Merged Malaysia Airlines 777 missing en route to Bejing

[rwguinn]

It would have been in an oceanic flight phase. It's also a largely automated phase of flight, except that it involves no significant speed or altitude changes that the pilots would be neglecting to watch properly. Whatever the reason for this incident, I'm tentatively guessing it's not related to the causes of the Asiana disaster.

Air France...

 

[Sideroxylon]

It's being reported that two people listed on the manifest were not on board.

For instance, after the airline released a manifest, Austria denied that one of its citizens was onboard the flight as the list stated. The Austrian citizen was safe and sound, and his passport had been stolen two years ago, Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Weiss told CNN.
Similarly, Italy's foreign ministry confirmed that no Italians were onboard MH370, even though an Italian was listed on the manifest. Malaysian officials said they were aware of reports that the Italian's passport was also stolen, but had not confirmed it.​

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/08/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane-missing/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

It's likely to be months before we have an idea what has happened. We have only a possible fuel slick and debris.

 

[BenBurch]

We're going to need that flight recorder.

 

[Sideroxylon]

I've not seen anything about radar contact. I'm not familiar with how this works - would the plane have been out of range of ATC radar at the time?

Rolfe.

I have been looking at a thread on Jetcareers.com where someone who seems to know what they are talking about says they were outside ATC coverage and that this is the norm.

 

[I Ratant]

I would like -any- of the media to show where the plane was expected to be when it lost contact... In or out of controlled space.. and whose.

 

[Reheat]

The best evidence I've seen as to it's last location was about 40" after take-off at the top of it's climb to FL 350 from the transponder readout. Yes, there is secondary radar (transponder) coverage in that area, but not primary radar coverage. That is the general area of the reported oil slicks, which are more likely fuel slicks.. Remember it's still dark and only ships are in the area now.

It was suppose to be switching from Malaysian Control to Ho Chi Min Control, but never reported to Ho Chi Min...

There are too many unknowns to do much more than speculate at this point. The only thing that is highly probable at this point is that there was a catastrophic event that caused it to go down rapidly with no communications of any type continuing at that point. No ACARS and no radio calls that have been confirmed.

 

[RoseMontague]

Looks like they are saying two passports like that on the same flight is raising some red flags...

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/mi...ror-concerns-missing-jet-officials-say-n47861

 

[Checkmite]

Looks like they are saying two passports like that on the same flight is raising some red flags...

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/mi...ror-concerns-missing-jet-officials-say-n47861

A legit concern I suppose; but why haven't we heard any messages, seen any websites or social media posts? Usually someone will claim responsibility in a terror attack, or at least leave a suicide letter in some place where it will be found and publicized.

 

[newyorkguy]

I notice there is some confusion here about when VNAF spotted the oil slick. The news report said:

A 12-mile long oil slick spotted between Malaysia and Vietnam Saturday afternoon is thought to be the first sign that a missing Malaysia Airlines flight...

Saturday afternoon in Viet-Nam was about twelve hours ago. As I write this the local time in Viet-Nam is 1:30 AM Sunday morning, March 9th. ETA- In New York it's 1:30 PM Saturday March 8th.


Link

 

[Cainkane1]

Hopefully the plane wasn't downed by terrorists.

 

[Ryokan]

Stolen passports could be criminals or illegal immigrants.

 

[sylvan8798]

For instance, after the airline released a manifest, Austria denied that one of its citizens was onboard the flight as the list stated. The Austrian citizen was safe and sound, and his passport had been stolen two years ago,

Mr Maraldi has come forward to let the Italian authorities know that he was not in fact on the stricken flight. He is understood to have called home from Thailand to let his family know he is alive and well.

He said his passport was stolen several months ago in the South East Asian country.

It would seem fairly remarkable if there were a connection between two passports stolen at different times in different countries.

 

[Cool Hand Luke]

Usually someone will claim responsibility in a terror attack, or at least leave a suicide letter in some place where it will be found and publicized.

.
This is not necessarily true. In fact, most major terrorist groups do not own up to their work as a matter of policy for a number of reasons. It's normally the amateurs who go public with boasts.

That said, with no other info except "plane has crashed" the likelyhood of mechanical failure or some other unintentional problem causing the accident is always much higher than any other explanation.

 

[Sherman Bay]

Looks like they are saying two passports like that on the same flight is raising some red flags...

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/mi...ror-concerns-missing-jet-officials-say-n47861

But are they related? And if so, how common is this? Is a stolen passport likely to result in a plane downing? For all we know, passengers with stolen passports take off and land safely daily. Do terrorists only target flights with stolen passports? Is there any real reason why this situation should be a factor, or is it incidental?

 

[Ryokan]

Do terrorists only target flights with stolen passports? Is there any real reason why this situation should be a factor, or is it incidental?

I think it's more that known terrorists will use stolen passports to hide their identity, rather than them targeting planes with passangers with stolen passports.

But there are dozens of other reasons a person might use a stolen passport other than being a terrorist, so it's hard to say if it's relly relevant.

 

[SpitfireIX]

Sorry, I'm really upset about this. Please don't let it be a bomb.

Rolfe.

There's no need to apologize. This is clearly a very emotional issue for you, for obvious and completely understandable reasons.

Any speculation about possible causes at this point is just that: speculation. The only things that can really be ruled out at this point are weather and bird strikes. Lauda Air Flight 004^WP and TWA Flight 800^WP are two examples of crashes that initially appeared to have been deliberate acts, but upon investigation turned out to have been cases of mechanical failure.

 

[SpitfireIX]

It would seem fairly remarkable if there were a connection between two passports stolen at different times in different countries.

I've seen multiple news reports stating that both passports were stolen in Thailand.

 

[smartcooky]

But are they related? And if so, how common is this? Is a stolen passport likely to result in a plane downing? For all we know, passengers with stolen passports take off and land safely daily. Do terrorists only target flights with stolen passports? Is there any real reason why this situation should be a factor, or is it incidental?

Stealing a passport is one way for a terrorist suicide attacker to get on board an aircraft. Just because the two stolen passports came from different cities and were stolen at different times does not mean that the two people in possession of them are unrelated, or that they are even the ones who stole them.

Although it is unusual for an airliner to go down without witnesses and some sort of transmission from the cockpit, it has happened only once before from something other than a terrorist attack; Air France 447 in 2009. Statistically, it is more likely to be a terrorist attack or a hijacking gone wrong.

I hope I'm wrong!

 

[SpitfireIX]

A sudden event that would down the aircraft without the chance for a radio message.

As has been discussed in other threads, even when they have the time to do so, pilots don't always make distress calls, particularly in cases where there's nothing that air-traffic control can do to help.

 

[theprestige]

Hopefully the plane wasn't downed by terrorists.

If it was terrorists, we should seriously consider the possibility that they were ex-US military.