Missing Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 239 triggers Southeast Asia search

[loongdavid]

"Can you tell me what Malaysia is doing?"

What right now? Most likely organising another round of Muslim insurgents into southern Thailand to kill and maim innocent Thais..................oh! you mean in the southern ocean. Well if they are good boys and behave themselves the Australian Maritime Safety Authority will most likely give them a little stretch of ocean that they can search in.............................Good grief, what are you shooting into your arm?

[JesseFrank]

Just showing some nonsensical protest from the families in kl.

They demand an apology for withholding info, they demand that Boeing meet with them? To discuss exactly what.

They accuse the Malaysians of withholding info? Nuts. Nuts nuts.

You're right, they don't withhold any info, Malaysian Airlines even told the families that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean and that all their relatives were dead, without actually having a clue what happened to the plane and its passengers.

[JetsetBkk]

Just showing some nonsensical protest from the families in kl.

They demand an apology for withholding info, they demand that Boeing meet with them? To discuss exactly what.

They accuse the Malaysians of withholding info? Nuts. Nuts nuts.

You're right, they don't withhold any info, Malaysian Airlines even told the families that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean and that all their relatives were dead, without actually having a clue what happened to the plane and its passengers.

Please try to keep up.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/flight-mh370-inmarsat-aaib-analysis

[JesseFrank]

Just showing some nonsensical protest from the families in kl.

They demand an apology for withholding info, they demand that Boeing meet with them? To discuss exactly what.

They accuse the Malaysians of withholding info? Nuts. Nuts nuts.

You're right, they don't withhold any info, Malaysian Airlines even told the families that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean and that all their relatives were dead, without actually having a clue what happened to the plane and its passengers.

Please try to keep up.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/flight-mh370-inmarsat-aaib-analysis

What I have to keep up with ?

Did they find the plane at that location or are they since searching at a location more than 1100km away from there , and that one also turns out to be a negative.

[EyesWideOpen]

Time will tell..... :-) As you have pointed out in another post, to turn off the ACARS system

requires a knowledgeable person to actually descend down into the electronics bay on a lower

level and physically turn it off. This is a strong implication for pilot involvement. So to me this

still implies a flight to somewhere. All available evidence does NOT point to an on board fire

crippling the plane ,and turning it into a ghost plane flying on until it crashes.. In fact the last

known radar tracks show it flying slightly west. The search will be called off in about two weeks,

and this will go down as one of the great mysteries of the modern age....

Hi,

Knowledge is required to disable the ACARS, but does not require going into the electronics bay to do so.

Correct, my mistake. There was an early report saying the system had to be disable from a switch

in the electronics bay. Now information is that as you say, it is simply a circuit breaker in the cockpit.

Ahhh here is the source of my confusion. The ACARS system has two parts. So it appears that

by not shutting off the switch in the electronics bay allowed the engine to continue to send pings.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/586027/3-pieces-of-evidence-point-to-malaysia-airlines-jets-takeover

"The system, which has two parts, is used to send short messages via a satellite or VHF radio to the airline’s home base. The information part of the system was shut down, but not the transmission part. In most planes, the information part of the system can be shut down by hitting cockpit switches in sequence in order to get to a computer screen where an option must be selected using a keypad, said Goglia, an expert on aircraft maintenance.

That’s also something a pilot would know how to do, but that could also be discovered through research, he said.

But to turn off the other part of the ACARS, it would be necessary to go to an electronics bay beneath the cockpit. That’s something a pilot wouldn’t normally know how to do, Goglia said, and it wasn’t done in the case of the Malaysia plane. Thus, the ACARS transmitter continued to send out blips that were recorded by the Inmarsat satellite once an hour for four to five hours after the transponder was turned off."

[Gulfsailor]

Okay....

My Post yesterday was posted then later someone deleted it. I will post a Quote from the Flight Radar24 Website:

Thanks to Agent24 Integrity he was able to post but it Later WIERD as his post Vanished also...!!!

So copy this link as I am sure It will Vanish ALSO!!!!

You can see Web page at top of Video and Voice confirmation of where it was posted (I apologise for the missspelling if any... Just get Phone calls from Stateside on this issue... They informed me that the Long Post I made yesterday has disapeared....)

Here we go!

http://www.flightradar24.com/#2014-03-08/18:40/12x/MAS370/2d9dd5b?&_suid=1396169384218026835636104952193

YOU CAN CLICK ON MHS370 (Flight will turn red to ID) as it leaves Maylasia air space over Kuala Terengganu @ 1728 UTC (Time) towards Vietnam @ 1735 utc time Plane will turn and go crazy, then actually shows it continuing on flight path. Crossing Vietnam boarder @ 1809 UTC. and show flight path. midway over south china sea it goes crazy completely does a 360 turn. But then this site continues to follow towards Ho Chi Ming City @ 1835 UTC and onto Hong Kong air space @ 2050 UTC. This whole time it shows it Squaking @ 2161 and Radar F-ZG SZ1.

