Back to Squawk list
  • -15

Military Tracked Malaysia Airlines Jet to Strait of Malacca

提交時間:
 
Malaysia Airlines said Tuesday that the Western coast of the country near the Strait of Malacca was “now the focus” of the investigation after the Malaysian military said it had tracked the plane by radar over the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping channels.... (www.reuters.com) 更多...

Sort type: [Top] [Newest]


Wayne47
It is puzzling why our sophisticated spy satellite network could not be used to track where the aircraft ended up using an infrared signature for the plane. The shutting off of the transponder combined with the large course deviation strongly indicates foul play of some sort. And if the Military knew or suspected the plane was on an errant course why did it not alert civilian air controllers and or send up its own planes to investigate. I agree with those who say information is being withheld. The only thing that may be going for finding out what has really happened is that China is concerned and much more influential in that part of the World than is the US.
preacher1
preacher1 10
There are some Spook satellites up there in geosynchronous orbit, mostly for missle detection, that may already have this info and it may have been given but is just not being broadcast as they don't want the whole world to know what they are capable of.
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
Maybe the INSAT-4F will be able to help the SAR teams in the Andaman Sea. It carries carries the payloads in UHF, C-band and Ku band and has immensely improved India's blue water capabilities. The Andaman Sea, however, is a vast section of the Indian Ocean with an average depth of 3,500 feet.
mduell
Mark Duell 4
Rockets have strong infrared signatures for satellites to pickup. Turbofan powered aircraft not so much.
Wayne47
I have to believe that our IR spying capabilities from space are capable of monitoring the physical movements of human beings.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
At least that's what they show in the movies. Sometimes the movies are ahead of actual capabilities. Sometimes real capabilities are well ahead of the imaginations of entertainment creators.

US news media has reported that the Americans have checked their infrared satelite data and did not find a signature that was consistent with a high altitude fuel explosion.

There's little explosive energy at high altitudes in areas without adverse weather like thunderstorms with lightning. I wouldn't expect it would be very difficult to identify the signature of a high energy explosion in an area of clear weather.
k9jd
Jd Young 1
Just curious to know, but why do you think the U.S. would have satellites on Malaysia?
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
Just curious, you don't think the US has satellites on China? (Malaysia and the rest of SE Asia would be easily captured ad well as all geography all the way around. And worrying about if they can see Malaysia has the built-in assumption that the US satellites don't cover the entire globe all the way around. Can you pick out any one area of the world that the US military does't ever stop in (even for hunanitarian work) and/or aren't concerned about the regime there and/or atent concerned if their military assets get blown up?

Short answer: It's safe to figure that the US has overlapping simultaneous coverage of the entire globe. With the speed of ICBMs, a capability that was less than fully pervasive would not be adequate to properly warn of an early strike.
k9jd
Jd Young 1
China? Yes. Malaysia? Hmm, not so much. Like preacher1 said, that region in general, but not so much Malaysia. And I agree with you that the U.S. does have satellite coverage across the entire globe. Just curious about what he thought.
ExCalbr
Victor Engel 1
Except for geosynchronous satellites, satellites cover pretty much the whole world except the poles, except for polar orbit satellites, which are rarer because a polar orbit takes more work to obtain.
preacher1
preacher1 1
I don't think are focused on that particular country but that region.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
I imagine the satellite data is filtered to reduce noise but still sensitive enough to detect a launch or explosion. I wonder if the raw data is sensitive enough to detect the heat signature of a 777 over water. I expect the level of sensitivity is classified.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
The always-on fast-response missile-identifying algorithm would filter out anything and everything that is or can't be a missile.

But the data is still there and certainly must be cached and/or permanently saved in the bowels of the NSA, NORAD or some other depository of potentially significant data (at least a few days or weeks worth of data). When the need arises (eg. an airliner going missing with over 200 souls aboard) a separate algorithm can be quickly programmed to search the available data in the time and geography compatible with capabilities of the plane from the starting point - the departure time at KLIA. They can run it on a fed supercomputer, and get a positive or negative answer fairly quickly.

It's not rocket science. Strike that. It is rocket science. But they've got enough rocket scientists on staff to pull it off.
preacher1
preacher1 1
You have a point but there again, we don't know their capabilities or what they routinely monitor.
andromeda07
andromeda07 1
We have the capability to easily resolve plane-sized objects from space, but we can't possibly cover any significant fraction of the world at that resolution, at intervals taken every hour or so.
TiredTom
Tom Bruce 1
you know....lots and lots of airplanes in the air...in the middle of the night...how would they pick this one out?

same with the military...monitoring raw returns...nothing special about this flight..nothing that would have attracted attention in the middle of the night....
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 6
A large unknown bogey (the 777 is no PiperCub) with all transponders off, not responding to civilian and/or military ATC calls.

