Malaysia Air Airliner missing

[Ryan Bell]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Strong enough for a man. Made for a woman.

[Ryan Bell]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

it gets weird...

Points more toward hijacking than crash.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

it gets weird...

I'm tellin' y'all.


Wormhole.

[Mike Mercury]

Malaysia Airlines MH370 searchers scramble ships after commercial flight reports debris field off Vietnam

Vietnam’s Maritime Search and Rescue Services was scrambling ships to a debris field after a commercial Cathay Pacific airliner Monday en route to Hong Kong reported a “large amount of metal debris.”

Was Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 headed for Asia’s Twin Towers?

It is possible that MH370 was a 9/11-type plot, in which the target was the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur? Until recently, they were the tallest buildings in the world. And even now, they remain a spectacular centerpiece to Kuala Lumpur’s skyline. You can see why terrorists would find them a tantalizing target.

Malaysia is a Muslim country, so it would be low on the target list for many terrorist groups. But then, so are Iraq and Syria, yet both nations regularly witness mass-casualty attacks against civilians. It’s also worth noting that Southeast Asia has played host to a number of terrorist entities for decades.

A vessel in the area confirmed material was floating in the ocean about 92 kilometres off the southeastern coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea. The debris is located about 520 kilometres northeast of a missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370′s last known radar position.

A Thai cargo ship in the area was asked for assistance and had set course to the position but had not found anything unusual as of Monday afternoon.

The location of the possible debris does not match the flightpath expected to have been taken by the jet, which should have flown directly over Ho Chi Minh City. The location supplied to the Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department was more than 125 kilometres southeast of the original flight path.

[Admiral Blue]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

it gets weird...

Whoa.

Bermuda Triangle East.

[Mike Mercury]

and now this:

The Malaysian Air Force has traced the last known location of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 to a spot above Pulau Perak, a very small island in the Straits of Malacca and hundreds of miles from the usual Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight path, according to a senior Malaysian Air Force official. The official declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

If the Malaysian Air Force data cited by the source is correct, the aircraft was flying the opposite direction from its scheduled destination and on the opposite side of the Malay Peninsula from its scheduled route.

nowhere near the coast of Vietnam and the reported (post #180) debris field.

If this is correct, the plane (after transponder stopped) did a 100 degree course change to the west... and flew back over the country/landmass it originally took-off from.

[Kevin_73]

There was a really bad Kris Kristofferson movie in the 80's about a group of people from the future that traveled back in time onto airliners that were about to crash.

Millennium (1989) - IMDb

Maybe it was true!

[Mike Mercury]

question; why would a modern commercial passenger jet - even have an option to turn off their transponder during flight?

or be able to turn it off without entering some sorta password (that would be radio'ed to them from air controllers) ?

[Mike Mercury]

Female cockpit guests - not uncommon on Malaysia flights

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia Airlines says it is investigating an Australia television report that the co-pilot on its missing flight had invited two women to stay in the cockpit for the duration of a flight just over two years ago.

Jonti Roos spoke about her flight on the program "A Current Affair," which aired multiple still photographs from Roos that showed the women inside the cockpit and the pilots apparently working the plane's controls.

In a statement, the airline said late Tuesday it wouldn't comment about the report until its investigation into it is complete but that it was "shocked" by the allegations.


"We have not been able to confirm the validity of the pictures and videos of the alleged incident," the airline said. "As you are aware, we are in the midst of a crisis, and we do not want our attention to be diverted."

Roos said she and her friend were allowed to stay in the cockpit during the entire one-hour flight in December 2011, from Phuket, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur. She said the arrangement did not seem unusual to the plane's crew.

Fariq Abdul Hamid and the other pilot talked to the women, smoked and posed for photos during the flight, she said. The second pilot was not identified.


"Throughout the entire flight they were talking to us, and they were actually smoking throughout the flight," Roos said.

Roos told the program she was surprised when learned that Hamid was a co-pilot on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

"When I realized it was the exact same co-pilot and not only that but I had met him and I have photos in the cockpit with him, that was quite shocking," she said.

Roos didn't immediately reply to a message sent to her via Facebook. The second woman, Jaan Maree, could not be located.

The first officer of the missing plane, 27-year-old Hamid, has about 2,800 hours of experience and has flown for Malaysia Airlines since 2007.

pics & story here:
http://www.miaminewsday.com/national...t-in-2011.html

[ApexOversteer]

Originally Posted by TxAg

On the flip side, the "public" didn't get it close to right (AFAIK) when they started trying to play detective in the Boston Marathon bomber tragedy.

I remember the public having the Marathon Bombers spotted in photos right along with the young man the news media accused of being the bomber erroneously without doing due diligence on the reporting. The public is allowed to speculate, not the media.

