How Obama Sees MH370

Obama : What the ... and we sent our US$2.0 billion destroyer to help them?

Five Days, Five Passengers

Well the right question about the five passengers still has not been answered because the question has not been asked.

Everyone wanted to know about the two Iranian guys "who dont look Asian" travelling on stolen European passports because the question on everyone's mind was were those two Iranians responsible for some kind of terror attack on board MH370 which caused the plane to be lost? 

That was a most logical fear. Especially in an age where suicide bombers, suicide attackers and other types of fanatics create chaos and do not even want to acknowledge any responsibility for their deeds. 

So far indications are that the two Iranians were not terror suspects at all. The young Iranian boy's  mother was waiting for him at Frankfurt Airport. I hope she has been able to face this most difficult moment in her life. A mum waiting at the aiport pretty much does rule out the two Iranians as terror suspects. 

Back to the five passengers who did NOT board the flight. Five passengers who had booked tickets to fly on MH370 DID NOT board the flight. FOUR cancelled their flight and ONE just MISSED the flight. So, FOUR OTHER passengers who were on the waiting list replaced the FOUR who cancelled their flight. This is what I heard just now.

Folks, even this may be argued by someone. Kalau saya tersilap oops sorry ok. 

But FIVE people on the original list of passengers who had booked tickets DID NOT board the flight. 

Now this is the question that should have been asked. WHY? Why did they not board, cancel their bookings, miss their flight etc. Why? Why? Why?

And who are they? Malaysians? Non Malaysians? Real passports? Stolen passports? (Because the Director DCA said there were issues with some other passports as well).

The same as the two Iranians with stolen passports - we want to know why did the two Iranians use stolen passports? Were they terrorists?

At the same level of curiosity did the FIVE passengers cancel or miss or not board MH370 because they knew before hand that flight MH370 would be lost? That is what we want to know. Is that so difficult to understand? This is a query into a flight that has gone missing with 239 people on board. Everyone has a right to ask this question.  

This question still remains unanswered. But after five days it is perhaps less urgent and more academic.   (Like it is not a security threat anymore what exactly were the whereabouts of John Wilkes Booth in the seven days before he shot Abraham Lincoln.)

After five days it does not seem like a security threat worthy of asking about anymore. Or is it? 

The question still remains unanswered though. Who were those FIVE people who did not board MH370 and more importantly WHY did they miss their flights?

Flight AK2B (Air Kelapa 2 Biji)

239 people have disappeared on flight MH370. After so many days we must accept the worst. Their families and loved ones are grieving. If each of the 239 people had 10 relatives and close friends each, that would be 2390 people who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. We have to show a duty of care. We have to be professional and scientific and try to determine the location of that airplane.

Instead we have clowns like these in the picture clowning around tying to perform some hocus pocus. Obviously they are looking to get paid money for their performance. That joker is holding up two coconuts. 

Why coconut? I know watermelon is much more expensive than coconut. Why waste money?   There is also a basket and walking stick "oar". Watch the video. 

That is the international media that is taking pictures. These pictures will go around the world. They will laugh and make fun of Malaysia even more. This is the sad state of the society.

And why does that picture above resemble this other picture below :

239 humans have possibly lost their lives and this is what they can come up with.  Isnt this nothing more than menghina the memory of 239 human beings? No one stops these jokers from insulting the 239 passengers and their families.

And some of you no brainers will defend and speak up for these clowns instead. The classic example was a Minister in charge of hocus pocus - of all things. He said the hocus pocus was ok as long as it conformed with his hocus pocus. Two coconuts, a basket, a walking stick oar and a rug conform to his version of hocus pocus. 

Nauzubillah - May Allah protect this land and all our people. 

This story is not over yet. I am positive that money is being negotiated or has already been negotiated to pay for these "coco-nuts" services. No money no hocus pocus. Here is the video :

And here is an update picture. Gambar hiasan saja. Jangan marah ye.