I hate to throw this in but if indeed it did disappear at 1735 UTC ....... Then how can radar continue to show it all the way to Beijing.....? I don't know I just know I went to Flight radar24 webpage, clicked on left side... Playback entered date 03/08/2014 and time 1650 UTC then waited for MHS370 to leave KL double clicked on plane as it was ID'd as MHS370 and info came u on left side. you can change playbck speed to x24 instead of the norm at x12 so it doesn't time out. and track it all the way to china....... Absolutly WEIRD!!!!

Yeah so weird! And this same plane has been flying regular routes up until today!!! Oh maybe because the missing plane departed on March 7th UTC time, not the 8th....

[Thai at Heart]

Just showing some nonsensical protest from the families in kl.

They demand an apology for withholding info, they demand that Boeing meet with them? To discuss exactly what.

They accuse the Malaysians of withholding info? Nuts. Nuts nuts.

You're right, they don't withhold any info, Malaysian Airlines even told the families that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean and that all their relatives were dead, without actually having a clue what happened to the plane and its passengers.

So by that definition, Malaysian airlines could just make up any old story and feed into these people and they would be happy.

The odds that there is a conspiracy are the smallest of all the possibilities. There are no facts to hide, because the Malaysian authorities don't know where it is. The odds that the Chinese took it are higher and that is incredibly unlikely.

[JesseFrank]

Just showing some nonsensical protest from the families in kl.

They demand an apology for withholding info, they demand that Boeing meet with them? To discuss exactly what.

They accuse the Malaysians of withholding info? Nuts. Nuts nuts.

You're right, they don't withhold any info, Malaysian Airlines even told the families that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean and that all their relatives were dead, without actually having a clue what happened to the plane and its passengers.

So by that definition, Malaysian airlines could just make up any old story and feed into these people and they would be happy.

The odds that there is a conspiracy are the smallest of all the possibilities. There are no facts to hide, because the Malaysian authorities don't know where it is. The odds that the Chinese took it are higher and that is incredibly unlikely.

Did I say anything about a conspiracy ?

Did I say anything about the Chinese taking it ?

You say there are no facts to hide, while can not know since clearly nobody knows all the facts so far.

I believe still in a hijacking, but that's a personal opinion .

I did say that they announced that it had crashed into the Indian ocean and everyone had died, while a week later they still don't have a clue what happened to it.

If they don't know where it is, they shouldn't make statements like that .

Edited March 30, 2014 by JesseFrank

[davidstipek]

Okay....

My Post yesterday was posted then later someone deleted it. I will post a Quote from the Flight Radar24 Website:

Thanks to Agent24 Integrity he was able to post but it Later WIERD as his post Vanished also...!!!

So copy this link as I am sure It will Vanish ALSO!!!!

You can see Web page at top of Video and Voice confirmation of where it was posted (I apologise for the missspelling if any... Just get Phone calls from Stateside on this issue... They informed me that the Long Post I made yesterday has disapeared....)

Here we go!

http://www.flightradar24.com/#2014-03-08/18:40/12x/MAS370/2d9dd5b?&_suid=1396169384218026835636104952193

YOU CAN CLICK ON MHS370 (Flight will turn red to ID) as it leaves Maylasia air space over Kuala Terengganu @ 1728 UTC (Time) towards Vietnam @ 1735 utc time Plane will turn and go crazy, then actually shows it continuing on flight path. Crossing Vietnam boarder @ 1809 UTC. and show flight path. midway over south china sea it goes crazy completely does a 360 turn. But then this site continues to follow towards Ho Chi Ming City @ 1835 UTC and onto Hong Kong air space @ 2050 UTC. This whole time it shows it Squaking @ 2161 and Radar F-ZG SZ1.

I hate to throw this in but if indeed it did disappear at 1735 UTC ....... Then how can radar continue to show it all the way to Beijing.....? I don't know I just know I went to Flight radar24 webpage, clicked on left side... Playback entered date 03/08/2014 and time 1650 UTC then waited for MHS370 to leave KL double clicked on plane as it was ID'd as MHS370 and info came u on left side. you can change playbck speed to x24 instead of the norm at x12 so it doesn't time out. and track it all the way to china....... Absolutly WEIRD!!!!

Yeah so weird! And this same plane has been flying regular routes up until today!!! Oh maybe because the missing plane departed on March 7th UTC time, not the 8th....

Yes it is wierd because at same place over China Sea the same flight on 03/08/14 (same time) does same manuver.... Or maybe just looking for....?debris? ok?

But do go and do same search of map on 03/07/14 Yes plane does disappear but before plane does locate east of it Flight SQC7866 (Singapore Air Cargo- 747) it also disappears at 1734 UTC. and shows up again and reappears around 1744 click on it to track.... Totally off scope for 10 minutes.

Also just east of it (west of Riau Island) is another SIA638 (Singapore Air- A.B.380) it also disappers at 1734UTC... But it never reappears we scanned screen for 2 hrs never picking up on a A.B.380 headed anywhere from this location. In fact flight path stops in middle of Ocean!

Just about every plane in the same Longitude in general area does the disappearing and 99% come back... Except SIA638!

Maybe there is a way to contact some one to check with pilots of at least these two Aircraft to see if they remember anything flashing on their Radar screen or distubance in electronics at or between these times...

This is really simular to being close to a burst of Narrow Beam Radar, not aimed at them but in general vicinity!

