships to the estimated location.
donnaimvu
Brid Mcdonell 1
But what caused the crash....if by all accounts she was traceable...then, nothing....what caused it...forgive me...I am not aeronautic inclined, just watching anomilies
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 1
I wondered that myself, too. I woke up with this hair-raising piece of news. Now we have the estimated location to start the search and rescue. There would be updates soon.
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 0
As much as I hate to speculate I think there are three possibilities. First, another AF447 type of mid-flight stall, though in perfect weather I doubt it. The second, which could be possible, is a mechanical failure or an in-flight breakup for whatever reason. This would explain why little transmission was heard from the plane before and after the moment of disaster. The third would be some sort of terrorism or violence that happened.
This sort of reminds me of China Airlines 611 that just disappeared over the South China Sea a few years back b/c of air-frame disintegration, though I don't see how that'd happen here.
rkent22
roger kent II 2
Could this not be terrorism, 777's do not just fall out of the sky at 35,000 ft. with no contact with air traffic control.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
My first thoughts.. With all the backup systems to loose all COM's. Transponders, and other forms of communications is next to impossible without some warnings. The systems are setup to where they can even communicate when on battery if they even lost both batteries, so they would have at least been able to get out a MayDay... or
"I think we got a problem"...
microwalda
microwalda 1
Could be terrorism, could be pilot suicide, could be a problem with the airplane, could be ....

Let's wait until the investigators give some facts. At the moment everything that can be said about this incident it's just speculations.
MikeMohle
Mike Mohle 1
Sure sounds like a good possibility, especially if the incident happened over the ocean.
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
Yes Roger....I agree. It all seems very strange.
EthanWilliams
EthanWilliams 2
Sad story, but this will make an interesting air crash investigation episode for National Geographic.
syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 2
Some questions answered with fact or speculation.

The only question seemingly unanswered with fact or speculation is what happened between 01:20 (MH comms contact lost - also time of last location recorded by internet radar trackers like flightradar24 & flightaware) and 02:40 (last radar contact by Subang air traffic control) - both event times come from Malaysia Airline announcements.

It is germane to note that all day yesterday the Malaysia Airline announcements consistently stated that Subang air traffic control lost radar contact with MH370 at 02:40. However today's Malaysia Airlines announcements mention that "we" last had contact at 01:30.

An hour+ is a lot of additional flight time! Where did MH370 go? In that time it could almost have reached the southern Philippines.

Stolen passports, no crash debris....... This is continuing to look more and more like a "hijacking".........

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiN32qFCEAAsBqH.jpg#twimg
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 0
Lines of the time zone in Southeast Asia aren't relatively straight as here in US. There is a zigzag in the line between Malaysia and Vietnam, so the difference might just be due to the local time zones used. 1:30 AM in Vietnam is 2:30 AM in Malaysia. I don't know. http://www.worldtimezone.com/wtz014.php
jlee11435
James Lee 0
Did the 9M-MRO landed in Tawi-tawi (RPMN) that's the southern most airport in the Philippines that I know? The runway has been upgraded long enough to land a Airbus 300. I'm just speculating, too. We landed in Zamboanga City airport before enroute to Bandar Seri Begawan but Tawi-tawi wasn't long enough to land at least a 737 yet.

Stolen passports, no crash debris? How come Flightware don't show flight path of 9M-MRO where it ended. Does flightware rely on the aircraft's transponder?
sootchucker
soot chucker -3
what if they dumped fuel simulating an impact with water to divert everyones attention from something much larger? could this explain lack of debris? a missing 777, along with 227 souls is not a good scenario for anyone. could the plane have even flown somewhere... undetected? perhaps no signals that we know of from the plane could mean they weren't ever activated in the first place.

many missing pieces to this puzzle... very curious to see how this plays out.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
This is just more wild speculation.

There are multiple military radar installations in the region that would have been able to get a "skin paint" off of an airplane as large as a B777. It couldn't just "hide".

Let's stick to facts, not suppositions.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
As for it being diverted, it seems to me that you would need at least a 5000' paved runway to land a 777 on without "breaking" it. Wouldn't you? They aren't puddle jumpers. I would suspect that there aren't that many runways in that area where a landing wouldn't be noticed and tracked.
sootchucker
soot chucker 1
never said this was a fact. this is a discussion. no one really knows anything for sure other than this plane is missing, and this is a terrible incident.
Falconus
Falconus 1
This kind of speculation really does not help anything, and if the news media gets hold of it, it could actually be harmful as authorities would have to tie up resources to track down the source of the reports, and families would get a really wrong idea. There is zero reason to think that somebody snuck off with a 777 en route on a scheduled flight and hid it somewhere.
sootchucker
soot chucker 1
assuming this airplane has been hijacked..
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 2
Breaking: Bloomberg reports that one of the passengers onboard fatal flight #MH370 used a "stolen Austrian passport" according to the Ministry in Vienna.

If this is true it really places much more weight on the possibility of a terror attack.

There were observations made that the nominal roll containing the particulars of passengers onboard had some names being blanked out. Carve your own speculative routes from there.
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 2
There are other claims that one passenger was carrying a stolen Italian passport.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Was wondering about that... Guess TSA forgot to Grope someone...
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 2
Positive identification of debris?

http://www.roomeetimes.com/debris-from-vanished-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-found-in-the-sea-of-vietnam.html
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
If the pix was taken @ FL33, then the pieces would have to be pretty large to be seen. Should be easy to locate if so.
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
FL33? At QNH 1013/altimeter 29.92, there wouldn't be a FL33. That would be 3,300ft MSL. Are you sure you don't mean FL330? If not, what is the transition altitude for that sector?
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Short answer: NO! Not confirmed.

This is a rehash from last night's news. The pic was taken by a search plane (not reported in this article) in fading light (not reported in this article) and that why need to send rescue ships to confirm that the 2 pieces of debris she anything to do with the plane (also not reported in the article).

Last night's news, but only half of it.

Journalists always need something to publish, even if it's a rehash.
bizjets101
biz jets 2
9M-MRO first flight was May 14 2002 - note same aircraft was involved in a ground collision with a China Eastern A340 in Aug 2012; http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=147571
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
I foresee a lot of looking into repairs done after that :(
nasdisco
Chris B 2
Lets not forget this recent alert. Systems are tested on softer targets before being tested on more "complex" targets.

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/2014/02/19/department-of-homeland-security-alerts-airlines-to-possible-shoe-bomb-threat/
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 2
Staggering amount of misinformation flying around on the internet at light speed. Embarrassing.
B772L
John Smith 1
Sorry if this is a re-post.

http://my.news.yahoo.com/mas-aircraft-goes-missing--says-airline-023820132.html
B772L
John Smith 1
Approximate location.

http://skyvector.com/?ll=7.9330273063556325,103.98779295871029&chart=301&zoom=7&plan=A.VV.VVPQ:G.7.519337711921444,103.99511717746003
risgoh
Ris Goh 1
Quick questions for the experts here: if the plane turn around and fly westwards, will it have enough fuel to reach east coast of Africa?
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
Unlikely. At the most, after flying west for an hour then turning back east, with 6.5 hours of fuel remaining onboard, You're looking at Colombo, Sri Lanka at the least, Goa or Mumbai, India at the most. Definitely wouldn't make Africa without stopping to refuel.
preacher1
preacher1 1
We must be thinking of a hijack by Somali pirates
joelwiley
joel wiley 0
That had not occurred to me. Do they have the resources to plan something like that?
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell 1
After talking to some friends on another website, looking at a map and reading through some of the rumors and a small amount of research it makes sense to me that if there was a problem with the plane they were probably trying to make it to Sultan Ismail Petra but came up short.
trickie
John Smith 1
Help search for MH370 http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/malaysiaairsar2014
yr2012
matt jensen 1
What was last reported engine position at Rolls Royce?
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
BREAKING NEWS - Military Tracked Malaysia Airlines Jet to Strait of Malacca

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-jet-moves-to-strait-of-malacca/
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
Search for Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet Expands to Land

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-jet-expands-to-land/
MichealBeven
Micheal Beven 1
BREAKING Here is the 19-Year Iranian Photos With Fake Passport,Revealed By Police http://goo.gl/UDoOaW
donnaimvu
Brid Mcdonell 1
Anything yet as to what happened?
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Will take awhile; but debris pattern should quickly show if the fuselage was intact on impact or not. If not, then debris would have to be brought up and tested. I think a lot will depend on the water depth at the site.
RECOR10
RECOR10 1
So it was reported that it landed - and now it didnt?
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
Search for Missing Malaysia Airlines Jetliner Turns to Crowdsourcing

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-jetliner-turns-to-crowdsourcing/
Carioca
Tomer Ariav 1
How deep the waters at: http://skyvector.com/?ll=7.9330273063556325,103.98779295871029&chart=301&zoom=7&plan=A.VV.VVPQ:G.7.519337711921444,103.99511717746003 ?
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Depth is 40 60 meters depending on the area, based on the chart found at:
http://www.nauticalchartsonline.com/chart/zoom?chart=93010
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
So 160-175 feet should make this a very easy find.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Is that past the depth for scuba gear?
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
Advanced divers can go that deep, especially using rebreather gear, or with exotic air mixtures. (It's called "technical diving" and is a specialized skill). The question, though, will be visibility issues, in the specific location.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Is it safe to assume that Naval Search & Rescue teams would have this capability? Hadn't thought of the visibility issue.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
The airline also announced the last known location of the doomed flight was 06.5515 longitude, 103.3443 latitude — an area of the South China Sea, roughly 100 miles northeast of the Malaysian port city of Bachok and several hundred miles northeast of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, according to Google Maps. NBC News First published March 10th 2014, 9:19 pm
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
Did anyone see this?
"Warning of ‘possible terrorist attack on China’ received by Taiwan days before Malaysia Airlines jet vanished"
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1445314/warning-possible-terrorist-attack-china-received-taiwan-days-malaysia
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
I wonder why they are spending so much effort to search the Straight of Malacca, which is on the other side of Malaysia and Thailand.
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
In fact it seems they are searching a larger area of the Straight of Malacca than the Gulf of Thailand, very odd.
risgoh
Ris Goh 1
Probably military radar showed an un-id aircraft flying thru there.
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
Why would the pilot turn around and fly the other way, why would he not make radio contact if something is wrong. Something is very odd.
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
Simple. They've found nothing in the immediate vicinity of where they believe MAS370 went down.

So assume that it didn't go down, and obviously didn't make it to ZBAA. By the time it hit the site where they lost contact, that was what.. 2 hours into the flight? If so, they had 7.5 hours of fuel onboard. 2 hours in leaves them roughly 5.5 hours of fuel left. Using the place they lost contact as the center, you could draw a circle around that center, based on the distance of however long 5.5 hours of fuel could fly them. That would be the maximum amount of area they would need to search. That could get them as far north as Beijing, as far west as Chennai, or Sri Lanka, and as far south as Bali. we know they turned to a 330 heading before falling off the scopes, so that puts them going towards Myanmar or Bangladesh. Hence why they are starting their search in that direction.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Has the course change to 330 been verified? What I've read suggests there was some confusion on this point; they seemed to be hedging on whether or not there had been a change.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
It is now generally accepted that the plane had traveled about an hour when it went missing. The confusion early on suggesting a potential 2-hour elapse of flight time prior to loss of contact, was likely due to the time zone difference between Malaysia and Vietnam.

So they'd still have 6 1/2 hours of fuel left after 1 hour of flight.
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
Even better. That stretches that radius out even further for the maximum area they would need to search. Since some of that could reach land, I don't know if they checked into suitable airports that could take a B772 landing there.

Bangkok, Phuket, Dhaka, Chennai, Colombo, Bali, Timor, and it's a stretch, but Darwin would even be within range.

Granted, ATC would have piped up and said something, but that does help them with widening the search.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
As it turns out the Malaysian military did track the plane until 2:40. That extra hour the plane traveled over the peninsula and they last saw it on radar several hundred miles NE of KL.

So were back to 5 1/2 radius, but from a new starting point.
ice21
ice21 1
Another false report??? Any photos to confirm it?
Jenkloss
Jennifer Kloss 1
I am a member of this website because I have a flying phobia. I fly about twice a year and use flight aware while on the plane to track my flight. Stories like this make me even more terrified, yet I'm drawn to them. It's quite a mystery too so certainly that too is keeping my interest. All those commenting who really do seem to be aviation enthusiasts... Will this keep you from flying? are you as scared as I am ?
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
You should remember, that as we discuss the investigation of this incident, how rare these accidents are.

In decades of flying, the 777 has only been in 2 accidents with fatalities (if this turns out that the Malaysia plane did in fact crash resulting in one or more deaths). The other was the Asiana 214 crash at SFO last July that resulted in 3 deaths.

There are so many millions of flights every year, and nearly every single one ends just fine.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
odds are a lot higher of being hit by a car when crossing the street.
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 1
Question for the pros: isn't dispatch/operations control able to track their aircrafts by GPS? If trucking fleets have GPS installed to track all their activity why wouldn't airlines have that as well? Thanks.
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
No, GPS is for on board navigation only, and inputs to the FDR, not sent via Down-link. Also, ACARS does not immediately send, it only sends data every 5 minutes or so.
donnaimvu
Brid Mcdonell 1
So sad....a plane so 'up to date' a routine flight, would take such a hurtfull turn
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Questions; possible confusion on my part. Who had last radio contact with the flight?
ATC or Company radio?
What location had last radar contact with the flight?
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Looking for opinions... I think I know how to make a 777 to totally disappear without a trace... Opinions please!

Suppose it was taken over by Hijackers/Terrorist. They then take over the cockpit and kill everyone onboard. 2nd they smooth land the plane on the water like Scully did in the Hudson and keeping the plane in tack, committing suicide let the plane sink... All the floatables would be contained in the fuselage... The fuel tanks being almost full and sealed fuel caps would explain why there is no oil slick... Or at least not yet, Once the plane is found, then the terrorist group will claim victory, The longer it takes the more attention it will draw and bigger victory for the HiJackers... Also, with that much fuel, they could have turned the a/c off course to further delay things. Can anyone think of anything else... The pilot could have even been in on the entire scheme.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Not very likely; water landings are very tricky.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Nothing else seems to be likely either... To use a phrase from Star Trek Mr. Spock: "If you have looked at the most most probable cause, it may be the least probable cause". Paraphrased, but you get the jest of it.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
> "water landings are very tricky."

Especially in the darkness of night.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
It would take a lot of resources. Intimate 777 expertise to know what all to shut off, radar coverage by multiple countries' military to avoid, collusion at the originating airport. Say you did gain control and silence the craft, drop to low elevation to go under radar etc, what would be the range with fuel on board? Try to envision shoreside landing spot where nobody would notice within that range.

That would imply the resources of a nation-state or the equivalent.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
They were estimated to have 5 hours on board... They would have had a min of 3 hours to work with... Not thinking of bring it on shore.. talking about ditching it like Capt Scully did with Airbus on the Hudson after he lost both engines... Then just let it sing all in one piece.
syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 1
At some point someone should start looking at remote landing options within 7.5hrs flight time of Gulf of Thailand. I think is pretty clear this plane didn't go down in the Gulf of Thailand. Like it or not hijacking is becoming more and more likely!!
A380Fan
Paraic Dooley 1
Thoughts and prayer with their families of those onboard very sad
und1974
und1974 1
I have a question that I am sure someone on this site can answer. When I was in the Air Force our radar had both raw radar image, i.e. the "blip" (Even though we all know it doesn't make any sound.) and the IFF info from the transponder. I remember, and this is where I may be way out in left field, that the FAA ONLY used IFF, i.e. transponder data and NO real raw radar image. If this is still true today what would happen if you're flying along and someone turns the transponder off. With no raw radar image the ATC controller screen goes blank because you have no transponder info, at least for that one aircraft. Is this true today? Does ATC ONLY use transponder info and no raw radar "blip"?
preacher1
preacher1 1
Best I know, they use them both as they are 2 separate functions. Radar will show you that something is there. Transponder will tell you what it is. At least that's how I think it is. To tell you the truth, I am not sure myself, but there are some controllers on this site that can give an exact answer.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 2
IFF/Transponder code is digital data. radar blip is an echo. Transponder data identifies the radar blip.
und1974
und1974 1
I understand and agree with what you said Joe. I know the transponder sends digital data such as aircraft ID, and altitude. I also know it is displayed on the controllers screen coinciding with the radar blip, i.e. the echo return. My question is 2 part. Does the FAA, and other agencies, still use the radar return, i.e. the echo AND the transponder data or do they just use the transponder digital data only? If they only use the transponder data what happens on the controllers screen? Doesn't the aircraft "disappear" if the transponder is turned off?
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
If transponder is off/non-functional, you would get an unidentified blip which prompts consternation in towers and regional centers.
preacher1
preacher1 1
That's what I thought, Joe; tks for the full info.
und1974
und1974 1
I know they are two separate functions and that is why I asked the question. Does the FAA still use the radar "blip" or just transponder info only.

I remember the equipment we had in the Air Force there was an alignment procedure you went through to make sure the raw radar data, i.e. the "blip" and the IFF/transponder info coincided on your screen at the same point. If the pilot turned their transponder off then the only thing the controller saw was the raw radar return. In fact may times, as a training exercise, the controllers had to handle aircraft only using raw radar returns, no transponder info.

So my question remains, what happens if the transponder is turned off? What does the ATC controller see on their screen?

Thanks for your input.
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 1
I'm beginning to believe if it was terrorism, it was the 5 passengers and their "removed" baggage rather than the false passport duo. Though their tickets were purchased suspiciously by an Iranian contact and in cash, if its true they were originally booked on Qatar/Ethiad flights, I don't believe they would have wanted to make a drastic airline and route change at the last minute if they wanted to target a specific flight. There are plenty of other reasons to pay for a ticket in cash and use false passports, which are still probably 110% illegal, that don't involve blowing up an airliner.
jozefverleysen
jozef verleysen 1
This question popped up in my mind : 5 passengers did not show for boarding, but were checked in with Luggage. SOP is then to remove the checked Luggage of these passengers.
How was this done, so that the plane still could leave on its STD ? My yearlong experience tought me that looking for, and unloading Luggage, takes about an hour.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/index.php?pageid=event_update_read&edis_id=VI-20140308-42948-OTH&uid=14731
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Four passengers on flight 370 failed to board after checking in their luggage, which raised further suspicion about the passengers after the plane disappeared.
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 1
From Malaysia: Malaysia transport minister says no signs of Malaysia Airlines plane wreckage; denies reports plane crashed off Vietnam - @Reuters
donnaimvu
Brid Mcdonell 1
So, tell me
, is this the first airline disaster in a long time...I guess I'm wondering why this one was singled out...
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 3
I think it's the first one since Asiana hit the seawall at SFO. An aircraft that is considered one of the safest ones flying just "dropping" out of contact with no communications is very rare. Also the location and world tensions contribute to the interest..
ice21
ice21 2
Its the circumstances around the incident and the aircraft type that make it stand out. A 777 has never just disappeared before. Plus it was at or near cruising altitude in clear weather. It's not another Russian made plane doing down in really bad weather.
thanatos1990
Yuxiang Ma 1
so thats why i think it may relate to Xinjiang separatist from a chinese view,
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Malaysia has it's share of internal strife too. Let's hope it isn't but it is a possibility. There should be a preliminary indication in the next 24 hours or so.
ice21
ice21 1
There are so many possibilities. When looking at an aircraft accident you can't afford to have tunnel vision. I'm not saying your thoughts are not valid, but try to keep an open mind.
ualiah
Peter Crew 1
Truly a mystery,,,,,Iran in the mix now,,,wow....Pan Am Lockerbie all over again????? Only difference, there is no plane!
preacher1
preacher1 1
Keeping in mid that if the PanAm wouldn't have been late, it would have been out over deep water instead of spread over Scotland. This one just got out there. It will all be interesting but I still think a whole lot more is known here than what is being told or there are way too many cooks in the kitchen, which is why so many different stories and theories are coming out.
KevinBrown
Kevin Brown 1
Based on passenger lists released the three Americans on the missing a/c are as follows:

Nicole Meng DOB December 31 2010
Leoine Meng DOB August 9 2012 (infant)

Philip Talmadge Wood DOB July 4 1963

http://news.sina.cn/?sa=t124v71d11482420&sid=213694&vt=4
donnaimvu
Brid Mcdonell 2
pretty sure the American families were notified by now, why do you feel the need to broadcast it here?
KevinBrown
Kevin Brown 0
They may not have been informed by now. The airline waited hours before informing authorities that they lost contact with the a/c Who is to say all next of kin have been contacted by now?
thanatos1990
Yuxiang Ma 1
if you noticed the no.84 passengers. his name is erased. the other version of the lsit has the name and the name is a typical Muslin name it make me more to convinced that the terror is involved
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
With that logic, every time I go to eat at PF Changs, I should be convinced that the meat is dog!!!
KevinBrown
Kevin Brown 0
Thats very interesting. I see that name has been blurred out. Do you remember what the name was? (Mohammed?)