If that isn't the reason to maintain military radar, what other reason should they exist (and have active radar) but to protect the country from an airborne attack. Would've certainly merited a scramble and a look see.

Maybe if there was such an intervention, and it resulted in the destruction of a commercial airliner, that might be reason to hide the truth... to try to hide the truth. A commercial airliner filled with civilian passengers. A commercial airliner filled with predominantly Chinese passengers.

Who wants that mess? Certainly not a small neighbor, existing so close to the Chinese-influenced corner of the world.

I don't think it ever got close to such an apocalyptic outcome. May be much more likely that the Malaysians let an unknown plane fly through their airspace.

But they knew in the first few hours that this plane traveled back across their country's land mass.

They certainly knew that one of their flag carrier's 777 airliner went missing with about 238 within about an hour of flight. The Vietnamese ATC imformed them so immediately.

By the very latest, the next morning at about the time of the initial announcement, they knew that the plane was lost off radar in the opposite direction and that the plane had crossed over their territory.

I said all along that they were holding back info. I strongly objected to those who claimed that the Malaysians were being open about the incident.

Early on, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. The possibility existed that they were conducting a well-coordinated counter-intelligence investigation.

But that they are keeping the entire representation of all of the world's intelligence an investigative agencies at arm's length, suggests that the kindness tbat even I extended was not at all merited.

I'll be clear.

They're hiding something. Maybe they're hiding incompetence. Maybe they're hiding some horrible outcome. Maybe they're trying to hide the fact tbat they don't know what to do. What two want to hide that they botched their initial response.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Succinctly put.
Who else is playing their cards close, and what cards are they?
We don't know all the players in the game yet.
Will have to wait for the next card to turn over.
zcolescott
I understand that this is now news, but don't you think the military might have checked their own radar tracking before launching a massive search in another area? Seems like that should've been part of the checklist.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Maybe they did, just didn't tell everyone?
TXCAVU
Doubt it because had they done that, the assets would not have been out out.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
At least the US Space Command searched their computers for a missile launch and found none. In the meantime, we (US and others) are searching East of VN, while the Malaysians are searching West. Should be operating on same page.
bizjets101
biz jets 6
Just what kind of military isn't sure if a freaking Boeing 777 overflew the country in the middle of the night or not? Guess they'd be in big trouble if it was a fully loaded Mig.
mattwestuk
Matt West 4
Given that the area now under focus is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, if the aircraft had of gone down there, surely someone would have heard and/or seen something? I remember from my merchant days that, at the time of night the plane disappeared, you can see even the smallest of lights.
yr2012
matt jensen 1
That's what I asked two days ago. No one offered a response.
stevooz
steve rogers 2
if someone took the time to disable all the communication systems , its possible they also would have pulled the fuses on the flight recorder and flight data recorder , if that's the case there would be no record whats so ever .
preacher1
preacher1 1
This is true to a point. what is getting me though is that everything should have been normal for the 1st 40 minutes or so of that flight and it looks like there would have been SOMETHING on the ACARS. There has been nothing reported at all, by anybody, which is why I kinda think there is something not being told.
bizjets101
biz jets 1
Here is ACARS from AF447 - 26 messages during the plunge to the sea;

http://countjustonce.com/a330/acars.html

I'm beyond curious why they haven't addressed this on MH370 - at all???
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
According to the FA site, fl370 tracked via ADS-B up to 35,000ft as of 9:02 (PST)
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS370/history/20140307/1635Z/WMKK/ZBAA/tracklog

So there was some reporting, and I assume ACARS reporting as well.
Little, if anything publicly reported after that. Someone pulling fuses sounds more sophisticated than your average jihadist with size 4-C shoe bombs.