If the answer is yes, then we know what happened to MH370... Not why or for what reason... but it tells us who is behind it! AND IT IS NOT THE PILOT!

Edited March 30, 2014 by davidstipek

[chooka]

Just showing some nonsensical protest from the families in kl.

They demand an apology for withholding info, they demand that Boeing meet with them? To discuss exactly what.

They accuse the Malaysians of withholding info? Nuts. Nuts nuts.

You're right, they don't withhold any info, Malaysian Airlines even told the families that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean and that all their relatives were dead, without actually having a clue what happened to the plane and its passengers.

So by that definition, Malaysian airlines could just make up any old story and feed into these people and they would be happy.

The odds that there is a conspiracy are the smallest of all the possibilities. There are no facts to hide, because the Malaysian authorities don't know where it is. The odds that the Chinese took it are higher and that is incredibly unlikely.

“Hand us the murderer. Tell us the truth. Give us our relatives back,” one banner read. “You must return relatives of MH370. No strings attached.”

[MrWorldwide]

I guess the theory put forward on last night's 60 Minutes makes about as much sense as anything else I've read : that the pilot chose the deepest part of the Indian Ocean to crash the plane in a (mass) murder-suicide simply because he doesn't want the extent of his crime to be made public. I still cant comprehend how someone - even if he was a sociopath - could fly the friendly skies for all those years, build a profile as a worthwhile member of his community, then snap and take close to 300 people with him.

Surely the point where he allegedly turned off the cockpit voice recorder, then ACARS, then the depressurization alert - all in careful sequence - would have been the point where his fingers wavered over the controls ? Climbing steeply to 42000 feet to render everyone in the cabin brain-dead is callous beyond measure, but continuing to fly into the night with a cabin full of people (including children) who had done nothing to him : it's hard to imagine how he could have even dressed himself that afternoon much less acted normal with the crew before take-off. As to the fate of his co-pilot - in this scenario, I guess it's purely academic.

As usual, it's just one more speculative opinion, but for mine its much scarier than anything else - even a terrorist hijacking or bomb would seem more logical than a pilot completely ignoring his duty of care after years of safely discharging thousands of passengers from his aircraft. To me, its the equivalent of the gunman in the clock tower being identified as the Dean of Faculty - almost unthinkable.

I'll leave it to the board's mental health experts for further discussion - as I said, this isn't my preferred outcome but we may never know what actually happened and that's the really scary prospect.

[Scott]

A post without a link, and which does not follow Fair Use policy has been deleted along with replies.

[Asiantravel]

I guess the theory put forward on last night's 60 Minutes makes about as much sense as anything else I've read : that the pilot chose the deepest part of the Indian Ocean to crash the plane in a (mass) murder-suicide simply because he doesn't want the extent of his crime to be made public. I still cant comprehend how someone - even if he was a sociopath - could fly the friendly skies for all those years, build a profile as a worthwhile member of his community, then snap and take close to 300 people with him.

Surely the point where he allegedly turned off the cockpit voice recorder, then ACARS, then the depressurization alert - all in careful sequence - would have been the point where his fingers wavered over the controls ? Climbing steeply to 42000 feet to render everyone in the cabin brain-dead is callous beyond measure, but continuing to fly into the night with a cabin full of people (including children) who had done nothing to him : it's hard to imagine how he could have even dressed himself that afternoon much less acted normal with the crew before take-off. As to the fate of his co-pilot - in this scenario, I guess it's purely academic.

As usual, it's just one more speculative opinion, but for mine its much scarier than anything else - even a terrorist hijacking or bomb would seem more logical than a pilot completely ignoring his duty of care after years of safely discharging thousands of passengers from his aircraft. To me, its the equivalent of the gunman in the clock tower being identified as the Dean of Faculty - almost unthinkable.

I'll leave it to the board's mental health experts for further discussion - as I said, this isn't my preferred outcome but we may never know what actually happened and that's the really scary prospect.

It might be worth mentioning that it is the Australian 60 min as opposed to the one in the USA and you can watch it on their website. It's in 2 parts.

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/

[casualposter]

Surely the point where he allegedly turned off the cockpit voice recorder, then ACARS, then the depressurization alert - all in careful sequence - would have been the point where his fingers wavered over the controls ? Climbing steeply to 42000 feet to render everyone in the cabin brain-dead is callous beyond measure, but continuing to fly into the night with a cabin full of people (including children) who had done nothing to him : it's hard to imagine how he could have even dressed himself that afternoon much less acted normal with the crew before take-off. As to the fate of his co-pilot - in this scenario, I guess it's purely academic.

People snap. The guy lost his wife and kids, then he saw his political hero jailed on false charges.

He may have wanted to do this to expose Malaysia's incompetence in handling the aftermath. He my have wanted to draw attention to the country's corrupt regime.

But these are just theories. The truth (like the plane) may never be found.

[casualposter]

To me, its the equivalent of the gunman in the clock tower being identified as the Dean of Faculty - almost unthinkable.

But it's happened before. A pilot in Botswana committed suicide in a plane; an Egyptian co-pilot did likewise and killed everyone on board.

