Missing Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 239 triggers Southeast Asia search

[sirchai]

FBI to probe missing Malaysia plane

......edited as unrelated to my post..........

The stolen passports used by two passengers on the plane are believed to have come from an Italian and a an Austrian.

"Just because they were stolen doesn’t mean the travelers were terrorists," a Department of Homeland Security official said. "They could have been nothing more than thieves. Or they could have simply bought the passports on the black market."

-- The Nation 2014-03-09

Strange to see the way that the passports are being downplayed everywhere....especially by organisations usually not known for jumping to innocent conclusions,.

Strange indeed. Maybe thieves, who bought them on a black market to fly to China from Malaysia?

"They could have been nothing more than thieves. Or they could have simply bought the passports on the black market."

Thieves,

[laolover88]

Vietnam says signals detected

http://www.latimes.com/la-china-vietnam-detects-signals-from-missing-plane-20140307,0,2281114.story#axzz2vR1W4yKt

[EyesWideOpen]

The aerial photo of the Oil Slick, to me, looks more like the usual slime floating in the oceans here, after ships have washed out their tanks and pumped them over the side.....

Agree. Jet a fuel would only leave a very thin sheen...

[PepperMe]

This is getting murkier by the minute almost.

My suspicious half is getting a little more confident that this was a terrorist attack.

In which case, stolen passports DO get cancelled off the international border control system, so looks like there may have been a little 'assistance' to get through immigration.

All theory at the moment, but there are a lot of niggling doubts and questions related to this disappearance.

It may have been a hijacking attempt that went horribly wrong.

Don't burn me, I am just relating the feelings I am having from all the news bites so far... Not alluding to anything in particular.

May they all rest in peace. If in fact this was terrorism, then may those people responsible burn in hell!

[onewhowalkswithbuffalo]

This is getting murkier by the minute almost.

My suspicious half is getting a little more confident that this was a terrorist attack.

In which case, stolen passports DO get cancelled off the international border control system, so looks like there may have been a little 'assistance' to get through immigration.

All theory at the moment, but there are a lot of niggling doubts and questions related to this disappearance.

It may have been a hijacking attempt that went horribly wrong.

Don't burn me, I am just relating the feelings I am having from all the news bites so far... Not alluding to anything in particular.

I would have to agree that if it is a terrorist attack then they had assistance on the ground. Namely why the chose to depart from a Muslim country which is known to have Islamic extremist cells.

[EyesWideOpen]

FBI to probe missing Malaysia plane

......edited as unrelated to my post..........

The stolen passports used by two passengers on the plane are believed to have come from an Italian and a an Austrian.

"Just because they were stolen doesn’t mean the travelers were terrorists," a Department of Homeland Security official said. "They could have been nothing more than thieves. Or they could have simply bought the passports on the black market."

-- The Nation 2014-03-09

Strange to see the way that the passports are being downplayed everywhere....especially by organisations usually not known for jumping to innocent conclusions,.

That does seem odd. A little under 2 % of the passengers on board are using stolen passports,

and that does not raise a flag ? Besides it would seem to me that if someone had a stolen

European passport, they would be flying out of China, not into it.....

[coma]

If it was an act of terror, then where is the claim of responsibility from a terrorist group. They normally gloat and give some post script rhetorical speech in an attempt to justify their actions. As of yet we have no such claim.

[coma]

FBI to probe missing Malaysia plane

......edited as unrelated to my post..........

The stolen passports used by two passengers on the plane are believed to have come from an Italian and a an Austrian.

"Just because they were stolen doesn’t mean the travelers were terrorists," a Department of Homeland Security official said. "They could have been nothing more than thieves. Or they could have simply bought the passports on the black market."

-- The Nation 2014-03-09

Strange to see the way that the passports are being downplayed everywhere....especially by organisations usually not known for jumping to innocent conclusions,.

That does seem odd. A little under 2 % of the passengers on board are using stolen passports,

and that does not raise a flag ? Besides it would seem to me that if someone had a stolen

European passport, they would be flying out of China, not into it.....