We'll just have to wait and see what else falls out.
preacher1
preacher1 1
randomguy
randomguy 2
Sure are a lot of one-day-old accounts posting goo.gl shortened links to roomee times...
krafsurjoe
krafsurjoe 2
I read on multiple reports that the plane's altitude was literally all over the place, including reports that over Kota Bharu locals report there was a large jetliner flying at 3000 feet with his lights on, while at the last point of radar contact his altitude was 28000+ feet. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense....seems more and more like a hijacking
TXCAVU
Egypt Air repeat. Flew to deeper water? Why would the military allow other militaries to put assets in the wrong area?
cblair0608
cblair0608 2
WHY did this take 4 days to come out???? It now appears they have been searching 3,000 miles in the wrong direction.
cblair0608
cblair0608 2
They have NO CLUE where it went down, pretty good chance they may never find it. If it continued to fly after it disappeared off the military radar then it could be over 3,000 miles away from the last known location.
akayemm
Let's all pray that some information emerges soon. It's been over 3 days in the open high sea.
Not necessarily hoping for crash survivors BUT for the sake of surviving and grieving relatives. And for the sake of investigation and consequential remedial/preventive actions.
RIP

[This poster has been suspended.]

PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 0
I can see a nice Onion satire on this:

BREAKING NEWS: Fisherman pulls garbage out of the ocean. His debris recovery is covered all around the world, despite making no significant impact on the quantity of ocean borne flotsam in the world's oceans. Scientists perplexed why amounts of ocean garbage keeps increasing despite many highly publized retrievals of garbage lately, and suspect that humans may be poluting thier oceans with litter and debris at rates faster than the fisherman can keep up. Fisherman demands government subsidy for the ecologically sensitive work, after finding garbage in the ocean every day despite having picked up everything he had found each previous day. He's about ready to throw in the towel. He suspects the problem is insurmountable, and much bigger than any one man can can do anything meaningful about and decides to throw the garbage back in.
lsharpe69
lsharpe69 1
Conspiracy theories aside, 239 innocent (presumably) souls perished here. I can't imagine this type of death. It sickens me as much as photos of jumpers from the WTC. I will say that if the plane perished over the Strait of Malacca? This is probably one of the busiest shipping channels in the world. Everything from sampans to cargo ships here as this is the narrow passage between the Pacific and Indian Ocean. My aircraft carrier even collided with another ship here! It is highly improbable this jet went down in this area without eye witnesses or visible wreckage. This simply adds to the mystery. What will we conclude if the aircraft is 'never' found??
preacher1
preacher1 1
CBS National news said that while multinational agencies were all represented but that the Malaysian's were keeping them at arm's length and for the time being, were handling the entire thing themselves.
ViperPilot1
Alan Nakamura 1
You bet... they're falling over themselves trying to be deferential and to 'save face'. If all of the hoopla about the track heading towards the Strait of Malacca pans out, someone's got a lot of explaining to do.
bizjets101
biz jets 1
ACARS - FlightGlobal talked with a senior technical officer with Malaysian Airlines - at first they were told the ACARS was sensitive info and couldn't be released. Now they have stated that from the time the aircraft's transponder was 'off' - no further ACARS from the aircraft were sent.

In order to block or stop ACARS you either need to alter the software or block the satellite signal - either way - if the aircraft made a crazy 120 degree turn and descended - ACARS would have been sent - the fact the plane continued to fly - either the system was turned off/blocked or some crazy event that severed all transmitting systems - though 200+ passengers with cell phones - just doesn't make sense.

Short of major depressurization and a ghost flight/ even hijack and suicide how could you get all 200 cell phones???
joelwiley
joel wiley 2
Assuming the aircraft, as reported, went West for an hour after it dropped off the net argues against an event that destroyed it. Either someone turned it off, or the data are being short-stopped by the authorities for some reason.

Cell blocking technology exists- Calif Corrections has tried to get one for Folsom prison to keep the residents from using contraband cell phones (thus far unsuccessfully for admin rather than technology reasons).
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Exactly. But cell jamming technology is easy enough to get, but entirely unnecessary at cruising altitude. All cell devices are out of range a cruising altitude.

If there is no cell/internet service via satelite link added to this plane, no further action is necessary. If there is such hardware/software built into the plane, disabling it would interrupt all communications (eg. breaking the hardware, pulling the fuse, hacking the software, and/or a jamming device, etc.)
preacher1
preacher1 1
It could be a bit of all it. CBS National news just said that while multinational agencies were all represented but that the Malaysian's were keeping them at arm's length and for the time being, were handling the entire thing themselves. Gives credence to the impression of a banana republic, high and mighty and strutting their stuff on the world stage. That said, they are holding back some reports for whatever reason. If the turning/flying change is correct, it lends more credence to a hijack and if it went dark for that reason, you are dealing with a hijacker a notch above average in the tech department to disable all that as well as send the plane somewhere.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
One can infer a sophisticated well-funded organization behind it.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
You could conceivably have a hijack team that takes control of the entire plane. They can remove all cell phones and electronic devices. That is if Malaysia has wifi on this plane, that is able to forward electoinic or VOIP messages/calls via satelite to the ground. Without wifi and a satelite link to connect them, cell phones are pretty much useless at cruising altitude. Much more easily, if wifi/satelite capability even exists on this plane, would be to disable these communications globally at any point in the system that supports the satelite retransmission of the signal.