[This poster has been suspended.]

joelwiley
joel wiley 1
I think you need to re-read that thread.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
three choices: it went down in the water; it went down in the jungle; it flew under radar and landed somewhere
Bneidhardt
Bneidhardt 1
My guess is that it landed somewhere....this is all too funky....
gavinrmartin
gavin martin 1
Black boxes record valuable data, but in this day and age it is unbelievable (and embarrassing) that this data is not uploaded in real time to ground-based systems. Forensic data would be available immediately, not to mention the astronomical cost savings in recovery operations.

As a passenger today on a commercial flight with wi-fi internet, with my ipad and consumer software, I can log realtime flight data on a remote server on with gps coordinates, altitude, cabin pressure and temperature and g-force. It is unthinkable to me that the airline industry still relies on an outdated solution of hunting down a logging device that stays with the wreckage.

Maybe the pilots union is not crazy about having all this flight info databased (Pilot performance review: "Bob, looking at your last 100 flights, it looks like you overshot final approach 16 times, and your landings averaged 23% more gs than the type average for this airline..... )

My understanding is that black-box data is overwritten on every new flight unless an incident or accident is noted. Anyone, please correct me if I am wrong.
joeScars
Joe Raio 1
I think its a great idea but I have to think that this has already been thought of. Maybe its the volume of data the black boxes record? It might be too much to send in real time via satellite.
flyingcookmosnter
flyingcookmosnter 1
I agree with Gavin here. Really, the only data that would need to be uploaded to get a decent picture is GPS lat/long, airspeed, attitude, and altitude. All of the other metrics could be left on the black-boxes for in depth analysis.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Reference from Wikipedia - FAA requires FDR to record a minimum of 88 parameters. Most FDRs record approximately 17–25 hours worth of data in a continuous loop.

Apparently ACRS Sat. links are only used on polar flights due to costs.

Wikipedia has pretty good non-technical (mostly) articles on both ACRS and Flight Data Recorders
preacher1
preacher1 1
Your understanding is correct on the overwrite. Regarding the other, the info is downloaded on ACARS. It may not be quite up to the minute on account of transmission time but should be able to get up to at least the last few minutes. If you will remember, AF had a whole bunch of data going into the final moments of 447. Look down here in this comment string for a post by sparkie951 for an explanation of how ACARS works. My whole point here is that there is a lot here that is not being told for whatever reason. In particular, if it did try and turn back then something was happening.
preacher1
preacher1 1
I'm not real sure of the overwrite procedure at the gate either. It may be done by mx after they download the last gap off ACARS but if all is OK, I know it is clean for next flight, so thy can have a new starting point, or at least that's how they did ours.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
A lot of the ACARS messages from AF447 seemed to be in the 'something wrong' category. How much ACARS traffic is 'all AOK, nothing happening'. Could a the timing of a catastrophic event be calculated from the end of the ACARS stream?
preacher1
preacher1 1
I guess it could be calculated or an educated guess made, but personally, a catastrophic event is generally instantaneous. As you said, it could be a timing thing, depending on where the broadcast was.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
So called "BlackBoxes" use hard disks as the record media and record continuously when operating. Data storage depends on the size of the drive. Flight Data Recorder records a lot of parameters. Newer units might use flash memory, I don't know.

Limitations on ACRS from Wikipedia: VHF communication is Line-of-sight propagation and provides communication with ground-based transceivers (often referred to as remote ground stations). The typical range depends on altitude, with a 200-mile transmission range common at high altitudes. Thus VHF communication is only applicable over land masses which have a VHF ground network installed.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
I think you're right. I know the CVR is wiped clean once the aircraft "blocks" at the gate.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Summary: No more hard facts than were known 3 days ago. Aircraft is missing. No confirmed debris located so far. No transcripts or radar plots released as of yet.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Oil slicks checked- not jet fuel.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Correct! "Yellow life raft" was seaweed on cable reel.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Latest is the search area has been expanded as they now believe the jet turned left - as if to return.
preacher1
preacher1 2
aviate, navigate, then communicate. Obviously something happened and they were too busy trying to fly the plane to talk, as they had been trained to do. Whatever happened, it seems to be a good example of things going to hell in a handbasket.
Carioca
Tomer Ariav 1
I am starting to believe that they had a work accident. The bomb (or bombs) were for some other flight but went off too early. It happens from time to time. Which kind were used: underwaer or shoes?
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
"man by the name of Kazem Ali purchased the tickets While Ali made the initial booking by telephone, paid for the tickets in cash...security footage from the airport and said the men who traveled on the stolen passports "are not Asian-looking men."

See anything familiar here?
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
In a plot to take down U.S. jetliners, a trial run overseas using Philippine Airlines Flight 434 resulted in an explosion in a critical area of the aircraft. The key to this incident was the lack of "credit" by Al-Qaeda. This was to preserve their bigger plan to attach 11 US lanes over the deep Pacific waters.
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
I want to know more about the people who checked in but didn't board... I hope they're being asked about their reasoning.
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 1
Obviously, I don't know how valid the source is. But multiple Malaysian newspapers apparently say the two men that purchased their tickets with false passports were asked to do so by an Iranian Contact.
One of them: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=241062:mr-ali-cash-a-tehran-mobile-number-missing-flight-takes-on-sinister-twist-with-iranian-link-in-ticket-purchase&Itemid=2#.Ux3wkPldWSo
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 1
Also of note: they were originally booked on Qatar and Ethiad flights, but later booked on the Malaysian flight. Obviously nothing for certain, but if that's true terrorism would seem less likely.
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
Hong Kong's Air Traffic Control Center reported on Mar 10th 2014 around 17:30L (09:30Z) that an airliner enroute on airway L642 reported via HF radio that they saw a large field of debris at position N9.72 E107.42 about 80nm southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, about 50nm off the south-eastern coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea and about 281nm northeast of the last known radar position. Ships have been dispatched to the reported debris field.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
Now reporting that the oil slick is not from the missing Malaysia aircraft.
microwalda
microwalda 1
Sad to hear this news. The 777 have a very good safety record. I hope the can find any survivor or at least the black boxes to know what happened.
I find something strange here, the 777 have one of the best safety records in aviation but in less than a year 2 aircrafts crashed. What's going on??????
teutz
daniel klein 1
http://www.planecrashes.org/malaysia-airlines-370-crashed-with-239-people-on-board.html
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
Very sad to read about this. Let's hope they locate a site soon. :-(
HankAnderson
Hank Anderson 1
The pilot had over 18,000 thousand hours behind him along with his first office which had 2,800, between the both of them they had over 20,000 hours which is a heck of a lot...... especially the pilot... 18,000 hours is ALOT.... lets all hope for the best outcome...
avihais
Martin Haisman 3
Aside from initial pilot training that 2000 hours sleeping/resting, 14,000hours monitoring/looking at instruments and 2000 hours flying. (Round figures not inclusive of training and initial training to be a pilot). 2800 hours is peanuts in commercial flying terms. I can't recall how many accidents, most small or vintage aircraft where i.e."he was an excellent commercial pilot with 30,000 hours flying". Only takes one error however in this case regarding causal factors pilot "error" is not likely to be one.
Foxtrot789
Foxtrot789 1
Weather seemed to be pretty fair, don't think that was a factor.
njfworld
Nicholas Ferreira 1
Am I reading the flight data right? From what I can tell here (http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140307/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA/tracklog), where they are looking and saying the plane went down doesn't match flight data.
Last known coordinates for flight MAS 370 place it over mountainous central Malaysia, 20 miles due east of Mount Tahan (see point on map, lat 4.7073 lon 102.5278). It had just switched from reporting to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport near where it had taken off in southwestern Malaysia to Penang International Airport in central west Malaysia. Nothing places the flight near Vietnam or Vietnamese airspace at the time it ceased communications.
Based on this data, a much more likely location to search would be the Kenyir Lake region and surroundings.
Or am I reading this wrong?
aschran
Adam Schran 2
If you do a search for flightaware.com MAL370 and look at the flight data for past days, you'll see that each day it logs about 20-40 minutes of radar data before going dark, and then later in the flight each day it picks up another bit of data. it seems it's normal for the flight to log 20-40 minutes of radar data and then 'go dark' as far as publicly disclosed radar data is concerned. so when they say it flew for 2 hours, this radar data might not contradict it. take a look at http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140228/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA/tracklog
ahmedalian
Ahmed Alian 1
My heart goes with the victims and their families.
OZAIR
OZAIR 1
http://aviation-safety.net/index.php

If anyone is interested in crash investigations.
avihais
Martin Haisman 1
About 25 commercial and 15 private/vintage
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 1
Oil trail was found by the Viet airplanes near Ca Mau. This phenomena is highly unusual. Waiting for more information...
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 1
The oil trail expanse is 20 km (in either length or area).
stiri
stiri 1
maybe it is just a speculation but italian media reports that the italian who appears on the passenger lists has contacted his parents in Italy saying he's in Thailand where his passport had been stolen months ago, maybe by someone who utilized it to board the plane, here's the link (in italian)
http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2014/03/08/malaysia-scompare-volo-con-239-persone-litaliano-in-lista-sono-in-thailandia/906451/
Oogleboogle
Cyrus Sakhaee 1
In my opinion, Hijacking would be the most likely situation that occurd. Reasons-

- Before MH 370 lost contact with Air Traffic Control, another aircraft in the same airspace (30 miuntes ahead of the MH 370) was requested by Air Traffic Control to try to contact MH 370 with an emergency frequency. Contact was succesful, but was static and communication was broken. The other aircraft just heard "mumbbling" from the other side. A couple miunutes later, it dissapears.

- No distress call was made, I presume due to force of some "hijackers".

- The Aircraft started going off-course 10 miuntes before it dissapearing. The aircraft headed at 025 which is a bit too much to the right. The aircraft started making turns back the way they came from. Why was no distress call made in all this time?

I would rule out a mid-air explosion, the aircraft was acting suspicously 10 minutes before it dissapearing so any un-intentional possibilites can be ruled out.


This is just my opinion, I can be wrong but all information I have stated above is true.
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 1
I agree everything went wrong during frequency change, perfect time to descent and change course.....
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Hijacking DOES NOT rule out a midair disintegration. Hijacker can have a bomb, which exploded intentionally or accidentally for any reason.

It would only widen the search area for fallen debris, as well as airfields that an hijacked airline could be landed within the circle of potential flight for the airliner in question from the last reported radar contact. Even then it's not so easy to hide a plane the size of a 777, if it had landed at some airstrip.

But why wouldn't one of the pilots squawk a hijack frequency? Why wouldn't we have heard from anyone on board? (Was the airliner equipped with wifi and/or airplane position following on the seat-back IFE?)

There are data reporting functions on the plane, so there are technical people that will have a better idea of what happened to the plane. There is a major visible search involving lots of planes and boats from many countries. So either those in a position to know have reason to believe that either the plane perished, or are using the search as a diversion while they look for the plane or involved individuals elsewhere, or pay a ransom or whatever.

I tend to go with highest probability of likelihood, which is that there isn't a conspiracy. By far the likeliest course of events involved the plane and its' occupants perishing over the sea.

Those involved in the search will eventually find evidence to corroborate whatever happened to the plane. The whole plane which isn't soneasy to hide, or more likely a piece of debris. The rest of us need to be patient, which will not be easy for some.
preacher1
preacher1 2
There are still discrepancies in the tracking times, and using the search as a diversion is really a possibility that has not been brought up. In all probability though, it is probably going to come down to a catastrophic failure of some kind for whatever reason and a debris field will be found and then this comment string will go to a "WHAT HAPPENED" until the boxes are found. The thing that is bothering me though is that with AF447, the basics were known fairly quick from the ACARS transmissions. No such release has been made here that I am aware of.
OZAIR
OZAIR 1
Airworthiness Directives (ADs) - Current Only for Boeing 777s
Airworthiness Directives (ADs) are legally enforceable regulations issued by the FAA in accordance with 14 CFR part 39 to correct an unsafe condition in a product. Part 39 defines a product as an aircraft, engine, propeller, or appliance.


http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/airworthiness_directives/search/?q=777

[This poster has been suspended.]

khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 1
Speaking from Ho Chi Minh city, south of Vietnam. The MH370 is said to have gone off radar 1 minute before entering Vietnamese airspace. I suppose the possibility of it crashing in some bushland in south of Vietnam is not worth considering. Because if that had happened, we would have reported, in the condition that the 12 southwestern provinces have been already alerted for search and rescue activities.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 1
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
XINHUA: A Chinese person from Fujian whose passport number is among those listed for passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines flight did not board the plane. The name listed by Malaysia Airlines for the passenger was different to that of the individual who holds the passport with the number in question. The owner said the passport had never been lost or stolen.

Strange.
ericdasilva
Eric da Silva 1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

2 Canadians have been identified on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

There were two Canadians that were identified on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1195531/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-with-flight-carrying-239-people/
yr2012
matt jensen 1
On Saturday, a Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, which was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, crashed in the sea en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, said the source. The plane had lost contact with air traffic controllers. According to source, "The Vietnamese Navy had confirmed that the plane crashed into the ocean, as the plane crash was detected by Vietnamese military radar." "Malaysia Airline is currently working with the authorities, who have activated their Search-And-Rescue teams to find the location of the aircraft," as per airline authorities said. Flight MH 370, operating a Boeing B777-200 aircraft departed from Kuala Lumpur at 12.21am (1621 GMT on Friday) and had been expected to land in the Chinese capital at 6.30am (2230 GMT) on the same day. The airline said that the flight had lost contact with Malaysian air traffic controllers at 2.40 am, just over two hours into the flight. The airline said Flight MH370 was carrying passengers from 12 different countries, including 160 Chinese nationals, 12 Indian, 7 Australian and four American, as per reports radar contact with the flight was lost while it was in Vietnamese airspace. According to sources, the plane crash would mark the second fatal accident involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year, after an unblemished safety record since the jet entered service in 1995. Last summer, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash landed in San Francisco, killing three passengers. Boeing said the Search-And Rescue team is activated to locate the crash aircraft in the Chinese water.
preacher1
preacher1 2
There is still a big discrepancy as to that 2 hours in and 40 minutes as reported by some sources. 2 hours in would have put it over land. 40 minutes would be over water where they are looking and found the oil slicks.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Just like the discrepancy btwn FA and FR24's version.
preacher1
preacher1 0
Daniel Baker has a post down below here somewhere saying that part of that flight is out of their reach on an interim part of it but comes back in on the tail. I'll stick with FA as it is generally pretty accurate.
preacher1
preacher1 1
And apparently 410 other folks are too based on the comment number.LOL
Donnytoots
Don Levine 1
The bookies in the UK soon may post the airports with the latest odds.
mightytravels
Mighty Travels 1
How many (remote?) airports in the Maldives are good enough to land a 777? Seems like the perfect remote spot for landing a plane! Torsten @ http://www.mightytravels.com
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
Does anyone know how Boeing sets up systems on board? I was thinking about the post below that says Boeing reports the plane to be in Pakistan and it made me wonder....
I know that Malaysia Airlines did not "subscribe" to their service but does that mean the plane wasn't equipped to tell Boeing where it is?? or maybe all the planes are equipped so they do have the info, but Malaysia Airlines just wasn't paying for the service.

Here is the link to the article- the only one I could find that says Boeing reported this:
http://www.lignet.com/InBriefs/Malaysia-Hunts-for-Missing-Jet-in-Pakistan-Israel-
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Satellite telemetry feedback... Even though Malaysia Airlines did not have the subscription, I suppose to assist in finding the a/c that they could have turned it on. They could have downloaded current data, or just polled for the last know GPS or FMS Coordinates. FMS is more accurate than GPS, but not enough that it would make that much difference.
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 1
Per Jan's "The aircraft lost contact with Subang around 2:40am. FlightAware estimates this to be at the southern end of Nanning in Guangxi, China"
superwbd
superwbd 2
It would be quite strange that no radar report had been released. Not to say Nanning, Guangxi is at the edge of China, so it can almost be 100% sure that the sky there is covered with radar, especially military ones for national defense purpose. But we can see nothing, hear nothing, no 7*00, no nothing.... No good.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
You forget that you're talking about China. How can you ve surprised that information is not forthcoming? (in a country that tightly controls information and media)
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Actually I stand corrected.

The BBC article reports that Chinese state news agency stares that the plane never entered Cinese airspace nor contacted Chinese controllers and would be expected lost over Vietnamese Airspace.
superwbd
superwbd 1
Some original pictures of the collision in Aug 2012:
http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/569/5691311.html
-----
ACICFG
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 1
She could fly like that no problem. Proper repair should have no effect on airframe integrity.
superwbd
superwbd 1
I totally agree with you, and I believe Chinese do excellent maintenance job. But God know what's going on over there...
Protoavis
Protoavis 1
Does anyone see this just as a possible systems failure based on the "current" timeline which was finally returned to where it made sense? Call me crazy, but the chain of events still support this as probable, as a slight possibly of suicide... Amazing how the Press runs wild with all the misinformation and proves if you don't give them something, they make it up...
preacher1
preacher1 1
Until the plane is found, anything is possible. To boot, if it is found crashed, there is no telling what happened until it is recovered and the FDR/CVR analyzed. In the case of AF447, that took 2 years, even though it was located within a week.
williaminc000
William kyle 1
Air France Flight 447 on June 1st 2009 disappear from radar over 216 people missing with the plane took two years to find the plane… / Now 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappear from radar with over 239 people missing.. every thing that is happening now happen in 2009 history is repeating itself again. look up Air France 447 video on youtube same story
preacher1
preacher1 1
The main difference is that there was a pretty good idea of where it went down due to tracking and a debris field. It was nearly 2 years to recover.
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
the difference is they found pieces of wreckage in less than a week so they knew it crashed.
seesha
jack shannon 1
Boeing is reporting the plane is down on the ground in Pakistan. This is not good news for anyone.
preacher1
preacher1 1
Well, it is not picked up on National News yet.
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
I have not see that in any of the news items... Where did it originate from?
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
If so, the squawk below has a theory on how it reached there:
http://flightaware.com/squawks/view/1/direct/linked/40873/

(it may not work for long)
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
is this a good source? I have no idea but it's the only thing I can find:
http://www.lignet.com/InBriefs/Malaysia-Hunts-for-Missing-Jet-in-Pakistan-Israel-
oldfolkie
Iain Girling 1
While we are still theorising: As I understand it, the transponder was deliberately turned off. That means one or more of the flight deck crew must have been complicit in the activity. The aircraft does not then become "invisible" to radar, but "unidentified". An unidentified aircraft can expect to be intercepted and if no response is had ..................
I am not a pilot, but what happened here ?
charas
charas 1
Would this scenario be possible? http://www.flight-mh370.us/2014/03/the-location-of-mh370.html

Also, there are reports of another 777-200 pilot contacting MH370 over emergency frequency (is that VHF?). If this is confirmed, this is the last known contact, even after the last contact with Subang ATC. Why does that pilot not want to be identified? (My guess is that it was MH 88 except that the timelines don't matchup, unless it left really late). Isn't there anyone who also heard it? Perhaps, they could have heard more details?
honda705hp
Richard Rael 1
sflso
David Kay 1
Qty of fuel loaded should have recorded prior to takeoff, either with the airline or the refueling company.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
It is.. They know to the Lb, Gallon, or Liter on board. What they do not know is what the fuel burn, so there will be some range of flight time.
icywings
Icy Wings 1
How much fuel was loaded? Now, it could have been altered as well though. If the fueler on the ground was in on it then he/she may have loaded more fuel than normally required for the route at the pilots request. However, if the crew were not involved, the hijackers would have needed to plan to fly within the fuel range og the fuel on board for Beijing. I'm very interested in the theory that the plane could have gone to Socotra Island SCT off of Yemen to refuel. Socotra is only around 300 miles further then Beijing would've been miles. Looking at Google Earth the approach looks like it would be over the water so no one would hear it for the most part. Plus the runway looks pretty far from any residence. I don't know the timeline though. Is it possible for them to have made it SCT, refueled, took off and made it to that ring where the Satellite pinged it at 8:11am?
honda705hp
Richard Rael 1
I wan to note here that socotra island is the most logical place. but with the preference of the us carriers in the are it got me to think. where are the carriers and there TASK FORCE support groups. turn out that all but 2 are in there home ports. and no carrier is near socotra island. i BUT PERHAPS OUR ALLIES MIGHT HAVE A TASK FORCE NEAR THAT ISLAND. BUT THAT I DO NOT KNOW/
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
That is one thing we do not know
Quackers
Quackers 1
Some thoughts

DISCLAIMER: I'm just an aviation enthusiast. I'm not claiming to know everything. This is just all speculation.