Western Hemisphere spooks sure would be interested in passports getting them into China. Mossad are notorious for their operator conducting ops on stolen foreign passports. Just duck down to Langley on Monday and see if there are a few more stars on the wall.

[onewhowalkswithbuffalo]

If it was an act of terror, then where is the claim of responsibility from a terrorist group. They normally gloat and give some post script rhetorical speech in an attempt to justify their actions. As of yet we have no such claim.

Maybe they are getting all those who assisted out of Malaysia or to a nearest rat cave

[Garnethoyes]

Brings to mind some years ago when a man in this region (was he Thai ?) wanted to get rid of his wife and put a bomb aboard a plane. It worked. But that was before all the terrorist precautions they have nowadays. How good is security at KL ?

One more point: If those using the stolen passports were aboard and involved then that would make it a suicide mission. I suppose those guys actually did board.

I'm in the process of applying for a new passport myself (UK) and they say that I do not have to return my old passport for cancellation - they will simply electronically cancel it so it cannot be used. I suspect that would just stop it being used at places that have good electronic security like in the west - not around here.

[Chicog]

Only a small point, but if a terrorist group wanted to have a pop at China, why would they bring down a Malaysian aircraft?

[harrry]

The very fact there were aparently 4 aboard with the stolen pasports to me rules out a plan to destroy the aircraft. Hijak maybe but to destroy you need one.....and maybe one to make sure he keeps his oath.

[Ralf61]

I'm in the process of applying for a new passport myself (UK) and they say that I do not have to return my old passport for cancellation - they will simply electronically cancel it so it cannot be used. I suspect that would just stop it being used at places that have good electronic security like in the west - not around here.

Well, I got my passport stolen here in LOS. Sure I notified my embassy and applied for a new one. The embassy told me to never ever use the dissapeared passport again, in the case it turned up again, as the loss of the passport will be notified to both federal police and Interpol, and using such a reported passport will lead to a lot of trouble, even if the person is the rightful passport holder. And on my last visit to Malaysia they took fingerprint scans on passport control from all passengers, both on check-in and on check-out. But I do not know whether they cross-checked the scans with the biomerics stored in the passport...

Is Malaysia participating in the Advance Passenger Information System?

[Tywais]

Only a small point, but if a terrorist group wanted to have a pop at China, why would they bring down a Malaysian aircraft?

It was code shared with China Southern airlines and the vast majority of passengers were Chinese.

[animatic]

The very fact there were aparently 4 aboard with the stolen pasports to me rules out a plan to destroy the aircraft. Hijak maybe but to destroy you need one.....and maybe one to make sure he keeps his oath.

Unless you need 4 people to smuggle on enough explosives when mixed together to do the job.

[aussiesteve63]

It has been reported on nz news that there may have been 4 people on board with stolen passports

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[LomSak27]

Malaysian authorities apparently did not check the stolen documents on an international law enforcement agency database,

Ok there is that

both documents were stolen in Thailand.

Well if you have that you are definetly going to have a possible terrorist angle, along with all other possibilities.

[OnTheRun]

With respect to the Malaysian immigration doing fingerprinting, I've been working on & off in Eastern Malaysia for close on 2 years. The first time I entered Malaysia I was fingerprinted on arrival, since then never. I assume they fingerprint you on first arrival and store it on a database, if this is indeed the case they will have the fingerprints of any suspect foreign nationals.

[sunshine51]

This is a photo purportedly showing a debris field taken by a

passenger on an MH flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur that

safely landed in KL this morning. Story link is below the photo.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1444179/new-possible-sighting-debris-sea-china-sends-warships-join-search-missing

"The poster, whose profile information says he is a banker working for China Minsheng Bank in Beijing, wrote that he took the snaps from his window at a height of 11,000 metres, at about 6.45am on Sunday."

[metisdead]

A post containing profanity has been removed:

In using Thai Visa I agree:

3) Not to post in a manner that is vulgar, obscene or profane.

[sirchai]

This is a photo purportedly showing a debris field taken by a

passenger on an MH flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur that

safely landed in KL this morning. Story link is below the photo.