Pilot suicide is REAL.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Air_Botswana_incident

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_990

Another interesting link (re:Mozambique Airlines Flight TM470)

http://www.ibtimes.com/pilot-suicide-when-its-captain-who-crashes-plane-1519756

[MrWorldwide]

OK - I guess that scratches the surface of my own racism - I see 'Botswana' and 'Egypt' and instantly think "I'd never get on a plane in either of those countries !". Somewhat of a double standard after I took another poster to task for his blanket assertion that 'Asian' pilots simply aren't up to the same standard as their Western colleagues, despite the fact that Asian pilots fly in and out of international airports from NZ to Iceland.

Point taken, however grudgingly, casualposter - pilot suicide makes as much sense as anything else currently being tossed around. Hopefully one of the ships in the current search zone will retrieve the four orange objects the RAAF identified late yesterday Perth time.

[casualposter]

OK - I guess that scratches the surface of my own racism - I see 'Botswana' and 'Egypt' and instantly think "I'd never get on a plane in either of those countries !". Somewhat of a double standard after I took another poster to task for his blanket assertion that 'Asian' pilots simply aren't up to the same standard as their Western colleagues, despite the fact that Asian pilots fly in and out of international airports from NZ to Iceland.

Point taken, however grudgingly, casualposter - pilot suicide makes as much sense as anything else currently being tossed around. Hopefully one of the ships in the current search zone will retrieve the four orange objects the RAAF identified late yesterday Perth time.

This is shocking:

According to a summary by Aviation Safety Network of the preliminary investigation results, the crash was quite possibly intentional. Data from the cockpit voice recorder indicate that minutes before the crash, the co-pilot left the cockpit for the bathroom, and returned to find the door shut. The flight data recorder, or black box, indicates according to preliminary results that the captain manually changed on the autopilot the flight altitude from 38,000 feet to below ground level. He also retarded the engine throttles to idle and manually selected the maximum operating speed -- a contradictory action that makes little sense. The voice recorder shows that someone, likely the first officer, pounded on the cockpit door before the crash. There was no mayday call from the experienced captain.

http://www.ibtimes.com/pilot-suicide-when-its-captain-who-crashes-plane-1519756

[loongdavid]

"The most powerful radar systems in the region are at Diego Garcia"

Please, tell us all how you know this?

[boomerangutang]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

OK - I guess that scratches the surface of my own racism - I see 'Botswana' and 'Egypt' and instantly think "I'd never get on a plane in either of those countries !". Somewhat of a double standard after I took another poster to task for his blanket assertion that 'Asian' pilots simply aren't up to the same standard as their Western colleagues, despite the fact that Asian pilots fly in and out of international airports from NZ to Iceland.

Point taken, however grudgingly, casualposter - pilot suicide makes as much sense as anything else currently being tossed around. Hopefully one of the ships in the current search zone will retrieve the four orange objects the RAAF identified late yesterday Perth time.

This is shocking:

According to a summary by Aviation Safety Network of the preliminary investigation results, the crash was quite possibly intentional. Data from the cockpit voice recorder indicate that minutes before the crash, the co-pilot left the cockpit for the bathroom, and returned to find the door shut. The flight data recorder, or black box, indicates according to preliminary results that the captain manually changed on the autopilot the flight altitude from 38,000 feet to below ground level. He also retarded the engine throttles to idle and manually selected the maximum operating speed -- a contradictory action that makes little sense. The voice recorder shows that someone, likely the first officer, pounded on the cockpit door before the crash. There was no mayday call from the experienced captain.

http://www.ibtimes.com/pilot-suicide-when-its-captain-who-crashes-plane-1519756

The above quote is in reference to a suspected pilot suicide/murder of another flight, in 1999, not the missing Malaysian plane.

The link is interesting, and should be required reading for anyone interested in the rare occurrence of pilot suicide/murder.

I knew there were some incidents, but didn't know there were so many in the past 15 years. Airlines are extremely reluctant to give credence to investigative evidence which points to suicide/mass murder. The same scenario will unfold with Malaysian officials, as it becomes increasingly evident that MA 370 fits in that category. It's already started, with any indications of pilot screw-up - downplayed or dismissed by Malaysian authorities.

[boomerangutang]

Surely the Australian military would know of something as big as a 777 flying 1700 - 1800 km off of the coast of Australia with over the horizon radar and such.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

...exactly...and don't forget America's global sattelite surveillance.

<deleted> how do you naysayers think the US protects itself and its bases from potential incoming missiles?

Diego Garcia alone is crawling with survrveillance equipment..do you think 'unidentified' objects can fly in the Indian Ocean undetected?

This ain't the 1930's..

I am astounded how simple-minded and naive are the posters in this thread..

Diego Garcia is a long distance away from the suspected flight path of the missing Malaysian plane.

[Tywais]

Some entertainment and apropos to this topic.

[casualposter]

Airlines are extremely reluctant to give credence to investigative evidence which points to suicide/mass murder. The same scenario will unfold with Malaysian officials, as it becomes increasingly evident that MA 370 fits in that category. It's already started, with any indications of pilot screw-up - downplayed or dismissed by Malaysian authorities.

This is the problem, isn't it?

Can you imagine the CEO of any airline smiling proudly at the press conference as he announces "Hey guys, we've finally established it was suicide."

These are now very difficult times for the Malaysian authorities.