Assuming the information we know up to now is accurate, somebody on the plane(with aviation knowledge), turned off two separate systems that allowed the plane to be tracked easier / communicate, at two different times.
The plane then turns away from its planned path, flies OVER Malaysia/Thailand etc, is tracked to the Malacca straits and then "disappears" about an hour after the course change.
Now, assuming it still flew on, it flew for several more hours before crashing. (Hard to land a 777 anywhere without being noticed- I am not going to get into conspiracy theories that it landed on some island etc).
Big search area now comes about. If it crashed on land, we would have some radar contacts/ a big amount of fire, smoke and wreckage that somebody would[b] probably [/b]have noticed. Ocean crash, well stuff won't wash up on shore if its in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Might see some wreckage if it was in the Bay of Bengal. (Its possible things may have washed up on some remote beach). Radar coverage in that area is spotty, and unless the Indian Air Force or somebody out at Diego Garcia caught a glimpse of the plane on radar, the planes likely sitting out on the middle of the ocean floor.
Assuming this is correct, the CVR wouldn't capture the whole incident, just the last few hours. FDR would tell us what the plane was doing the entire time but both of these assume we actually are able to retrieve them. This situation with the flight recorders reminds me of that South African 747 (flight 295).

On to the possibilities of what happened, in order of likelihood in my mind:
1- Pilot/ co pilot action. (Egypt Air 990, Silk Air 185)
2- Hijack/ Terrorism or Hijack/ ransom attempt gone wrong (but no claim of responsibility or demands?)

Anyway, thats what I think of the situation so far. Feel free to reply
Quackers
Quackers 1
(all of this assumes we ever find wreckage; Different situation but this also reminds me of PP-VLU)
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 1
Staying positive is the best we can do at this point.
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
You mean allegedly, don't you?
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Who are you replying to??? Click the reply under the message, and reply... Keep the threads together.
CaptainFreedom
CaptainFreedom 1
Let's hope/pray for survivors before we begin to speculate at cause.
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 1
Telemetry data will be important, just like AF447
Duoneb
Duoneb 1
Has anyone checked the news lately? Like I've said all along they and the plane have crashed into the ocean.
usmanrockys
USMAN RASHEED 1
Anyone could explain the requirements of ILS CAT-3C
usmanrockys
USMAN RASHEED 1
Anyone can explain the requirements of ILS CAT-3C
ALF8247
Alfred Stone 1
They said that there was enough fuel to reach Kazakhstan, well Pakistan is much closer and they did hide Bin Laden for so many year. Don't trust them at all. Just a thought.
KingAirB200
KingAirB200 1
I hope this is not another incident like Air France 447 :(
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 1
Xinhua News Agency: The plane lost communication over Vietnam with the control department in the Ho Chi Minh area at 1:20 a.m. local
ALF8247
Alfred Stone 1
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
Love to read all the different scenerios, none of which are that far fetched. Interested in seeing what the actual outcome will be. Again, it would be a miracle if everyone was alive.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
I believe in miracles... A lot here do... If everyone survives, I would be satisfied to call it a modern day miracle.
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
Aaah, the human mind... Isn't it a great thing?
Elect
Sam Rivers 1
ACARS ping being used as a crude radar pulse and response transit time being used to determine range ? That would generate coridors when crossed with fuel.
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
Icy Wings....unfortunately, this is one of many different scenerios that could be used to accomplish a destructive suicide mission.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
I doubt that would be the case, as if that was the case parts would be spread over and floating on the ocean...
Elect
Sam Rivers 1
Can cabin pressure be controlled from the flight deck on B777 ??
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
yes, and the captain can dump all the pressurization as well. The O2 masks will drop, but they will only be good for 15 to 20 minutes max.
Elect
Sam Rivers 1
We'll that would take care of pax but why wouldn't that bring on cell phone use / ping when turned on ? Somehow collected / disabled prior to climb. Out of cell tower sight / range ?
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
That High up and far from the coast.. No way. A Cell phone only has about a 2 mile range.. One they were over 2 miles high, and 2 they were more than 2 miles off the coast...
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Cells don't work well above FL12 and/or 150nm from land. My Iridium works just about anywhere.
sgbelverta
sharon bias 1
Still don't understand why the pilots houses weren't searched much sooner than 7 days into the mystery. I'm darn sure the CIA and Chinese have intelligence agents in that area of the world. Not saying they should disturb a potential crime scene, but they're trained to look around without leave a trace. They could have been "unnamed" sources to point the investigation in a different direction if they found something. Of course, they might have already had a look around and found nothing. If the Malaysian police do find information 7 days after the mystery, then that shows our own weakness in intelligence gathering.
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
OR....they're very skilled at carrying out investigations without letting any leaks to the press. Bear in mind this is HUGE. The whole world is talking about it. If they know more about us than we do, which I am assuming they do, they could jeapordise the entire operation by telling us what they know. My guess is this is an intensely complicated situation. We only know the tip of the iceberg.
sgbelverta
sharon bias 1
This is sad, but I hope this is some pilot goes nuts situation and not a Chinese vs Muslim issue. That is a truly scarry scenario. Does anyone know if this was the pilots regular route, or had they requested it? Given the geography of Malaysia, anyone flying a 777 is going to travel over water. If the pilots switched from say, Malaysia to Sydney to Malaysia to Beijing, that could provide some insight into the situation.
mlstove
Michael Stover 1
Just a technical question this morning that maybe some of the pilots on this site could answer?

Why have a switch in the cockpit that turns off the transponder? Maybe the switch has other settings but could "off" be removed from the equation?

Much like September 11th,the bottom line while impossible to think of everything I still to this day can't believe what happened that day anymore than someone just borrowed (maybe) a 777. It's also unfortunate that when you fly internationally for your job although without knowing what happened it makes you contemplate whether to go to certain locations. It almost makes one angry to think that here we are in 2014 this type of thing happens with 240 souls and the families impacted.

And unfortunately this type of issue has long branches because the first thing I wanted to find out is which Alliance this airline was a member of and thought to myself this very easily could be me or a colleague. Seriously two people used stolen passports and if true the airline didn't pay extra money to have the additional tracking capability?

If you want to protect your own citizens and abroad you best have the ability to thoroughly review passport origin and validity. If you want to purchase Plane X and be a part of Alliance B then you must have the ability to operate and track the aircraft.

Ivan wrote, "there must be overtime at the CIA". My hope is every government agency in this country and every airline in the sky is sitting in the boardroom reviewing protocol and procedure to ensure this becomes truly impossible.
adamplive
Adam Piasecki 1
From what other have said everything has a circuit breaker in case of a fire/malfuction. They want to be able to cut power to it. I've heard other reasons like the Transponder can sometimes give out bad/conflicting information and confuse ATC.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Keep in mind not all CB's are in the cockpit... A lot are, many are not.. On the 777 I do not know how many are or are not.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
There are 2 transponders onboard the a/c. You cannot have both on at the same time because they will interfere, also, the frequency that these things operate makes them harmful to people working in close proximity (IE Ground Personel) and therefore needs to be turned off. Also, if there is a fail putting out false information, they need to be disabled.
adamplive
Adam Piasecki 1
I hear a lot of people saying the transponder can be turned off for a lot of reasons. I get that. Shouldn't we have a backup Transponder that is totally separate from everything that can be turned on from the ground?

I'm not saying they should turn it on as soon as they lose the primary transponder, but as a last resort.

I would love to know from Pilots, Engineers is there anything currently that can be controlled from the ground? Or is simply communications and monitoring.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
No... If you have failures, they need to be shut down... There is a backup transponder, but you cannot run 2 at the same time, so you have to turn off the bad one and turn on the good one... Also, they both need to be off at the gate due to ground personnel, and erroneous readings to ATC at the gate.
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
As all the news media says..."Breaking News"...still looking for plane!
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
Another interesting detail is that the flight was a red-eye. Most, if not all of the pax were asleep when the possible overtaking and flight deviation occurred. Opportunists could use this to their advantage in overtaking the plane...less pax interference. I don't know, but I think it's an interesting scenerio.
sgbelverta
sharon bias 1
Yup, most people would be asleep. But I never sleep on a plane. I look out the window. Much of this trip was over land. I know I'd be real curious if I wasn't seeing lots of light from cities below. See:

https://www.google.com/search?q=china+lights+from+space&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=kqskU77dGIH6oASt8ILwAw&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=893

to get an idea of what this area looks like from space. It would be a lot brighter from 30000 feet. The moon was in 1/4 phase, so people should have been able to see they were over the ocean too.
stackorama
James Stack 1
Hey lets update this news story people!1
yr2012
matt jensen 1
A satellite was able to pick up a signal from the plane until 08:11 local time - more than seven hours after it lost radar contact
Donnytoots
Don Levine 1
James Hausman seems to be on target. SOMALIA, one of the airports there. They are PIRATES! They now have over 200 passports at their disposal, a 777-200 that has been repainted already, and over 200 hostages for sale. The two iranians may just be part of the scheme to take the blame for the highjacking so that the pilots may be innocent and return to Malaysia to their families, with some reward. My first guess was also Somalia then Socotra. Without wreckage near Malaysia and 2 passangers with false passports, and the radar contact interrupted, and the signals from the motor continuing, the flight was headed to a far off place. The plane didn't have to fly low for the whole trip, only near India and the Maldives after which it could fly higher to gain distance. In the end, the satellites may reveal the route as the flight simulator is revealing the pilots' preparations for the landing. Iran has an airport also in the south near the coast,
risgoh
Ris Goh 1
Found something on google map here: 25.437680,60.379290 Konarak Iran.
Runway length look like close to 4km. Does this look like a B777-200?
StarFlyr
StarFlyr 1
First of all, it's around 3200 miles from the point where the ship apparently turned NW. Second, AFAIK, these Google maps are not updated very often.

That said, it does look like a wide body (767, 777, 330). My guess, no.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
With a 4400nm range it's inside the parameters. For this whole week I was thinking NK
systemf
Kos Pol 1
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
That's a pretty strong statement against pilots, or any work group. There's a bad apple in every basket, but lets not condemn everyone for the issues of a slight few. Flight crews commandeering their plane for personal vendetta's is minute. Lets pray for the pax and crew.
NineMikeCharlie
Dennis Coughlin 1
Anyone know what the wx was at the time in the area?
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 2
Michael Palmer, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel, said there were no significant weather conditions in the area.
"It's pretty much clear skies" from Kaula Lampur to Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia, Palmer said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-jet/malaysia-airlines-flight-239-aboard-goes-missing-n47516
NineMikeCharlie
Dennis Coughlin 1
A review of all available met charts online show almost no weather whatsoever in any intensity anywhere on the the scheduled route. Including right now - CAVU.
microsatellites
kenneth rodrigues 1
Could the aircraft headed towards Diego Garcia. Has a large airfield.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Also a huge us military presence; it's the US navy center of operations in the Indian ocean. I would assume there is a lot of long range radar & airborne pickets there.
NineMikeCharlie
Dennis Coughlin 1
Wx now is fine all the way KL to CHina. Anyone know what it was at time of event?
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 1
Donnytoots
Don Levine 1
Socolta Island (SCT) international airport (Yeman) has a 3,300 meter asphalt landing field which is over 10,00 feet. 8,100 feet is the required distance to land for the B777-200. Most of the flight could have been at a higher altitudes to gain distance while the world's attention was focused on or distracted to where the plane seemed to go off the radar. The risk was that the info from the motor bips would be relayed to the searching parties but such coordination didn't exists so the gamble by the hijackers was a good one. There must have been others on the flight to assist the hijackers get the cell phones or even fly the plane. After landing, the empty plane either was hidden or flew off empty to a nearby place to be hidden. The passengers are probably well secured on the beautiful island. My guess the plane will be repainted similar to a US airline and used as a long ranged bomber. I hope the first part of the theory is correct so the passengers are safe. The second part is the scary part.
RayKlotkowski
Ray Klotkowski 1
I'm in agreement with the rapid decompression and the resulting hypoxia. I also think that one has to continue pondering what could hace gone wrong at the cockpit level. What types of scenarios could have gotten us this far? Is it possible, under the initial stages of hypoxia for a pilot or 1st officcer to reach for a switch only to turn another by mistake. To disable an ACARS, aren't two seperate busses required to turn it off completely?
yr2012
matt jensen 1
lbhorton
Larry Horton 1
Can someone explain to me why the transponder in a commercial aircraft has an on off button. Why would you want to turn it off during the normal operation? Just wondering. And, if Rolls can track it engines performance why can't every commercial aircraft do real time uploads of "black box" information? Just pondering...
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Because you have 2 transponders, you either switch to one or the other.. If you have a failure, you need to be able to turn it off.
lbhorton
Larry Horton 1
captjimfuller
Jim Fuller 1
to reset 'em, I hear ATC requesting a reset when one is suspect.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Because you don't need it operating on the ground. Tower controllers can see you.
StarFlyr
StarFlyr 1
This whole story sounds like a James Bond plot. I'm wondering IF there was foul play (hijackers/rogue pilot(s), how it was kept from the passengers/flight attendants? I would think this operation would LIGHT up everyone's cell phones in the cabin a la the 9/11 flights. From the map, it looks like there would have been a lot of time within cell phone range of towers to let the ground know what was going on.

Very strange situation. With all the media screening the detail about turning off the transponders, we will be hearing about that in future hijackings.
Quackers
Quackers 1
Its nearing mid day out there. Should be bright. We'll be hearing about wreckage on land (*if it happened over land) soon. Water, thats another story
chick3nnn
Eddie Ng 2
tht route mostly land and mountains....await for the latest update
yr2012
matt jensen 1
I assume the reason the AWACS are on station btwn Diego Garcia and Thailand are to find the HF squawk from the boxes. So far nothing - which to me indicates the jet is NOT in the water.
Scabbard
Mike Yorke 1
Good new graphics here -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/03/14/an-introduction-to-the-andaman-and-nicobar-islands-a-remote-indian-archipelago-now-part-of-the-hunt-for-mh370/?wpisrc=nl_wv
pany
Sabino Escobedo 1
It's a misfortune that the plane involved in this incident is a Malaysia Airlines aircraft. MH is a good and serious airline. Please don't blame them for not getting appropriate information from the government to give to the families of those onboard MH370. It happens everywhere, government officials are just inefficient and as they do not know what they are doing at their jobs, they just interfere with the good faith efforts of the airline, also trying to find out what happened or what is going on.
My best wishes to MH in their investigations.

I still hope that the plane flew more than 5 hours after it disappeared from radars and landed safely with every passenger onboard somewhere in a clandestine runway in Somalia or somewhere else........ at least for all of them to be alive now. My prayers for all passengers on board.....
captjimfuller
Jim Fuller 1
Back to the basics...
I have noticed differing posting of the last 10 or so flight data points. The original postings in the early days of this event display the last 2 updates with a flight level of zero(0). The recent postings and news reports I've seen in the media seems to fill in those two values with the same 35,000ft as the rest of the 10 updates rather than the original reports of zero.

This maybe a key oversight. And why so many "experts" are focusing on other areas. I believe the last two reports of zero for altitude along with a constant reading for air speed may provide insight.

1. Is the SPEED input to the TRANSPONDER from a PITOT tube based system or another source, say GPS?

2. If it is PITOT tube based, does it share any sub-system component with the PITOT tube based system providing the ALTIMETER input to the transponder?

3. Once that is established a look at relative placement of the two pitot tubes, common power bus connections to the different/same modules, etc. could be analyzed.

4. Many failure possibilities for a perfectly functioning altimeter would produce erratic readings or at least none-zero reading. For an alt. that has ceased to work, the transponder or the system will fill in "zero's" in the data packet.

The fact that the transponder is instantaneously reporting zero while the a/c is 7 miles high in the sky is a key piece of information. The lack of radio reports while the transponder is still working would indicate an in-cabin event which precluded a radio report. Then over a three minute period the transponder ceases reports all together.

It looks like this geographical area is where transponder updates become sketchy as some historic tracks lose data up to a point just short of reaching the Vietnam coast.

All of this points to a rapidly deteriorating electrical system in the aircraft.

The oil rig observation is interesting. The observer is over 300 nm away but it is a dark, cloudless night. His observation of a burning plane would be down near the horizon. But his comment that, from his vantage point, he could perceive no lateral motion lends credibility to his report as we know the plane had just turned more in his direction, head on along with the indication that the event took place much further away than it appears.

If one of those US destroyers in the area is ASW equipped they should run their towed array sonar along 060 to 075 from LKP. The idea it was still in the air for 4 hrs lacks any published data... same as the "military radar" theory. Lets see some data.
Dogone
Dave Barkdoll 2
Jim, transponders only report altitude. At least all the ones I am familiar with. The speed seen on radar scopes is computed internally in the ATC system.
captjimfuller
Jim Fuller 1
great! tks! So the Xpndr worked for up to 3 minutes after the altimeter failed to the extent that it couldn't communicate with the Xpndr or it's error checking told it to report an error message for the last 2 reports. Anyone know the i/f format for these modules? 485, 232, 422/3??? X="trans"
dllbmedia
D. Benjamin 1
This thing is DEFINITELY NOT in the ocean. This thing is going to get very interesting... very quickly. Guaranteed big developments about this incident will be revealed within 72 hours. Watch what happens next..
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Maybe a Suicide terrorist, maybe crew even involved took the plane and ditched it in the ocean (like Scully did on the Hudson) keeping the plane in tack and sinking to the bottom... It would be all in once piece, nothing floating, no fragments. It would be very difficult to do, but not impossible... I do agree that this would be hard, but certainly not impossible. Would be a huge terrorist event.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Might the engines respond to satellite pings if afloat, or would they short out?
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
Just because it was lost in Vietnam airspace doesn't mean it was lost overland, the flight route takes it directly over the Gulf of Tonkin, which may still be in Vietnam Airspace.
rc136561
Richard Chandler 1
I agree with your comment $250,000,000.00 just don't vanish without a trace. Given the fact this particular aircraft has 3 not 1 or 2 battery back-ups to the transponder. This device measures airspeed tail identification altitude ETC. Also their is navigation system that constantly feeds data to Malaysia Airlines. Also I don't think the Malaysian Govt. is telling NSTB everything they know.

P.S. Most importantly last words from the cock pit "Goodnight goodbye we are entering Vietnam Airspace."
bpres
Brian Presbury 1
to land an aircraft the size of a 777 without any word from anyone lends itself to a country like Somalia. MAS must know the amount of fuel uplifted and hence the range NOT allowing for reserves etc. as these would be planned to be used.I would urge a check on hostile country airstrips
Donnytoots
Don Levine 1
My money is on a Somalia landing.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
You think Skinny Rat had something to do with it?
claudemberg
Claudembergh Emidio Dantas 1
KNOW WHAT TO ACONTECEY MH370: [VIDEO] TRANSPONDER the flight MH370 Malaysian Airlines may have been off 'intentionally'. http://blogdoberguinho.blogspot.com.br/2014/03/video-transponder-do-voo-mh370-da.html
mot5
Jennifer Rogers 1
Breaking aircraft has to be on ground since there probably isn't enough fuel for the aircraft to still be in the air.
bizjets101
biz jets 1
Well we know it's not flying, what we don't know is where and why it crashed.
chick3nnn
Eddie Ng 1
fuel enough for 7.5hr as per mentions.....we better wait for updated news
mbazell
mbazell 1
If it did indeed maintain flight for 5 hours after radar lost, it could have made it to the Gulf Of Oman (Muscat air space) or just inside Pakistani border. At Mach .84 for about 5 hrs it would have no problem reaching landfall.

