MAS B772 9M-MRO Flight MH370 KUL-PEK Missing with All 239 POB Presumed Killed

[Chris Tan 0]

Either way this is an embarrassing incident for the RMAF since they let an UFO passed just like this without scrambling their jets. For 4-5 hours, they were doing nothing!

?

They've already thought of an excuse for that. Apparently it was flying away from Malaysia and was "not considered a threat".

 

OR, someone was sleeping on the job.

[Pieter C. 5]

US investigators suspect that Malaysia Airlines flight 370 stayed in the air for about four hours past the time it reached its last confirmed location, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the details.

 

The report comes as authorities remain uncertain about which ocean to search for the airliner that went missing on Saturday after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. The latest disclosure led US investigators to explore the possibility that someone deliberately turned off the transponder and diverted the plane to another location, the newspaper reported.

 

It raises the possibility that the plane, and the 239 people on board, could have flown on for additional distance of about 2,200 miles (3,500 km), potentially reaching the border of Pakistan or as far as destinations in the Indian Ocean or Arabian Sea, the paper said.

 

The last definitive sighting of the aircraft on civilian radar screens came shortly before 1:30 am on Saturday, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, as it flew northeast across the mouth of the Gulf of Thailand bound for Beijing.

 

Aviation investigators and national security officials believe the plane flew for a total of five hours based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing 777's engines as part of standard monitoring, the Journal said.

 

One person told the paper that, as part of a maintenance agreement, the Malaysia Airlines plane was able to transmit engine data live to Rolls-Royce for analysis. The system sends data from the Boeing 777's two Trent 800 engines, giving details such as altitude and speed of the jet.

 

US counterterrorism officials are pursuing the possibility that a pilot or someone else on board the plane may have diverted it toward an undisclosed location after intentionally turning off the plane's transponders to avoid radar detection, the newspaper reported, citing one person tracking the probe.

 

A senior Malaysia Airlines executive said on Wednesday that the airline has "no reason to believe" that any actions by the crew caused its disappearance.

 

At one briefing, US officials were told investigators are actively pursuing the notion that the plane was diverted "with the intention of using it later for another purpose," the Journal said.

 

On Tuesday, the international police agency Interpol's head said they do not believe the disappearance of the jet was the result of a terrorist attack.

 

(Reuters)

.

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

ACARS is a very custom system that varies between different Airlines....

 

But based on my experience... Should there be aany failures, the acars will very likely downlink the error messages..

 

If aircraft flew until out of fuel... Someone will be in the know

[Azman MN 1]

Could the 1.30am vs 2.30am be the difference between the time they lost the aircraft and the time Malaysia Airlines was informed?

 

Why is China complaining? They took 4 days to send the satelite photo and then they backtracked and said that it is a mistake.

 

And hasn't RR now confirmed that they did not get any signal after 1.07am?

[iwan 3]

Could the 1.30am vs 2.30am be the difference between the time they lost the aircraft and the time Malaysia Airlines was informed?

 

Why is China complaining? They took 4 days to send the satelite photo and then they backtracked and said that it is a mistake.

 

And hasn't RR now confirmed that they did not get any signal after 1.07am?

I doubt that they are complaining?maybe the media is sensationalizing things to gain the hottest news since they're not getting anything juicy from the PC.

 

Glad they are doing something about the bomoh. I cant believe how they allowed him to go on with that 'show' and the attention he was getting was equally unbelievable. But well, one thing we need to keep in mind is we the rakyat are equally responsible in giving a good impression or perception to foreigners especially those who might not be familiar with us. The things we say and do reflects who we are. Sad to see some people being proud to 'advertise' the weaknesses of our country to the mat sallehs probably just to get their attention.

 

Back to the topic, i was wondering, we have commited to keep looking until we find the plane, assuming it takes longer than expected,normally would the participating countries follow suit or is there a possibility that they withdraw earlier?

Edited March 13, 2014 by iwan

[JuliusWong 0]

Sorry, but no offense. There isn't any political element at any of my posts. You need to take everything with pinch of salt. The stuffs you read or confirmed today will be different tomorrow.