Turning off transponders and all satellite communications prior to changing the flight plan would prevent communication with the outside world.
mdi2013
Matt Dalton 1
Very true Bizjet, but if the maylasiann military rader is correct the B777 made a very deliberate turn and continued for some time on that heading. I cant imagine, considering what other facts we have, why a pilot would fly in this manner unless he was forced to or the plane was being flown by someone else.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
One reason circulating among conspiracy theorists, is that one or both officers were in on the nefarious plan.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
The combination of actions suggests intentionality. So it's either a rogue pilot or a hijacker (which would be anyone else at the controls of the plane sending it off course).
preacher1
preacher1 1
With that same report was also a drop in altitude.
mduell
Mark Duell 1
Replaced the frequentbusinesstraveler link with a working reuters link, frequentbusinesstraveler seems to be down (service unavailable).
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Just as well - have been using Reuters, IBT and IBN instead
hemigpaw
You think they would let the US help in this search. Like the NTSB, FAA, ETC...
stevooz
steve rogers 1
I think is has a lot to do with the element of surprise , one hand doesn't know what the other one is doing ,and then when something like this happens , it takes a while to adjust and get all the information in , and that is exactly what is happening here
mahatchma
Ian Hatch 1
If the ADS-B as well as the normal transponder were non operational, how did the Malaysian Military know the id of the plane they calim to have tracked?. Last ADS=B transmission showed tha plane still heading North east at 35k feet.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
farmerric
Iam sure we can have the data on the flight tracked by satellite. They easily have the capability to see the IR trail, but filter that data out not to obscure what they are really after. PHOTOFINISH has it nailed. They probably released info citing Malaysia military to disguise the real source
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
I didn't day that. Having he capability to follow the IR signature of a twin engine airliner at all places on the globe simultaneous at all times is beyond what I said.

I merely suggested they should be able to indentify the IR signature of a large bomb exploding by itself at cruising altitude in clear weather. 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours of fuel is many tons of fuel should make a big boom. That would be several magnitudes more energy. It is also much rarer. That should make it infinitesimally easier to identify than picking out contrails of any one plane, when tree are so many airliners plying the skies every minute.
stevooz
steve rogers 1
this flight took off after midnight , not much action going on , most smaller airports are closed after midnight , I bet if this would have happened in the day , things would have been different
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
Is this as mysterious as the incident of the two BSAA planes going down in the Bermuda Triangle in the 50s? Or the 727-223 that flew out of Angola and was never seen again?
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
That planes are lost over the ocean far from radar and radio coverage, to never be sewn again, isn't much of a mystery. Stuff happens.

That a plane can be lost in an area in close proximity to 5-6 countries with overlapping radar coverage. Now that's a mystery.

But in reality the only mystery arises from the lack of information being shared, which theoretically could be quickly rectified.
Av8nut
Somehow, I think Boeing and Airbus are going to have to respond to curious airlines that may approach them about what they're going to do to remedy the possiblility of their 250 million dollar airplane getting "lost".
preacher1
preacher1 1
It is already there to a point with the data function on ACARS, at least getting them into a general area. That is a problem for me in that there has been no ACARS data released. The one other step would be to get ACARS off VHF and then increase the timing of the transmissions. If the plane ACARS is only transmitting, say every 5 minutes, a plane traveling at 400kts would cover some distance between transmissions.
mduell
Mark Duell 1
Boeing and Airbus provide multiple solutions for relaying position data to airlines and ATC. It is the operators discretion which they choose to invest in and use and how.
Wayne47
I would think that Boeing would be receiving some telemetry from these planes on an ongoing basis to monitor various systems.