Google earth shows many old abandoned air strips in the desert SE of Muscat such as Ras al Hadd N22 27.9 E59 46.7 whose runway appears to be intact and is long enough (1.5nm long) for a "light" B777 to land. If the 5 hr theory or report is accurate, search and rescue needs to start searching 5 hours out (approx 2275nm)from the point of lost radar and work their way back in towards Kuala Lampur. This whole incident is so bazaar it seems like an episode of The Twilight Zone.
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
This was why I was mentioning distance relative to the last known point of contact that 5 - 6 hours of fuel could give.

Karachi is well within range, as well as Darwin, Perth, Cairns, Manila, Chennai, Goa, Mumbai, Colombo, Male, and for that matter, if Muscat is within range, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, and Bahrain would be as well. If going the other way, that puts Guam in range as well.

Perhaps we were right in thinking that they are too narrow in their search, because if it goes out further, you're looking at a good chunk of the planet to search.
consultafzal
Mohammad Afzal 1
I just fail to understand that in this day and age of cyber space technology, why cannot we get rid of the BLACK BOX and start recording data real time in the CLOUD using real time feed into the cloud database...wake up aviation guys get out of your BLACK BOX theory..
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
First of all, how much money are you willing to contribute to provide the infrastructure, applications development, ongoing maintenance, and personnel costs to support such a system?

What sort of volume of data do you envision such a system would handle?
adamplive
Adam Piasecki 1
Reminds me a lot of the Air France 447. I hope and pray this is a big screw up and it landed safely somewhere.
B772L
John Smith 1
Sadly, this is looking very unlikely.
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
White House Says Search for Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane May Widen to Indian Ocean


http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/white-house-says-search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-may-widen-to-indian-ocean/
kwu20001
kev wu 1
looks like the dissepearence happened in the "safest" phase of the flight

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/07/travel/malaysia-airliner-analysis/
adamplive
Adam Piasecki 1
Yes, it's why the Air France flight was such a big deal. Planes don't fall out of the sky.
risgoh
Ris Goh 1
I was expecting this sooner or later.

Now what we need are satellite photos of potential runways within 5-6hr flight radius and at about the time the aircraft ended its flight.

Most likely the route will mostly be over water to avoid military radar.

If this had been planned then they'll likely put the aircraft into hanger once its landed.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
WSJ reports it; Rolls Royce says no! ????? ONE MASSIVE CF!
bpres
Brian Presbury 1
these runways have to be in an area where people will not open their mouths-Somalia hasn't been mentioned but MAS will know how much fuel was uplifted and hence the range
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 1
A joint rescue operation is underway with China and Malaysia, according to the airline.

MAS confirmed the last point of contact with the airplane was 120 nautical miles off Kota Bharu over South China Sea. The airline said there was no bad weather in the area at the time of the disappearance.

So far, the carrier is reporting there was no distress call. via - http://airchive.com/blog/2014/03/07/breaking-malaysia-airlines-reports-lost-contact-with-aircraft/
adamplive
Adam Piasecki 2
While unlikely they still haven't confirmed the report it landed at Nanming, China as being false.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Afraid it's probably more a search operation than a rescue one.
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
Malaysia: Radar Tracked Object Over Strait of Malacca Saturday Morning - Life Raft Reported Found, Fishermen Say They Saw Low-Flying Plane

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/malaysia-radar-tracked-object-over-strait-of-malacca-saturday-morning/
MattR
Matt Richards 1
Vietnamese authorities now say the reports a signal had been detected were false
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
What is security like @KL? In this day and age it's pretty difficult to loose contact with an aircraft without some type of major failure.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
By security, are you concerned about passenger baggage screening?

Does security mean knowing if your first officer, a flight attendant, mechanic or security officer had been radicalized?
B772L
John Smith 2
Why do they have to be "radicalized" to harm others?
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
They don't have to be "radicalized"; does anyone else remember the PSA flight lost over the Central Valley in California? That was just a disgruntled employee or ex-employee.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
It would take either being radicalized or pyschopathic/depressed to be willing to kill oneself plus 100's of others.

'Radicalized' comes up in that there are lots of Muslims in some parts of SE Asia. Nationalities of passengers were released. Names, ages, flight hours and nationality of the pilots was also shared.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Passenger screening mostly. Ground and flight crew screening is somewhat problematic anywhere, at least in my opinion. No mind readers, so we have to depend on physical means. I mostly fly domestic so not sure what screening crews get on International flights.
jwmson
jwmson 1
This probably will be a very long process. There will be many false leads that the media will pounce on with its usual feeding frenzy. Indeed, the remains may never be found, especially if they are outside the South China Sea and/or waters near Malaysia.
mojocoops
mojocoops 1
Oil rig worker says he saw Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 burst into flames:

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/oil-rig-worker-says-he-saw-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-burst-into-flames/story-fnizu68q-1226853357185
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
Apparently, already discounted by NBC.

@AnnCurry: Careful. Reports that new satellite images may show wreckage of Malasia Airlines MH370 are premature.

All of it should be premature until they get multiple sets of eyes on the debris.
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
The latest developments reported in the ever increasing mystery of MH370's disappearance
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vsa00njt44sdr2g/MH370%20missing%20flight.txt
dseven
iain MacDonnell 1
From https://www.breakingnews.com/topic/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-with-flight-march-8-2014/

"Editor's note: CNN and BBC are reporting that Chinese satellite imagery may show the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, near where the jet's transporter turned off. Nothing is confirmed. - Tom"
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
Malaysian Transport Minister: Expect ‘Long, Drawn Out’ Wait for Answers

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/malaysian-transport-minister-expect-long-drawn-out-wait-for-answers/
drtoboggan
Howard Toboggan 1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

(Video) AP Report On Missing Malaysia Airlines 777

Associated Press Report -- Malaysia Airlines says it lost contact with plane carrying 239 people on its way to Beijing, the route taking passengers from Malaysia across to Vietnam and China. CCTV discusses the family members' concerns.

http://www.aviationvideos.co/2014/03/associated-press-report-on-missing.html
adamplive
Adam Piasecki 1
Anyone seen this report yet, Vietnamese Navy recorded a plane crash into the ocean. :(

http://my.news.yahoo.com/mas-aircraft-goes-missing--says-airline-023820132.html
mbmcginnis
Michael McGinnis 1
Is this a movie or real life? With almost every new squawk there is a new twist. It has certainly kept me on the edge of my seat. This aside, my heart does go out to the families of those missing. I cannot imagine their situation and having to deal with this uncertainty to what happened.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
Remember Payne Stewarts private jet when they experienced a decompression? A
Catastrophic decompression event may have rendered the Flight Crew incapacitated. The 777 had 7+ hours of fuel left when it dropped off the radar. Tracking aircraft over land is a given. Over water most likely, no verbal communication. Widen the search grid to the west.
One more thing... buying 1-way tickets with "CASH"? That raises a red flag to me.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
Correction: Radar tracks in a straight line. Earth is round, therefore, radar is deemed insignificant. The "Transpoder" on the other hand was turned off. The B-777 is a "High Tech" aircraft with backups.
This is a head scratcher. But my thought is that it was taken down intentionally.
Anybody think about North Korea? They wouldn't own up to it! But the Maylasian government is holding a lot back for some reason. Maybe they don't want to "lose face".
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
I doubt NK has the means to carry it off undetected.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 0
No comparison between the 2! Catastrophic decompression at that altitude would destroy the fuselage.
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
Malaysian Air Force: Plane Did Not Detour Over Strait

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/malaysian-air-force-plane-did-not-detour-over-strait/
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
...and Russia categorically denies its troops are in Crimea.
So why are they searching the Strait of Malacca?
nethery2010
Taylor Nethery 1
China has deployed two ships to the South China Sea. Looks like it will be a while till we hear anything. Thoughts and prayers to the victims families.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 1
geez, I should proof read better. I'm sure you guys can figure out what my typos are supposed to be.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 1
oops, this post shouldn't be here. I really wish this side had an edit button with a delete option.

[This poster has been suspended.]

tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
I would suggest people take some moments to consider the region of the World where this occurred, and to contemplate the political implications.

AND to understand how military secrets tend to be held very, very "close to the chest".
preacher1
preacher1 2
I really think the military has taken control of this thing and is not telling nothing.

[This poster has been suspended.]

joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Not just the real-estate involved. Over a dozen countries with passengers. That includes the possible Irani flying on a stolen Italian passport- does that mean an interest by Iran or Italy?
Welcome to FlightAware.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Jurisdiction will be a big issue; esp. when the inevitable lawsuits start. Frankly surprised that they haven't yet.
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
Malaysia military tracked missing plane to west coast

Malaysia's military believes a jetliner missing for almost four days turned and flew hundreds of kilometers to the west ...

"It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait," the senior military officer, who has been briefed on investigations, told Reuters....
the plane flew around 500 km (350 miles) at least after its last contact with air traffic control, although its transponder and other tracking systems were off.

story here
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/us-malaysiaairlines-flight-idUSBREA2701720140311
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Malaysia Airlines flight 370 is has crashed 153 miles off of Vietnam’s Tho Chu island- the Vietnamese Navy confirms.

http://www.airlinereporter.com/2014/03/breaking-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-missing/
ahtal
Latha Narainasamy 1
Can some clarify what does it mean 'comm lost at 1:21am and radar contact lost at 2:40am.
Thank you
OZAIR
OZAIR 1
OZAIR
OZAIR 1
radar contact lost means it disappeared off the traffic controllers radar
LEGROUP
GUSTAVO MALDONADO 1
da la sensacion de atentado, si así es, estamos ante un nuevo desafio en materia de seguridad aeroportuaria.
OZAIR
OZAIR 1
it is night time there in Vietnam at the moment so hard to search for traces of aircraft in darkness.
OZAIR
OZAIR 1
passenger manifest of MH370

http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/content/dam/mas/master/en/pdf/Malaysia%20Airlines%20Flight%20MH%20370%20Passenger%20Manifest.pdf
ahtal
Latha Narainasamy 1
Live press conferences are held every two hours at Astro Awani Msian cable channel501. www.astroawani.com.my
ahtal
Latha Narainasamy 1
Next PConf will at 0900 if news to report.
ahtal
Latha Narainasamy 1
Hopefully there will be more positive news before then.🙏
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
Unfortunately that seems very unlikely.
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
BREAKING via THE NEW STRAITS TIMES: A sample of the oil slick spotted on Saturday in the South China Sea has been found to have no connection to the missing plane.
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
One of the two suspects who boarded flight MH370 is not from Xinjiang, the north-west region of China racked by violent clashes between native Uighurs and the authorities, according to Malaysia’s Star Online citing a Malaysia police official.
stevooz
steve rogers 1
most airlines now days have an event tracker ,all planes functions are monitored from the ground , why haven't we heard about this ?
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
One of the two suspects who travelled on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 using stolen passports has been identified. "I can confirm that he is not a Malaysian, but cannot divulge which country he is from yet," said Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar. He added that both suspects had no record of entering the country legally.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
With as many ac in the area - at the same time, someone must have seen something.
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
That report of the sighting of a possible life raft turns out to have been a false alarm.Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority said the “yellow object” it reported being sighted floating off the coast of southern Vietnam was not a life raft from the missing Boeing. 
stevooz
steve rogers 1
no contact from pilots is a very strange situation , the only way pilots would not be able to send a pan pan pan or mayday , would indicate some sort instant calamity
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
Latest report: Possible lifeboat spotted by pilot in Gulf of Thailand

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/search-for-missing-malaysian-air-jet-widens-possible-lifeboat-spotted/
syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 1
This makes little sense.

Reports say contact was lost 2 hours into the flight. That means the flight must have been over mainland Vietnam at the time. And I well inside Vietnam airspace. Flight time KLIA to HCMC is under 2 hrs gate to gate!!! So why are they looking for wreckage in the sea South of Vietnam? And claiming contact was lost before reaching Vietnam airspace?

Some one needs to tell the real story!!
syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 1
Malaysia Airline updates consistently say contact was lost at 02:40, which was 2 hours into the flight!!
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Check out: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-malaysian-airlines-flight-watch-3219606 Which shows the departure at 1640 and terminating radar contact at 1720.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
I think that has been corrected in most locations... Radar showed him in the air for 40 minutes.
aschran
Adam Schran 1
The plane only seems to log 20-40 minutes of public radar data for each flight if you look at the history. So when they say it was in the air for 2 hours, the collection of 40 minutes of public radar data doesn't really contradict that. see the speed data from the same flight on march 1st: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140228/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA/tracklog
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
Yet after around 45 Minutes they plane was schedule to enter HCM Airspace and it never did, so the 2:40 time is either bogus or the plane is hundreds of miles off course.
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 1
To wit from Wikipedia (take these with a grain of salt until they are officially reject or confirmed):

^α Austria's Foreign Ministry stated in the afternoon (European time) of 8 March that the Austrian listed on the passenger manifest was not on board the aircraft.[33]

^β Italy's Foreign Ministry stated that the Italian citizen is alive and was not on board the aircraft despite what the passenger manifest suggests. The man is said to have called his parents from Thailand.[34] His passport was reported as stolen.[35]
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 2
Also mentioned in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10684770/Oil-slick-spotted-in-sea-in-search-for-missing-Malaysian-plane.html

"Luigi Maraldi, 37, reportedly called his parents to say he was in Thailand and not on board the flight. Mr Maraldi told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that his passport had been stolen last August."

Sounds like the perfect evidence for terrorism if you ask me, esp. considering what happened in Kunming last week
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 1
Also, according to a Wall Street Journal article, the Italian and Austrian who's passports were reportedly stolen were both ticketed by China Southern rather than Malaysian. Don't know the significance of that but it is odd.

"Saturday's flight was operated as a code-share with Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines Co. as flight CZ748.

In a terse statement, the carrier said it ticketed one Chinese, two Ukrainians, an Austrian, an Italian, one Dutch person and a Malaysian for the flight"
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
The Malaysian Transport minister has confirmed that the results from the analysis of an oil slick sample are taking 'longer than expected' to be revealed. Boeing has arrived in Malaysia to assist with the investigation.
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 1
Exactly. Problem is transponder data (flightradar24) stopped logging roughly 20 minutes before total radio silence. The location reported in the press was from the coordinates of the last transponder pulse. But 2 hours into the flight, at an average ground speed of over 650km/h (averaging lower takeoff and climbing speeds) would put the plane well above Vietnam and not a mere 200km off the Malaysian peninsula. It doesn't make sense.
aschran
Adam Schran 1
As I've mentioned in a few other replies..if you look at the historical FlightAware data for that route, you usually don't get more than 40 minutes of transponder data for that route any dat. So flightradar24 and flightaware seem to not give the complete picture for the mar 8 flight of that route.
bizjets101
biz jets 1
This is where they are searching; https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiNl-VWCIAAyhyJ.jpg
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Shallow water- 60 meters and less. That should make debris recovery easier.
fitzfam
Brian Fitzgerald 1
The Flight Aware log for this flight shows the position & orientation at the time it lost contact, why is this information not used by the authorities?
Brian Fitzgerald
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
Why aren't the five passengers that checked-in but never boarded, and whose luggage was removed, being questioned?
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 1
Live report:
https://www.breakingnews.com/topic/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-with-flight-march-8-2014/
kea001
Tom Kearney 1
Search grid. Starting on red box today. http://cms.tienphong.vn/Uploaded/nguyenhoang/2014_03_10/14_IFCK.jpg
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 1
Could then this be an organized plot? Hard to envisage one man orchestrating the entire thing. National ministries don't just bluster and lie about stolen passports and passengers not being onboard do they?
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
If you are going to set a timer to do something... an even minute would be an easy time to do it.
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 1
Radar lost sight of MH370 at 0240 GMT+8. What was the time stamp of the latest transponder data entry? Anyone?
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
gta4ever
John Smith 1
Maybe nothing but watch the whole movement of the fast plane! On its way direction China, Suddenly turns around the other way around. Then you see it becomes the little ? and then it was going very fast to direction China again. Strange.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOnttdqTXIQ
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 1
Any pilots flown through Vietnam's airspace recently? Please share if you experienced anything unusual as far as communication problems or if they could not identify your aircraft for longer than usual. Disappearance occurred right on the boundary between Malaysia and Vietnam, wonder if there is some sort of dead zone.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Black box manufacturer guarantees 30 days, but it may last longer.
BlueBaron
Bruce Thompson 1
In 600 hundred feet of water it will surely be found within that time frame
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Exactly. In most places in that area the depth is much less.

But if the plane disintegrated at altitude ad some are predicting, the area in which the debris is scattered will be large. It will take time to search.

People just need to relax and have patience. But in this 24-hour constant news cycle, many are looking for the next tidbit of information, not least the journalists.
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
Of course. Today's media is all about "fresh, fast, and FIRST", without regard for accuracy. As long as the media outlets get the hits on their website and are credited with getting their story out first, they don't care. Some outlets do the right thing, but most don't care as long as they get to the news first.

And that's what sucks. This is a whole other topic, so don't get me started.
BlueBaron
Bruce Thompson 1
It is my understanding that the US has deployed several P3 Orions, which have magnetic sensing capacity for underwater metal. I would think that cooperation with the various authorities will be problematic for US Military assets
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Co-operation won't be anywhere as big an issue as coordination. There are many countries that have contributed resources. But without a lead agency with strong leadership and coordination skills, it is a difficult challenge that is made that much more difficult.

I'm not familiar with the technical abilities of their systems. If a high altitude disintegration occured, that will lead to lots of small pieces scattered over a wide area. So finding pieces will be difficult, no matter which technologies are used.

The area is not hospitable to submarines because of the shallowness of many nearby waters. But maybe some surface watercraft can find the pings of the recorders with good listening equipment.
BlueBaron
Bruce Thompson 1
How long will the black box on a 77 continue to "ping" to assist the surface vessels to locate it
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
It can...pending on temperature and conditions. It's max depth in water is approx. 20,000ft..
stevooz
steve rogers 1
the oil slick was spotted 120 miles east of kota kinabalu ,kl to kota kinabalu is only a 40 min flight where does two hours come in ? something doesn't jive
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
conspiracy theory : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/conspiracy-theories-spiral-around-mh370s-disappearance

KL to HCMC is only 1 hr 45 min..if based on flight path..it should be over Vietnam land when it lost contact..something more sinister is being covered up by authorities.
syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 1
KK is 2 hour flight from KL. But if the flight was near KK then it was way off it's scheduled flight path.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Someone screwed up in reporting 2 hours... This was a flight that left radar and all communications after 40 min flight. They took off at 0240 GMT+8 and communications lost at 0320 GMT+8. the 2 hour is BS...

As I just posted several minutes ago, see the Radar Path... http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-malaysian-airlines-flight-watch-3219606
aschran
Adam Schran 1
And as I posted several minutes ago, the radar path only captures 20-40 minutes each day for that same flight. look at the other days for that route, you only get 40 minutes some other days too before it stops tracking that flight.
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
After 41 minutes the plane should have entered HCM airspace it never did, either it crashed before then, or they are flying way off course.
preacher1
preacher1 1
I don't know where the 2 hours is coming from. Vietnam said it never entered it's airspace. Using the 40 minutes, that and the oil slicks would be about right.
Nrice91
Noah Rice 1
If they were in Vietnamese airspace my guess is they were talking to Ho Chi Minh radio, then what was there last radio transmission. what was there last position report.. and maybe triangulate that area. thoughts??
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 3
It is reported that they were about to enter Vietnamese airspace. HCM tried reaching out to them, but there was never any radio communication between the MH370 and the Vietnamese, that was reported. One can surmise that Vietnam could see the plane on radar before they tried to reach out them by radio, before they suddenly disappeared.
jbrogan
jbrogan 1
Question for the pros.....while probably a zero chance, but could a plane switch off the important electronics and descend rapidly to 500 feet or just above the sea and fly off to another airfield hundreds of miles away without radar picking it up? Some non commercial airfield. Just wondering if at night it would be possible t
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
Might be possible if it weren't being tracked by Vietnam military radar. They lost radar contact, which likely happened when the plane disintegrated.