 

Did you guys realised that everything that foreign media or intelligences or companies reported are all flatly denied or rejected by our very own Malaysia.

 

First the confusion. Refer here. Upon confronted by media over the glaring confusion, Hishamuddin retorted: “It’s only confusion if you want it to be seen to be confusion,” Is this the Statement of the Year?

 

Right from the very beginning it was chaotic. Time when radar loss. 40 mins after take off? An hour and 20 mins after the plane took off? When the DCA and Control Tower informed MAS?? Why the time gap? No one has given a definite answer until now. Never mind.

 

Second, passengers list: enough said. Authorities kept changing from five pax offloaded, to then four persons. then appeared the standby list. If the media hadn't probe further would we know the standby list? Where was the standby list? First few press releases by MAS never mentioned the standby list.

 

It was at the same time, the two pax with fake passports appeared into the scene. We are talking about not one but two persons who breached almost 5 to 6 layers of security to get their butt on board the plane. Then came the epic statement: "40 million lost passports, how to check?" I don't need to mention who said it. Don't get me started on Balotelli....whatever telli.....

 

Third, point of loss contact, then made air u-turn. Did it happened or not? Did the military radar picked it up? Was anyone on duty?? First in the morning the general said yes, they noted the air u turn, later in the day, no....then came another epic statement: "There are things I can tell you, and there are things I cannot tell you!" Say what again??

 

Fourth, wreckage spotted by China satellite and the emergency lifeboat spotted by fishermen. Why did China actually release the images three days after the incident, we will never know. Maybe they have their hidden agenda, we will never know. Emergency lifeboat lost by MMEA. When asked about it, the authority quickly deflected the questions: no, it is not from the plane. When probed further asking if MMEA indeed lost it during handover, he said, no comment. Amboi!

 

Hishamuddin slammed media for publicising the satellite images from China, slamming media for wasting their SAR effort. So what is the purpose of SAR team? Aren;t they supposed to check every single available clues out? Or just follow instructions from a disorientated 'Malaysia Disaster Management Team' (MDMT)?? Or wait, I forgotten even MDMT doesn't even know where look for......

 

Fifth, the bomoh. It is not the media goons who made a big mountain out of a molehill. Family are grieving already, relatives are in despair. And the central administration has been notified. But did anyone ask them to leave earlier on? or arrest them? One can admire their effort in helping us in locating the missing plane, but is it necessary to do it in public?? As far as I know, this mystical stuffs are 'supposed' to do it in secret, out of public view to be 'effective'. For our case, no. It was a parade of circus...No wonder many media, or even the world is laughing at us.

 

Sixth, who is in control? As far as I read, our beloved DCA DG mentioned earlier in second or third PC all the SAR efforts are co-ordinated by him. Then he should be the one answering all the questions, yesterday and today Hishamuddin and AJ pula. Aren't we glad that IGP, Zahid Hamidi and the air force guys are out of the pix now......Talk about too many cooks spoilt the soup, no, not the soup in our case: the big bucket of nasi lemak. Look we can create a new idiom.....pun intended.

 

With no constructive data, figures and numbers and solid info from the authorities, how and what are we going to keep the discussion going forward. Hijacking theory, nah shot down by Hishamuddin earlier. Not all of us are from aviation field. We started every day with new hope, but ended our day with disappointment. One can only hope.

 

Hari ini A, tomorrow B, hari berikutnyer A lagi. [Today, it is A, tomorrow 'B', the day after 'A' again]

 

Before everyone slam me for being keyboard warrior, no I am not. I joined MCA's call for volunteer to assist the victims' families. Waiting to be activated. A small role compared to those out at sea and the skies. Hopefully the volunteers can bring a bit of comfort to the families.

 

On a side note, I do appreciate all the effort that SAR team are putting in thus far. From 4 countries, now 13 countries. It is a hard job, searching through thousands of nautical miles. As more countries joined in, one can only hope we can yield some results soon.

