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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Anyone hear about the missing plane to Beijing?
Not a great start to the month in current affairs, last weekend the tragic event which took place in Kunming’s train station and now breaking news that a flight from Kuala Lumpur going to Beijing has vanished without a trace with 239 people on board, the outcome doesn’t look great but still fingers crossed for some kind of miracle.
Yeah they say something catastrophic may have happen.
1.Lost complete power and fell into the ocean. 50%
2. The plane had an electrical issue and blew up. 49%
3. Aliens have taken it for study. 1%
Yeesh,
How can a plane just vanish this day and age?
They know the route, every plane has a black box... satellites probably recording every flight from space (and if not, they should be).
It should be impossible for a commercial airliner to just simply "vanish" unless it slips into a wormhole like that Stephen King movie, "The Langoliers"
ironman510:
If the plane sank too deep they may not be able to pick up the black box signal.. I saw on CNN that it was it was over the ocean when they lost contact.. they're looking for some traces of fuel because that will rise to the top of the ocean, if they cant find any trace of jet fuel that's when we should freak out.
"Lost" is airline lingo for "crashed" they are easing the news, the likely scenario when a plane goes down out of proximity to civilization will be zero survivors, but there is always the chance that a skilled pilot has managed to put it down gently somewhere. In that event I would think the pilot would have been able to broadcast an emergency, so a dramatic technical failure or terrorist intervention is most likely.
Three hours after it was supposed to arrive at Beijing, they were still announcing it as delayed.
ironman510:
I think you're right about the possibility that the media knows and just going to prepare the hearts and mind for a shock.. but let's say this was a terrorist hijacking, could they some how turn off that satellite signal?
This is the latest report about the missing plane, report from Yahoo Singapore. Malaysia Airlines hunts for missing plane carrying 239 Malaysia Airlines said a flight carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing went missing early Saturday, and the airline was notifying next of kin in a sign it feared the worst. The airline said flight MH370 disappeared at 2:40 am local time (1840 GMT Friday), about two hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It had been due to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 am local time (2230 GMT Friday). It was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, from 13 different nationalities, and 12 crew members. China's state television said 158 of the passengers were Chinese. Some 160 Chinese had been due to be on the flight but two missed it, according to Xinhua, quoting China's Civil Aviation Administration. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am earlier this morning bound for Beijing," Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement. The statement said the Malaysian flag carrier was working with authorities, who had launched an effort to locate the aircraft. "Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew," Ahmad Jauhari said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members." The plane was a Boeing 777-200. The airline's Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route passes roughly over the Indochinese peninsula. A Malaysian Airlines spokeswoman said she could not immediately provide further details, but the airline said it would soon hold a press conference in Kuala Lumpur. "This news has made us all very worried," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing. "We hope every one of the passengers is safe. We are doing all we can to get more details." - 'Contact lost over Vietnam airspace' - A report by China's Xinhua news agency said contact was lost with the plane while it was over Vietnamese airspace. Xinhua also quoted Chinese aviation authorities saying the plane did not enter China's air traffic control sphere. A spokeswoman with a Thai agency that monitors the country's airspace told AFP the plane also did not cross over Thailand. Vietnamese officials said they had no information on the plane. A Beijing airport spokeswoman said the facility had activated an emergency response system. Screens at the airport indicated the flight was "delayed". An accident would be a huge blow for the carrier, which has bled money for years as its struggles to fend off competition from rivals such as fast-growing AirAsia. It recorded its fourth straight quarterly loss during the final three months of 2013 and warned of a "challenging" year ahead due to intense competition. The carrier admitted in 2012 it was in "crisis", forcing it to implement a cost-cutting campaign centred on slashing routes and other measures. In 2011, it chalked up a record 2.5 billion ringgit ($767 million) loss. In July 2013, a Boeing 777-200 operated by South Korea's Asiana Airlines skidded off the runway upon landing at San Francisco's international airport after it clipped a seawall before touching down. Three people died. "We're closely monitoring reports on Malaysia flight MH370. Our thoughts are with everyone on board," the manufacturer said in a statement on its Twitter feed. Boeing has been beset by problems with its high-tech 787 Dreamliners put into service two years ago, including a months-long global grounding over battery problems last year. The information vacuum regarding the flight touched off a frenzy on social media, which saw an outpouring of concern for passengers and unconfirmed rumours that the plane had landed safely in southern China. Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has suffered few accidents in its history. One of its jets crashed in 1977 in southern Malaysia, killing all 93 passengers and seven crew. A smaller Twin Otter aircraft, operated by its unit MASwings, crashed upon landing in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island last October, killing a co-pilot and a passenger. There were no immediate signs of passenger relatives descending in large numbers on Beijing's airport. An AFP journalist saw one woman enter the arrivals zone at the airport and break down in tears. She was led away by police.
louischuahm:
louischuahm:
Malaysia Airlines plane crashes in South China Sea with 239 people aboard: report
Reuters By Stuart Grudgings and Anuradha Raghu 30 minutes ago
By Stuart Grudgings and Anuradha Raghu
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew crashed in the South China Sea on Saturday, Vietnamese state media said, quoting a senior naval official.