Could've also happened if the plane were leaving their radar coverage area. Which may be behind the comments about the possibility of the plane turning around. The plane would not likely have diverted back to KL without radio or cell contact with flight ops.

If it were an emergency, then it us extremely unlikely they've would've turned around, when they ere approaching a land mass with closer airports. A diversion back to KL would've been for non-emergency mechanical issues.

So, possible (maybe, but even then just barely). The plane can turn off the on-board transponders. But short of being a stealth military plane, they'd have a hard time not being seen by ground radar. A 777 is a big plane. It can't not be seen by radar in the radar's coverage area.
adamplive
Adam Piasecki 1
Regardless of what comes of this. One thing already needs to be fixed. The Passport system world wide. I know it's a hard problem to fix, but revoking a passport didn't seem to do any good here. Not saying it was a terrorist attack, but still they should have never been allowed to fly with that passport.

While writing this it made me think about USA domestic flights. Doesn't seem very hard to fake a name, address and ID. I don't even think they check the DL# to see if it's valid.

Short of DNA and other biometric systems i don't think there is anyway to prevent someone from getting on a flight if they dedicated everything they have to it.
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
"At least one relative of a Chinese passenger on board the missing flight has successfully been able to ring his mobile phone - but nobody answers. Eerie video footage emerged of the family of the missing man ringing his phone live on state television. The call connected, but no one picked up."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-ten-3223447

Granted, it's the Mirror....
pilotenthusiast
Ethan Begrowicz 1
The Vietnamese said that they may have found a door from the plane in the same spot that they found the oil slicks
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Terrorism?
I just posted a squawk to focus on that question at:
http://flightaware.com/squawks/link/1/24_hours/new/40677/Was_Malaysia_Flight_370_a_terrorist_event

The current squawk can focus on the search and recovery.
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
does anyone know why when you click on the link for the new squawk it goes to breakingnews.com?
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Probably operator error. Thanks for pointing it out. Try:

http://flightaware.com/squawks/view/linked/email/alert/40633/
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
still the wrong link- it comes back to this squawk.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Definitely operator error.
http://flightaware.com/squawks/view/1/direct/linked/40677/
If at first you don't succeed, try a few more times then say ^$#* wit it.
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
actually, the link on this thread works but the link on the main page still goes to breakingnews.com
EileenBoe
Eileen Boe 1
Yay- it worked! you needed to add the ^$#* to get it to work!
spencerdog9576
Steve Remy 1
We can speculate all we want about who was / was not on the plane. The hard facts lie in the downlink information from the 777 itself.
ericdasilva
Eric da Silva 1
Look it's possible that MH370 could of tried to turn back.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysia-airlines-jet-may-have-turned-back-before-vanishing-1.2565649
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
Just saw this.. They found an Oil Stick.. Know it is not much, but it is a start.

"Officials in Vietnam reported a 12-mile or 20-kilometer long oil slick that could be the first sign that the missing Malaysia Airlines jet went down in the sea between southernmost Vietnam and northern Malaysia."

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-update-oil-slick-found-search-and-rescue-to-continue/

Where they were looking would put it about 40 minutes out I believe.
charlie010780
chris p 1
I want to know about today's flight, MH370/09March. It's delayed, what is the cause?
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 2
I noticed that too. Check out the tracking log too.
charlie010780
chris p 1
ok, i'm looking at flightradar24.com it says delayed, but on here it says departing soon.. maybe just a website tech error..
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 1
So some are saying that the last transponder data entry was recorded at 0320 GMT+8. Official reports state that MH370 went off radar at 0240 GMT+8. The transponder data set apparently only spans 40 minutes. Official reports put the flight duration at 119 minutes (0041 to 0240 GMT+8). So which is which?

One thing to note there aren't ADS receivers throughout the flight path of MH370. But we know that there was radar coverage for much if not all of the flight path since this airspace is one of the busiest as claimed by the aviation guys. So even though a plane's ADS signal might not have been detected by flightradar24's network of private receivers, it was probably still on the ATC's radar.

There seems to be a very obvious lapse. Please shed some light.
preacher1
preacher1 1
There is total confusion on that but it seems to be settling on 40 minutes
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
"A Chinese family successfully rang the mobile phone of a passenger on board Malaysia Airlines plane MH370. The call got connected, but no one picked up.
The Chinese media also reported that a man successfully made a call to the mobile phone of his elder brother, who is a MH370 passenger. He made a total of three calls, but no one answered. The man, who spoke to reporters at a Malaysia Airlines briefing in Beijing, was not named."
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-family-chinese-passenger-says-mobile-p
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
jrhausman
James Hausman 1
Latest news reports say possible wreckage reported 100 miles south/southwest of Vietnam.
Water depth in Gulf of Thailand averages 45 meters, max depth 80-90 meters.
Close to the same depth as SA111 in Nova Scotia. If they find the wreckage, all the plane will be brought up. Canada recovered 97% of the MD-11.
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
The US Navy have confirmed that the 'suspicious debris' is not from Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. The search area has been increase from 20 Nautical miles to 50.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
Reorts say the airplane tried to turn back. Why?
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
perhaps hijackers want plane to ram something on land?
arnoldd
Dean Arnold 1
I pray it wasn't terrorism !!!
bishops90
Brian Bishop 1
Just joining the conversation. No time to read all the comments, but a sad day for many. Would not be surprised if it were a terrorist bomb in that part of the world. (Please don't claim racism with that, ok? It just is what it is). I hope they discover what happened promptly. Prayers for the dead and their families. Good day all.
Carioca
Tomer Ariav 1
I prefer a rigorous security check at the airport, as uncomfortably it can be, than to have issues in air.
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 1
Pure speculation: but according to WSJ the two "missing passport" travelers were ticketed by China Southern. Is it possible if they are terrorists, they are separatists similar to last week's railway attack that legitimately thought they would be getting on a China Southern flight rather than a Malaysian one? Again pure speculation but that detail seemed interesting
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
Read that too. An Austrian and Italian reported passports stolen in Thailand. Same passports were used as ID on 2 pax on that fight.
syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 1
It would be nice to think the time discrepancy was just a time zone issue. However Malaysia
Airlines consistently said that the flight left Malayisia at 00:41 and was lost by Subang (Malaysia) at 02:40. All on the same time zone. The distance travelled before being lost from flightradar24 is consistent with a 01:20 time (Malaysian time). If it was 01:20 Vietnam time (02:40 Malaysian time) then the flight should have been a lot further north than to location indicated by flightradar24 at "01:20"
burton159
burton159 1
Just my opinion - I know its been pointed out on earlier posts but I still think that MAS may have got this wrong. Because a)it would've been over land in Vietnam after 2 hours, and b) the same flight on previous days is covered by flightradar24 all the way. I think its more than a coincidence that it disappears just after it changes heading to 40degrees. but anyway I'm not an expert, just an observation.
burton159
burton159 1
I'm certainly no aviation expert, but take a look at the normal course of MH370 on previous days on flightradar24. the flight always heads along 25degrees and then changes track to approx. 35-40degrees. MH370 on 8th March disappears just after it makes that heading change. could it be that something to do with the turn caused a catastrophic failure? eg. mechanical, or pilot error etc...
anhngq
anhngq 1
That I called the turning point once yesterday.
yasex2006
yasex2006 1
I do island hopping in the area ( Cambodian Islands, some of them are south-west of Phu Quoc) and unfortunately the sight of fuel ( even stripes of 2 or 3 km lenght) in the area's waters is a common sight. Whoever lives in the Cambodian coast and owns a boat ( or does island hopping in the area) can confirm this.
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 1
Avgas or JP4 would probably evaporate fairly quickly in the warm air, wouldn't it?
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
How clear is the water in the search area? Can you see down 40 -60 meters?
mojocoops
mojocoops 1
Several reports are saying there is the possibility the plane attempted to turn back:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iM6qL2-WqhbrwcoviS0ta8zkaNdg?docId=d860a09c-9f22-440b-9c46-21929428579e
PeterMercer
Peter Mercer 1
Though there are many possible scenarios, few are optimistic. A controlled descent via auto pilot is probably not one. The encoding altimeter would have at least indicated an issue. No such alert is apparent in what we know.
The unknown for so long a time period is indeed rare for this type of event. Unfortunately, this can lead to many theories that, in cases, may be way off base.
My feelings go out to those involved, their families and friends.

Peter
spencerdog9576
Steve Remy 1
http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/531b3815ecad043956a9ab2b-640-478/2014-03-08t144402z_1_cbrea2714xh00_rtroptp_4_malaysia-airlines-crash.jpg
picture of oil slick.
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
Potentially stupid question - is this "oil slick" potentially jet fuel? And if so, could this be evidence of an attempt at a fuel dump?
avihais
Martin Haisman 2
Oil slick potentially yes be jet fuel not normally so long (length)and a fuel dump if you mean from an aircraft in flight mostly disperse and vaporise and not cause a slick.
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
Carioca
Tomer Ariav 1
Who is coordinating the S&R? Malysia, Vietnam, China and USA involved (from previous posts andBreaking News).
spencerdog9576
Steve Remy 1
Does anyone know the security procedures at the departure airport. Do the have a TSA type security check. Are they as strict as the US. Also, I know in the US the cockpit doors are securely locked, but how about foreign carriers. I find it highly unusual that they are having this much trouble locating it. I know it is a big ocean, but with all the downlink information coming from the 777 in real time. Couple that with the reported last position, any radar or satellite info, I dont know what they have in that part of the world. There is so much technology associated with commercial aviation, I find it unusual they have not located it yet.
ejh2000usa
EJ Howard 1
This was reported by USA Today:

http://usat.ly/1im9K3y
Carioca
Tomer Ariav 1
Was debris spotted alraedy?
michaeljinlee
Michael L 1
not officially confirmed... just the oil slicks
ice21
ice21 1
They really need to test that oil
michaeljinlee
Michael L 1
they just posted two passenger who used the stolen passports itineraries
http://news.ifeng.com/world/special/malaixiyakejishilian/content-4/detail_2014_03/09/34581405_0.shtml

sorry it is in Chinese since it was booked through code sharing airline China Southern their ticket number is next to each other...
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
This is gleaned via google translate:

For Italians and Austrians ticket numbers in a row , aviation experts said : ticket number in large systems where continuous, rather than a flight in a row . Continuous ticket number is only possible at a time reservation (reservation) and a ticket. Even if not at the same time reservations, but only at the same time a ticket , ticket numbers are likely worse dozens

If I understand it correctly, the ticketed passengers using the stolen Italian and Austrian passports were issued consecutive ticket numbers indicating they were purchased at the same time. One conclusion is that they were traveling together. The same reports indicates two additional stolen passports of Chinese (?) origin.
Unless there is rampant use of stolen IDs in that area, it sounds rather suspicious.
OZAIR
OZAIR -1
that will be where it crashed unless an oil tanker left oil trail.
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 1
All crashes that occurred over water have been found relatively quickly and that area between Malaysia and Vietnam has a lot of air/sea traffic and is relatively close to land. Hard to believe no debris have been found at this stage. My question is for all airline pilots on this forum: today's modern jets operate by very sophisticated computer systems (auto land for example) is it possible to override-lock pilot's actions in the cockpit by hacking into airplane's computer system from the ground or from being inside the aircraft (passenger) and land it at another desired location?
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 3
If I can expand on just one example, from your question...the Autoland function.

This requires a specific set of Human inputs into the FMC and MCP, and at very specific points in the Approach Procedure...not to mention many various other physical actions, such as setting flaps, lowering the gear, arming the AutoBrakes and Ground Spoilers...just to mention a few.
OZAIR
OZAIR 2
yer yer i'm talking actually landing and taking off manually.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 2
And just in case my response seemed abrupt...wasn't meant to be rude, it is just a statement of fact.
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 1
No worries, thanks quick response!
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
You're very welcome. Although your speculation is understandable, perhaps this is not the best venue to ask...there are other ways to get answers to your questions.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
QUOTE:

" My question is for all airline pilots on this forum: today's modern jets operate by very sophisticated computer systems (auto land for example) is it possible to override-lock pilot's actions in the cockpit by hacking into airplane's computer system from the ground or from being inside the aircraft (passenger) and land it at another desired location?"

Answer: NO, it is not possible.
avihais
Martin Haisman 1
Unlike a drone the aircraft is programmed by the pilot for its destination, monitored during flight and controlled during take off/landing phases by the pilots. Navigation is by many aircraft system, satellites and fixed ground based technology. All under the control and monitored by the pilots. Every accident is different - F447 keeps raring its head which was severe turbulence, bad weather cells, sub standard pitot tubes leading to multiple flight computer shutdowns and an Airbus A330 controlled by side stick (No feedback)and pilot error, inclusive of forgetting auto throttles in the A330 don't move so they have to ensure immediate manual throttle application. F447 was also in an area of nil radar coverage over the Atlantic - so many other issues. MH370 was a Boeing with immensely different systems (And pitot tubes)in fine weather.

For all intents and purposes the aeroplane is controlled solely by pilots and can not be manipulated from the ground.

If MH370 did crash at sea in the relatively shallow waters where it supposedly went down flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders should have pingers for location. If not activated towing side scan sonar would be the next bet (Will be used anyway). That's assuming it went down at sea and not limped somewhere under radar. Weird no flotsam yet.

Anything else is speculation and investigation takes a very long time. I.e. they turned back....did they? Was there a malfunction/catastrophic event that turned the aeroplane and the pilots could no control? Maintenance error? Whatever the cause no one can confirm until all investigative avenues have been eliminated or confirmed.

OZAIR
OZAIR -4
all computer programs are vulnerable to glitches , viruses ,hacking.no matter how high and mighty they think they are.
OZAIR
OZAIR -3
the last Air France crash was not found for 4 yrs over water and no signs of debris,similar to this as for your over riding pilot actions I believe i did read on a few crashes earlier on that pilots had to struggle with who was in control the computer or the pilot,they became confused that lead to an accident or 2.
I think no one knows the answer to the other part of your question regarding bugs/virus etc.anythings possible,considering they get you to turn off moblies/laptops etc for fear it could interfere with electronics.
joelwiley
joel wiley 4
AF447 crashed on May 31 in the mid Atlantic. Debris was found on June 2. Due to the ocean depth, the wreckage wasn't found for a couple years and recovery was after that. Your 'not found for 4 years' is not factual. For more info see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_447
andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 3
Debris were found on June 2 next day after accident, voice recorder recovered May 2011. didn't take 4yrs,
michaeljinlee
Michael L 1
MALAYSIA TRANSPORT MINISTER SAYS INVESTIGATORS CHECKING 4 SUSPECT PASSENGER IDENTITIES.
hardworker7
hardworker7 1
Sad how this appears to have occurred. Disturbing info on the stolen passports and the recent wingtip collision. Both diametrically opposed to each other but odd co-incidence nevertheless.
gunns
Matt Gunn 1
Was it near IGARI FIR boundary between WSJC and VVTS when it disappeared.
This is 260 nm ex Wmkk. How long had it been airborne. If it had just reached FL350 this would be 30 - 35 mins after departure. Some reports indicate 2 hours dad elapsed. (Time zone conversion problem perhaps)
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 7
People should read this infographic to inform themselves of the basics, before asking questions of fact.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiN32qFCEAAsBqH.jpg#twimg

(It is the same link found elsewhere in this mess. Hope people vote it up soon. There is so much misinformation out there.)
clarencealestairmrison
Alestair M. Rison 1
May God always protect those MH370 passengers who were still missing since yesterday.
mpbillard
Michel Billard 1
Malaysia Airlines is adamant they lost contact with MH370 at 2.40 am MT (18.40 pm UT), meaning 2 hours after take off. See https://www.facebook.com/my.malaysiaairlines/posts/514330582013473?cid=crisis_management_19731474&stream_ref=10
When I replay today's flight for MH370 on Flightradar24, I find location after 2 hours flight just off the EAST coast of Vietnam in the south China sea near the village of Hoai Nhon.
This does not fit with statements of Vietnam control that they did not take en route control...
Somebody is wrong! Searching the Gulf of Siam outskirts may be totally offset
SamKrantzler
Sam Krantzler 1
What if the airline just changed the routing to ease passengers about flying the same route on the same airplane that crashed the day before?
mpbillard
Michel Billard 1
This is possible but a two hours flight along the northern way would put the plane over Cambodia where a crash would certainly not have gone unnoticed... Refering to other information in this blog, my guess is that Subang Air Traffic Control statement was inaccurate, maybe due to stress when annoucing the possible crash...
williaminc000
William kyle 1
Air France Flight 447 on June 1st 2009 disappear from radar over 216 people missing with the the plane took two year to find the plane... / Now 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappear from radar with over 239 people missing... watch the video every thing that is happening now happen in 2009 history is repeating itself again.

I want to know how the Malaysians can deny the fact that the engine monitoring system continued to put out data for four hours AFTER the transponder signal was shut off?

This is just another HOAX and you people are falling for it hook, line, and sinker!! What you should be looking at is what the Government is trying to steer you away from watching or paying attention too!!

I think some one wanted some one on the plane and thy took the whole plane for this person and taken the other people and the government is covering it up as the plane that went missing we will know soon thy maybe trying to find a way to crash the plane with out some one see it take off, watch three bodies will not be found if thy ever find the plane MAS 370 and the black box will be broken or some thing like that that how the government works.

China now says their find was nothing... Rolls Royce says it may have continued to receive engine maintenance data after the disappearance... photo-shopped mystery passengers and radar blips that may or may not have happened... I've quit guessing, can't wait to see how the movie ends!
williaminc000
William kyle 1
video of ( Air France Flight 447 ) on youtube
aeroplanepics0112
Cole Goldberg 1
Malaysia Airlines humbly asks all Malaysians and people around the world to pray for flight MH370.

It has been more than 24 hours since we last heard from MH370 at 1.30 am. The search and rescue team is yet to determine the whereabouts of the Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

An international search and rescue mission from Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam was mobilized this morning. At this stage, they have failed to find evidence of any wreckage. The sea mission will continue overnight while the air mission will recommence at daylight.

We are dispatching all information as and when we receive it. The situation in Beijing is also being monitored closely. As many families of passengers are in China, we have deployed our “Go Team” to Beijing with a team of caregivers and volunteers to assist the family members of the passengers.

Immediate families of passengers are advised to gather at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Travel arrangements and expenses will be borne by Malaysia Airlines. Once, the whereabouts of the aircraft is determined, Malaysia Airlines will fly members of the family to the location.

Our sole priority now is to provide all assistance to the families of the passengers and our staff. We are also working closely with the concerned authorities in the search and rescue operation
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
"The Guardian’s Tania Branigan has more detail on the movements of the two suspect passengers who boarded the missing plane using stolen passports.

Both passengers used Thai baht to purchase their travel tickets on 6 March, a day before the flight took off from Kuala Lumpur destined for Beijing.
The pair, who booked tickets with consecutive numbers, were due to fly to Beijing, then wait for around 10 hours before flying to Amsterdam. Once they arrived in Amsterdam, one of the passengers was due to travel on to Frankfurt and the other to Copenhagen."

Why an Italian would not return home to Italy and an Austrian to Austria is also intriguing.
andromeda07
andromeda07 1
Also strange why they would fly to Amsterdam from KL via Beijing. 10 hours doesn't leave much time for them to do business in Beijing. Sure, there could be reasons, but the improbabilities regarding this pair keep multiplying.
anhngq
anhngq 0
I just tried booking a trip from KL to FF using the China Southern Airlines website at http://www.csair.com/en/ and it turns out that I cannot fly with Malaysia Airlines. Something does not add up :(.

