Malaysia Airlines flight MH370-Updates and Discussion

EI-DOR

I really can't see how the previous incident is anything to do with this latest occurrence!

Thrill

Italian media reports that one of the passengers on missing Malaysian aircraft was travelling on the stolen passport of an Italian citizen - SKY News

fits

Gosh, I wonder is that significant?

SpaceTime

Thrill wrote: »

Italian media reports that one of the passengers on missing Malaysian aircraft was travelling on the stolen passport of an Italian citizen - SKY News

That's a bit concerning but it's more likely to be some kind of immigration thing than anything sinister.

I would be a little sceptical of certain Italian media which can be very sensationalist too. I'll wait for other outlets to confirm it.

Thrill

fits wrote: »

Gosh, I wonder is that significant?

I couldn't be bothered speculating. Right now its impossible to know. The Italian media may be wrong.

Best to wait for some kind of official confirmation.

Mrs Garth Brooks

This is terrible news. Shocking how a plane can go missing in this day and age. Make you scared to fly.

Roger_007

There seemed to have been a lot of confusion over several hours about this accident, particularly about where the plane went missing. This seems to be the case every time a plane goes missing, particularly over water, and there is always speculation about whether the 'black' boxes can be recovered.
I cannot understand why the black box data is not relayed via satellite back to a central computer on a continuous real-time basis up to the point of loss of contact. That way the accident position could be immediately pinpointed and rescue efforts could me made without searching hundreds of square miles of ocean.
There would also not be such an imperative to find the black boxes to establish the cause of the accident.
Is there any need for black boxes anymore, other than as a backup device?

LuckyLloyd

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

This is terrible news. Shocking how a plane can go missing in this day and age. Make you scared to fly.

I'd say the exact opposite tbh. This incident draws focus to the fact that we haven't seen anything like this for a reputable airline in almost a half decade. That is a pretty strong argument for how ridiculously safe modern air travel is.

Reoil

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

This is terrible news. Shocking how a plane can go missing in this day and age. Make you scared to fly.

No. Consider the amount of flights per day in the world compared to the fatal accident ratio. That's like hearing about a fatal car accident and thinking "God, I'm never getting in a car again!".

The only difference is the nature of travel and number of people in one moving body. If this airplane did crash, which it appears to have done, then the fatalities could have been either just as initial (mid-air breakup) or a bit more terrifying (diving into the sea from ~40,000ft) which might give people a short moment to come to terms with their mortality.

Does anybody agree with me?

Mrs Garth Brooks

Reoil wrote: »

No. Consider the amount of flights per day in the world compared to the fatal accident ratio. That's like hearing about a fatal car accident and thinking "God, I'm never getting in a car again!".

The only difference is the nature of travel and number of people in one moving body. If this airplane did crash, which it appears to have done, then the fatalities could have been either just as initial (mid-air breakup) or a bit more terrifying (diving into the sea from ~40,000ft) which might give people a short moment to come to terms with their mortality.

Does anybody agree with me?

It doesn't bear thinking off. All those people in the last few minutes. Must have been terrifying.

SpaceTime

SpaceTime wrote: »

That's a bit concerning but it's more likely to be some kind of immigration thing than anything sinister.

I would be a little sceptical of certain Italian media which can be very sensationalist too. I'll wait for other outlets to confirm it.

reports from Austria of a second passenger alive and well and whose passport had also been previously stolen.

http://www.apa.at/News/6217359958/boeing-mit-239-passagieren-vor-vietnam-verschollen.html

YbFocus

Two passport inconsistencies is getting worrying.

jescart

Weather conditions perfect, no distress signals sent, stolen passports used to board the flight... I certainly wouldn't rule out some kind of terrorist attack

fits

Still might be nothing as two people could have been using them to travel together for immigration reasons. Lets hope its nothing like that. I was just enjoying airport security beginning to relax a bit.

YbFocus

jescart wrote: »

Weather conditions perfect, no distress signals sent, stolen passports used to board the flight... I certainly wouldn't rule out some kind of terrorist attack

Especially considering she was a 777, unlikely to be a structural failure, unless linked to the earlier collision.

Although I won't draw conclusions.

sopretty

Jake1 wrote: »

reports from Austria of a second passenger alive and well and whose passport had also been previously stolen.

http://www.apa.at/News/6217359958/boeing-mit-239-passagieren-vor-vietnam-verschollen.html

Gosh, that is a bit suspect to have two false passport holders on one flight?

on wiki now

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370

Kavs8

We have two stolen passport holders on one flight a highly experienced captain and a Boeing 777-200 which disappears within one minute from 35,000ft - Initial conclusions would draw you in the terrorism direction, the previous incident with the aircraft does not rule out structural failure however. It's very early to be speculating when we have no wreckage or bodies yet. As has been pointed out, there are thousands of flights a day and accidents are so rare, instead of making you scared to fly it will most probably become safer again then it already highly is.