 

It's Day 6, tomorrow will be one week MH370 disappeared off the screen. If the crisis management team really doesn't know where the plane is, which all of us also don't know, at least grab this golden opportunity to show to the world that Malaysia, note the world 'Malaysia' can rise up to the challenge and is capable of handling a crisis. We need to show them strong leadership and co-operation. Not shooting down your allies' every clue and intelligences.

 

It's Day 6 night time. Wherever they are, I hope the 239 pax and crews, or whichever survivors left, had their meal and are in warmth. I sincerely hope that they don't give up hope and encourage one another too.

 

The SAR are coming soon, please hang on. We are waiting for you to come back. Your families are waiting for re-union with you.....

 

God Bless.

Edited March 13, 2014 by JuliusWong

[Johan Z 0]

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet.

 

 

According to the directive which he quotes, there had been a report of "cracking in the fuselage skin underneath the satellite communication (satcom) antenna adapter".

 

From this, he theorised that MH370 could have experienced the same issue, leading to the failure of satellite-based communications as well as to a slow decompression of the plane which left passengers unconscious and pilots disoriented. "If the decompression was slow enough, it’s possible the pilots did not realise to put on oxygen masks until it was too late," he wrote.

He also noted that the Boeing 777 aircraft does not deploy passenger oxygen masks until the cabin altitude reaches 13,500 feet. By then, passengers were likely to be unconscious if there was a slow decompression. Moreover, MH370 was a red-eye flight and most passengers would be trying to sleep, hence masking the effects of oxygen deprivation.

The autopilot function would have ensured that the plane maintained course and altitude before crashing into the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan or the Pacific Ocean, miles from the intensive search zone in the South China Sea where rescue efforts have been concentrated in the past few days.

This led him to conclude that "this was likely not an explosive decompression or inflight disintegration".

 

 

Source

 

Can we discuss frustration,politics, bomoh etc in irrelevance thread? Thanks to the thread starter.

It's really hard to follow when the same opinions are repeated on every page.

Hope they'll find the wreckage soon.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Johan Z

[xtemujin 0]

US Officials Have 'Indication' Malaysia Airline Crashed into Indian Ocean

By MARTHA RADDATZ | 13 March 2014 Thursday

http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-officials-malaysia-airline-crashed-indian-ocean/story?id=22894802#.UyHVjbTM3XE.twitter

Edited March 13, 2014 by xtemujin

[shahjees 0]

Hi Johan Z, I have read somewhere about the FAA AD on the depressurization/break-up risk on the 777 and the experts there posted something saying that this AD does not apply to 9M-MRO because 9M-MRO do not have such antenna?? maybe some experts here can shed more light on this issue.

[S V Choong 4]

US Navy's P-8A Poseidon will join the search beginning 15th March

Kinda made me wonder why the RAAF did not sent their P-8 Poseidon to join the search and rescue effort but instead using the about-to-retire P-3C Orion!

[JuliusWong 0]

More details for the 6pm PC yesterday 13th March 2014.

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1447885/malaysia-rejects-chinas-lost-plane-images-denies-reports-mh370-flew-hours

 

THE MISSING MH370 STORY SO FAR

 

A re-cap of what happened to MH370:

 

All possible reasons:

 

To give you guys a brief look at the 12 nations participating in the MH370 SAR:

Source: The Wall Street Journal

 

The challenges SAR Teams face:

 

The unsolved mystery:

Edited March 13, 2014 by JuliusWong

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Interesting bits on the flight number change from MH370/371 to MH318/319. http://airlineroute.net/2014/03/12/mh-pek-s14/

[hafiziza 0]

Kinda made me wonder why the RAAF did not sent their P-8 Poseidon to join the search and rescue effort but instead using the about-to-retire P-3C Orion!

Maybe because the first Poseidon will only be delivered to the RAAF in 2017.