Nelayan Port Dickson dakwa jumpa objek menyerupai rakit penyelamat pesawat

From here

Sekumpulan nelayan mendakwa menemui satu objek menyerupai rakit penyelamat kapal terbang ketika menangkap ikan, kira-kira 10 batu nautika dari pantai Port Dickson tengah hari semalam, lapor Sinar Harian. 

ia ditemui tenggelam timbul kira-kira jam 12 tengah hari dan menghubungi APMM di Kuala Linggi, Melaka

"Kami berjaya mendapatkannya dan diikat pada bot kerana takut ia tenggelam. 

"Apa yang lebih meyakinkan kami ialah ada tulisan ‘boarding’ pada objek itu,” katanya. 

Jurucakap APMM Kuala Linggi mengesahkan sepasukan APMM dihantar ke tempat kejadian. 

Bagaimanapun, katanya, objek itu terus tenggelam dan dipercayai tidak sempat dinaikkan ke dalam bot APMM

Clearing Up The Pulau Perak Story

1. Malaysia's Berita Harian newspaper quoted Air Force chief Rodzali Daud as saying the plane was last detected at 2:40 a.m. by military radar near the island of Pulau Perak at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca. It was flying about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) lower than its previous altitude, he was quoted as saying.

2. But a spokesman for the Malaysian prime minister's office said in an interview with the New York Times that senior military officials told him there was no evidence the plane recrossed the Malaysian peninsula, only that it may have tried to turn back.  "As far as they know, except for the air turn-back, there is no new development," said the spokesman, Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad.

I believe the Chief of Air Force has also denied the story came from him. So we shall leave this Pulau Perak story where it was. Which is .. .

"It's highly probable this plane could be inland in a jungle environment," says former 
NTSB investigator Greg Feith, discussing the search for missing Malaysia flight MH370.

Photoshopped Iranians?

Things are getting a bit crazy here. These are the two shots of the Iranians using the stolen passports.  

These two photos are photoshopped.  You can see clearly that the lower half, the legs of the two guys are the same. They are both wearing the same green pants. 

Here is a blow up of the feet from the two pictures. They are both exactly the same : green pants with white shoes (a little pointy like ladies shoes). No argument these legs in these two pictues are the same.

These two pictures were held up by our people at one of the Press conferences.

Can someone please explain? What is going on here? Our country's credibility is at stake.

The Peter Principle

Chicken with PM or PM with chicken ? 

Definition of 'Peter Principle'  :   An observation that in an organizational hierarchy, every employee will rise or get promoted to his or her level of incompetence. Employees rise to their level of incompetence and stay there. 

This is adapted from Bloomberg here

Malaysia Failing to Manage Crisis Exposes Leadership Limit

• China is calling on Malaysia to be more transparent ..
• The government’s lack of a clear message, compounded by a series of false leads on the plane’s whereabouts and questions on coordination, risks undermining its image internationally.
• “They’re handling a huge global issue as if it was domestic politics,” said Clive Kessler
• Najib’s administration is sending the message that people should let the “government tell them what they need to know, when they need to know it, and not before,” Kessler said. 
• Malaysian Airlines said in a statement yesterday it would “continue to be transparent in communicating with the general public via the media” on all matters affecting Flight 370.
• “The Malaysian side cannot shirk its responsibilities,” the Global Times, a Chinese government-controlled newspaper
• “The initial response from Malaysia was not swift enough. There are loopholes in the work of Malaysia Airlines and security authorities.”
• “We once again request and urge the Malaysia side to enhance and strengthen rescue and searching efforts,” Qin told reporters in Beijing.
• Ordinary people in China feel the investigation “has not been professional.”

Cautious Personality

It is understandable that Najib doesn’t want a high profile in this situation given his cautious personality

“He’s not one who would go to the front of the camera and do lots of chest thumping and wave the flag and all that without being certain that there’s substantive” progress in the investigation, he said. 

“I assure you we are doing everything possible within our means,” Najib said on Twitter 

Najib’s office directed queries ..to authorities involved in the investigation.