There's short news on Xinhua:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-03/08/c_133170651.htm
Vietnam says missing Malaysian plane's signal detected
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/us-malaysiaairlines-flight-idU...
The Boeing 777-200ER flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had been missing for hours when Vietnam's Tuoi Tre news quoted Admiral Ngo Van Phat as saying he had asked boats from an island off south Vietnam to rush to the crash site.
If the report is confirmed, it would mark the U.S.-built airliner's deadliest crash since entering service 19 years ago.
icnif77:
Not many people (on the ground) care for the box, but yeah at least there's some closer with the box. I was thinking about Nostradamus. However, he said an 'earthquake' is next.
I read somewhere, that before the ''war to extinction', planes will be falling from the sky".
Took the words right out of my mouth, such a sad day. And who cares what the nationalities are, they are all people and will be equally missed.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Vietnamese air force planes on Saturday spotted two large oil slicks in the area where a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished earlier in the day, the first sign that the aircraft carrying 239 people on board had crashed.
It just really sucks... all those poor people.
Just like the train thing... people waiting at a station where the train will arrive (or not) without their family.
Now, at an airport... people waiting for a plane that will never arrive...
Very sad... come on technology... we are in 2014 here... we should be be able to preemptively avoid these things through modern technology.
There should be a plan A, B, C, D to Z for every possibly scenario that can happen in the sky so that no lives are lost due to corporate greed and lack of maintenance. There should be a super AI that can think of any possible situation and come up with 1000 ways to prevent them all...
It's 2014! This is unacceptable! Every human on the planet should boycott airlines right now, they just aren't up to par when it comes to safety! How can you lose a plane? Even Google can't lose me when I am running around in the middle nowhere!
ironman510:
I can't believe there isn't a tracking device in 2014 that can lead us to a giant airplane. I've even got a tracking device in my sons left shoe that works great. You can see it here. (Why? Just an over cautious father in Asia.):
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z0d.6639537.0.0.9jP2jn&id=19491398084
Robk:
Nah... no such thing as being over cautious...
Better safe than sorry. I would do the exact same thing.
WanderingTeacher:
Does your son know there is a tracking device in his left shoe?
To be honest I am in a sort of shock myself too. I just can't wait for news to hear about it and I hope so much that there are still some lives to save. May God be with any survivor.
Here is an update from Yahoo news as of march 8th, 2014, 10:56 pm.
"KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Vietnamese air force planes on Saturday spotted two large oil slicks in the area where a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished earlier in the day, the first sign that the aircraft carrying 239 people on board had crashed.
Related Stories
- China-bound Malaysian jet vanishes with 239 aboard Associated Press
- Malaysia PM says still no sign of missing planeReuters
- Malaysia Airlines says last contact with missing plane over South China Sea Reuters
- Malaysia says it has no information missing plane has crashed Reuters
- Malaysia Airlines plane missing at sea off Vietnam, presumed crashed Reuters
The air force planes were part of a multinational search operation launched after Flight MH370 fell off radar screens less than an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early Saturday morning.
A Vietnamese government statement said the slicks were spotted late Saturday off the southern tip of Vietnam and were each between 10 kilometers (6 miles) and 15 kilometers (9 miles) long. There was no confirmation that the slicks were related to the missing plane, but the statement said they were consistent with the kinds that would be produced by the two fuel tanks of a crashed jetliner."
ironman510:
My mom in the U.S thinks it's terrorism, I still think it was an electrical issue and something malfunctioned, thats why they couldn't send the distress call. But any of our theories could be correct. Yeah I can't wait to see also and learn what really happened.
JacobJohn:
ironman510
I am reading there is a suspicious presence of 4 unidentified passengers on that flight and that at a certain moment, the flight did make a turn.
Here is the BBC source:
"Radar signals show a Malaysia Airlines plane that has been missing for more than 24 hours may have turned back, Malaysian officials have said.
Rescue teams looking for the plane have now widened their search area.
Investigators are also checking CCTV footage of two passengers who are believed to have boarded the plane using stolen passports.
Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared south of Vietnam with 239 people on board.
Air and sea rescue teams have been searching an area of the South China Sea south of Vietnam for more than 24 hours.