[zamim 0]

Hi Johan Z, I have read somewhere about the FAA AD on the depressurization/break-up risk on the 777 and the experts there posted something saying that this AD does not apply to 9M-MRO because 9M-MRO do not have such antenna?? maybe some experts here can shed more light on this issue.

All MAS B777s are fitted with Satcom.

[Cire 0]

Circulating on the theory that a decompression have occurred, the oxygen mask did not drop down as intended, and the pilots were slowly being incapacitated ( mumbling over the headset), they could have made an Air turn with rapid descent (interference over the headset, sightings from NZ oil rig man saying the plane remain stationery (vertical drop) and then disappear off the skies) the moment the cockpit decompression alarm went off.

By instinct, during a decompression, pilots would want to get to low level as soon as possible. In a state of semi-consciousness, someone could have turn and pushed the york down before passing out.

 

At the same time, pilots could have dialed in some incorrect / partial directional numbers before finally passing out. This mean that the plane could have flown for several hours at low attitude (sightings from fishermen and villagers) before finally crashing when it ran out of fuel.

Ground radar operators may not have detect the abnormality blip on the screens for reasons best left to imagination, and due their radars' limited range of 150-200 nautical miles, they were not able to cover the "ghost" flight when it drops out of the skies. If some of the mil.radars did detect the blip, the person manning it could have totally missed it or dismissed it as just another small plane having a joy ride.

 

 

The plane could have flown by itself on some wrong or incomplete numbers and flew on a flight path that normally commercial airplanes won' t use (hence no beckons or signs being picked up).

SAR should check out what is the actual numbers to dial for an Air turn to KLIA at the spot where it lost com., and play on the digits' probable direction settings, and calculate the fuel and airspeed to determine where the plane could have crashed.

 

sounds far fetched, but the probable as mentioned by many enthusiast out there is high.

The 777 does have fuselage issue. It does have antenna issues. The oxygen mask would not drop down at a slow decompression situation. There are no debris nor signs of the plane in the searched areas at the South China seas.

So, what's there to loose to start the search based on this theory?

Edited March 13, 2014 by Cire

[zamim 0]

Boeing says Malaysia jet not subject to FAA inspection order

 

(Reuters) - Boeing Co on Wednesday said the missing 777 Malaysia Airlines jetliner was not subject to a new U.S. safety directive that ordered additional inspections for cracking and corrosion on certain 777 planes.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration last week ordered additional, repeated inspections of certain Boeing 777 aircraft, warning that corrosion and cracking could lead to rapid decompression and damage to the structure of the aircraft.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration told airlines to inspect U.S. registered aircraft for cracking, corrosion and potential repairs after receiving a report about a 16-inch crack in the fuselage skin underneath an adapter for the airplane's satellite communications antenna.

 

Boeing said it worked closely with the FAA to monitor the fleet for potential safety issues and take appropriate actions. But it said the 777-200ER Malaysia Airlines aircraft did not have that antenna installed and was not subject to the FAA order.

[Cire 0]

Boeing says Malaysia jet not subject to FAA inspection order

 

(Reuters) - Boeing Co on Wednesday said the missing 777 Malaysia Airlines jetliner was not subject to a new U.S. safety directive that ordered additional inspections for cracking and corrosion on certain 777 planes.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration last week ordered additional, repeated inspections of certain Boeing 777 aircraft, warning that corrosion and cracking could lead to rapid decompression and damage to the structure of the aircraft.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration told airlines to inspect U.S. registered aircraft for cracking, corrosion and potential repairs after receiving a report about a 16-inch crack in the fuselage skin underneath an adapter for the airplane's satellite communications antenna.

 

Boeing said it worked closely with the FAA to monitor the fleet for potential safety issues and take appropriate actions. But it said the 777-200ER Malaysia Airlines aircraft did not have that antenna installed and was not subject to the FAA order.

 

After this incidence, whether the flying fleet of 777s MAS had are listed or not, should also go for a thorough inspection just to be sure.

That's the only assurance MAS could give to its passengers.

[shahjees 0]

All MAS B777s are fitted with Satcom.