Here's another Malaysian incident (this time from 1977)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_Airline_System_Flight_653

Edited March 31, 2014 by casualposter

[webfact]

Australia says no time limit on hunt for Malaysian jet
Agence France-Presse
Greg Wood
PERTH, Australia

PERTH: -- No time limit will be imposed on the search for MH370 because the world deserves to know what happened, Australian premier Tony Abbott said Monday, as a ship equipped to locate the plane's "black box" prepared to set sail.

The hunt for physical evidence that the Malaysia Airlines jet crashed in the Indian Ocean more than three weeks ago has turned up nothing, despite a massive operation involving seven countries and repeated sightings of suspected debris.

Experts warn hard evidence must be found first to narrow down a search zone in order for the US-supplied black box detector to be effective.

Abbott said the search across an expanse of ocean the size of Norway would continue for as long as necessary to track down the Boeing 777, which was carrying 239 people when it vanished on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"I’m certainly not putting a time limit on it... We can keep searching for quite some time to come," Abbott told reporters at the Perth military base coordinating the operation.

"We owe it to the families, we owe it to everyone that travels by air, we owe it to the anxious governments of the countries who had people on that aircraft. We owe it to the wider world which has been transfixed by this mystery for three weeks now."

More than a dozen Chinese relatives of those aboard the ill-fated plane -- part of a group of nearly 30 who arrived in Malaysia to press authorities for answers -- kept up the pressure on Monday during a visit to a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

Wearing T-shirts that read "MH370 come back safely" in Mandarin, they lit candles and left flowers at the temple in an hour-long prayer session for loved ones. But their anger at Malaysia’s handling of the crisis still smoldered.

"We will never forgive those who hurt our families and don’t tell the truth and delay the rescue mission," a spokesman for the group told reporters, reiterating the belief among many relatives of the 153 Chinese aboard that Malaysia has concealed the truth.

- ’Critical’ to find debris -

=============================

The Australian vessel Ocean Shield, fitted with a device known as a towed pinger locator and an underwater drone equipped with electronic sensors for detecting the black box’s signal, was to conduct sea trials off Perth on Monday before heading to the search area.

Captain Mark Matthews from the US Navy said it was "critical" to first locate a likely crash site.

"Right now the search area is basically the size of the Indian Ocean, which would take an untenable amount of time to search," he said.

A black box signal usually lasts only about 30 days. Fears have been mounting that it could already be too late, with Ocean Shield needing up to three days to get to the search area.

However, Matthews said the black box signal could last up to 15 days longer than thought.

Once any floating debris is confirmed to be from the plane, authorities plan to work backwards -- analysing recent weather patterns and ocean currents -- to a possible crash site.

- Families demand answers -

===========================

Malaysia believes MH370 was deliberately diverted by someone on board, but nothing else is known. It has said satellite data indicates the plane went down in seas far off western Australia.

The circumstances have brought pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, under intense scrutiny, but no evidence has emerged to implicate them, and family and acquaintances have attested their good character.

Zaharie’s daughter Aishah on Monday accused a British tabloid newspaper, the Daily Mail, of concocting a report "out of thin air" alleging that her father was "disturbed" due to marital trouble.

"May god have mercy on your souls," she told the paper in a Facebook posting quoted by local media.

"You can bet your ass I will not forgive you."

Many Chinese relatives, already distraught and angry, have been further incensed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s announcement on March 24 that the plane was lost at sea, saying that could not be concluded until wreckage is found.

But Abbott backed Najib’s conclusion, saying it was supported by an "absolutely overwhelming wave of evidence".

A source close to Malaysia’s investigation told AFP that authorities in Kuala Lumpur were upset with "the Chinese side whipping up the families’ emotions against Malaysia".

China’s state media have regularly heaped scorn on Malaysia for losing MH370, and Beijing has pressed for more transparency in its investigation.

Monday’s search saw ten planes take to the skies, with ten ships already at sea. Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Korea and the US are taking part.

Malaysia remains officially in charge of the search, but Australia has assumed increasing responsibility, appointing retired air chief marshal Angus Houston to head a new coordination centre in Perth.
Australia says no time limit on hunt for Malaysian jet
Agence France-Presse
Greg Wood
PERTH, Australia March 31, 2014 2:46 pm
No time limit will be imposed on the search for MH370 because the world deserves to know what happened, Australian premier Tony Abbott said Monday, as a ship equipped to locate the plane's "black box" prepared to set sail.

The hunt for physical evidence that the Malaysia Airlines jet crashed in the Indian Ocean more than three weeks ago has turned up nothing, despite a massive operation involving seven countries and repeated sightings of suspected debris.

Experts warn hard evidence must be found first to narrow down a search zone in order for the US-supplied black box detector to be effective.

Abbott said the search across an expanse of ocean the size of Norway would continue for as long as necessary to track down the Boeing 777, which was carrying 239 people when it vanished on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"I’m certainly not putting a time limit on it... We can keep searching for quite some time to come," Abbott told reporters at the Perth military base coordinating the operation.

"We owe it to the families, we owe it to everyone that travels by air, we owe it to the anxious governments of the countries who had people on that aircraft. We owe it to the wider world which has been transfixed by this mystery for three weeks now."

