Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: What we know and don't know
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-knowns-unknowns/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

(CNN) -- As the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jet entered a fourth day Tuesday, investigators remained uncertain about its whereabouts.

Here's a summary of what we know and what we don't know about Flight 370, which was carrying 239 people when it disappeared from radar screens over Southeast Asia.

THE FLIGHT PATH

What we know: The Boeing 777-200ER took off from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, at 12:41 a.m. Saturday (12:41 p.m. Friday ET). It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. the same day, after a roughly 2,700-mile (4,350-kilometer) journey. But around 1:30 a.m., air traffic controllers in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur, lost contact with the plane over the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam.

What we don't know: What happened next. The pilots did not indicate any problem to the tower, and no distress signal was issued. Malaysian military officials cite radar data as suggesting the plane might have turned back toward Kuala Lumpur. But the pilots didn't tell air traffic control that they were doing so. And we don't know why the plane would have turned around.

'We have to find the aircraft'

THE PASSENGERS

What we know: There were 239 people on board: 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Five of the passengers were younger than 5 years old. Those on board included a number of painters and calligraphers, as well as employees of an American semiconductor company.

According to the airline, the passengers' 14 nationalities spanned the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and North America. Passengers from China or Taiwan numbered 154, followed by Malaysians, at 38. There were three U.S. citizens on the plane. Four passengers had valid booking to travel but did not show up to for the flight, according to the airline. "As such, the issue of off-loading unaccompanied baggage did not arise," it added Tuesday in a prepared statement.

What we don't know: Why two people who boarded the plane were using stolen passports, officials say.

Friends tell of fears as hopes dim for passengers

THE PASSPORT MYSTERY

What we know: The tickets for the two people who used stolen Italian and Austrian passports were bought Thursday in Thailand, according to ticketing records. Both tickets were one-way and had itineraries continuing on from Beijing to Amsterdam. One ticket's final destination was Frankfurt, Germany; the other's was Copenhagen, Denmark. The passports were stolen in Thailand from the two people to whom they had been issued -- the Austrian's was taken last year and the Italian's in 2012.

Interpol identified the men using the stolen passports as Pouri Nourmohammadi, 18, and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, 29, both Iranians. Malaysian police believe Nourmohammadi was trying to emigrate to Germany using the stolen Austrian passport. The men entered Malaysia on February 28 using valid Iranian passports.

What we don't know: Whether the stolen passports have any connection to the plane's disappearance.

Would-be immigrants have used fake passports to enter Western countries in the past.

THE SECURITY SCREENING

What we know: Interpol says the passports were listed as stolen in its database. But they had not been checked from the time they were entered into the database and the time the plane departed. Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said it was "clearly of great concern" that passengers had been able to board an international flight using passports listed as stolen in the agency's database.

What we don't know: Whether the passports had been used to travel previously. Interpol says it's "unable to determine on how many other occasions these passports were used to board flights or cross borders." Malaysian authorities are investigating the security process at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, but insisted it meets international standards.

How does a jet go missing?

THE CREW

What we know: The crew members are Malaysian. The pilot is Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old veteran with 18,365 flying hours who joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981. The first officer, Fariq Ab Hamid, has 2,763 flying hours. Hamid, 27, started at the airline in 2007. He had been flying another jet and was transitioning to the Boeing 777-200 after having completed training in a flight simulator.

What we don't know: What went on in the cockpit around the time the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers. The passenger jet was in what is considered the safest part of a flight, the cruise portion, when it disappeared. The weather conditions were reported to be good. Aviation experts say it's particularly puzzling that the pilots didn't report any kind of problems before contact was lost.

THE SEARCH
What we know: Thirty-four planes, 40 ships and search crews from 10 countries are scouring the South China Sea near where the plane was last detected. Debris in the area has turned out to be unrelated to the plane. "We have not found anything that appear to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft," Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of the Malaysian Civil Aviation Department, said Monday. Similarly, a slick in the area was determined to be from fuel oil typically used in cargo ships, not from the plane.