 

thanks bro, but I don't see any satcom antenna on 9M-MRO, or do I miss something...

 

[KK Lee 5]

US Officials Have 'Indication' Malaysia Airline Crashed into Indian Ocean

 

By MARTHA RADDATZ | 13 March 2014 Thursday

 

http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-officials-malaysia-airline-crashed-indian-ocean/story?id=22894802#.UyHVjbTM3XE.twitter

Assumed mh370 did crossed to the west coast. What happened to acars and transponder? If there were turn off, what could be the motive?

 

 

Circulating on the theory that a decompression have occurred, the oxygen mask did not drop down as intended, and the pilots were slowly being incapacitated ( mumbling over the headset), they could have made an Air turn with rapid descent (interference over the headset, sightings from NZ oil rig man saying the plane remain stationery (vertical drop) and then disappear off the skies) the moment the cockpit decompression alarm went off.

By instinct, during a decompression, pilots would want to get to low level as soon as possible. In a state of semi-consciousness, someone could have turn and pushed the york down before passing out.

 

Assumed there was a slow decompression then how to explain acars and transponder were turned off?

 

The plot thickened.

Edited March 14, 2014 by KK Lee

[BC Tam 2]

..... What happened to acars and transponder? If there were turn off, what could be the motive?

 

..... how to explain acars and transponder were turned off?

Maybe those gadgets were not turned off, intentionally or otherwise, but ended up inoperable (ie. useless) ?

[Johan Z 0]

Even US (? not mentioned in the article) picked very faint signals.

 

 

Communications satellites picked up faint electronic pulses from Malaysia Airlines flight 370 after it went missing on Saturday, but the signals gave no indication about where the stray jet was heading nor its technical condition, a source close to the investigation said early today.

 

 

From Yahoo update

[KK Lee 5]

 

Even US (? not mentioned in the article) picked very faint signals.

 

 

 

 

From Yahoo update

Maybe those gadgets were not turned off, intentionally or otherwise, but ended up inoperable (ie. useless) ?

Endless possibilities

[Radzi 2]

Interesting bits on the flight number change from MH370/371 to MH318/319. http://airlineroute.net/2014/03/12/mh-pek-s14/

 

 

 

In light of the recent incident, our Kuala Lumpur (KUL) - Beijing (PEK) Service, MH 370 / MH 371 flight number will be retired out of respect for our crew and passengers on the missing MH 370 flight. This will take into effect on 14 March 2014.

There are no changes to the frequency of our services and we will continue to operate double daily services to Beijing.

The new flight number replacing MH 370/371 will be:

MH 318 - KUL/PEK

MH 319 - PEK/KUL

Our thoughts and prayers remains with the families of our colleagues and passengers of MH 370.

[xtemujin 0]

Infographic of the 2014 SAR MH370.

 

 

Search for Malaysian plane may extend to Indian Ocean - U.S

By Anshuman Daga and Mark Hosenball | 13 March 2014 Thursday | 7:25pm EDT

 

(Reuters) - A new search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may be opened in the Indian Ocean, the White House said, significantly broadening the potential location of the plane, which disappeared nearly a week ago with 239 people on board.

 

Expanding the search area to the Indian Ocean would be consistent with the theory that the Boeing 777 may have detoured to the west about an hour after take-off from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.

 

"It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive - but new information - an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington.

 

Carney did not specify the nature of the new information and Malaysian officials were not immediately available to comment.

 

The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane is one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of modern aviation. There has been no trace of the plane nor any sign of wreckage despite a search by the navies and military aircraft of more than a dozen countries across Southeast Asia.

 

Satellites picked up faint electronic pulses from the aircraft after it went missing on Saturday, but the signals gave no information about where the jet was heading and little else about its fate, two sources close to the investigation said on Thursday.

 

But the "pings" indicated its maintenance troubleshooting systems were switched on and ready to communicate with satellites, showing the aircraft was at least capable of communicating after losing touch with air traffic controllers.