This aircraft probably had sufficient range to make it Iran or near by. As another Flight Aware poster stated perhaps the plan is to turn the aircraft into a long range nuclear weapons delivery system. It could easily cloak as as a normal passenger jet even painted to match a domestic carrier...land at National or JFK without being suspected.
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell 1
I've only got one problem with that...Why hijack a plane full of people for that purpose when they could just as well have stolen one that has been parked on a ramp unless they were gonna demand ransoms from the victims families and individual countries....Just to many red flags.No one would have noticed until the next day.....If they are gonna go through all of the hassle of repainting and turning it into a weapon I would assume that they also have a crew of "hells minions" to fly it too.
Wayne47
Heisting a 777 from a ramp would have likely caused a fight on the ground and military interception if you were able to get airborne. Stealing one at 35,000 feet at night over vast ocean space and going black greatly increases the opportunity for success. The Iranians do not need ransom money however they do need a long range weapons delivery system capable of reaching the US and a 777 would do nicely.
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell 3
could be....but if the Iranians were involved and money wasn't an issue than neither would buying a plane with long range capiblity or paying off ground crews to turn there backs
MikeMohle
Mike Mohle 2
Or reach Israel.....
LITTLEDOLORES
ALLAN WISE 1
I remember a number of years ago a LearJet carrying golfer Payne Stuart and others had an oxygen/pressure valve failure??? and flew inself until it ran out of fuel in the upper midwest. The US Air Force followed it to its final destination.
antokalaz1
The report of seeing the windows fogged and the jet dutifully flying on always brought up feelings of creepiness for me.

If there were the case, the automation would still be contacting and doing it chores.
bizjets101
biz jets 1
That was Sunjet's Lear 35 N47BA out of Orlando (Oct 25 1999)

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/fulltext/AAB0001.html

This was the Helios B737 crash in 2005;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522
ning77
more and less ITAVIA airlines Italy USTICA

[This poster has been suspended.]

joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Hard to tell what you are trying to say. Punctuation is your friend.
nickmason2
Hi all, first time poster. Long time aviation enthusiast, and with plenty of family in law enforcement, this case baffles me! First off, a great link I stumbled upon. This site is posting pictures of the ocean live as we speak and you may scour the ocean if you so choose. Sorry if it is against the rules: tomnod.com . Now with only very basic knowledge of a large aircraft such as this a few questions.
1. Is there only one transponder in this plane? If so, where is it located? My hunch is you have to relatively extensive knowledge to remove it.
2. What about ACARS? Do we know If it was transmitting?
3. Can you wipe out all these systems at once? Are they all located close to one another? Once Again, my hunch is no.
Without getting into detail, I have had family in law enforcement for over 40 years and this just doesn't seem like terrorism. Not western bound, no organization has taken responsibility, and no real smoking gun aside from the passport, which from all I can gather is unrelated. Could this be a southeast Asian terrorist plot?! Sure, however no chatter has been picked up. Leaning more and more away from terrorism.
The only logical explanation left for mechanical failure would be a fire in the belly of the plane, however this would not explain the distance it flew off course.
IMO, this plane is way west. No debris At all has washed up. Anywhere. This plane could have gone thousands of miles either way, I think it is much farther west lets say in the South Indian Ocean.
I would appreciate any response on these questions!
Nick
phantomman69
Andrew Mehl 1
Welcome. I can't tell you about the ACARS but, I can tell you that there are two transponders on all RVSM capable civilian aircraft (most airliners and business aircraft). I cannot vouch for the 777, as I have never been in one, but on the A300 and the 727 (I have worked on both) and on the 747 (I know several people who have worked on them) the avionics are in the avionics bay, which is below the floor. While not impossible to access while in flight, It would be difficult. Theoretically, you can disable the systems by puling the circuit breakers, which are in the cockpit, so you could disable most anything on the airplane pretty easily if you wanted to.
bizjets101
biz jets 1
Two transponders controlled by a single panel - you can look at the entire cockpit and their controls here;

http://www.meriweather.com/flightdeck/777/ped/atc.html

ACARS - I've no idea why they haven't said anything one way or another.
preacher1
preacher1 2
It's almost like the military took control of this thing and ain't telling nobody nothing.
bizjets101
biz jets 1
Unless the airplane suffered a decompression and just became a ghost flight until the end.
jterry
Joseph Terry 1
Two transponders but only one can be operating at any one time. Both can be turned off from the cockpit. ALL avionics can be turned off from the cockpit by using only one switch.
jterry
Joseph Terry 1
Also, there is no cellphone service anywhere at FL350. And there is no cell service over the ocean or in large, relatively unpopulated areas. Sat phone, yes. Cell, no. And the sat phone antenna has to be able to see the satellite, ie, won't work in the cabin of the aircraft.
bizjets101
biz jets 1
The aircraft descended and was noted over mainland Malaysia - I would assume at some point - somebodies cell phone call would have gone thru.