So, IMO, the public did exactly what was right, and it was the news media that got it wrong.

[Mike Mercury]

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was hundreds of miles off course, traveling in the opposite direction from its original destination and had stopped sending identifying transponder codes before it disappeared, a senior Malaysian Air Force official told CNN Tuesday.



"This kind of deviation in course is simply inexplicable," said Paul Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board.

[Mike Mercury]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Plane hijacked and maybe trying to be flown somewhere to ransom the passengers? Then the passengers pull a Flight 93 on their attackers?

Just speculating.

wow; that's certainly a possibility.

interesting, that it appears the military radar of that region - knew all along that the flight did not crash in the ocean at the spot the transponder was turned off - nor nowhere close to there... but still allowed the charade to continue.

There is a lot of $$$$$$$ looking for a plane in an area that it probably wasn't in.



.

[ApexOversteer]

Originally Posted by TxAg

I agree the public has, at the moment, the right to review public photos and try to play detective.

That doesn't mean they are always right.

But in the Boston Marathon Bombing case, they actually had the guys found in photos. So they were actually right.

Beside that, your point is moot in this latest case, because it's unlikely that the public will find and highlight a totally innocent debris field, which the media then accuses of being the Malaysian airliner debris field erroneously, causing that debris field to committ suicide.

[Kerrmudgeon]

I wonder if they can triangulate any of the cell phones being used by the passengers on board before it went down?

[ApexOversteer]

Originally Posted by TxAg

No, but they could falsely identify some folks wanted for questioning causing them or their family to do something dumb. Never underestimate the stupidity and race to "scoop" everyone else in the ratings.

Looking at satellite photos of open ocean?

I am totally with you on the media jumping the gun and caring more about being first than being right. I also agree that public speculation isn't always right. I get your point.

But it is moot in this case.

The public is being asked to study satellite photos of the search area, in an effort to locate potential debris fields. Authorities will then take leads generated by the public and determine whether a lead is worthy of closer scrutiny.

I fail to see how the public's assistance can be anything but helpful in this particular case.

[ApexOversteer]

Originally Posted by Kerrmudgeon

I wonder if they can triangulate any of the cell phones being used by the passengers on board before it went down?

I've wondered why we haven't yet heard of such calls being made, either by cellphone or by skyphone, if the plane was so equipped.

I know that if my international flight suddenly flipped a U'ie, I'd be on the phone to whoever was expecting me at my original destination, or family to let them know I wouldn't be arriving as expected.

[mikeg826]

Originally Posted by ApexOversteer

I've wondered why we haven't yet heard of such calls being made, either by cellphone or by skyphone, if the plane was so equipped.

I know that if my international flight suddenly flipped a U'ie, I'd be on the phone to whoever was expecting me at my original destination, or family to let them know I wouldn't be arriving as expected.

At cruising altitude, can you even grab a cell signal? I would think you'd be beyond the cell tower's range and/or the speed of the place wouldn't allow your phone time to register to the towers?

[Mike Mercury]

Earlier Tuesday, Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that search and rescue teams had expanded their scope to the Malacca Strait. An earlier statement said the western coast of Malaysia was "now the focus," but the airline subsequently said that phrase was an oversight. It didn't elaborate. Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the search remained "on both sides" of the country.

last I read, the Malaysian military's radar showed the flight over one of the two islands on the east side of the mainland (Timur Laut or Langkiwi) and disappearing from radar there. Both islands are in the Malacca Straight. Maybe it landed on of the islands and it's a hostage situation?

[DAB]

unless you have a good frame of external reference, it's hard to 'feel' a gentle turn of a plane. if it's daylight, then if your side suddenly becomes shady when it had been sunny, that's a big clue. but at night, over open ocean? lot's of luck. and if it was a hijack, if they did it somewhat quietly, then most of the pax wouldn't know a thing, and only first class would have a view of the cockpit door.

[ApexOversteer]

Originally Posted by mikeg826

At cruising altitude, can you even grab a cell signal? I would think you'd be beyond the cell tower's range and/or the speed of the place wouldn't allow your phone time to register to the towers?

Originally Posted by DAB

unless you have a good frame of external reference, it's hard to 'feel' a gentle turn of a plane. if it's daylight, then if your side suddenly becomes shady when it had been sunny, that's a big clue. but at night, over open ocean? lot's of luck. and if it was a hijack, if they did it somewhat quietly, then most of the pax wouldn't know a thing, and only first class would have a view of the cockpit door.

You're both right.

I was remembering people on the planes on 9/11 using cellphones and skyphones to call family, but it does seem that these passengers might not have had the same opportunity to make contact, or would have realized they were in danger.