RIP to the victims, I hope there loved ones get there remains.

knucklehead6

If the two slicks are only 500m apart then that suggests to me that the plane was intact upon impacting the surface.

Tigerandahalf

If there are oil slicks in the sea and they belong to the plane this would mean the plane was either leaking or discarding fuel for some distance. The fact that it disappeared from the radar very suddenly would appear to indicate that the communication equipment was damaged or disabled. Is it possible to disengage radar and communication equipment or could an engine explosion do it?

Tigerandahalf

knucklehead6 wrote: »

If the two slicks are only 500m apart then that suggests to me that the plane was intact upon impacting the surface.

Would the two slicks be fuel from both engines I wonder? At a height they could land on the sea at a distance apart.

fits

I dunno I'm still dubious about terrorism angle. No statement and just killing off airline passengers is pointless (for want of a better word). If it was terrorism the group responsible would want to be maximising their attention. And why target china/Malaysia

Thrill

Looks like the Italian media were right

ROME, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Saturday that 37-year-old Italian man Luigi Maraldi whose name is on the boarding list offered by Malaysia Airlines did not board on the plane MH 370 which has lost contact during flying.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=205525

Reported his passport stolen on August 1st of last year.

fr336

fits wrote: »

I dunno I'm still dubious about terrorism angle. No statement and just killing off airline passengers is pointless (for want of a better word). If it was terrorism the group responsible would want to be maximising their attention. And why target china/Malaysia

Because not everything is about the West?

Kavs8

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

If there are oil slicks in the sea and they belong to the plane this would mean the plane was either leaking or discarding fuel for some distance. The fact that it disappeared from the radar very suddenly would appear to indicate that the communication equipment was damaged or disabled. Is it possible to disengage radar and communication equipment or could an engine explosion do it?

Generally if a plane leaks oil from 35,000ft there isint going to be much of an oil slick because of how fast the plane is travelling. Similar to AF447 it usually indicates the crash location is nearby. As for radar equipment and comms an explosion would immediately knock out electronics and communications as happened with Pan Am 103 in 1988 in Lockerbie and Air India 182 off Cork in 1985. Terrorism is highly plausible at this stage however there are so many possibilities. As for engine failure it is extremely unlikely it would cause the aircraft to lose control.

sopretty

fits wrote: »

I dunno I'm still dubious about terrorism angle. No statement and just killing off airline passengers is pointless (for want of a better word). If it was terrorism the group responsible would want to be maximising their attention. And why target china/Malaysia

I was thinking this myself.

theKillerBite

fits wrote: »

I dunno I'm still dubious about terrorism angle. No statement and just killing off airline passengers is pointless (for want of a better word). If it was terrorism the group responsible would want to be maximising their attention. And why target china/Malaysia

Terrorism is rife in China too, 33 stabbed to death this week at a train station.

China was reeling from what was described as a "violent terror attack" on Saturday in which a knife-wielding gang stabbed 33 people to death and left scores more injured at a railway station.


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/02/china-mass-stabbings-yunnan-kunming-rail-station

Tigerandahalf

Kavs8 wrote: »

Generally if a plane leaks oil from 35,000ft there isint going to be much of an oil slick because of how fast the plane is travelling. Similar to AF447 it usually indicates the crash location is nearby. As for radar equipment and comms an explosion would
immediately knock out electronics and communications as happened with Pan Am 103 in 1988 in Lockerbie and Air India 182 off Cork in 1985. Terrorism is highly plausible at this stage however there are so many possibilities. As for engine failure it is extremely unlikely it would cause the aircraft to lose control.

Isn't there reports that the slick is 10/15 miles long. That either indicates the plane was in trouble for a while or was discarding fuel. If it exploded and dropped out of the sky there would be no long trail, no? But why was there no communication?

SpaceTime

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

This is terrible news. Shocking how a plane can go missing in this day and age. Make you scared to fly.

Still much much much safer than taking a shower and vastly safer than going for a walk or driving even in countries with very low road fatality rates like Ireland (we actually have very safe roads despite what you might think..)

Commercial flying is extremely safe. Same goes for rail transport in developed countries.

The scary bit I guess is that a mass transit accident usually involves a lot of people and is 'spectacular' however it flying or taking the train is exceptionally safe. You're far more likely to be injured or killed by your own house!

knucklehead6

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Would the two slicks be fuel from both engines I wonder? At a height they could land on the sea at a distance apart.

If the plane broke up at 35000ft and the engines were running they'd be a lot further apart than 500m apart.

The slicks could well be fuel, but given the short distance between them I'd suggest it appears the aircraft was mostly intact when it hit the surface.