More than a dozen Chinese relatives of those aboard the ill-fated plane -- part of a group of nearly 30 who arrived in Malaysia to press authorities for answers -- kept up the pressure on Monday during a visit to a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

Wearing T-shirts that read "MH370 come back safely" in Mandarin, they lit candles and left flowers at the temple in an hour-long prayer session for loved ones. But their anger at Malaysia’s handling of the crisis still smoldered.

"We will never forgive those who hurt our families and don’t tell the truth and delay the rescue mission," a spokesman for the group told reporters, reiterating the belief among many relatives of the 153 Chinese aboard that Malaysia has concealed the truth.

- ’Critical’ to find debris -

=============================

The Australian vessel Ocean Shield, fitted with a device known as a towed pinger locator and an underwater drone equipped with electronic sensors for detecting the black box’s signal, was to conduct sea trials off Perth on Monday before heading to the search area.

Captain Mark Matthews from the US Navy said it was "critical" to first locate a likely crash site.

"Right now the search area is basically the size of the Indian Ocean, which would take an untenable amount of time to search," he said.

A black box signal usually lasts only about 30 days. Fears have been mounting that it could already be too late, with Ocean Shield needing up to three days to get to the search area.

However, Matthews said the black box signal could last up to 15 days longer than thought.

Once any floating debris is confirmed to be from the plane, authorities plan to work backwards -- analysing recent weather patterns and ocean currents -- to a possible crash site.

- Families demand answers -

===========================

Malaysia believes MH370 was deliberately diverted by someone on board, but nothing else is known. It has said satellite data indicates the plane went down in seas far off western Australia.

The circumstances have brought pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, under intense scrutiny, but no evidence has emerged to implicate them, and family and acquaintances have attested their good character.

Zaharie’s daughter Aishah on Monday accused a British tabloid newspaper, the Daily Mail, of concocting a report "out of thin air" alleging that her father was "disturbed" due to marital trouble.

"May god have mercy on your souls," she told the paper in a Facebook posting quoted by local media.

"You can bet your ass I will not forgive you."

Many Chinese relatives, already distraught and angry, have been further incensed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s announcement on March 24 that the plane was lost at sea, saying that could not be concluded until wreckage is found.

But Abbott backed Najib’s conclusion, saying it was supported by an "absolutely overwhelming wave of evidence".

A source close to Malaysia’s investigation told AFP that authorities in Kuala Lumpur were upset with "the Chinese side whipping up the families’ emotions against Malaysia".

China’s state media have regularly heaped scorn on Malaysia for losing MH370, and Beijing has pressed for more transparency in its investigation.

Monday’s search saw ten planes take to the skies, with ten ships already at sea. Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Korea and the US are taking part.

Malaysia remains officially in charge of the search, but Australia has assumed increasing responsibility, appointing retired air chief marshal Angus Houston to head a new coordination centre in Perth.


-- The Nation 2014-03-31

[RubbaJohnny]

With our worldwide members scanning many media and with a wealth of experience explain

1 Why would Maldivians and the pilgrim woman on plane back to KL indepentantly lie,without foreknowledge of the mystery?

2 Has any independant non NATO journalist seen inside the hangars at Dago Garcia last month?

3 Is it credible that RAAF didn't track an object potentialy 20 mins offshore (if it was e..g. a Tomcat,of course it wasnt but if they can ID incoming at mach2+ and refugee boats weeks out,seems very odd no record of 777 barely 900miles offshore,of course they wouldn't have failed if there was nothing to see.

4 Even the vintage F16s of the Indonesian air force have a theoretical ability of Mach 2+,whether operational but from Kupang on Timur to Darwin in less than the time from Geraldton W.A.to the search zone ?

5 Why would MAS state all souls lost,incomptence,insensitivity,advice from shaman or did they know that Malays shoot it down in error,if so why continue search risking lives of sailors and airmen?

Edited March 31, 2014 by RubbaJohnny

[canman]

Australia says no time limit on hunt for Malaysian jet

Agence France-Presse

Greg Wood

PERTH, Australia

PERTH: -- No time limit will be imposed on the search for MH370 because the world deserves to know what happened, Australian premier Tony Abbott said Monday, as a ship equipped to locate the plane's "black box" prepared to set sail.

The hunt for physical evidence that the Malaysia Airlines jet crashed in the Indian Ocean more than three weeks ago has turned up nothing, despite a massive operation involving seven countries and repeated sightings of suspected debris.

Experts warn hard evidence must be found first to narrow down a search zone in order for the US-supplied black box detector to be effective.

Abbott said the search across an expanse of ocean the size of Norway would continue for as long as necessary to track down the Boeing 777, which was carrying 239 people when it vanished on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"I’m certainly not putting a time limit on it... We can keep searching for quite some time to come," Abbott told reporters at the Perth military base coordinating the operation.

"We owe it to the families, we owe it to everyone that travels by air, we owe it to the anxious governments of the countries who had people on that aircraft. We owe it to the wider world which has been transfixed by this mystery for three weeks now."

More than a dozen Chinese relatives of those aboard the ill-fated plane -- part of a group of nearly 30 who arrived in Malaysia to press authorities for answers -- kept up the pressure on Monday during a visit to a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

Wearing T-shirts that read "MH370 come back safely" in Mandarin, they lit candles and left flowers at the temple in an hour-long prayer session for loved ones. But their anger at Malaysia’s handling of the crisis still smoldered.