Other Asian leaders have faced questions for not reacting to crises immediately. Philippine President Benigno Aquino was criticized for taking two days to visit victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan last year. 

Najib needs to assure Malaysians and the international community that his government is doing all it can

“What could have been done was the prime minister delegating the transport secretary to locating the plane and assigning one other person in charge of investigating the security breach and another to handle international relations,” he said. “It’s not easy to convey all that is happening in the background and the government needs to highlight these things.”

Compounding the image that authorities leading the investigation are struggling to communicate effectively, Malaysian Airlines issued three versions of a press statement yesterday to correct several errors. One was a reference to an “expensive” rescue operation, which it meant to call “extensive.”

“They are not in control of the discussion and the problem is they’re not instilling confidence. Everyone wants to give them the benefit of the doubt but this is a crisis of credibility for the administration.”

“Hisham is very different from his cousin. He’s someone who is not uncomfortable with the limelight,” he said, referring to Hishammuddin.

Hishammuddin, 52, has been the acting minister since a general election last May. He is unable to formally take the role given internal coalition rules on which party assumes particular posts in cabinet.

Hishammuddin, who is also defense minister, was elected a vice president of UMNO in October, putting him in line to possibly succeed Najib. 

He is the son of Malaysia's third prime minister Hussein Onn and the nephew of Malaysia’s second prime minister, Najib’s father, Abdul Razak Hussein.

“This is Hisham’s test, and Najib’s government’s test.”

Bebalism

Bebalism  No 1 : Bernama thinks this is a news worthy item.

 

Raja Bomoh arrives in KLIA to help find missing MH370

SEPANG: The mystery surrounding the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has captured the attention of a well-known ‘bomoh’ (shaman) 

Raja Bomoh  arrived at the KL International Airport (KLIA) yesterday, claiming to be invited by one of the country’s top leaders, to help locate the missing plane using a spiritual method and prayer.

“We use fish trap hook and a bamboo binocular to look,” he told reporters.

“I think the plane is still in the air or has crashed into the sea” he said. — Bernama

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/03/11/raja-bomoh-arrives-in-klia-to-help-find-missing-mh370/#ixzz2vf0Z60Uq

"do not contravene Islam"

Bebalism No. 2 Bernama thinks Jamil Khir’s reply is also a news worthy item

SHAH ALAM: The government welcomes any help to trace missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 including from “bomohs” (shamans) so long as their methods do not contravene Islam, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom.

“We appreciate all help…but where it comes to mysticism, the methods used must conform to Islamic teachings,” he told reporters

-       Bernama

Lucky It Was Not An Itek Lima Ringgit !!

This is from Helen Ang's Blog

Meanwhile the PM lurches from one kangkung episode to another. Doubtless the chicken (whole bird) sold at RM1 to the PM is nothing more than a publicity stunt. But it is one that has clearly backfired given how open the photo ops is to ridicule.

Najib’s market walkabout also demonstrated – not that everyone didn’t already know – how divorced the PM is from the daily grind of life, urm, you know, chores like buying groceries. I’m even sceptical as whether Najib keeps one-ringgit notes in his wallet or if he has ever handled the (relatively) new shillings / sen.

May I ask if Najib’s consultants and advisors are secretly in cahoots with the opposition, and these events which they have planned for him are actually a plot to deliberately diminish his stature?

How can even the most hardcore BN voters shore up the Prime Minister if it is Najib himself who keeps on providing the ammo to his opponents?

This animal looks exactly like how people describe a chicken. 

Australian TV On Pilots

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"Johnny Come Lately" IGP Makes Public Mockery Of Entire Investigation

This is now getting even more strange. Now top officials charged with informing the public about what exactly happened on MH370 are contradicting each other through the media. 

Why cant they call each other - or meet each other directly - and sort out their differences and contradictions before going public?

There is an issue about the five passengers who did not board flight MH370. The Director General of the DCA Dato Azharudin Abdul Rahman has been telling the whole world that FIVE passengers who were supposed to board MH370 DID NOT board the plane. 