 

The system transmits such pings about once an hour, according to the sources, who said five or six were heard. However, the pings alone are not proof that the plane was in the air or on the ground, the sources said.

 

Malaysian authorities have said the last civilian contact occurred as the Boeing 777-200ER flew north into the Gulf of Thailand. They said military radar sightings indicated it may have turned sharply to the west and crossed the Malay Peninsula toward the Andaman Sea.

 

The new information about signals heard by satellites shed little light on the mystery of what happened to the plane, whether it was a technical failure, a hijacking or another kind of incident on board.

 

While the troubleshooting systems were functioning, no data links were opened, the sources said, because the companies involved had not subscribed to that level of service from the satellite operator, the sources said.

 

Boeing and Rolls-Royce, which supplied its Trent engines, declined to comment.

 

Earlier Malaysian officials denied reports that the aircraft had continued to send technical data and said there was no evidence that it flew for hours after losing contact with air traffic controllers early last Saturday.

 

"It's extraordinary that with all the technology that we've got that an aircraft can disappear like this," Tony Tyler, the head of the International Air Transport Association that links over 90 percent of the world's airlines, told reporters in London.

 

MILITARY DEPLOYMENT GROWS

 

Ships and aircraft are now combing a vast area that had already been widened to cover both sides of the Malay Peninsula and the Andaman Sea.

The U.S. Navy was sending an advanced P-8A Poseidon plane to help search the Strait of Malacca, separating the Malay Peninsula from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It had already deployed a Navy P-3 Orion aircraft to those waters.

 

U.S. defense officials told Reuters that the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, USS Kidd, was heading to the Strait of Malacca, answering a request from the Malaysian government. The Kidd had been searching the areas south of the Gulf of Thailand, along with the destroyer USS Pinckney.

 

India's Defence Ministry has ordered the deployment of ships, aircraft and helicopters from the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands, at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. An Indian P8I Poseidon surveillance plane was sent to the Andaman islands on Thursday.

 

China, which had more than 150 citizens on board the missing plane, has deployed four warships, four coastguard vessels, eight aircraft and trained 10 satellites on a wide search area. Chinese media have described the ship deployment as the largest Chinese rescue fleet ever assembled.

 

WRONG IMAGES

 

On the sixth day of the search, planes scanned an area of sea where Chinese satellite images had shown what could be debris but found no sign of the airliner.

Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference the images were provided accidentally, saying the Chinese government neither authorized nor endorsed putting them on a website. "The image is not confirmed to be connected to the plane," he said.

 

It was the latest in a series of contradictory reports, adding to the confusion and agony of the relatives of the passengers.

 

As frustration mounted over the failure to find any trace of the plane, China heaped pressure on Malaysia to improve coordination in the search.

Premier Li Keqiang, speaking at a news conference in Beijing, demanded that the "relevant party" step up coordination while China's civil aviation chief said he wanted a "smoother" flow of information from Malaysia, which has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the disaster.

 

Malaysian police have said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew on the plane had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.

 

The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on July 6 last year when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 struck a seawall with its undercarriage on landing in San Francisco, killing three people.

 

(Additional reporting by Niluksi Koswanage, Siva Govindasamy, Yantoultra Ngui and Al Zaquan Amer Hamzah in Kuala Lumpur, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Tim Hepher in Paris and Andrea Shalal, Will Dunham, Phil Stewart and Roberta Rampton in Washington.; Writing by David Storey and Dean Yates; Editing by Frank McGurty)

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-malaysiaairlines-flight-idUSBREA2701720140313

Edited March 14, 2014 by xtemujin

[Cire 0]

The possibilities are there because people want to hope. We want to hope to find the plane, hope to find survivals, hope to find wreckages and have a closure on it.

All possibilities no matter how ludicrous it sound, is still hope inside it.

 

We want a closure on this. The kins want a closure on this. Believe me, the waiting is the most traumatic period for the person to go through. One can't move forward in life, can't take it easy, can perform daily chores without a second thinking of their love ones. Life just stopped there for the living.

Until there is a closure, the kins will never be at peace.