With Malaysia Airlines, they indeed operate direct flights between KL and FF. How come these mysterious people choosing Beijing as a stop :(.
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-immigration-officers-under-probe-1.504415?cache=03%25253fpage%25253d0%25253fpage%25253d0%25253fkey%25253dkuala+lumpur%25253fpage%25253d0%253Fkey%253Dkuala+lumpur

Some customs and immigration foul up at Play
FlySFO
Rohit Rathor 1
I'm a bit comfused as to why it took 9 hours after this plane disappearing for the news to come out....
cblair0608
cblair0608 1
I wonder if N. Korea fired another missle like they done last week? The last missle crossed area's highly traveled by commercial airline traffic.
AlbertoTimpauer
Alberto Timpauer 1
Does anyone thinks of a UFO extract ???
sparkie624
sparkie624 0
No... Give me a break.. Any serious ideas would be appreciated in the future.
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
"Vietnam’s search and rescue vessels have spotted a fresh object has been spotted floating in the South China Sea, according to Wall Street Journal reporter Vu Trong Khan. An earlier mysterious object turned out not to be the missing aircraft."

#MH370 Vietnam search and rescue aircraft spotted new floating object. Authorities are not sure what it is.

pic.twitter.com/m0peec6DVm
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
Something is very odd:

So according to Vietnamese officials the plane was suppose to enter HCM airspace and make contact with HCM airspace at 1:22 time, from 1:22 to 1:30 they made repeated request to the plane, and all was ignored. At 1:30 they were able to ask another plane to attempt contact, at 1:30 this pilot was able to make brief contact, bu het only heard mumbling.

This indicates what happen was NOT sudden, and may even point to foul play.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
This is interesting, if true. Could you please cite your source for this? Thanks.
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 2
Here is an article with the other pilot who said he was requested and made brief contact with the plane at 1:30, because HCM was unable to make contact with them.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/travel/travel-news/malaysia-airlines-plane-missing-another-pilot-made-contact-oil-slicks-spotted-australians-on-board-amid-terrorism-fears/story-fniztvnh-1226848860442

We know they should transferred to HCM airspace by 1:22, according to Vietnamese Officials, but failed to do so.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 2
Thank you, that seems to be very pertinent information.
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 1
So it has been confirmed that both passports from Italy and Austria were stolen in Thailand approximately one an two years ago respectively. The persons who's named we're on those passports were not on flight MH370. Both persons have also given verbal confirmation that they are alive and well. These revelations are supported by the respective ministries of Rome and Vienna.


NBC has coverage on the Italian person:

"Luigi Maraldi, 37, was the only Italian on a passenger manifest released by the airline after the jet disappeared over the South China Sea.

But his father, Walter Maraldi, told NBC News from Cesena, Italy: “Luigi called us early this morning to reassure us he was fine, but we didn’t know about the accident. Thank God he heard about it before us.”

Luigi Maraldi was on vacation in Thailand, the father said. He said that Luigi Maraldi’s passport was stolen one year ago."


And Reuters has coverage on the Austrain person:

""[The Austrian] embassy got the information that there was an Austrian on board. That was the passenger list from Malaysia Airlines. Our system came back with a note that this is a stolen passport," he said. Police found the man at his home. The passport was stolen two years ago while he was travelling in Thailand, the spokesman said."

[This poster has been suspended.]

anhngq
anhngq 1
Some news

<
The two people who traveled on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 under the passports of an Italian and an Austrian citizen appear to have bought their tickets together, CNN reported today.

The tickets were bought from China Southern Airlines in Thai baht at identical prices, according to China's official e-ticket verification system Travelsky.
The ticket numbers are contiguous, which indicates the tickets were issued together. China Southern Airlines sold seven tickets for the code share flight, another media reported yesterday.

The new information adds to the mystery that has enveloped the fate of Flight MH370 which disappeared over Southeast Asia early Saturday on its way to Beijing.
Italy and Austria have said that none of their citizens were on board the plane. And officials say the Italian and Austrian, whose names were on the passenger manifest, both had their passports stolen in Thailand in recent years.

The two tickets booked with China Southern Airlines both start in Kuala Lumpur, flying to Beijing, and then onward to Amsterdam. The Italian passport's ticket continues to Copenhagen, the Austrian's to Frankfurt, CNN said.

But it was unclear how people with stolen passports could have obtained visas to travel to China or passed through immigration control checks in Malaysia.
“As far as we are aware, every one of these people onboard that aircraft had a visa to go to China,” Hugh Dunleavy, director of commercial operations at Malaysia Airlines, told reporters in Beijing.

“Which means those passports were in possession of the Chinese embassy before those visas were issued.”

Authorities say they are investigating the identities of some of those on board who appear to have issues with their passports.
>

Source: http://my.news.yahoo.com/passengers-using-stolen-passports-bought-mh370-tickets-together-090636202.html
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
Colonel Hoang Van Phong, pilot on AN26 which is one of two aircraft sent by Vietnamese Air Force to the search, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspapers the oil slicks on Sunday have widened around four times from the day earlier.
"They've been spreading fast westwards, which is sign of a very huge amount of oil," Phong was quoted by Tuoi Tre as saying. A Chinese minister is reported as saying that 'some debris' has been found near the oil slicks but it remains 'unclear' whether it belongs to Flight 370.

Looks more and more like a crash rather than a hijacking.
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
Updated: The Vietnamese Navy said that it has found a 12-mile long oil slick suspected of being the "crashed Boeing aircraft"

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-update-oil-slick-found-search-and-rescue-to-continue/
khuenhat83
Khue Nhat 2
They did say so, as stated by our press.
mcconnelbj24
Bryan McConnell 1
Apparently the first officer had around 2,700 hours... I like how they let pilots with that low of time fly 777's but here in the States, insurance won't even let you touch a Citation under 5,000 hours.
chick3nnn
Eddie Ng 1
flight captain is 18k hrs++... co pilot is 2.7k.... pls make sure tht the flight is controlled by captain.!!!
johnloumiles
john miles 3
Uninformed comment. The plane was fly at altitude with AP engaged (per regulations). In the event of an emergency the captain would have taken control of the plane. Malaysia Airlines is a first rate outfit that has been flying 777's since their inception, there is no way they would let a under qualified pilot sit on the flight deck.
smez
smez 2
Want to know how you can tell the difference between an armchair pilot and an actual pilot from flightaware comments? The armchair pilots complain about 2700 hours not being enough to be an FO.
JD345
JD345 2
There were over 30,000 hours of experience on the flight deck when AF447 hit the water.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 3
I think that you will find that was very different scenario. But, also I agree it is hard to fathom how that much experience (AF 447) simply neglected to go "back to basics" of pitch attitude, and power, in order to stabilize the situation.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
On the AF447, the pilot that caused the nose high altitude did try several times to lower the nose. But each time he did so, the flight deck logic alarmed.

The pilot was wrong for pushing the nose so far up at such high altitude. But the airplane computer logic was also faulty for not alarming at an slaking very high attitude but did alarm when the pilot brought the nose down to just extremely high pitch from alarmingly high pitch.
JD345
JD345 1
AF447 was pretty much a case study in what can happen when the excrement hits the rotary oscillator -- otherwise highly qualified, experienced, intelligent people can go into a downward spiral of bad decisions. The result was a total problem-solving meltdown -- well-credentialed, experienced pilots in both seats haplessly jacking their sidesticks in different directions, with a third standing over their shoulders for a veritable eternity before figuring out what exactly was going on.

It's not as if those guys couldn't solve the problem in one second sitting on the ground -- it was just a perfect storm of brain farts and questionable design theory.
JD345
JD345 2
Yeah, I doubt the scenario will be the same. But, like AF447 (and OZ214 for that matter) shows, experience isn't everything -- the aviation gods don't care who you are.
preacher1
preacher1 1
Yeah, but a bunch of those hours, although recognizing the situation, got back in there too late to do anything. The panics had already attacked and Murphy was having a field day.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 2
Your comment indicates you are unfamiliar with airline operations. Both pilots typical fly, taking turns for each leg (segments between departure and arrival).

Given that they were both Malaysian citizens, and Kuala Lumpur is likely a crew base, then it is traditional (but not mandatory) that the Captain often will fly the first leg. However, it doesn't matter either way...Captain is Pilot in Command, regardless, and has full authority, no matter who is actually the Flying Pilot.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 2
And to add....this segment is (in terms of flight time) roughly similar to a transcontinental flight across the USA, say New York to Los Angeles. As per U.S. regulations for a two-person Flight Deck, there would be no need for an augmented crew (or, third pilot). Also, typically this would have been their one flight for the day, with a scheduled rest period before continuing on their trip sequence.
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 1
Vietnam officials are reporting a piece of tail and inner ...

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/vietnam-officials-report-spotting-debris-from-malaysia-flight/
oallen
Owen Allen 1
The flight track log shows the plane was climbing at a relatively normal rate of 780 ft/sec before the climb rate suddenly spiked to 2,040 ft/min and then to 2,760 ft/min, all in the course of a few seconds. This strikes me as an extremely steep climb for the plane's altitude (31,000 feet). Also, the air speed suddenly decreased from 473 kts to 447 kts, which is not surprising given the sudden increase in climb rate. I think the plane either stalled or broke up due to severe aerodynamic forces acting on the plane becuase of steep angle of ascent. Does anybody know the stall speed of a 777 at 31,000 feet?
Oliversmall14
Oliver Tregoning 1
All I will say is that I send regards to all the family's of the passengers and crew on board flight MH370 and that are harts are with them in this awful time god bless them and I hope that ther may be people still alive but unfortunately it's unlikely
NickFlightX
NickFlightX 1
My feeling, we have something similar to Air France 447. Hope it isn't terrorism or something wrong with the plane. Hope they're ok...
DrBHathaway
DrBHathaway 1
Given the clear weather (no instrument icing issues) and the aircraft having totally different systems (pilot and co-pilot can sense control inputs from each-other), I don't think it could be anything like AF 447.

[This poster has been suspended.]

blademan007
blademan007 2
Uncertain of source reliability. "But evidence of the way the plane’s transponder and communication systems were disabled and the way the plane was expertly flown over the Indian Ocean apparently using navigational waypoints meant only a skilled aviator could have been at the controls. Investigators were also baffled by why, if hijackers took over the plane, there was no Mayday call or signal from the two pilots to say the cockpit had been breached."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2581817/Doomed-airliner-pilot-political-fanatic-Hours-taking-control-flight-MH370-attended-trial-jailed-opposition-leader-sodomite.html
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
"We can reveal...." Are you the official mouthpiece of the Malaysian government, or are you plagiarizing sources without attribution?

Why does each of your posts include a link to Roomeetimes dot com?
COYOTEHUNTER
COYOTEHUNTER 1
Ok, Reports say the 777 in question had 7 hours of fuel on board at takeoff.
The aircraft was reportedly 2 hours out when it went missing.
If it is in water, that would leave a lot of jet fuel floating in the water.
If it made it to land, and on course, it should have made a BIG easy to find fire ball.
It was reportedly flying at 35,000 feet, an in-flight explosion, would spread a debris field over several miles. But there would still be a lot of it.
An aircraft that big cannot go totally missing for very long.
So far, IMHO this just does not add up.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 1
"IMHO this just does not add up."

The conspiracy theorist's Creed!
COYOTEHUNTER
COYOTEHUNTER 1
I was meaning, why were they having trouble finding the wreckage, does not add up.
Considering possible fuel on water or fire on land, and the data reporting technology on the 777.
That's all I was meaning...
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
As mentioned before, we could be looking at another CAL611, but for an airframe that was 12 years old, highly unlikely that it would just break up at cruise.

Best bet now is to just wait and ignore the media jumping to conclusions; we already have that now with Vietnam state media saying that it crashed into the sea, while MAS is denying that there is any wreckage.
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 1
Perhaps the mop up has begun without the prying eyes of the press? There are Rolls Royce engines on that plane and they are tracked for performance/location.
fireftr
Dale Ballok 1
Is it possible to breach a cockpit door today after the post 9-11 redesign? Thought it wasn't possible.
KevinBrown
Kevin Brown 2
Yes it is possible by pulling the breakers for the flight deck door locking system. This can be accomplished by accessing the E/E compartment via the unsecured hatch inside the passenger cabin. An engineer with knowledge of 777 systems would know how. BTW one of the missing passengers was an aircraft engineer travelling to Beijing to "fix a plane". It would be interesting to know his background. Did he have expertise with the 777?

Here a video showing access to the E/E compartment. Sorry if this has been posted already on here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLmzvF2qkDY
joelwiley
joel wiley 2
Great. Security by obscurity- a noble tradition.
giger2
HERMAN GIGER 1
he was a mechanic ordered online his seat ,an exit seat. exit seats also have access to portable oxygen.Aircraft went to 45000 cabin easy about 17000 if all valves and checkvalve held up to this . Pilots either unconscious or lost control to BUAP
fpk2
fernando kosop 0
FACTS: THE 777 IS DOWN INTO THE OCEAN AND MORE THAN 200 LIVES LOST. RUMORS: STOLEN PASSPORTS, TERRORIST ATTACK, ETC.

*WE WILL ALL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE TECH AND OFFICIAL RESEARCHES ON THE MATTER. ANOTHER SAD DAY FOR AVIATION AND FAMILIES OF THE PASSENGERS.
preacher1
preacher1 3
kea001
Tom Kearney 7
Facts: this is a bulletin board for a community of aviation enthusiasts.

When an event like this occurs, that community likes to share information and, indeed, speculate on perhaps what might have occurred. This is part of the grieving process of the human community and is a completely healthy reaction to disaster. Therefore, in my opinion,

I don't see it as helpful to denigrate the process of grieving by SHOUTING IN CAPS and haughtily proclaiming WE ALL HAVE TO DO x, y, and z. thus ending any sort of input others may wish to add.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
Actually the fact of two passports having been stolen has been confirmed by the respective countries that issued the passports. In both cases, coincidently, the passports were reported stolen in Thailand. Coincidently, both names also appear on the manifest of the plane that crashed over the ocean, which was made public.

In each case the whereabouts of the original passports holders (or at least a proof of life) was verified. The Italian called his patents after hearing about the premature report of his untimely death. The Austrian was found at home by police who went to look for him. These are the facts as reported by the authorities in the respective countries, and verified by personal accounts.

Like everyone else here, I don't know what happened. But I will be very surprised if does not involve terrorism.

There may have been some urgent behind the scenes investigation, before any information is confirmed or made public, in order to maximize the effectiveness of said investigation. I suspect that the airline held back info as whatever investigative bodies got a head start on trying to connect some dots.

What I don't understand, is how passengers can board a plane with stolen passports? If the passports were reported stolen one or two years ago, wouldn't the issuing country have cancelled the passports, making boarding an airliner difficult? Aren't passports immediately crosschecked electronically with an international database of valid passports? Am I off base?
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
Learn the difference between facts and rumors. The Stolen passports have been confirmed by the the issuing governments, unless you think the Italian Government is part of some conspiracy.

[This poster has been suspended.]

RedRackham
RedRackham 2
This is from the 8th of March. It's safe to say that everybody is aware of the stolen passports. Ridiculous post.
MrGoodfellow
Nathan Goodfellow 0
KevinBrown
Kevin Brown 0
A detailed list of passengers on the flight including names and nationalities can be found here:

http://news.sina.cn/?sa=t124v71d11482420&sid=213694&vt=4
SamKrantzler
Sam Krantzler 0
Wow this is definitely not the 777's year. Looks like the hull loss total has gone up to 4.
rsfary
Robert Fary -1
2 full days of sun/daylight and still so little information? Not impressed at all with Malaysians' communication. This is incredibly sad for the passengers and the crew. I would not be surprised to learn that this plane was either 1. inadvertently shot down by the Vietnamese military or 2. Bombed by someone. The top religion in Malaysia is..........
chick3nnn
Eddie Ng 0
The Worst is no 1 wanna hope for... and maybe could be radar interruption by China Warship since china placing alot of warship within tht area to build its own network(at least i can only think of tht reasons).... @@
solomonmanu
Manu Solomon 0
Pilot reportedly flying over Vietnam says he made contact with Malaysia Airlines flight shortly before it disappeared
herbs78
Marvin Segel 0
Catastrophic! Airplanes do not FALL out of the sky. However, if all hydraulics are
gone pushing the nose over for speed and then leveling and reoccurring the glide
position is quite tricky. On a 777 if any glide procedure is undertaken, there are significant back-ups to initiate a may day or location response. In that no such
responses occurred a catastrophic issue with all systems at no response seems to be a strong probability
tkarrde
Robert Chambers 2
If all hydraulics are gone, ACARS reports the issue to MH maintenance without any action required by the pilots. Catastrophic loss of the entire aircraft seems the only possible way for a 777 to disappear without any prior indications of distress.
yr2012
matt jensen 0
I've been saying this for almost a week - has anyone checked No Korea?
anhngq
anhngq 0
New finding, possibly a life vest

http://m.f29.img.vnecdn.net/2014/03/10/vatthela-3487-1394433611.jpg

Source: http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi-su/phat-hien-vat-the-mau-da-cam-nghi-la-phao-2961411.html
alombar1
Andrew Lombardi 0
it is amazing how little information has been obtained 30 hours later. I can track city bus' and trains from my phone. you would think they Malaysian Airlines would have the telemetry data by now. I think the odds of this being a terrorist incident are far greater than any sort of mechanical failure, but that is just my opinion.
seriousnz
Bruce Ell 2
Good info on passenger makeup but nothing about freight manifest. Passenger flights in this region carry significant amounts of freight. MAS lost an A330 (on ground) in 2000 due to a serious misdeclaration.
preacher1
preacher1 2
I wonder how this site would have been on TWA 800, back in the days before widespread Internet. Get used to it.
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
The fact that two stolen passports could be checked in at immigration and customs at KL airport is already the red herring... Foul play
elroy85750
elroy85750 1
Andrew, I first suspected foul play, as well. But if it was, then against whom and for what reason and why on that route? Until the wreckage has been discovered and the FDR recovered and analyzed (if possible), we can only speculate. As for me, I'm thinking along the line of an accident like Air France 447
donnaimvu
Brid Mcdonell 0
Terror...I hate that word.....I wonder how the western countries would feel if th bombings would be on their soil....tell me......who are the terrorists
chick3nnn
Eddie Ng 0
Why they don try to use flight simulator from the last spotted area to-recapture the scene with some added feature? my suggestion,correct me if my idea is silly , just concern bout the life over there :(
Oliversmall14
Oliver Tregoning 0
At the time of the flight it was late night passengers would have been asleep
honda705hp
Richard Rael 0
This has been a question going around the social media site and non main stream media. About Malysian Flight MH370.
That the real intention of that aircraft is to deliver or using that Boeing 777 for a low or High altitude detonation of a dirty bomb, EMP or nuke, by a terrorist organization. To be detonated somewhere over the Continental US.

Here is the theory. Please I invite you to comment.

1. I would suspect that since the aircraft went up to its service ceiling of 45000-47000 feet then dived to 15000 feet very rapidly, passengers would have been strewn all over the cabin and rendered unconscious, killed or injured.

2. At least two of the Malaysian passengers or crew were affiliated to AL-Qaeda or extremist group.

3. I would not place it beyond belieability where the surviving pilot (or both) could very well have landed the aircraft after disabling the transponders on a remote airfield on an island in the Indian ocean or flown to Yemen.

4. The theory: A terrorist group could have plans to load a nuclear/bomb weapon made in Iran onto the aircraft. The 777 has a max range of about 7700 nautical miles. That would bring the aircraft into Yemen diverted quite easily from its original flight path after leaving Malaysia. I don't believe the Malaysian government has a handle on the actual events or the course of the flight.

4a. In Yemen, the aircraft could be refueled and a nuclear weapon, dirty bomb, or emp loaded into the cargo area quite easily. The plane would then have a 6992 mileage distance to New York or Washington DC. This is well within the range of the 777 without refueling. It would easily leave the Middle East flying over Africa and then head North West over the Atlantic without transponders.
However, I don't discount the fact the plane could target the west coast where maximum devastation could occur.

5. It's entirely possible ( and likely) the aircraft could be fitted with Russian ECM Jamming equipment to avoid detection. Once entering the North American CADIZ zone 200 miles East of New York it could start jamming US radar, satellite tracking and interceptors.

6 The 777 would become a suicide mission/ bomber to provide devastating destruction. Similar to world trade center.

7. If the plane was hijacked, it may have been part of a larger plot choreographed by an al Qaeda affiliate in Malaysia. The Telegraph reported Saturday that a British al Qaeda informant claimed to have been complicit in an alleged terrorist plot planned by "four to five" Malaysian jihadists. The informant made the comments while testifying in New York last week during the trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law. He said that one of the Malaysian men was a pilot and that the group planned to hijack a plane in Kuala Lumpur and use it in a terrorist act. Badat's testimony came before the disappearance of MH370.