"We will never forgive those who hurt our families and don’t tell the truth and delay the rescue mission," a spokesman for the group told reporters, reiterating the belief among many relatives of the 153 Chinese aboard that Malaysia has concealed the truth.

- ’Critical’ to find debris -

=============================

The Australian vessel Ocean Shield, fitted with a device known as a towed pinger locator and an underwater drone equipped with electronic sensors for detecting the black box’s signal, was to conduct sea trials off Perth on Monday before heading to the search area.

Captain Mark Matthews from the US Navy said it was "critical" to first locate a likely crash site.

"Right now the search area is basically the size of the Indian Ocean, which would take an untenable amount of time to search," he said.

A black box signal usually lasts only about 30 days. Fears have been mounting that it could already be too late, with Ocean Shield needing up to three days to get to the search area.

However, Matthews said the black box signal could last up to 15 days longer than thought.

Once any floating debris is confirmed to be from the plane, authorities plan to work backwards -- analysing recent weather patterns and ocean currents -- to a possible crash site.

- Families demand answers -

===========================

Malaysia believes MH370 was deliberately diverted by someone on board, but nothing else is known. It has said satellite data indicates the plane went down in seas far off western Australia.

The circumstances have brought pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, under intense scrutiny, but no evidence has emerged to implicate them, and family and acquaintances have attested their good character.

Zaharie’s daughter Aishah on Monday accused a British tabloid newspaper, the Daily Mail, of concocting a report "out of thin air" alleging that her father was "disturbed" due to marital trouble.

"May god have mercy on your souls," she told the paper in a Facebook posting quoted by local media.

"You can bet your ass I will not forgive you."

Many Chinese relatives, already distraught and angry, have been further incensed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s announcement on March 24 that the plane was lost at sea, saying that could not be concluded until wreckage is found.

But Abbott backed Najib’s conclusion, saying it was supported by an "absolutely overwhelming wave of evidence".

A source close to Malaysia’s investigation told AFP that authorities in Kuala Lumpur were upset with "the Chinese side whipping up the families’ emotions against Malaysia".

China’s state media have regularly heaped scorn on Malaysia for losing MH370, and Beijing has pressed for more transparency in its investigation.

Monday’s search saw ten planes take to the skies, with ten ships already at sea. Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Korea and the US are taking part.

Malaysia remains officially in charge of the search, but Australia has assumed increasing responsibility, appointing retired air chief marshal Angus Houston to head a new coordination centre in Perth.

Australia says no time limit on hunt for Malaysian jet

Agence France-Presse

Greg Wood

PERTH, Australia March 31, 2014 2:46 pm

No time limit will be imposed on the search for MH370 because the world deserves to know what happened, Australian premier Tony Abbott said Monday, as a ship equipped to locate the plane's "black box" prepared to set sail.

The hunt for physical evidence that the Malaysia Airlines jet crashed in the Indian Ocean more than three weeks ago has turned up nothing, despite a massive operation involving seven countries and repeated sightings of suspected debris.

Experts warn hard evidence must be found first to narrow down a search zone in order for the US-supplied black box detector to be effective.

Abbott said the search across an expanse of ocean the size of Norway would continue for as long as necessary to track down the Boeing 777, which was carrying 239 people when it vanished on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"I’m certainly not putting a time limit on it... We can keep searching for quite some time to come," Abbott told reporters at the Perth military base coordinating the operation.

"We owe it to the families, we owe it to everyone that travels by air, we owe it to the anxious governments of the countries who had people on that aircraft. We owe it to the wider world which has been transfixed by this mystery for three weeks now."

More than a dozen Chinese relatives of those aboard the ill-fated plane -- part of a group of nearly 30 who arrived in Malaysia to press authorities for answers -- kept up the pressure on Monday during a visit to a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

Wearing T-shirts that read "MH370 come back safely" in Mandarin, they lit candles and left flowers at the temple in an hour-long prayer session for loved ones. But their anger at Malaysia’s handling of the crisis still smoldered.

"We will never forgive those who hurt our families and don’t tell the truth and delay the rescue mission," a spokesman for the group told reporters, reiterating the belief among many relatives of the 153 Chinese aboard that Malaysia has concealed the truth.

- ’Critical’ to find debris -

=============================

The Australian vessel Ocean Shield, fitted with a device known as a towed pinger locator and an underwater drone equipped with electronic sensors for detecting the black box’s signal, was to conduct sea trials off Perth on Monday before heading to the search area.

Captain Mark Matthews from the US Navy said it was "critical" to first locate a likely crash site.

"Right now the search area is basically the size of the Indian Ocean, which would take an untenable amount of time to search," he said.

A black box signal usually lasts only about 30 days. Fears have been mounting that it could already be too late, with Ocean Shield needing up to three days to get to the search area.

However, Matthews said the black box signal could last up to 15 days longer than thought.

Once any floating debris is confirmed to be from the plane, authorities plan to work backwards -- analysing recent weather patterns and ocean currents -- to a possible crash site.