6aca1bebjw1ee97m3krz1j20xc18gtdf.jpg

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1444179/new-possible-sighting-debris-sea-china-sends-warships-join-search-missing

"The poster, whose profile information says he is a banker working for China Minsheng Bank in Beijing, wrote that he took the snaps from his window at a height of 11,000 metres, at about 6.45am on Sunday."

It really looks like debris of the missing plane.

How can the authorities not know where this is, when a flight passenger had made such a photo on same route?

Unbelievable.-

[Garnethoyes]

Only a small point, but if a terrorist group wanted to have a pop at China, why would they bring down a Malaysian aircraft?

My guess is that it is a terrorist hijacking that went wrong. But it looks like lots of Chinese have been killed.

[laobali]

Only a small point, but if a terrorist group wanted to have a pop at China, why would they bring down a Malaysian aircraft?

Technically it was also a Chinese airline flight number (codeshare). Some extra research is needed when booking certain flights to establish which airline and aircraft is actually operating it. Some passengers would be unaware until they set foot in the cabin.

[coma]

The very fact there were aparently 4 aboard with the stolen pasports to me rules out a plan to destroy the aircraft. Hijak maybe but to destroy you need one.....and maybe one to make sure he keeps his oath.

Unless you need 4 people to smuggle on enough explosives when mixed together to do the job.

The 9/11 hijackings were carried out by 4 man teams [except for 1]. There is evidence to suggest that some of the hijackers that day were not aware of the planned suicide mission. But instead thought they were carrying out a 'standard ' hijacking.

[Lite Beer]

RT@mpoppel: REU: RADAR INDICATED THAT MISSING FLIGHT TURNED BACK BEFORE DISAPPEARING-MALAYSIA MILITARY

[Goat Roper]

RT@mpoppel: REU: RADAR INDICATED THAT MISSING FLIGHT TURNED BACK BEFORE DISAPPEARING-MALAYSIA MILITARY

Still no indication or news about a mayday?

[h90]

Stolen IDs are suspicious but it must be remembered that the use of false passports by Security Agencies of many countries is common. There was a case a few years ago when the misuse of Australian passports for this was found. This may or may not be a reason for the Malasian authorities downplaying the signifigence.

Early days and lots of theories to flow under the bridge yet.

Again my sympathies to the families of all concerned.

I wondered how a Malay, Thai, Chinese can use an Austrian passport with an traditional Italian/Austrian name in it.

So a Security Agency would be possible. And most probably not the Austrian or Italian one.

[sunshine51]

This is a photo purportedly showing a debris field taken by a

passenger on an MH flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur that

safely landed in KL this morning. Story link is below the photo.

6aca1bebjw1ee97m3krz1j20xc18gtdf.jpg

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1444179/new-possible-sighting-debris-sea-china-sends-warships-join-search-missing

"The poster, whose profile information says he is a banker working for China Minsheng Bank in Beijing, wrote that he took the snaps from his window at a height of 11,000 metres, at about 6.45am on Sunday."

It really looks like debris of the missing plane.

How can the authorities not know where this is, when a flight passenger had made such a photo on same route?

Unbelievable.-

Sirchai....could be debris from the plane but one major thing makes me question this...

Why is the debris of such uniform size & shape? One would think that debris would be

of different sizes right? However...if true...then it's a whole new ball game...one for the

better I hope.

[Mosha]

Only a small point, but if a terrorist group wanted to have a pop at China, why would they bring down a Malaysian aircraft?

It was code shared with China Southern airlines and the vast majority of passengers were Chinese.

Plus all 4 booked it as CZ748, not all airlines are exactly clear when it's a codeshare flight. They may have thought they were flying on a Chjna Southern aircraft.

[PPEist]

It could be a hijacking which would explain the radio silence, then maybe the hijackers crashed it trying to pilot it to wherever they wanted to go.

If the plane was turned back by the pilots voluntarily, it really is mind boggling why there wasn't a distress signal sent by the pilots. I'm guessing hijacking and then crash from the information that's been released so far.