(However Azharudin has failed to explain why those FIVE passengers missed their flight. Did they know the plane was going to be lost? Did they become sick at the last minute? Did they just cancel their travel plans?)

Azharudin said repeatedly that their checked in luggage was removed from flight MH370. I heard him say so myself and I am sure that many of you did too. This means those five passengers must have checked in. Boarding passes must have been issued because o'wise their baggage would not have been accepted for loading on board (and then removed).

Azhar specifically mentioned that they took off the five peoples' luggage so that there will be no occurrence of 'unaccompanied luggage'. 

OR Azharudin has bungled big big time.

Now the IGP, who has NOT appeared "bersama-sama" in any of the Press Conferences conducted by the DCA (which by the way is in charge of this entire investigation into the disappearance of MH370) has made his own statements. And he has said quite a few things. This is from the Malaysian Insider :

"Everyone who checked in, boarded flight MH370, says Khalid

MARCH 11, 2014

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (centre) during press conference at Sama-Sama Hotel today. Khalid says every passenger onboard MH370 was accounted for and had boarded the flight. 

Police today dismissed earlier reports of five passengers who had checked in for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 but failed to board the aircraft.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said every passenger who had booked a ticket for the flight had boarded the plane.

"There were no passengers who checked in for the flight but failed to board."

Khalid was then asked why his statement contradicted that of the Department of Civil Aviation, which had earlier claimed that there were five passengers who had not boarded MH370.

"I did not issue any statement earlier about any passenger who checked in but failed to board the flight.

"I am now revealing the latest findings made by our investigating team, which is led by CID director Datuk Hadi Ho (Federal CID director Datuk Hadi Ho Abdullah).

"Let me make it simple, everyone who was supposed to be onboard, was on the flight," Khalid said when pressed by reporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport this afternoon. 

Director-general of Civil Aivation Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman had previously told the media that five passengers had checked in for the flight but failed to board.

Azharuddin also said that the baggage of the five passengers had been removed prior to take-off as part of standard operating procedure.

"The only person who did not board MH370 was a woman who had mistook the dates and called MAS (Malaysia Airlines) to cancel her booking," Khalid said.

I say Tuan IGP, I have some questions for you lah.

1. You said, ""I did not issue any statement earlier about any passenger who checked in but failed to board the flight." Fuiyyo! So the DCA must check with you first before they say anything about MH370? Fuiyyo!!

But this is the fourth day. Why does it take the Police FOUR days to tell the DCA that all passengers except one boarded the flight?  

2.  And why are you divulging this information straight to the public? Do you want to embarrass the DCA? If this information is correct, then shouldnt you advise the DCA and then let them make the correction?

3. Ataupun is this a tit for tat between the KDN and the MOT for that "two Asian dont look like Italians and Austrians" bungle by the Menteri KDN? 

4. So what are you saying now? The Director of the DCA has been lying to us? That the Director DCA is a jackass?

5. From our understanding thus far the DCA has been coordinating the investigation into MH370. Criminal and forensic investigation is certainly the responsibility of the Police but shouldnt you have been on board with the DCA from Day 1? 

For example take the oil slicks.  DCA did not test the oil slicks. The Maritime guys collected the oil samples and the Jabatan Kimia ran the tests on the oil samples. But they all reported to the Director DCA on this because this is an air crash investigation headed by the DCA. The DCA then made the announcement to the public. Saya rasa procedure ini ok lah.

6. My last question Tuan IGP, if it takes you FOUR DAYS to tell us that only ONE passenger did NOT board the plane, tell us how long it takes you to put on your shoes in the morning?

The IGP has also said that the Police have not received the CCTV recordings and stuff from the DCA for them to investigate. So all this while the DCA has been shooting blanks to the whole world? This is how it comes across.

Now here are some incredible answers by Aloyah Mamat the DG of Imigration at the same Press conference.