Local Police at Khota Bharu confirmed a number of locals reported lights and a low flying aircraft at Khota Bharu at an estimated height of 1000 meters/3000 feet.
mdi2013
Matt Dalton 1
Is it out of the realm of possibilities that this plane was hijacked, flown to and landed in an unknown location with the intent to later use it in a terror strike? Couldnt an airliner like this fly into any major airport in the world without raising any suspecion?
preacher1
preacher1 1
That is not out of the realm of possibilities but what about the 200+ people on board?
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
The incomplete presentation of facts that the Malaysians were hoisting on the world at first, it was pointing toward a catastrophic event that destroyed the plane. If that had remained true than it would be less likely to have been pilot suicide.

Now we know better.

As best we can tell (if the info we're getting now is true:
1. Transponders were turned off.
2. Flight descended to a lower altitude
3. Plane changed heading
4. Plane continued flying for at least another hour.
5. There was no further communication.

This tends to imply intentional actions. While there is some possibility otherwise (eg. ghost flight), the combination of all of these actions suggests that someone was at the controls, commanding these actions, whether a rogue pilot or other person who took control of the plane.

I further note that the point west of the Malaysian peninsula, where the plane was last fixed on radar is on the way to the Andaman Basin, which is the closest point of deep waters in that region.

Preacher tends to have good intuition for these things.
Chmurph12
Chase Murray 1
Wouldn't it make sense to keep them alive? If the plane were identified military would have to shoot down a plane full of civilians. What if the US military had to shoot down a plane full of Chinese nationals?
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
The US Navy did shoot down Iran Air 655 in 1998
Things do happen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655?Vincennes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/16/the-forgotten-story-of-iran-air-flight-655/
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell 1
the same as if it were a plane full of us....oh well
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Um no. There are much greater geopolitical complications that would arise from the one superpower blowing up a plane full of pasengers from the 'ascendant' but not anywhere near equal, yet.

On 9/11, the US scrambled 2 or more US fighters to take down a 4th US airliner filled with passengers that was presumably targeting the US capital city. Had they had to do so, Americans would've been very upset but would've understood the sacrifice of their own fighter pilots and their own passengers to save their own capital.

Taking out another country's plane, filled with another country's passengers is so not the sane thing. You can't imagine that the other country (whichever might be) wouldn't have many citizens and ir government officials that wouldn't be bitter that their people were blown up to protect some other country's capital, or to protect one of their aircraft carriers.

Even worse when the country doing the blowing up of civilians were to ve the world's line super power.

Just thinking about it... Just writing about it... Horrible.

Just. So. Horrible.

So. Not. The. Same. Thing.

239 souls is 239 souls. Except when it isn't.
csawinski
I hope someone is drawing a line from the last reported ATC position and continue west to the possible target location the military spotted to the west of Malaysia. Continue that line for the approximate 6 hours of fuel remaining after burning the estimated 8 hours of fuel on board.
Look on the east coast of Africa. Perhaps Somalia, Kenya, or Tanz. Or perhaps ditched en route. Just Saying.
tyketto
Forget the line. Draw the circle. that last position is the center of the radius of the range it could have flown.
mdi2013
Matt Dalton 1
"IF" we are talkinng about terrorists I hate to imagine what happened to the passengers.
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
“Embarrassment and anger” are mounting in Malaysia at the confusing and contradictory information issued by the authorities, according to the Malaysia Insider. In an opinion piece it said:

Do we have to wait and wonder for more than 24 hours the reasons for the expanded search at the Sumatra coast and the Andaman Sea because [Civil Aviation Chief] Azharuddin could only say cryptically: “There are some things that I can tell you and some things that I can’t.”

More importantly, will any of this delay make it even harder to find the 239 people onboard flight MH370 which has been missing for more than 100 hours now?

The whole world is watching Malaysia now because an aircraft with a wingspan of 61m does not fall off the sky or disappear into thin air just like that.

syzyzgy
Richard Grigg 1
MH370 potentially had sufficient fuel to get to Pakistan or even Afghanistan!!
RedRackham
RedRackham 1
"The Indian Navy has joined the search by mobilizing its vessels in the Andaman Sea as well as utilizing its GSAT-7 satellite."
andriy17
I would like to ask everyone to say a little prayer for everyone on this flight, GOD please keep everyone safe.
rayzeeman
The Malaysian government is now denying that they ever said they tracked the aircraft to the Strait of Malacca.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
As I mentioned on the same subject in another post,
....and the Russians say they don't have troops in Crimea.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 0
How do you spell fustercluck?
(Did i get close enough?)
CHBHA
CB HARDY 1
Trucking companies have GPS tracking. Why not airlines that fly overwater routes?
Wayne47
Interestingly we are hearing nothing about what the omni-present NSA is learning from all of their chatter monitoring about the plane's disappearance. This is looking more like a hijacking with potentially a struggle for control that brought the plane down. However, there is zero evidence this aircraft crashed.

