MH370: Plane wreckage found in Indian Ocean tested

[webfact]

US official: Debris in photo belongs to Boeing 777
By JOAN LOWY and LORI HINNANT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Air safety investigators have a "high degree of confidence" that a photo of aircraft debris found in the Indian Ocean is of a wing component unique to the Boeing 777, the same model as the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared last year, a U.S. official said Wednesday.

Air safety investigators — one of them a Boeing investigator — have identified the component as a "flaperon" from the trailing edge of a 777 wing, the U.S. official said.

A French official close to an investigation of the debris confirmed Wednesday that French law enforcement is on site to examine a piece of airplane wing found on the French island of Reunion, in the western Indian Ocean. A French television network was airing video from its Reunion affiliate of the debris.

The U.S. and French officials spoke on condition that they not be named because they aren't authorized to speak publicly.

At the United Nations, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told reporters that he has sent a team to verify the identity of the plane wreckage.

"Whatever wreckage found needs to be further verified before we can ever confirm that it is belonged to MH370," he said.

If the debris turns out to be from Malaysia Airlines flight 370, it will be the first major break in the effort to discover what happened to the plane after it vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while traveling from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Beijing. A massive multinational search effort of the South Indian Ocean, the China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand came up dry.

A comprehensive report earlier this year into the plane's disappearance revealed that the battery of the locator beacon for the plane's flight data recorder had expired more than a year before the jet vanished. However, the report said the battery in the locator beacon of the cockpit voice recorder was working.

Investigators hope that if they can locate the two recorders they can get to the bottom of what has become one of aviation's biggest mysteries. The unsuccessful search for Flight 370 has raised concern worldwide about whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

Apart from the anomaly of the expired battery, the detailed report devoted page after page to describing a flight that started off completely normal.

The 584-page report by a 19-member independent investigation group went into minute details about the crew's lives, including their medical and financial records and training. It also detailed the aircraft's service record, as well as the weather, communications systems and other aspects of the flight. Nothing unusual was revealed.

The 777, first introduced into service in 1995, had had an enviable safety record up until Flight 370. The only prior fatal crash was of an Asiana Airlines flight while landing in San Francisco in 2013 that was later attributed by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board to mistakes by the flight's pilots. Two passengers were killed in the crash and a third was run over by a truck.

Four months after the disappearance of Flight 370, another Malaysia Airlines 777 was shot down over rebel-held portion of Eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard.
___

Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writer Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-30

[webfact]

Malaysia sends team to verify plane wreckage
Malaysia has sent a team to verify whether plane debris washed up on an Indian Ocean island could be part of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, its transport minister said on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS: Malaysia has sent a team to verify whether plane debris washed up on an Indian Ocean island could be part of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, its transport minister said on Wednesday (Jul 29).

The washing up of the mysterious plane debris on the French island of La Reunion prompted swift speculation that it could be part of the missing aircraft.

Full story: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-sends-team-to/2016844.html

-- Channel NewsAsia 2015-07-30

[bangkokheat]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

[Hayduke]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

You're right. But their reluctance might be because it's a for fee process and they don't want to pay for it.

[Carib]

In today's society it is not always smart to make locations known, there is more to it.

[WorriedNoodle]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

You're right. But their reluctance might be because it's a for fee process and they don't want to pay for it.

Sorry, but that is not negotiable in this situation. Why bother with seat belts and life preserving equipment on board either in that case?

[WorriedNoodle]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

I'm surprised so little has been made of the reported sighting of low flying large aircraft on day of incident over the Maldives - which is in direction of Reunion Is? Surely some of the millions spent on scanning the ocean floors off Perth could have been directed towards that?

[MaxYakov]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

You're right. But their reluctance might be because it's a for fee process and they don't want to pay for it.

I doubt he's right. I mean c'mon how many times has this this happened and what will be the frequency in the future? A tamper-proof and ultra-reliable ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) would be just as effective providing the airlines can keep the batteries up-to-date. On the other hand, opening up a high-volume, full-time data path to large passenger plane has some interesting possibilities and a way to make more revenue for the airlines - see next paragraph.

Besides, the data bandwidth has to be allocated for much more important items such as porn, pop music videos, pirated/downloaded movies, Windows OS releases, social media and, last but not least Time Team episodes.

[F4UCorsair]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

I'm surprised so little has been made of the reported sighting of low flying large aircraft on day of incident over the Maldives - which is in direction of Reunion Is? Surely some of the millions spent on scanning the ocean floors off Perth could have been directed towards that?

Except that the electronic evidence, i.e., signals from the aircraft to the engine manufacturer that the engines suffered fuel exhaustion abeam Geraldton in Western Australia, a long way from La Reunion or the maldives.