• DG of Immigration Datuk Aloyah Mamat said its probe had revealed no irregularities or security lapses.
• She told reporters that both individuals in possession of stolen Austrian and Italian passports had entered Malaysia about 8pm on February 28.
• "The Immigration officers who checked their passports had acted in accordance with the department's SOP.
• "The officers verified that the facial characteristics on the passport and the bearers matched."
• "They also asked the relevant questions, such as what was the purpose of their visit.” Aloyah said once the officers were satisfied, they issued a social visit visa for 90 days to both individuals.  

So Aloyah, now every single crook in the world who uses a stolen or fake passport knows your simple SOP to avoid being caught. Here is how to do it:

1. First steal a passport.

2. Make sure you replace the picture with your own (so that Aloyah does not get confused)

3. Walk up to Aloyah and say 'This is my passport. See that is my picture."

4. I am here on business

5. Aloyah will give you a 90 day visit pass.

I have a question for Aloyah. If I sound stupid jangan marah ok. 

Malaysia has been spending billions on e gomen, e this and e that. So what is the SOP for the Jabatan Imigresen to detect stolen passports and fake passports? Do you mean to tell me that the Jabatan Imigrsen Malaysia has absolutely no SOP to detect stolen or fake passports? I hope Aloyah can answer. 

And one more final question Aloyah. You say (bukan saya cakap ok) that the two guys entered Malaysia using stolen passports on 28 February 2014. So whose fault is it that they were allowed to enter Malaysia illegally? 

Because you say it is NOT your fault. Bukan salah Jabatan Imigresen. Jabatan Imigresen sudah ikut segala SOP dengan tepat, cepat dan lepat (pisang). 

But nevertheless the impostors did manage to illegally enter Malaysia on February 28th 2014. Someone must be held responsible for this major kecuaian. Whose responsibility is it to make sure that foreigners cannot enter Malaysia using stolen or fake passports? 

1. Jabatan Perparitan dan Saliran? Jom kita buang kerja DG Perparitan.
2. Jabatan Haiwan dan Binatang Halal di makan? Jom kita buang kerja DG Jabatan haiwan halal di makan.
3. Jabatan Musium Negara? Jom kita buang kerja DG Jabatan Musium Negara.

Jadi Aloyah, kita perlu tahu siapa kah yang patut bertanggung jawab menghalang, membanteras, mencegah, menahan, menangkap orang yang gunakan paspot palsu atau paspot curi untuk masuk ke dalam negara kita?  Perdana Menteri tak boleh - dia tengah pakai baju. 

One more question - Aloyah ini buat kerja apa? Thank you.

Some Comments On The MH370 Press Conferences

PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) — Authorities questioned travel agents Monday at a beach resort in Thailand about two men who boarded the vanished Malaysia Airlines plane with stolen passports

it's not known whether the two men had anything to do with the plane's disappearance. Criminals and illegal migrants regularly travel on fake or stolen documents.

one-way tickets with those names were issued Thursday from a travel agency in the beach resort of Pattaya in eastern Thailand. 

those reservations were placed with the agency by a second travel agency in Pattaya, Grand Horizon.

Thai police and Interpol officers questioned the owners. Officials at Grand Horizon refused to talk to The Associated Press.

Police said the travel agency was contacted by an Iranian man known only as "Mr. Ali" to book the tickets for the two men.

"We have to look further into this Mr. Ali's identity because it's almost a tradition to use an alias when doing business around here," he said.

The travel agency's owner, Benjaporn Krutnait, told The Financial Times she believed Mr. Ali was not connected to terrorism because he had asked for cheapest tickets to Europe and did not specify the Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight.

Possible causes of the apparent crash include an explosion, catastrophic engine failure, terrorist attack, extreme turbulence, pilot error or even suicide, according to experts, many of whom cautioned against speculation because so little is known.