[This poster has been suspended.]

[This poster has been suspended.]

jas32
jas32 2
Not sure I understand the theory of disintegrating in mid flight, if so, where is the debris field?

[This poster has been suspended.]

jterry
Joseph Terry 1
A lot of armchair quarterbacking by a lot of people who have no knowledge of what went on. One hundred percent of the earth's surface is not monitored by satellite 24/7. Likewise, 100% of the earth's surface is not monitored by radar 24/7.
bizjets101
biz jets 2
Every news cast pretty much all over the world has been full of every aviation expert they could find, they don't have a clue what happened either.

Only guarantee is the majority, if not all - will be wrong.
preacher1
preacher1 2
I would not disagree with you on the radar. Nobody except a few know for sure about the sats. The powers that be would have us think so anyway. LOL

[This poster has been suspended.]

PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Not true. Link bait. Spammers should be removed.
bizjets101
biz jets -3
I'm guessing Iran Air will be starting domestic service with a B777 shortly.

It's clear the Malaysian Govt./Air Force have been feeding us BS, and giving everybody the run around - either that or are showing us just how incompetent they are (or both) about the only good thing about this missing aircraft is it is showing the world just what a Banana Republic Malaysia is.

Hopefully the Americans are giving these Bananas a tongue lashing around now.
preacher1
preacher1 4
Interesting theory about Iran Air. As far as the rest of it, for whatever reason, I am thinking that information is being withheld.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Makes for an intriguing theory.

But successfully getting to Iran would take a lot of preplanning to get around the Indian subcontinent. A refueling would be necessary no matter the path flown. Almost being able to get there, still means falling short. Falling short in a airliner at cruising altitude is a catastrophic failure.

I take his suggestion as tongue in cheek. Where's that sarcasm font, when you need it?
kpbarbee
Kevin Barbee 2
I believe there is a kernel of truth in what Biz Jets says. Just read this link to learn who's in charge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shaariibuugiin_Altantuyaa
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Not Iran, NK

[This poster has been suspended.]

bizjets101
biz jets 7
Your going to have to be a bit more up front. Which actual part is offensive.

Iran Air - plane last spotted headed that way with Iranians illegally on board - do I believe that to be the case - No - at this point anything is possible.

Malaysian Govt. feeding us BS - actually not just us - the disrespect alone to the families, never mind the searchers, aviation community, world press.

We know during 9/11 the hijackers turned off the transponders and we could not communicate with them, AF447 sent something like 43 ACARS messages - which were released immediately to the public.

In this case, Malaysian ATC which uses secondary radar to interrogates the trasponder - lost contact with the aircraft - primary radar which Malaysian military use - monitors surface to air airspace - and they now claim - they monitored this flight for an hour beyond the last ATC transponder hit.

Not just monitored it, but watched it turn west and overfly Malaysia off into the West and beyond.

So they are showing complete and utter lack of coordination, thus inhibiting every effort to find this plane. Not to mention - if the aircraft continued for another 1 hour - why are they not releasing ACARS???

The USA which is now becoming involved in this search is going to be pissed, and should be.

Here is the last info we now know from Malaysian Military - if it is to be believed;

On Mar 11th 2014 Malaysia's Air Force reported their primary radar data suggest, the aircraft may have turned west over the Gulf of Thailand at about 1000 meters/3000 feet below the original flight level (editorial note: another possible interpretation could be: at 1000 meters of height compared to 10000 meters original level) and flown past the east coast near Khota Baru and the west coast of Malaysia near Kedah, the radar return was last seen at 02:40L near Pulau Perak in the Straits of Malacca, about 285nm westsouthwest of the last known (secondary) radar position. Local Police at Khota Bharu confirmed a number of locals reported lights and a low flying aircraft at Khota Bharu at an estimated height of 1000 meters/3000 feet.
OZAIR
OZAIR 0
Help search for Malaysian Airline 777 that missing via satellite images.