[fiddlehead]

In 16 months, a piece of wing could drift a long way also.

[DavisH]

In 16 months, a piece of wing could drift a long way also.

Currents from the west coast of Australia circulate right around and flow past the Reunion Islands and Madagascar. I would not be surprised at all if this is wreckage from the missing plane.

[Hayduke]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

You're right. But their reluctance might be because it's a for fee process and they don't want to pay for it.

I doubt he's right. I mean c'mon how many times has this this happened and what will be the frequency in the future? A tamper-proof and ultra-reliable ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) would be just as effective providing the airlines can keep the batteries up-to-date. On the other hand, opening up a high-volume, full-time data path to large passenger plane has some interesting possibilities and a way to make more revenue for the airlines - see next paragraph.

Besides, the data bandwidth has to be allocated for much more important items such as porn, pop music videos, pirated/downloaded movies, Windows OS releases, social media and, last but not least Time Team episodes.

The current system requires satellite interface. It does cost.

[ausbeat999]

Thats not quite right , about the Perth or WA location, it was said by a english satellite company that there was 2 possible scenarios ,1 was an arc of their satellite that ventured the plane to the north-west to around india way and 2 the other to WA ,they said it would most probably gone south due to no reports of it crashing in the north. But you are right, there were reports of a plane flying low of its colours and at the right time around the Maldives. It beats me why there wasn't at least some respect by the aviation authorities to investigate this. Maybe as some say there might be a conspiracy to this.

[SOTIRIOS]

.................???

[simple1]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

I'm surprised so little has been made of the reported sighting of low flying large aircraft on day of incident over the Maldives - which is in direction of Reunion Is? Surely some of the millions spent on scanning the ocean floors off Perth could have been directed towards that?

The report from the Maldives was investigated and the aircraft sighting identified as belonging to a local regional airline, not MH370

i

[jpinx]

There was an offer of a very basic continuous location service made by the satellite company for free or next-to-nothing, but airlines seem to have too many secrets...

[balo]

Good luck in finding the recorders, they should not have high hopes sbout that, even if it is a part of the missing wing , the rest of the wreckage has drifted in all directions, a needle in a haystack would have been easier to find.

[tigermonkey]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

I'm surprised so little has been made of the reported sighting of low flying large aircraft on day of incident over the Maldives - which is in direction of Reunion Is? Surely some of the millions spent on scanning the ocean floors off Perth could have been directed towards that?

Except that the electronic evidence, i.e., signals from the aircraft to the engine manufacturer that the engines suffered fuel exhaustion abeam Geraldton in Western Australia, a long way from La Reunion or the maldives.

I am not aware of any "electronic evidence" sent from the aircraft to Rolls Royce at any time after the aircraft"s departure from the South China Sea. The evidence that " the engines suffered fuel exhaustion abeam Geraldton in Western Australia" as far as I know, is purely a theoretical analysis of the ping arcs which were developed from the Immarsat information. Can you enlighten us with regard to this "electronic evidence" with some links please ?

[webfact]

Relatives torn over possible 1st debris from missing MH370
JOSHUA PAUL, Associated Press
IAN MADER, Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Jacquita Gomes is torn about whether to believe that plane debris found more than 16 months after the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is the first concrete evidence that her husband is truly gone.

Not believing could allow her to keep alive the hopes of many relatives that the airliner and her husband, a flight attendant, landed somewhere unscathed in a hijacking plot — though the discovery this week of a Boeing 777 wing component on an Indian Ocean island seemed to make that possibility more remote than ever.

"One part of me, I want it to be true," Gomes said of the debris found on the French island of Reunion, "so I can put my husband Patrick to rest. It's been one year, I want him to be at peace."

But, she added: "The other part of me, I don't want it to be true, so there is hope for good news. You know, there has been news that people are released after being kidnapped for one year, so there can always be hope for good news if this is not real."

Relatives of the 239 people aboard the flight — nearly two-thirds of them from China — have been in an agonizing limbo since the plane disappeared on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. For months, nothing was found. Malaysian authorities eventually concluded the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean, citing satellite data, but many relatives refused to accept any such conclusion without concrete evidence.

Now, U.S. aviation investigators say there's a "high degree of certainty" that a wing part known as a "flaperon" found on Reunion in the western Indian Ocean close to Madagascar belongs to a Boeing 777. The MH370 is the only such aircraft known to be missing.

However, many relatives remain skeptical and say they are waiting for more definitive word.

"I've not slept the whole night — really nervous anticipating the news," Elaine Chew said in Kuala Lumpur. Her husband, David Tan Size Hiang, also was a flight attendant on the plane.