My comments : I think we all have to bear in mind that this was a code sharing flight between China Airlines and MAS. The booking was done in Thailand through China Airlines. The two passports did not buy MAS tickets. So was it the duty of MAS to check the authenticity of the two passports? MAS must look into this and verify issues because MAS is getting a bad name over this. (Does MAS have a PR team? Please wake up).

The Thais have no record of those two stolen passports passing out through Thai Immigration. On the Malaysian side there is no record of those two passports entering the country. So how do we explain this?

A few scenarios are possible. The two persons travelled from Thailand (Pattaya) to KLIA using yet another passport(s). They may have travelled by air or even by road.

Since we have their faces now, we can check (tediously) if the two faces arrived as transit passengers at KLIA and simply transited. In such case they are very clever. 

Transit passengers are not 'clocked in' at Immigration. They just sit at the transit lounge. They could have then boarded MH370 as transit passengers but now using the stolen passports. So they would not have been detected at KLIA. 

In such event however they must have bought onward tickets to other destinations from KLIA (because they are transit passengers). This means we have to check if any transit passengers went missing or did not board other outward bound flights from KLIA on that day. There could or should be two of them. This is only a theory but it can be checked.

If they travelled by road from Pattaya to Malaysia it would be much simpler. Just board the flight using stolen passports. Since it is a code sharing flight with China Airlines, MAS would not have checked their data. (Or what do the rules say?)

Shouldnt China Airlines have checked the passports through their computers and alerted MAS? They sold the tickets. 

OK here is some take on the Press Conference. Dear readers please make suggestions too. Tapi be polite lah. I am deleting so many comments that are rude. No apologies ok. 

Yesterday they had an APMM (Maritime) guy who looked like a bouncer and spoke like a bouncer too. And as can be expected, last nite CNBC tunjuk muka dia saja lah. He tried to answer the question about the oil slick but he was just loud and defensive. I think the Dato should be asked to man his search ships.

No one should use a defensive tone at the Press Conference. This is rule no 1. Just be cool, professional and factual. I know the Press, especially the local Press, can be irritating tapi tak payah marah-marah or get irritated with anyone. Be cool.

We need less people crowding the space at the podium. Dato Azharudin the DCA guy, the Air Force chief and the MAS chief should be able to cover most issues. Tak payah ramai sangat. 

And the Singh guy who is the MC kah?? You are pointing and waving your hands too much bhai. Be cool. Dont cut across or interrupt the PC or the DCA man. You cannot control the reporters so please dont try. And bhai, people might mistake you for a jihadi. 

Each PC must begin with an update by the DCA guy Dato Azharudin. Kita kena cakap dulu. After that reporters ask questions. 

Dato Azharudin moves too much with the mike in hand. Stay at one spot Dato. AJ's body language is good - standing straight, serious and paying attention. 

Everyone's language requires serious rework - both English and Malay. It is "perairan" ok. If you call me I will be glad to help - gratis. May I suggest a simple solution, just speak slow. Word by word, and please pronounce each word by its syllable. This applies for both Malay and English. It is "per-air-an", three syllables.

The Minister spoke well tapi dia marah sikit pasal soalan Interpol.  

The props and visuals can be better prepared. We need maps that are more cantik. And yesterday one of the laser pointers did not work. All these little things must be sorted out.

The search area in the Straits of Malacca is now wider than the search area in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea. 

Now the sea search area straddles both sides of the Isthmus of Kra but the land area over the Isthmus of Kra is not in the search grid.  You can see what I mean in the map here :

How come? Takkan the plane can fly from the China Sea area to the Straits of Malacca area on this map without crossing the Isthmus of Kra.

Pemegang Paspot Curi Bukan Asia Atau Afrika.

The Director of the DCA has just confirmed that the two holders of the stolen passports are not Asians. (They are also not Africans). I have it from other sources that neither were the two guys 'blue eyed Uighurs'. 

The IGP has said that he knows the nationality of one of the two but he is not sharing the info yet. The IGP has confirmed that they are NOT Malaysian. 