- Families demand answers -

===========================

Malaysia believes MH370 was deliberately diverted by someone on board, but nothing else is known. It has said satellite data indicates the plane went down in seas far off western Australia.

The circumstances have brought pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, under intense scrutiny, but no evidence has emerged to implicate them, and family and acquaintances have attested their good character.

Zaharie’s daughter Aishah on Monday accused a British tabloid newspaper, the Daily Mail, of concocting a report "out of thin air" alleging that her father was "disturbed" due to marital trouble.

"May god have mercy on your souls," she told the paper in a Facebook posting quoted by local media.

"You can bet your ass I will not forgive you."

Many Chinese relatives, already distraught and angry, have been further incensed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s announcement on March 24 that the plane was lost at sea, saying that could not be concluded until wreckage is found.

But Abbott backed Najib’s conclusion, saying it was supported by an "absolutely overwhelming wave of evidence".

A source close to Malaysia’s investigation told AFP that authorities in Kuala Lumpur were upset with "the Chinese side whipping up the families’ emotions against Malaysia".

China’s state media have regularly heaped scorn on Malaysia for losing MH370, and Beijing has pressed for more transparency in its investigation.

Monday’s search saw ten planes take to the skies, with ten ships already at sea. Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Korea and the US are taking part.

Malaysia remains officially in charge of the search, but Australia has assumed increasing responsibility, appointing retired air chief marshal Angus Houston to head a new coordination centre in Perth.

-- The Nation 2014-03-31

"The Australian vessel Ocean Shield, fitted with a device known as a towed pinger locator and an underwater drone equipped with electronic sensors for detecting the black box’s signal, was to conduct sea trials off Perth on Monday before heading to the search area."

The Ocean Shield is still at garden island, not moving yet

[boomerangutang]

With our worldwide members scanning many media and with a wealth of experience explain

1 Why would Maldivians and the pilgrim woman on plane back to KL indepentantly lie,without foreknowledge of the mystery?

2 Has any independant non NATO journalist seen inside the hangars at Dago Garcia last month?

3 Is it crdible that RAAF didn't track an object potentialy 20 mins offshore (if it was a Tomcat,of course it wasnt but if they can ID incoming at mach2+ and refugee boats weeks out,seems very odd no record of 777 barely 900miles offshore,of course they wouldn't have failed if there was nothing to see.

Answers from the peanut gallery:

1. the 'pilgrim woman' as you call her (mother of 10) and what she allegedly saw, is still a mystery, I agree.

2. DG is too far off the potential route to be of any real concern.

3. The alleged route of the mystery plane appeared to go over Malaysia. How much do Malaysia radar watchers know? that's a more pertinent a Q, than what Aussies may have seen on their radar, as the plane appeared to fly closer to Malaysia (and Singapore and possibly Indonesia) than to western Australia.

Military defensive radar arrays seem to generally go along two levels. One is general radar, which is probably moderately used. The other is more intense, when a country is in a ''war mode,' or for some reasons, expecting threatening activity - and that's more rarely used. In both cases, radar is more attuned to approaching craft, rather than side-scanning. Australia hasn't had any territorial threats, so its more intense defensive radar (if it has it there) would have likely been inactive.

On the other hand, countries are understandably reluctant to reveal their radar capabilities. If they get an enemy, they obviously don't want that enemy to know their capabilties. That's a prime reason, why we've heard scant little, in relation to the missing plane, from the countries in that region. The one exception: Thailand came forth with some data, albeit belatedly.

In contrast, countries like the Koreas, Turkey, Russia, Iran, US and Israel have intense radar activated 24/7.

[y2k]

Knowing that the black box was due to run out of power would it have been prudent to send the search vessel towing it earlier than they have?

[hawker9000]

Surely the Australian military would know of something as big as a 777 flying 1700 - 1800 km off of the coast of Australia with over the horizon radar and such.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

...exactly...and don't forget America's global sattelite surveillance.

<deleted> how do you naysayers think the US protects itself and its bases from potential incoming missiles?

Diego Garcia alone is crawling with survrveillance equipment..do you think 'unidentified' objects can fly in the Indian Ocean undetected?

This ain't the 1930's..

I am astounded how simple-minded and naive are the posters in this thread..

Same old story. Inadequacy & insecurity compensate with insults & arrogance. Some things never change. MH370 is undoubtedly one of the biggest aviation mysteries of our time, but this guy has all the "obvious answers" and knows it all. He's so sure in fact that anyone who doesn't see it as he does is a moron. And of course, it's another conspiracy or coverup operating out of, where else but Diego Garcia, home of all things sinister & malevolent! I'm sure "W" must've planned this, right?

[Tywais]

Knowing that the black box was due to run out of power would it have been prudent to send the search vessel towing it earlier than they have?

If you are referring to the US towed pinger locator, the problem is the search area needs to be narrowed and preferably an actual debris field found. It takes several days for it to reach the current site and without wreckage it is a huge area still to search and the speed is not very high even though it can detect up to 1.6km at a speed of 5km/h.

Captain Matthews said without solid proof of the crash, they would not be able to begin to search for the black box.

``We don’t have a defined search area yet. We have our challenges in front of us,’’ he said.

Perthnews

[y2k]

I know but desperate times ...