8. If the pilot was not involved. A passenger would have gained access to the cockpit by 3d printed gun. Reminder they were some members of a Hi-Tech company on board.

9. the probable date of this occuring would be around may 2, 2014. The anniversary of osama bin laden.

Another thought added 10:02 pm. The terrorist's chose the Malaysian airline for this strategy since they could be certain no Air Marshall's would be on board.
Wayne47
Michael Townsley 2
Interestingly Israel has announced they are requiring inbound flights to report in earlier than normal. US has no plans to step up scrutiny of inbound flights per Drudge. I would expect a lot of no shows for work at the World Trade Center NYC this next week.

As a precaution the FAA should not allow any Boeing 777 in US airspace unless they have Boeing's maintenance service activated which reports GPS. Reports are MH370 was not contracted to recieve this Boeing Service.
honda705hp
Richard Rael 1
I agree. Like I stated before I would discount a west coast attack though. And it was announced just a little earlier, that both pilots were behind sabotaging the avionics.
sram1008
sunny ram 0
there is one possibility though - the plane has been hijacked. The reports of landing in Nanming, stolen passports, another 2 passengers under scrutiny, the actual last official contact was 1:30am although they now claim it was 2:40am. No debris, no eyewitnes for any explosion or for crashing into sea, going off its course-path early in its flight.
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 0
If this turns out to be a terrorist attack, its interesting how this comes around 2-3 weeks after the State Dept. issued the shoe bomb warning. Hopefully this wasn't a dry test run for something bigger if that is the case
ernestophelan
ERNESTO PHELAN 0
Possible door fragment. Picture taken from a recognition aircraft flying the area were MH370 make its last contact. Click on the link below....

https://www.breakingnews.com/topic/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-with-flight-march-8-2014/
Carioca
Tomer Ariav 0
birtsjoe
Joe Birts 2
Nothing confirmed-WSJ and NYT say "possible debris".
ernestophelan
ERNESTO PHELAN 0
Hi Tomer: Possible door fragment:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/09/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-possible-debris-plane
AONeal79
AONeal79 0
"Malaysian officials also reported Sunday that five ticketed passengers with checked baggage had failed to board the plane. Their luggage was removed prior to departure."

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/u-s-investigates-possible-terror-links-in-malaysian-air-flight-mystery-continues/
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
"their luggage was removed prior to departure"
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
Yes, exactly...this is a standard safety protocol.
AONeal79
AONeal79 1
That wasn't the part that stood out to me. It was the five people who checked in but didn't board.
rsfary
Robert Fary 0
2 full days of sun/daylight and still so little information? Not impressed at all with Malaysians' communication. This is incredibly sad for the passengers and the crew. I would not be surprised to learn that this plane was either 1. inadvertently shot down by the Vietnamese military or 2. Bombed by someone. The top religion in Malaysia is..........
jws35
jws35 0
Haven't we seen this before ? What if MH370 was hijacked and was turning around to go back to Kuala Lumpur to ram the Petronas Towers ? Then, like in PA, some people on board dove the aircraft into the sea to prevent another 911 type event.
evbutler
Ev Butler 0
It wouldn't surprise me if it ends up in a chop shop with parts for sale. The passengers? Hostages maybe when the announcement is made. My theory is that it landed somewhere and it will be the next international crisis to get the passengers freed, Just guessing, like everyone else. I hope it turns out OK but chances are slim.
Oliversmall14
Oliver Tregoning 0
Tipe in on airline flight tracker in orenge to the left and tipe in as airline melamine airlines and then fligh MH370
syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 0
Based on the information available (confirmed and otherwise), my "wild speculation" is that MH370 took off from KLIA at 00:41. Flew its regular flight path and comms until 01:19, at which point control of the aircraft was taken over by 2 terrorists traveling on stolen Italian and Austrian passports. The flight then changed course towards the southern Philippines........... what happened next .......????
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
and the pilots were being gagged not to report anything? surely SOS could be transmitted.?
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Not if the plane just explodes in midair.

There are many folks who get data from this plane and know a lot more than they're reportting publicly. More information will come out as journalists investigate such leads.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
If that had happened, there would be pieces of wing, tail, fuselage floating... Seats are for flotation and some would have been found by now.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
The plane would break apart on impact if it hadn't already broken up midair. There would be some floating debris no matter the reason for the fall.

I will point out that Russian played a slight of hand game to divert attention away from the actual crash site of the Korean passenger airliner that they shot down.

At this point none of know what happened. We're just trying to piece it together from little bits of information.

Not sure why Maylasia waited many hours before confirming that contact was lost with that flight. There was a huge delay before the incident was widely reported around the world. It's as if they waited until 7.5 hours passed (available fuel) when all radar and radio contact was lost early in the flight.

It was only clear to family members after the expected arrival time at destination airport came and went that something was amiss. But Malaysia (and others who track airliner data) knew that the airplane was missing many, many hours before.
ALF8247
Alfred Stone 0
History is repeating itself it seems to me. the Bahamas Bermuda triangle another part of the planet military, civilian plane gone without a trace. Radar would have picked up on the plane breaking into smaller pieces, this has been proven and helped solve aircraft investigation crashes. Just a thought.
Oliversmall14
Oliver Tregoning 0
Please comment what you think but please comment on what the flight tracker is saying
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 2
Will it not just be today's flight of the same route? Flight numbers don't generally change.
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 1
Friday/Saturday's mh370 flight still says "result unknown."
brucegeorge0706
Bruce George 0
Wow, who got suspended? And for what, speaking truth?
will272767
William Chavez 0
Shame, the 777 is quickly losing its very clean safety record. No fatal/serious crashes in 20 years and then two in the space of 9 months?
konatom
T Economou 0
As long as we're pushing the boundaries of theories.. here's another thought. Reports have said a number of times that the general location where it's surmised the airplane went down, is "outside the area of radar coverage". If nefarious suspects knew this, the airliner could have been hijacked at that point and flown/landed elsewhere.
OZAIR
OZAIR 0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_447
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 0
U r referring to another MH 370 that departed on same route and time but 24 hours later . MH 370 is a daily flight
OZAIR
OZAIR 0
I follow most crash investigations of large aircraft.
I stand by my previous comments.
as for survivors ? I don't think so !
They will try and blame the pilots as they normally do if they can.
frankysoh
frank soh 0
The Austrian and Italian passports are reported stolen. It may be involved with terrorists act.
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson 0
"I don't think MAS or anybody else involved in this investigation owes you anything in "RIGHT NOW" findings"

Now that's a bold statement you're making.
sparkie624
sparkie624 4
Who is the you're... Instead of posting replies as a new item, click the reply below their comment that way everyone knows who you are talking to or about.
preacher1
preacher1 1
If you wear some officialdom, high power hat, of some type, then go after them and make them tell you more. If you don't, you are like the rest of us, taking what they put out, and no need to squall like a spoiled kid cause you can't have your way.
rktompsett
Robert Tompsett 0
Looking more like terrorism!
Strange! no flotsum!
Maybe Space Aliens took it!!! "Beam me up to your leader."
Lorna73
Lorna Sallis 0
So much about all this just doesn't add up!
preacher1
preacher1 5
So much instantaneous happening and speculation, and the "I want to know right now" attitude that we have all come to expect.
Mak2014
Mohammed Ather Khan Yousuf zai 0
Its really sad,Rip to all the passengers,and may god give patience to family members
Wayne47
Michael Townsley 0
No claim of responsibility would negate an act of terror unless it was done by a very small isolated cell wanting to remain anonymous. The military(s) of Vietnam and China should be asked if all of their air to air missiles are accounted for or if any such missiles were fired in training exercises or inadvertently the day of the aircraft's disappearance. No distress messages from the aircraft would indicate a sudden violent event of some nature.

It is amazing that no last transponder squawks or radar hits were recorded from the aircraft anywhere apparently. Additionally it is puzzling the aircraft's presence at some points in its flight path were not observed or monitored by any other traffic.
Oliversmall14
Oliver Tregoning 0
Yes it will if they can find out what happend very odd and no one has seen it no family's were sent messeges by loved ones saying good bi no reckage but I ahve a theory that


The two men with stolen passports could of taken over the plain or iver the pilots turned the transmitter off so that the plain would have thought to have gone down at that point yet it was flown miles away before crashing thats what I think may have happend it is a possibility the pilots/people in control of aircraft made the plane lose contact but flew it miles away from we're thought to be
donnaimvu
Brid Mcdonell 0
You can watch what the right hand is performing...but you need to watch what the left hand is doing....do not be manipulated
Oliversmall14
Oliver Tregoning 0
Look at the flight tracker on to
Of this page and tipe in MH370 it was not on my screen erlier and I've just noticed it appear then diseperence appear and is now appeared again and shows that teh aircraft is still moving and now over china don't no if its right but have a look at it
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
It is the next day flight of mh 370, it's a daily flight
adamplive
Adam Piasecki 1
I'm not sure how I would feel if I was on that flight.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 0
Also the B-777 has a RAT (Ram Air Turbine) for back-up electrical. Not to be confused with the RAT on the B757/767 series, where its function is back-up hydraulic pressure.
cessna210g
cessna210g 2
The RAT on a 757 can be used as a back up electrical backup if the plane is equipped with hydraulic generator.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
IF...and, my point again was that the B757/767 RAT does not directly power an electrical generator. Minor detail, and there are differing versions on that type. All the B777 have an hydraulic generator, to be powered indirectly via the RAT, as it maintains pressure in the system.
sram1008
sunny ram 0
the more the time passes without news of this aircraft, the more the possibility of hijacking. why else would they be sending so many warships and combat planes? they certainly are not suited for search or rescue operations. no distress calls, no radar contact, possibility of plane turning around(??), no debris, no explosion detected by US satellites...??
sram1008
sunny ram 1
if that were true, hopefully people are still alive!!
brucegeorge0706
Bruce George -2
NSA can determine when I have s***e***x with myself?? WHY CANT IT FIND THIS FREAKING P.L.A.N.E??? Lord OBAMA can't stop global warming either???
OZAIR
OZAIR -3
Some airlines are taking risks by delaying scheduled maintenance or repairs,so they can stay in the air longer.
That's fine with them cause the chances of something going bad is like winning Lotto but sooner or later someone wins,so they are prepared to take the chances to make a buck.
Then they write off the loss as an accident but the truth is it was an accident waiting to happen.
Pilot error happens a lot in these accidents too because the pilots are confused by what the high tech computers are telling them and as a result they are left in a position to either believe their own thoughts or trust what the computer is telling them,right or wrong.The pilots are forced to rely too much on high tech computer systems flying the planes and their skills and knowledge are being left to relax for long periods of time only to be used when challenged by a computer in an extreme emergency,when time is limited.
Computers are flying the planes,not the pilots.
Yeah lots of planes fly thousands of people around the world every day so on that fact alone the aviation industry considers flying safe,try telling that to the people involved who lost loved ones.
Greed,Fatigue,Computer confusion,shonky airline maintenance and repairs.
Lets cross our fingers an A380 doesn't go down one day with 600 on board.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 8
QUOTE: "The pilots are forced to rely too much on high tech computer systems flying the planes and their skills and knowledge are being left to relax for long periods of time only to be used when challenged by a computer in an extreme emergency,when time is limited.
Computers are flying the planes,not the pilots."

QUOTE: "Computers are flying the planes,not the pilots."

You are WAY off-base, here. This was a Boeing 777, not an Airbus.

QUOTE: "Greed,Fatigue,Computer confusion..."

Rubbish. There was certainly NO fatigue at play here, they were fresh from crew rest, or were initiating a trip sequence as the first leg of the first day.

AND, your entire diatribe is premature, in the extreme, as the FACTS of this incident are still unknown.
JD345
JD345 1
With good weather, an airplane with a good reputation, as you observe a low likelihood of fatigue being a factor, and this bit about the stolen passports, it's certainly puzzling -- but at this point the speculation-to-reality ratio is a little skewed in the wrong direction.

The facts will come out -- we'll find the black box and figure it out eventually.
Kingair31
Kingair31 2
Please stop talking. Seriously.....
tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
Not for nothing here, but there was just a recent squawk about Airbus changing the length of time for maintenance of the A380, so their checks should be more frequent.
brucegeorge0706
Bruce George -3
Yup I agree! MOTHER FUCKERS got another one. Hostages not victims, you heard it here first. Now, what to do? Hello American 001 arriving at the Sears Tower... can the US Presidente get his head out of his
ass in time to stop 9/11 - 2 ????
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Language please.. Sometimes younger eyes watch these threads, and others do not want to see the language either... If HiJackers, then I hope the hostages are ok. and to the answer of our president.. Answer, Probably not... They might be his kin folks doing the HiJacking.
jp1778
john peter -1
So much for the accuracy of flightaware. They have always been 3-5 minutes behind time. When I track flights I find that the plane has landed and flightaware still has is in the air on final.
preacher1
preacher1 1
The 3-5 minute delay is a security feature for FA and any other tracking site and has been there and well known for a long time. It's the same on take off or coming overhead. Just deal with. Friend of mine was showing still taixiing at CLT the other nite. Only with live ATC did we hear him.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
May I suggest you look into planeplotter.com and run your own tracking system.
I see a/c tracked overhead when they are overhead and FA has them further back.
ssjan
ssjan -1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysia Airlines plane loses contact with Air Traffic Control

A Malaysia Airlines flight lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control on its route to China.

http://jansaviation.com/news.php?art=malaysia-airlines-plane-loses-contact-with-air-traffic-control
bizjets101
biz jets -1
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370
ssjan
ssjan -1
I wonder, what is wrong with FlightAware? Since when did a list of tweets become more reliable than three different articles??
ilovenutella
ilovenutella -1
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/282-main-tile/492200-updated-mas-kl-beijing-flight-mh370.html
ilovenutella
ilovenutella -1
It's been found... landed safely in Nanming, China after a cockpit electronic malfunction.

http://www.malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/282-main-tile/492200-updated-mas-kl-beijing-flight-mh370.html
bizjets101
biz jets 4
Plane has not been found - it is missing period - you can't fly to China without showing up on radar - it is an impossibilty.
jwasielewski10
James Wasielewski 3
thanatos1990
Yuxiang Ma -1
The CEO of boing china annouced that the plane is discovered . Not confirmed by Malaysia and Vietnam officials
Aveation787
Colton Ellis 1
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson -1
If this isn't the nail in the coffin for MAS then I don't know what would. Perhaps a 10% reduction in market cap on Monday would suffice?
deanbrothers3
John Dean -1
sparkie624
sparkie624 0
Big Assumption.. Could have just as easily been Crew Suicide.
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
The fact that two of the passengers used a stolen passport. What valid reason would they have to use a stolen passport.
JD345
JD345 1
Maybe so they could get on a plane and fly somewhere?

We'll see how it shakes out.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Could've been. But you don't need stolen passports for that. So straight-up non-pilot terrorism is way more likely, given the facts as discovered so far.

When more information is revealed in much greater detail, I wouldn't expect anything else.

We'll see. But if I were a betting man in Vegas, I know where I'd park my money.
Oliversmall14
Oliver Tregoning -1
Ya I just re
Ise that about 4 seconds before you said that but thankx jack

[This poster has been suspended.]

mightyjoeyang
Joe Yang 0
i kind of think two possibilities: 1) break out in air due to mal-maintenance. 2) terroist bomb. the plane has been reported that there is a ground incident (clipped the wing) at Pu-dong airport in 2012. looking back on CI 611 incident from Taipei to HK, the Boieing 747-200 broke out in air due to in-proper maintenance. there is some similarity in both incidences.

I just hope MAS more force coming to bring information out to the families and relatives ASAP.
OZAIR
OZAIR -1
Thanks for the tip on the reply link,i do not use forums much so i thought i was just following the conversation,didn't know i was starting a new subject.
preacher1
preacher1 2
Do change your profile as well though. If you don't have a rating of any type, just leave it blank.
OZAIR
OZAIR -3
no i won't change my profile as my student licence is still current after 30 yrs thanks anyway.
preacher1
preacher1 4
You are the one that said you didn't fly. I really don't care. I was trying to pass a few things to you being new to the forum, but seeing as you know itall, and have a touch of arrogance, just kiss my ass and have a nice evening.Goodnite
bennettgaryw
Gary Bennett 2
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
Whoa Whoa Whoa,those are some ungodly words from the man in the robe... You're going to need penance!!!
bennettgaryw
Gary Bennett 2
So you have had a flight physical every four years for the past 30 years and still only have a student permit??? Hummmm sounds a little strange to all of us.....
preacher1
preacher1 3
He had a little trouble about that student part at first, and specifically said he didn't fly, and then all a sudden he's current.
bennettgaryw
Gary Bennett 1
Oh, he must be one of those professional students....
brucegeorge0706
Bruce George -1
Amen to that my brother. However, we will see this plane again, MARK MY WIRDS!
ualiah
Peter Crew -2
If anyone out there has been watching CNN, tonight, 3/14/2014……clearly,,pilots are to blamed!!! I will never fly commercially again,,,,,,and gee,,,,,how many of us really believe this!!!!!!!!!
Pilots are evil!!!
chick3nnn
Eddie Ng -2
MH370 found... heard tht just landed at China Nanning airport...god bless
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 1
Have found no other corroboration of this story. Could be a very cruel and sick joke.
KevinBrown
Kevin Brown 1
Hope you are not trolling. This is not something to joke about
superwbd
superwbd 1
The only unofficial source of this news:

http://malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/282-main-tile/492200-mas-kl-beijing-flight-missing.html

Hope that 's what had happened....
Quackers
Quackers 1
MattHinkle
Matt Hinkle 1
vincebaker
vincebaker 1
http://malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/282-main-tile/492200-mas-kl-beijing-flight-missing.html
yr2012
matt jensen -2
Yesterday I mentioned that some pilot must have seen or been in contact. I was righthttp://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/missing-mas-plane/story/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-pilot-contacted-mh370-just-it-
stuxnet
Jared Lingerson -2
Wow, what a farce on the part of MAS and Malaysian authorities it seems.

Official MAS statement reported Subang ATC to have lost radio contact with MH370 at 0240 GMT+8 (implying 119mintues from take off to disappearance). Other sources (see excerpt below) state Subang ATC lost contact with MH370 at 0122 GMT+8 (implying 41 minutes flight time from takeoff to disappearance). Transponder data seems to agree with the latter; flightaware'a data log ends at 0102 GMT+8, while flightradar24's log ended at 0120 GMT+8. MAS really handled this the worst they could and hitherto hasn't provided any more information that sheds more salient light onto this tragic case. I don't wish to say this but I cannot resist. Fuck them.


Wikipedia has the latest on the technicalities of the flight. Note the timings:

"The Aviation Herald reported that Subang Air Traffic Control lost radar and radio contact with the aircraft at 01:22 and officially advised Malaysia Airlines at 02:40 that the aircraft was missing.[6] However, a Malaysia Airlines spokesperson said that the last conversation between the flight crew and air traffic control in Malaysia had been around 01:30, and reiterated that the plane had not disappeared from air traffic control systems in Subang until 02:40.[15]"
joelwiley
joel wiley 3
I am a little surprised you are not carping about the abject failure of the NTSB to have issued a final report on this as well.
If you did not wish to give your expletive but could not resist, does that imply a lack of impulse control, or is it by chance a multiple personality disorder manifestation?
I hesitated to write this because, should FlightAware decide to delete your comment, mine will be hanging out in space, lost in context.
aschran
Adam Schran 2
if you look at datalogs for the same flight on prior days the data ends after 20-40 minutes as well. i wouldn't rely on flightaware or flightaradar24's logs as definitive for the duration of this flight, as they were clearly wrong for the other flights.
preacher1
preacher1 2
I don't think MAS or anybody else involved in this investigation owes you anything in "RIGHT NOW" findings so you can just kindly keep your foul language to yourself. If you have a problem with the way the investigation is going, go complain to them, rather than vent here on this site. I'm sure they will listen to such a big, important fella tell them how to do their job.
DVCal
Doug Kincaide 1
If the aircraft lost contact at 0240 GMT+8 then it is WAY WAY off course because it is reported to have never entered HCM airspace which is should have done by 0122 GMT+8. Something doesn't add up.
OZAIR
OZAIR -2
OZAIR
OZAIR -3
Tim please tell us what you think caused it ?
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 2
I recognize an Internet TROLL when I see one.