But Malaysia's civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur the search area had been expanded, to include the west coast of Malaysia.
Five passengers booked on the flight did not board, he added. Their luggage was consequently removed.
Twenty-two aircraft and 40 ships are now involved in the search, armed forces chief Gen Zulkefli Zin said.
Air force chief Rodzali Daud said the investigation was now focusing on a recording of radar signals that showed there was a "possibility" the aircraft had turned back from its flight path.
Vietnamese navy ships which reached two oil slicks spotted earlier in the South China Sea found no signs of wreckage.
'Suspect'
Malaysia's Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, initially said at least four names on the passenger list were "suspect" but later told the BBC there were in fact only two suspect names.
The BBC has confirmed that a man falsely using an Italian passport and a man falsely using an Austrian passport purchased tickets at the same time, and were both booked on the same onward flight from Beijing to Europe on Saturday.
Both had purchased their tickets from China Southern Airlines, which shared the flight with Malaysia Airlines, and they had consecutive ticket numbers.
The real owners reportedly had their passports stolen in Thailand in recent years.
Mr Hussein said international agencies including the FBI had joined the investigation and all angles were being examined.
"Our own intelligence have been activated and, of course, the counterterrorism units... from all the relevant countries have been informed," he said.
"The main thing here for me and for the families concerned is that we find the aircraft."
The passengers on the flight were of 14 different nationalities. Two-thirds were from China, while others were from elsewhere in Asia, North America and Europe.
When he was asked earlier whether terrorism was suspected as a reason for the plane's disappearance, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said: "We are looking at all possibilities but it is too early to make any conclusive remarks."
The plane vanished at 17:30 GMT Friday (01:30 local time Saturday).
It reportedly went off the radar south of Vietnam.
Malaysian Airlines had previously said it last had contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.
Distraught relatives and loved ones of those on board are being given assistance at both the arrival and departure airports.
Many have expressed anger at the lack of information.
"I can't understand the airline company. They should have contacted the families first thing," a middle-aged woman told AFP news agency at Beijing airport, after finding out her brother-in-law was on the flight.
"I don't have any news. I'm very worried," she said.
Some relatives said they were still hoping for miracle, reports the BBC's John Sudworth in Beijing.
But many others will have concluded that there is little hope of aircraft being found, our correspondent adds.
The aerial search was suspended overnight but resumed on Sunday morning.
Malaysia and Vietnam have both sent planes and naval vessels to look for the missing flight.
The US is sending the USS Pinckney, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, which could be in the central search area within three hours.
US transport safety experts are also joining the investigation.
Territorial disputes over the South China Sea were set aside temporarily as China dispatched two maritime rescue ships and the Philippines deployed three air force planes and three navy patrol ships.
Singapore is also involved, while Vietnam sent aircraft and ships and asked fishermen in the area to report any suspected sign of the missing plane.
Texas firm Freescale Semiconductor says 20 of its Malaysian and Chinese employees were on the flight, according to a statement on its website.
Malaysia's national carrier is one of Asia's largest, flying nearly 37,000 passengers daily to some 80 destinations worldwide.
Correspondents say the route between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing has become more and more popular as Malaysia and China increase trade."
I took nearly the same flight KL to SH on MA last year. Security seemed good but KL is known for terrorist connections, so my thought is terrorism too. There was a report that the same 777 suffered wing damage in an incident last year in SH. It could be a while but the investigators will get to the bottom of this.
It is the same plane that clipped the tail of a China Eastern airlines. It was said that the wing tip was damaged but subsequently repaired. But even if the wing tip did fall off, it would'nt be the cause of it's disappearance. The news have it that there were possible Uighurs on board. To make matters worse, there were 2 names that were pixelated to prevent people from knowing who they were. Now rumors are spreading that there is a possibility that it was a terrorist act.
Robk:
Uh oh.. if that is true Uighurs are going to be huge targets of hatred pretty soon.
The train thing then this... gonna be bad.
ironman510:
I agree sounds like terror. I guess it'll be impossible to learn what they used to blow up the plane. You have to wonder if there was a target or a reason why they chose this flight. Just choosing a random plane doesn't seem correct.
Yes, I also heard there are 2 ppl holding fake passport to get in the plane.
How can they get through Malaysian airport security inspect procedure?
just feel a bit strange.
ironman510:
They weren't check professionally. Just a quick glance and then they got through.
louischuahm:
Yup, it's confirmed that two of the passengers went on board with fake passports. One is Italian and the other Austrian. Both had their passports stolen while in Thailand. The possibility of a terrorist act is becoming more real. Possible terrorists would be the Jemiah Islamiya which have ties to Osama bin Ladin. This would also mean security checks at airports will tighten across the region.