A group of many of the Chinese relatives said in a statement that they wanted authorities to be 100 percent certain the part was from MH370, and that, even if so, it should not dampen the resolve to find the rest of the wreckage, the whereabouts of all the passengers and the reasons for the disappearance.

The Reunion debris may finally rule out that missing passengers might still be alive, said Wang Zheng, an engineer in the southern Chinese city of Nanjing whose father and mother, Wang Linshi and Xiong Deming, were aboard the flight as part of a group of Chinese artists touring Malaysia.

"All hope is truly gone now," Wang said. "I'm feeling very confused and emotional at the moment."

However, Wang also said that closure still remains a distant prospect for him.

"For now, we'll just follow the investigation and see what it shows," Wang said.

The disappearance has been difficult for relatives in China, where the culture places an especially heavy emphasis on finding and seeing the remains before true grieving and the process of moving on can begin.

Zhang Qian, whose husband Wang Houbin was among the 153 Chinese citizens aboard the flight, said she had seen reports of the discovery but remained unconvinced.

"We still can't be sure. How could it have traveled so far?" Zhang, 29, said. She quit her job after the accident and turned to Buddhism to find solace.

"They've given us so much contradictory information so far, how can we believe them now?" she said in a telephone interview in Beijing before breaking into sobs.

Sara Weeks in Christchurch, New Zealand, whose brother Paul Weeks was on Flight 370, said it was hard to believe that after so long, a large piece of the plane could actually show up.

"If it is from MH370, then I still have all the same questions: Where is it? Where is the rest of it? What happened to it?" Weeks said. "I believe we'll find out what happened to it one day, regardless. Somebody knows what happened."

"It's a great big gaping hole in everybody's life," Weeks said. "We need to find out what happened to get closure, and move on."
______

Mader reported from Beijing. Associated Press writers Christopher Bodeen in Beijing and Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-30

[Aforek]

Good luck in finding the recorders, they should not have high hopes sbout that, even if it is a part of the missing wing , the rest of the wreckage has drifted in all directions, a needle in a haystack would have been easier to find.

if it's a part of the MH370, we know now that it's in the sea : so far, we did'nt even know what happened to it ( somewhere, hidden with terrorists and living passengers ? )

[RigPig]

A comprehensive report earlier this year into the plane's disappearance revealed that the battery of the locator beacon for the plane's flight data recorder had expired more than a year before the jet vanished.......

What a joke !!!!!

[Chicog]

A comprehensive report earlier this year into the plane's disappearance revealed that the battery of the locator beacon for the plane's flight data recorder had expired more than a year before the jet vanished.......

What a joke !!!!!

These things cost money you know....

[ronwparker]

We should find out soon-unless Thai officials are sent!

[Basil B]

Nobody is certain yet that this is from MH370, Malaysia has expressed caution.

it is a big part but how many parts on this piece of wing will have serial numbers?

I an sure from the photo that Boeing could say with some confidence whether it was a off a 777 or not.

[huawei]

Let's hope it is for the families sakes.

[Basil B]

Good luck in finding the recorders, they should not have high hopes sbout that, even if it is a part of the missing wing , the rest of the wreckage has drifted in all directions, a needle in a haystack would have been easier to find.

Most of it will have sunk where the plane crashed... still if this is part of the plane then they may be able to predict where it crashed to within a few thousand miles... best lead so far.

[Basil B]

whether airliners should be required to transmit their locations continually via satellite, especially when flying long distances over the ocean.

im surprised they even need to think about

Would locating where the plane crashed have saved any lives in any crash over any ocean?

[Bernard Flint]

If and when more parts are found, at least it will stop these crazy Conspiray Theorists from causing distress to families, and to stop some jumping on the bandwagon to write a book about how the americans stole it, ludicrous. The mindset about everything is a conspiracy makes me sick, and baffles me how some people brains work.

[Jupiterjim]

Boeing people have seen the photos and confirmed it's a B777 part. There is only one B777 missing they say.

[webfact]

MH370: Badly damaged suitcase washed up on a Reunion beach

REUNION: -- A suitcase was found Thursday morning on a tropical beach on the popular volcanic tourist island Reunion.

Reunion is part of the Vanilla Island group in the Southern Indian Ocean and a part of France.

This may not just be any suitcase. It appears to be a very damages piece of luggage washed away from a Boeing 777 and belonging to a passenger on flight MH370, the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

The suitcase was found on the same beach in the small Reunion town of St.Andrew. It was on the same beach debris of an airline part was detected a day before on Wednesday.

Full story: http://www.eturbonews.com/62016/mh370-badly-damaged-suitcase-washed-reunion-beach

-- eTN 2015-07-30