I suggest to all...best way to deal with such trolls is to stop giving them attention.

I'm done with "you".
OZAIR
OZAIR -3
I am no student nor do I fly.
preacher1
preacher1 6
Well, your profile shows you as a student and on here that means student pilot. Since that is your profile, I have to assume you put it in there, and if you don't fly, then your information from wherever is wrong or you don't understand it. I suggest you monitor and listen before proffering an opinion or arguing with veteran pilots about something you are totally wrong on.
ernestophelan
ERNESTO PHELAN -4
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Hi everyone. I used to be be a private pilot with not great experience but enthusiast of aviation and great viewer of "MAY DAY air chrashes" by Discovery Channel on TV. Lets go over the facts. 1.- plane lost contac with air traffic control and never arrive to its destination. 2. It went down, no doubt !!! There are only 4 major causes for an airplane to crash: 1.- Human error compose of: 1.1- pilot error or 1.2- maintenance error. 2.- Meteorological conditions 3.- Aircraft malfunction. 4.- Acts of terrorism Applying some logic lets analyze this 4 points. About point number 1 or human error I personally do not believe on pilot (1.1) error since that plane was alreadfy on cruising altitude and speed and control by the onboard computer and autopilot. Now, point 1.2 maintenance error only the airlines could tell about the maintenan or recent repairs done to the B777-200. This is an interesting point to take in consideration that could only be disregard knowing the maintenance orders on that aircraft and since I do not have acces to it, lets take this fact as probable cause of the accident. Point number 2 or meteorological conditions, is well know that climate conditions wee not hard or severe, thus, this is barely a cause of the accident. Number 3 Aircrat malfunction. Although this is a very modern aircrat, almost state of the art, could be a reason, a hard one. As a matter of fact, I read couple days ago that B787 real state of the aircraft rolled out of plant with cracks on the wings. And as my last point (4) ACT OF TERRORISM. I really doub it since this nation (Malaysia), as far as I know, is not involved in any political or religious incident around the world but there is something that let me think pretty much about the fact of an onboard explosion or bomb. The reason is that the crew did never notify of any aircrat malfunction or that the were going down. They did never sent a distress call or SOS and that is vere weir and strange. Could lead us to think that something unexpected ans subit happened and did not let the crew any chance or time to make any report.

I ARRIVED TO THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS as possible causes of the 777 (MH370)crash:

1. HUMAN ERROR (maintenance)
2. Aircraft malfunction (computer,speed indicator,stall indicator, vertical speed indicator or sensors fire on board, door locks or decompression....who knows !!!!!
3. Terrorism
AONeal79
AONeal79 2
Well then I guess we can all go home now.

/sarcasm
ernestophelan
ERNESTO PHELAN 1
JackalRovers
Jack Lee 1
Definitely terrorism related

Passport not corresponding to appearance :
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA2701720140310?irpc=932

Huge presence of PRC passengers :
http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/se-asia/story/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-officials-not-ruling-out-uighur-involvem
OZAIR
OZAIR -1
OZAIR
OZAIR -4
well good luck with your thoughts,i'm done here the only other comment i could make will be down the track after the full investigation and that will be " I told you so " till then goodbye and safe flying.0.o
TXCAVU
Elizabeth Robillard 4
DG GD: Many people probably died in this mishap so please keep your "I told you so" to yourself.
ernestophelan
ERNESTO PHELAN -4
In honor of all souls onboard fligh MH370 from Malaysia Airlines, we must pray for their arrival to their new destination in heaven next to the lord our God
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 4
No, we "must" not. Take your platitudes elsewhere.
OZAIR
OZAIR -4
Recent modification or repair recommendations for all 777-200 ,777-300 etc say that these repairs are recommended and are recommended to ensure that they avoid possible structural failure and complete loss of aircraft as my previous link to the recommendations suggested.
It is possible that this aircraft had not yet been checked or modified to avoid these failures and as a result,failed causing the loss of the aircraft.
Even the latest A380 super planes and 787 Dream liners have safety recommendations that need to be checked and acted on to avoid structural failure and loss of aircraft.Its a scary subject,knowing that cracks are detected in the fuselage and unless checked and corrected by the companies could lead to catastrophic aircraft crashes.
Malaysia Airlines better hope they followed and acted on recommendations for all their 777 aircraft.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 4
AGAIN....just wrong. Stop, already. You have no idea what you are posting.
avihais
Martin Haisman 3
Yup - list the AD"s regarding this supposed issue. The 787 has zero so far and the A380 had a couple of minor wing spar cracks in one aeroplane. And apart from pilot error recently (Asiana) and two other accidents with absolutely no structural issues its one aeroplane with an exemplary record of safety.
preacher1
preacher1 3
Exactly. There is no AD on the 777. There were some cracks found in the last day or 3 on some undelivered 787 wings where there was process change at the mfg but it did not affect anything flying.
OZAIR
OZAIR -4
Tim do your research.
Do you work for that airline ?
All my suggestions are based on facts from previous crashes.
You can use your p.c to research it yourself.I have even provided the links to the facts for you.
So stop sniping me and use your brain and P.C look for yourself.
You sound like you are supporter of airline companies,no matter how incompetent they will be,your tone suggests to me that you are a member of some airline company trying to drum up support for the companies that put people's lives at risk by not following recommendations or shonky aircraft maintenance.
Time will tell,then you can come back and publicly apologize for your ignorance.
preacher1
preacher1 3
If your so damn smart at least do us all the courtesy of putting your comment on REPLY so it will tag to who you are arguing with, rather than the rest of us have to chase it down. Big bad student like you ought to be able to figure out how to do that!
cleavera
cleavera 2
OZAIR
OZAIR -5
I am thinking some sort of sudden decompression as the plane dived for 200m then lunged left,I'm thinking at this point the plane went into a dive and proceeded into the sea nose first,due to the fact no wreckage was found suggests that it went into the sea as a whole,intact,like the recent Air France with similar circumstances (i.e)
no wreckage and just disappeared from radar at cruise attitude,no Mayday,no signs to suggest they were in trouble.
Ice crystals in the fuel and icing of other components was the cause for that crash but the pilots struggled to understand there speed and as a result the plane was in stall and fell 35,000 ft into the sea.
I'm saying it was a structural failure or mechanical causing a structural failure but 2 people on board with stolen passports is not good.Either way it was sudden and the pilots had no time to communicate their emergency.
preacher1
preacher1 6
You have to be talking about AF447, and there is no real similarity here at all. I have to agree with Tim. You are so far out of line on your posts that it ain't even funny.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 5
Wrong....just, WRONG! If you have no understanding of what you are writing, then you shouldn't compound that ignorance by displaying it to everyone!
OZAIR
OZAIR -5
Like i said my comments are based on fact from previous crashes and is searchable by anyone who knows how to use a computer and where to look.
Student pilot on the forums i think refers to how many comments you make on the forum as i have not made many since i joined i am considered new as in student the more i comment my ranking changes.
I am only giving my opinion as this forum chat was open to the subject of the 777 missing aircraft,I am merely putting my opinion of what was the probable cause as you said planes just don't fall out of the sky there is always a reason and that reason in 99% of the time was avoidable and the result of either pilot error due to confusion with the instrument indicators or poor maintenance as history shows.
Most commercial pilots flying for big airlines these days supervise a computer that flys the aircraft and only intervenes when something goes wrong and at that point they are not as tuned into the situation as they might have been.
I think relying on computers to take off,fly,land and only intervene at the last minute when there is a problem makes a lazy pilot that hasn't had his finger on the pulse the whole trip and is forced to perform miracles at the last moment when all the bells and whistles are sounding.
Anyway I am supporting pilots here its the big companies that are under scrutiny and how they blame pilots for a problem that they say should have been manageable regardless of a poor maintenance record or repair that led to the accident in the first place,too much pressure too many balls to juggle in such short time when placed in a situation in a confused state,the pilot always gets the blame when the computer disengages because it can't fly the plane anymore.
If the airline companies had their own way they wouldn't have pilots in aircraft at all,they tried to implement it in Australia that only 1 pilot was needed to fly aircraft and of course it was rejected for many reasons like if the pilot gets sick or has a heart attack then what ? 0.o
I am 51 and i am in a no skill labouring industry but you don't need to be a pilot or engineer to research facts that have already be investigated as a cause of accidents in any industry.
preacher1
preacher1 7
In the 1st place you are WRONG about the profile. That block in your profile is for your FLIGHT RATING and does not change unless you change it. It has no bearing on the number of posts. If you have no rating, it should be left blank. You are wrong when you say MOST pilots don't intervene. A few bad apples in some high profile cases have brought disdain on a younger generation, some deserved, some not. Automation is fine as a tool, but not a crutch. A PILOT knows how to FLY HIS PLANE and where he is in flight at all times if he is flying a 767 with a full glass panel or a j3 cub with needle and ball, but the basics are the same. What goes up will come down, and come down the wrong way if not done right. You may be able to research millions of facts but as in a lot od fields, things may not mean as they seem and you may be in error not having the practical experience to interpret them. Regarding this forum. Do not throw a response out there as a new comment. The REPLY link is there for a reason, so that you can respond directly to someone rather than up the string somewhere and everyone having to try and guess who you are talking to.
OZAIR
OZAIR -3
why are you so defensive,when i am suggesting the pilots are placed in a position when all goes wrong they can be the easy fall guy for airline companies to blame.
OZAIR
OZAIR -3
I know basic instruments and flying is the same from small to big aircraft.
I'm saying pilots are forced to rely too much on computer systems to fly a plane and when the computers stop working or malfunction the pilots are then thrown into the scenario to sort it out,sometimes beyond repair or limited by time.Pilots can't process information like and as quick as a computer but they are expected to and expected to come up with the correct answer just as fast,this is abuse by the airline company.
OZAIR
OZAIR -4
Oh yes i once was a student like 30 years ago and I have a right to say what i think on here just like you.
I never said most pilots don't intervene ( i said they are left to intervene at the last moment )
get your facts right before you accuse me of something you read wrong...
Accidents are caused they just do not happen.
OZAIR
OZAIR -5
Tim your previous posts suggest your an airliner captain ? please don't be so narrow minded and such a yes man for the company you fly for,join the union if your country allows you to.
MattHauke
Matt Hauke 2
Having trouble with the "Reply" button?

[This poster has been suspended.]

clarencealestairmrison
Alestair M. Rison 3
It's NEITHER Muslims NOR other religions' fault. Why do you hate Muslims? They are not the ones who ruled the MH370 disappearance. Give some reasons - Why do you hate Muslims?
preacher1
preacher1 2
Let's don't get a religious argument started here. take it to a private message. I don't want an alert coming up on here every time ya'll bite at one another on an argument neither of you will win.
avihais
Martin Haisman -1
Total misinformation stemming from the 9/11 debacle. Most terrorism stems from Israel and yes I will say it Jewish origin (And don't pull out the race card either). There are Muslim extremists/terrorists and the rest are just normal every day people and many are doctors/surgeons who save lives every day in your own country. It could be an act of terrorism and could be Muslim extremists but could be aliens as well. Passports missing stolen on the flight and Italian and Australian ones so try and figure that one out. The flight is currently only listed as missing and a couple of oil slicks found so far. That's fact and everything else is speculation. As an aviation "expert" (We all are according to media) and having analysed aviation accidents for years it is only of deep concern from the many indications that the flight has suffered a catastrophic event.
avgeekryan
Ryan E. 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

DEVELOPING: Malaysia Airlines Looses Track of a 777 After It Departs from Kuala Lumpur

On Friday (EDT), Asian carrier, Malaysia Airlines, put out a press release regarding a lost Boeing 777-2H6(ER).

http://30kfeet.us/1gfYSgJ
Hoggarthlee
Lee Hoggarth 0
I agree with Steve, there is something very odd here, along with the redundancies in the aircraft systems there is also a min . of 3 locator transmitters too, no debris showing by now, also the rescue aircraft will have sophisticated radars too, very odd
sparkie624
sparkie624 2
Reference Alaska Airlines Flight 261 when they had the stabilizer jack screw failure and nosed in.. Almost total destruction... If this was a crew suicide, or hijackers took over the plane and nosed it straight down, I doubt the FDR's, locators, or anything is in tact from coming down that fast and hard.
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysia Airlines Says It Lost Contact With Plane

Malaysia Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said that it has lost contact with one of its planes en route to China.

In a statement released at 7:24 a.m. local time on Saturday, the airline said that flight MH370, which departed from Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 a.m. local time with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board, was originally scheduled to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m....

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-says-it-lost-contact-with-plane/
spursno1
Ben Wind 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Just Breaking: Malaysia Airlines Loses Contact With Flight Carrying 239

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-flight-carrying-239-n47516

Malaysia Airlines Loses Contact With Flight Carrying 239

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-flight-carrying-239-n47516
Oliversmall14
Oliver Tregoning -1
Look at the flight tracker on to Of this page and tipe in MH370 it was not on my screen erlier and I've just noticed it appear then diseperence appear and is now appeared again and shows that teh aircraft is still moving and now over china don't no if its right but have a look at it
rayksaintange
Raymond St Ange 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Watch the moment flight MH370 'disappeared' over South China Sea carrying 239 people

The jet was being monitored by flight tracking website flightradar24.com which shows how the plane's progress before it vanished. The website claims this was 40 minutes after the flight took off.




http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-malaysian-airlines-flight-watch-3219606
theanswerguys
Jeffrey Brooks 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysian distress signal non-existent.

Report was incomplete and premature. Newspaper report is speculation at best.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/malaysia-airlines-missing-vietnam-idUSL3N0M505Z20140308
JerrySteinberg
Jerry Steinberg 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Vietnam Officials Report Spotting Debris from Malaysia Flight

Vietnamese officials said they had located debris in the Gulf of Thailand from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane that went missing with 239 people on board.

The Vietnamese ministry of information and communication reported on its website that the items were believed to be a composite inner door and....

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/vietnam-officials-report-spotting-debris-from-malaysia-flight/
lvdudeman
lvdudeman -3
Malaysian Digest is reporting the plane landed in Nanming China

http://malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/282-main-tile/492200-mas-kl-beijing-flight-missing.html
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 5
Have not found the slightest corroboration. Likely a sick joke. Suggest no one re-post this link.
Quackers
Quackers 1
100% agree. Chances of some sort of electrical fault that knocked out all comms, and somehow avoiding radar contact and then magically landing in Nanming are pretty slim. (Although a happy ending is desirable, I fear this is going to be a very sad night for the families of those on board)
superwbd
superwbd 1
Some Chinese source from FB said this is highly likely be a mistake. Better not to take that for granted...
bizjets101
biz jets 2
Aircraft is known to be missing - confirmed by every major news source, ATC, Malaysian Airlines - there is ZERO chance it landed safely somewhere. ZERO, ZERO, ZERO.
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 2
Yes, because of the multiple redundancies. Even with all normal electrical (both engine generators, and the APU generator), the #1 Comm and #1 transponder will still operate, from battery power in emergency Stand By (Boeing terminology for those electrical buses tied directly to the batteries).
tduggan2010
Tim Duggan 1
Also the B-777 has a RAT (Ram Air Turbine) for back-up electrical. Not to be confused with the RAT on the B757/767 series, where its function is back-up hydraulic pressure.
hswiseman
Howard Wiseman 1
Thank You. Heartless fake article.
bizjets101
biz jets 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Flight MH370 bound for Beijing goes missing B777-200

The authorities have begun a search and rescue for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 after the Beijing-bound plane lost contact with air traffic controllers this morning, the airline said today.

MAS said flight MH370 lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am.

The B777-200 aircraft left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.41am and was expected to land in Beijing at 6.30am.


"The flight was carrying 227 passengers (including two infants), 12 crew members," the airline said in a statement.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their search and rescue team to locate the aircraft," it added. – March 8, 2014.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/08/Missing-plane-MAS/
warmwynds
warmwynds 1
Since no debris has been found to date of the MH370 reminds me of a incident years ago when a 737 left Boston heading for the west coast was diverted to and landed in Cleveland. The story press released goes that it crashed in some Pennsylvania field however no evidence was found then either. Hopefully MH370 will be found. Human Beings, Airplanes and material things leave evidence.
glabady738
Galen Labady 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Info on Missing Malaysia Jet

The airline told NBC News that a search-and-rescue mission was under way for Flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200, and that relatives of those on board were being notified.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-jet/malaysia-airlines-flight-239-aboard-goes-missing-n47516
SiriuslyCold
Feisal Kamil 0
How reliable is FlightAware's ADS-B data?
kwu20001
kev wu 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Vietnam says missing Malaysian plane's signal detected

HANOI, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A Vietnamese official of search and rescue said Saturday that the signal of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has been detected, local media reported.

The official told local VNExpress that the signal of the plane carrying 239 people has been detected at some 120 nautical miles southwest of Vietnam's southernmost Ca Mau province.

Vietnam has ordered all its search centers to search for the plane, said the official.

Earlier, Vietnamese transport minister said the country agreed with Malaysian authorities to coordinate in search and rescue work.

The Malaysian passenger plane with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board lost contact with air traffic control on its way from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur to China's capital Beijing, the carrier said Saturday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-03/08/c_133170651.htm
rmfg
Rob Gibbs -1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysian Airlines Loses Contact With Flight Carrying 239

Malaysian Airlines Loses Contact With Flight Carrying 239

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/malaysian-airlines-loses-contact-flight-carrying-239-n47516
anhngq
anhngq 0
Following http://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/mh370#2d2d25b, if MH370 went correctly, it would be in Da Nang in the middle of Vietnam instead. I guess the plan only flied one third of the usual speed :(.
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
People.. Please read before posting... "THIS WAS A 40 MIN FLIGHT. THE 2 HOURS WAS A MISTAKE" GEEZ... HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS HAVE TO BE POSTED.
anhngq
anhngq 1
Oh sorry, so radar lost exactly at the turning point (to the left).
sparkie624
sparkie624 1
I do not know about the turning point.. But the radar clearly shows he disappeared 40 min after departure and where an Oil Slick was found... that is the most concrete evidence so far.
aschran
Adam Schran 1
The route normally only captures 20-40 minutes of public radar data for past days. so it might be a 2 hour flight. look at http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140228/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA for the various days and click on "track log and graph"
anhngq
anhngq 1
NickFlightX
NickFlightX 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Vietnam media: Navy confirms flight MH370 crashed into the sea

Tuoi Tre, a leading daily in Vietnam, reports that the Vietnamese Navy has confirmed the plane crashed into the ocean. According to Navy Admiral Ngo Van Phat, Commander of the Region 5, military radar recorded that the plane crashed into the sea at a location 153 miles South of Phu Quoc island.


http://my.news.yahoo.com/mas-aircraft-goes-missing--says-airline-023820132.html
ericdasilva
Eric da Silva -1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysian Airline 370 goes missing!

ATC lost contact with Malaysian Airline 370, two hours after takeoff in Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The type of aircraft was a Boeing 777-200ER the same type of aircraft that crashed in San Francisco in July of 2013. The flight was carrying 239 people, and the EU said that at least two people on board were carrying stolen passports.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/us-malaysiaairlines-flight-idUSBREA2701720140308
mdlacey
Matt Lacey 2
Gudseeds
Gudseeds 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysia MH370

Two passengers on manifest..'Not Aboard' ! Apparently imposters using Stolen Passports' ! That does not sound good !

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/stolen-italian-austrian-passports-missing-malaysian-airlines-plane-150352592.html
ericdasilva
Eric da Silva 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysian Airline flight MH370 goes missing!

Subang ATC lost contact with Malaysian Airline flight MH370 two hours into the flight,bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, yesterday morning at around 12:41 AM local time. There are 239 that are feared dead. The type of aircraft involved in the accident is a Boeing 777-200, the same type of aircraft that crashed in San Francisco in July of 2013.

http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/03/07/malaysia-airlines-flight-missing/6188123/

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