I'm feeling pretty spooked at the moment. I was on MH370 2 weeks ago returning to Beijing from KL. At that time in the flight we would all be settling down to sleep after being served the meal. Sounds like a bomb to me, only way no signal or distress call could have been made. My hearts go out to the passengers and families - and the kids on the flight? bad!
That's why I never get annoyed at the security checks at airports but it seems something was missed this time.
Latest update: Malaysian authorities now fear the worst, the plane crashed. Adding to this, investigations now show that there were 4 passengers with false passports and all 4 bought their tickets China Southern airlines. It's not looking good at all.
philbravery:
I didn't know there was a China southern conection , have you got more on that?
louischuahm:
MH370 had a code sharing flight with China Southern airlines, which means both Malaysian airlines and China Southern can book the same flight. Tickets can be booked from both countries.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26502843
Missing Malaysia Airlines plane 'may have turned back'
Malaysia's Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, initially said at least four names on the passenger list were "suspect" but later told the BBC there were in fact only two suspect names.
The BBC has confirmed that a man falsely using an Italian passport and a man falsely using an Austrian passport purchased tickets at the same time, and were both booked on the same onward flight from Beijing to Europe on Saturday.
Both had purchased their tickets from China Southern Airlines, which shared the flight with Malaysia Airlines, and they had consecutive ticket numbers.
icnif77:
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/09/missing-mas-flight-imposters-bought-tickets-together/
According to CNN, the tickets were booked to start in Kuala Lumpur, then to Beijing, and onward to Amsterdam. The Italian passport's ticket continues to Copenhagen, the Austrian's to Frankfurt.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/malaysia-airlines-missing-upda...
CORRECTED-UPDATE 4-Malaysia Airlines plane crashes in South China Sea with 239 people aboard - report
KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Reuters) - A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew crashed in the South China Sea on Saturday, Vietnamese state media said, quoting a senior naval official.
The Boeing 777-200ER flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had been missing for hours when Vietnam's Tuoi Tre news quoted Admiral Ngo Van Phat as saying he had asked boats from an island off south Vietnam to rush to the crash site.
So incredibly sad. I just can't understand. If it crashed, aren't planes built to float? And can't you use your seats as floatation devices if need be? If it blew up, then I understand that it wouldn't even be possible for someone to serve, but if it crash and began to sink shortly thereafter, I would think there would be at least a couple of survivors. I know I'm not the only person who listens to those safety/emergency instructions given on the flight. One thing is for sure though, I'm never flying Malaysia or China Southern airlines. Delta all the way baby.
louischuahm:
With the velocity that the plane hits the water it'll probably break up on impact. And the weight of it will certainly ensure that it sinks within seconds. Unless it gently hits the water there is very little chance that people will survive such an impact. Delta included.
Scandinavian:
When you're traveling at the speed an airliner does, then there is no real difference between hitting water or a big block of concrete. A skilled pilot can put down a plane on water, but only if he has engine power and some steering control. (there was that plane that landed in a river in New York)
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230473280457942799119...
Vietnam Searchers Report Spotting Plane Debris
Officials Say They Found Piece of Door, Airplane Tail
Now the question is WHY did it blow up in the sky? Mechanical failure or foul play?
The wife got a rumor on WeChat this morning that the plane had been found and there are survivors. As far as I can tell from new sites, this is indeed just rumors. Who the F¤&# starts such a rumor.
I start to think about 'different dimensions'. There's no clue or trace, where all this people are. Even if crashed in Sea, they should already find some signs.
There's also no clear explanations about 2 faked passports used for boarding. Teli report at 6pm about 'possibility of highjacking not ruled out!'. Where highjackers could landed? In S. America, close to 'coca' fields….
Scandinavian:
If you look at past air crashes, there is past examples of it taking years to find a plane
icnif77:
I'm not going to look for...., but officials seem very confused. Like in X-files
I'm thinking, if it crashed, they should get some debris by now. Why are they talking about 'abduction' possibility? Is there an 'unlicensed' big airport somewhere?
Scandinavian:
The abduction theory is just BS, either there is a pretty big airstrip somewhere, not unlikely but very easy to follow up on, or any other attempts in a surface landing would have been very visible, e.g. big ball of fire.
icnif77:
It looks, 'abduction' was aimed toward Iran, but I'm sure they (Israelis) cover Iran 'in the smallest detail'.
Englteachted:
If it nose dived into the water, I imagine, the there would not be a lot of debris and the fuel tanks would remain intact.
Times like this, I'm glad the US Navy has the amount of ships at it's disposal. Other countries don't have the money or resources to do this on their own especially if this search takes weeks or months.