http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/?source=abc#malaysiaairsar2014/map/22571
209flyboy
209flyboy 0
I wonder if that plane landed at CoCo Island and was camouflaged afterwards. That island is very remote, not inhabited by many and has a runway that is long enough to set a 777 down. This island was also used by the military for surveillance at an earlier time. I'll bet some preparation was made to do just that and that 777 may show up as a modified military variety at a later time. There are a few more islands out there that could also accommodate an aircraft of that size. Just saying.
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
The adage 'follow the money' comes to mind.
For this scenario, who owns CoCo Island, who has the resources to prep the site, and to keep the lid on?
akayemm
I wish that I am wrong, but to me, you seem to making a mockery out of a tragedy !
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
What do you see as mockery? At this point, we can say somebody did something with the airplane.
Whether it was to make a point, call attention to themselves, their plight or some situation, or if the plane is intended for further use of some kind. 209flyboy is suggesting a possible location for the last. I don't see that as mockery- for that, try the space alien theory espoused elsewhere.
akayemm
For heaven's sake try to follow the system. My reply was CLEARLY to comment made by 209flyboy !
Thank God that I am not the only computer illiterate !
joelwiley
joel wiley 1
I believe I was correctly following the thread of conversation. You expressed an opinion indicating you thought 209's comment was 'making a mockery out of a tragedy".
In what way to you see his comment on a possible landing site for the aircraft a mockery of the tragedy?

[This poster has been suspended.]

joelwiley
joel wiley 1
Willie Carter,
If you click on your name, it will take you to your profile page and you can see info about your account and postings. If you click on someone else's name you will go to their profile.
Try it with PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish -1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysia 777 passes maintenance check 10 days earlier; Land search begins

The hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was widened in scope significantly on Tuesday to include a major land search, as the company revealed the plane was given a clean bill of health just 10 days before it vanished. All Malaysia Airlines aircraft are equipped with continuous data monitoring system called the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) which transmits data automatically. Nevertheless, there were no distress calls and no information was relayed.

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1444784/china-urges-malaysia-step-search-missing-passenger-plane-families-grow
nasdisco
Chris B -1
Just sitting here, shaking my head at all the rumors and misinformation or what appears to be rumors and misinformation. It seems so bizarre that all communication and contact with a modern jetliner ceases simultaneously. Not even the automated contacts between airliner and airline.
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell -2
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.
vialegiuliocesare8
p m -4
I've just read that some passengers' and crew cellphones have been called and are ringing.
If this is true the cell where they are currently hooked to can be easily found.
preacher1
preacher1 3
Well, with such widespread speculation and everybody looking for their few seconds of fame, if this is true, it just reinforces the theory about withheld information.
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 3
If you hear the ringing while you're calling, it doesn't mean the phone you're calling is ringing. The ringing you hear is the network trying to locate the phone. For example, you've called someone and you hear it ringing forever on your end, and you yell at the person for not answering, and they respond that it only rung once...
mduell
Mark Duell 5
Hearing a ring when you call a cellphone tells you nothing about the cellphone; the ring is generated by the phone company, not the cellphone you're calling.
TXCAVU
How many people have been located by cell phone companies that tracked the phone? With so many people, surely someone had their cell phone "ON" and that can be tracked.
vialegiuliocesare8
p m -3
It tells a lot !!!!
It is true that the ring is generated by the phone company, but only when the phone is on AND registered to a network.
If the phone is off you would hear a message that says the cellphone may be off or unreachable.
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 2
When was the last time you rang a Chinese cell phone that was out of country and out of network, while you were in China, using a Chinese cell phone.

One's starting point should always allow for variability in how cell networks are configured and variability in the logic of the programming of cell network behaviors. If one can only accept that the every network in every country in the entire world must be programmed identically for their argument to stand up to scrutiny, then their argument is built on a shaky premise.
JakeWythe
Jake Wythe -1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Malaysian Officials Expand Search Area

The three significant leads that officials had in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines jetliner that disappeared Saturday failed to pan out, and underscore the fact that, despite the wealth of safety and emergency equipment on the plane, modern technology is unquestionably fallible.

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/malaysian-officials-expand-search-area/
JerrySteinberg
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Search for Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet Expands to Land

Authorities are intensifying the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner and expanding the search region to land three days after the plane vanished.

On Tuesday, Malaysia Airlines said that the Western coast of the country near the Straights of Malacca was “now the focus” of the investigation....

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/03/search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-jet-expands-to-land/

登入

還沒有帳戶嗎? 現在就註冊(免費),設置諸多客制化功能、航班提醒等等!
您知道FlightAware航班跟蹤是由廣告支持嗎?
通過允許展示來自FlightAware.com的廣告,您可以幫助我們使FlightAware保持免費。我們努力使我們的廣告保持相關性,同時不顯突兀,以創造一流的體驗。在FlightAware上將廣告加入白名單快速而簡單,或者請您考慮選擇我們的高級帳戶.
退出