Yesterday Minister of Home Affairs Zahid Hamidi had said, ""saya masih hairan takkan pegawai di KLIA tak boleh fikir, orang Itali dan Austria tapi muka macam Asia".

The Sun had it in English :  "PUTRAJAYA: An internal investigation on the Immigration Department has commenced following reports that two passengers were using stolen passports to board the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said :  "We will conduct an internal probe, particularly on the officers, who were on duty at the KLIA Immigration counter during flight MH370.

"I am still puzzle how come (immigration officers) cannot think, an Italian and Austrian (passengers) but with Asian facial features," he told reporters.

How Can A Boeing-777 Aircraft Suddenly Lose All Contact? By John Goglia.

I have received the following comment sent to my Blog by Mr John Goglia who has also written an opinion about the loss of MH370 in the latest Forbes Magazine.  

Mr Goglia is an American and an Independent Air Safety Consultant. With more than 30 years experience in the aviation industry he served as a member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) . Here is his short article in Forbes. My comments follow. 

John Goglia, Contributor

I write about the airline industry and aviation safety.

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LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION 

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3/08/2014 @ 8:39AM |90,832 views

Malaysian Air Flight MH370: How Can A Boeing-777 Aircraft Suddenly Lose All Contact?

20 comments, 9 called-out

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One of the questions I’ve been asked repeatedly since word emerged that a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 had disappeared, is how can a modern airliner flying at 35,000 feet suddenly lose all contact?  First, there needs to be an understanding of the type of contact that an airliner in flight typically has.  Airline crews communicate with air traffic control both by verbal instructions over radios and through automatic transmissions from various aircraft systems, such as a transponder which relays information about the flight (e.g. altitude) to ground radar stations.  The transponder information is then displayed on an air traffic controller’s screen as an alpha-numeric readout.

Crews also have the ability to communicate with their airline through discrete radio channels.  There is usually at least one other back up communication system that allows communication between the ground stations and the flight crew. Other aircraft systems commonly used by many airlines also communicate with commercial services that monitor other parts of the aircraft, such as engines, and report that data back to the airline.  This data is then used to monitor and improve aircraft system performance.

For all communication to suddenly cease without a distress signal usually indicates a catastrophic failure  of the aircraft , not allowing time for the crew to communicate either by radio or through the aircraft transponder.  Modern airliners have multiple radios for voice communication and the transponder can be used to send signals that indicate different problems with the aircraft (for example a discrete code for hijacking).  A complete electrical failure is extremely unlikely because of redundancies in the system, especially the ram air turbine which uses the power of the wind generated by the aircraft’s motion in flight to generate electricity which would power critical navigation and communication systems, as well as flight controls.  But even if the aircraft had a complete electrical failure, the aircraft could have continued to fly.  If the aircraft was out of radar range when a failure occurred – but able to fly – it would eventually fly to an area with radar coverage and be picked up by air traffic control radar.

It is too early to speculate on what could have caused a catastrophic failure to the aircraft, if that is in fact what occurred.

My comments : The Chinese hold the view that the Vietnamese are not divulging all the information that they have. They are certain that Vietnamese radar would have picked up the last few minutes of MH370 even before the plane entered Vietnamese airspace. 

And if the plane broke up or exploded their radar would have certainly picked the falling debris, even if it were small pieces.

Here is something else - if the plane broke up at high altitude (35,000 feet) then the debris would disintegrate and be spread over a very wide area - perhaps hundreds of square miles wide. Here is a plot of the debris scatter from the infamous Air France Flight 447 which also fell out of the sky quite suddenly.  

White circles are debris, red circles are bodies. Yellow diamond was the tail fin. They were spread over hundreds of kilometres. Yet AF447 was not the victim of a bomb.

We will need to get the help of fishermen and fishing vessels and see if they know anything. Most importantly we need to send someone high powered to Vietnam and talk to them discretely to find out exactly how much they know. 

If the plane fell into the sea there must be some debris floating on the sea surface. Not every piece of debris will sink.  The fact that three days later we have not even picked up any floating debris is another mystery.