Merged Malaysia Airlines 777 missing en route to Bejing

[LTC8K6]

The signal report has been denied.

The Vietnam Navy has apparently reported the crash south of Phu Quoc in the vicinity of Tho Chu island.

Nothing is confirmed though.

My info is from Airliners.net and PPRUNE discussions.

 

[LTC8K6]

UPDATE [12:37]: Tuoi Tre, a leading daily in Vietnam, reports that the Vietnamese Navy has confirmed the plane crashed into the ocean. According to Navy Admiral Ngo Van Phat, Commander of the Region 5, military radar recorded that the plane crashed into the sea at a location 153 miles South of Phu Quoc island.

http://my.news.yahoo.com/mas-aircraft-goes-missing--says-airline-023820132.html

 

[AdMan]

Very sad situation. Let's hope it's not as bad as it sounds, but it's not looking good at all.

 

[Orphia Nay]

"The plane lost contact near Ca Mau province airspace as it was preparing to transfer to Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control," a statement posted on the official Vietnamese government website said.

The plane's signal was never transferred to Ho Chi Minh air traffic control, it added.

Ca Mau province is in southernmost Vietnam.

The ministry launched a rescue effort to find the plane, working in coordination with Malaysian and Chinese officials, the statement added.

Malaysian authorities dispatched a plane, two helicopters and four vessels to search seas off its east coast in the South China Sea, said Faridah Shuib, a spokeswoman for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

The Philippines said it was sending three navy patrol boats and a surveillance plane to help efforts.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/21880817/vietnam-malaysia-mount-search-for-plane/

 

[LTC8K6]

Would be a rare fatal incident with a 777.

Only the second incident with fatalities, the other being the Asiana incident at SFO.

Only the fourth hull loss.

 

[Orphia Nay]

KUALA LUMPUR: A massive search and rescue (SAR) mission has been mobilised by Malaysian and international authorities following the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) jetliner enroute to China from here.
The SAR mission was prompted within minutes after MAS requested for government and international assistance, after it and air traffic controllers failed to locate the Boeing 777’s location.

The SAR operations involve MAS, the Department of Civil Aviation, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, the Royal Malaysian Navy, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Butterworth-based Intergrated Area Defence System Headquarters and the agencies from Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, China and the Hawaii-based United States Pacific Command.

The IADS Headquarters administers the five-power defence pact involving Malaysia, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, while the United States Pacific Command has a flotilla of warships and aircraft carriers scouring the Pacific Ocean.

Aviation and defence officials said that the massive SAR was mobilised following a request from Malaysian authorities after Flight MH 370, that departed the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang at 12.41am, disappeared from the air traffic control radar screen about two hours later.

Read more: MISSING MH370 : Massive search off south Vietnam coast - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-c...ff-south-vietnam-coast-1.502464#ixzz2vLvICzJ1

 

[LTC8K6]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiLQ_9PCEAAS39o.png:large

Looks like the point where Flightradar24 lost data is close to the reported crash site ~150 miles south of Tho Chu island.

If you playback the flight on FR24, the data seems to just quit abruptly.

 

[LTC8K6]

It looks like the water is in the neighborhood of 200 feet deep in the area, so recovery should not be that difficult as with AF447.

 

[AdMan]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BiLQ_9PCEAAS39o.png:large

Looks like the point where Flightradar24 lost data is close to the reported crash site ~150 miles south of Tho Chu island.

If you playback the flight on FR24, the data seems to just quit abruptly.

I know it's only speculation at this point, but what could be a reasonable cause for MH370 to seemingly disappear from radio transmission all of a sudden? Shouldn't it have kept transmitting for a short while at least? Is a complete electric/radio failure a reasonable assumption?

 

[Corsair 115]

I know it's only speculation at this point, but what could be a reasonable cause for MH370 to seemingly disappear from radio transmission all of a sudden? Shouldn't it have kept transmitting for a short while at least? Is a complete electric/radio failure a reasonable assumption?

Well, the first possibility would seem obvious: a bomb aboard the aircraft.

 

[AdMan]

Well, the first possibility would seem obvious: a bomb aboard the aircraft.

Hmm... how is that the first possibility?

 

[Cain]

They were dead all along.

 

[LTC8K6]

I know it's only speculation at this point, but what could be a reasonable cause for MH370 to seemingly disappear all of a sudden? Shouldn't it have kept transmitting for a short while at least? Is a complete electric/radio failure reasonable?

Well, it is indeed speculation, and FR24 is not reliable enough to use as strong evidence.

It's possible that FR24 is not accurate enough to say for sure that the data stream just stopped.

Whatever it was, the crew doesn't appear to have said anything. But even that doesn't tell us much. It's not uncommon for the crew not to say anything in an emergency. Aviate, Navigate, Communicate.

Given the 777's reputation, it's pretty odd to have one just disappear.

There was apparently no bad weather in the area.

A highjacker would likely turn off the transponder...

 

[LTC8K6]

AF447 was in an area where it was unlikely that anyone would hear a radio transmission if they had made one.

MAS370 was well within radio range of lots of listeners.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/8/4/2354482.jpg

That is apparently the plane, 9M-MRO.

 

[AdMan]

AF447 was in an area where it was unlikely that anyone would hear a radio transmission if they had made one.

MAS370 was well within radio range of lots of listeners.

Yes, this is what is strange. No indication apparently received by anyone that there was something wrong with the plane.

 

[LTC8K6]

We will need to see the wreckage pattern on the ocean floor. It should be fairly obvious if it broke up at 35K feet, or went into the water intact, or if a piece broke off early.

One would think if a piece broke off early, there would be time to call mayday, but not necessarily.

 

[LTC8K6]

I wonder if anyone on the plane sent a text or made a call? Or if they could, given time?

 

[Antiquehunter]

UPDATE [3:03pm]: At KLIA, the brother of a passenger says relatives are being told to bring a valid passport because they need to 'travel to the crash site'. Relatives have to be at KLIA before 6pm with valid passports for MAS to make 'travel arrangements'.

Seems strange, since it is appears to be most probable that the plane went down in the water. Likewise, since when do airlines take family members to a crash site? More like to a triage area where they can identify their relatives?

 

[LTC8K6]

Must be to a place where they can either ID the bodies or be given belongings? Seems a little early though given that the plane has not actually been located.