What we don't know: Whether the search is concentrating on the right place. Authorities initially focused their efforts around the mouth of the Gulf of Thailand, near the plane's last known position. But they have expanded efforts westward, off the other coast of the Malay Peninsula, and northward into the Andaman Sea, part of the Indian Ocean.

Jet was 'at safest point' in flight

THE CAUSE

What we know: Nothing. "For the aircraft to go missing just like that ... as far as we are concerned, we are equally puzzled as well," Rahman said Monday. The aircraft model in question, the Boeing 777-200ER, has an excellent safety record.

What we don't know: Until searchers find the plane and its voice and data recorders, it may be difficult to figure out what happened. CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen says the range of possible reasons behind the disappearance can be divided into three categories: mechanical failure, pilot actions and terrorism. But all we have are theories.

THE PRECEDENT

What we know: It's rare, but not unprecedented, for a commercial airliner to disappear in midflight. In June 2009, Air France Flight 447 was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when communications ended suddenly from the Airbus A330, another state-of-the-art aircraft, with 228 people on board. It took four searches over nearly two years to find the bulk of Flight 447's wreckage and most of the bodies in a mountain range deep in the Atlantic Ocean. It took even longer to establish the cause of the disaster.

What we don't know: Whether what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane is similar to what happened to the Air France flight. Investigators attributed the Flight 447 crash to a series of errors by the pilots and their failure to react effectively to technical problems.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
~The plane lost contact with air traffic control early Saturday
~A multinational search is under way at sea
~Two people boarded the plane using stolen passports
~The plane may have tried to change course, officials say

Go here to watch the news story:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-knowns-unknowns/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
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Source says Malaysia Airlines flight veered off course for an hour before vanishing as two Iranians using stolen passports ID'd

The latest scenario puts Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 over the Strait of Malacca with all its tracking systems inexplicably disabled. The new flight path came as authorities said Pouri Nourmohammadi, 19, and Delavar Seyedmohammaderza, 29, were not suspected of terrorist ties despite traveling with stolen passports. In the absence of any answers, some distraught relatives found hope that the missing passengers’ cellphones still rang nearly four days after going missing.

Investigators searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight believe it veered off course for more than an hour with its tracking systems apparently disabled before vanishing, according to senior military source.

In the new scenario, Flight MH370 drastically changed its route at a lower altitude, flying over Malaysia’s west coast, over the busy shipping channel of the Strait of Malacca.

Previously, Malaysian authorities have said the Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard disappeared about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur bound for the Chinese capital Beijing.

At the time it was roughly midway between Malaysia's east coast town of Kota Bharu and the southern tip of Vietnam, flying at 35,000 feet.

"It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait," the military official, who has been briefed on investigations, told Reuters.

As planes and ships from a coalition of countries scoured the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea, Interpol released photos of two Iranians who flew on the plane using stolen passports.

The two men, identified as Pouri Nourmohammadi, 19, and Delavar Seyedmohammaderza, 29, traveled to Maylasia using their Iranian passports then switched to stolen Italian and Austrian documents.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said Tuesday the latest information about the pair made terrorism a less likely cause of the plane’s baffling disappearance.

Nourmohammadi was bound for Germany, where he was seeking asylum, Malaysian police chief Keloid Abu Bakar said.

Nourmohammadi’s mother was waiting for him in Frankfurt and contacted authorities after he didn’t show.

"We believe he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group," Khalid said.

The purpose of the Seyedmohammaderza’s flight had not yet been explained by authorities.

One of the two men traveling on a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner with a stolen passport was a 19-year-old Iranian man believed to be trying to migrate to Germany and had no terror links, police said Tuesday.

RELATED: MISSING MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT: MAN NAMED KAZEM ALI BOOKED TRAVEL FOR MEN WITH STOLEN PASSPORTS

The first concrete details about the missing plane did little to dispel the many conspiracy theories and questions tormenting the families of the missing passengers and crew.

Some relatives desperately searching for answers in Beijing said they heard a ringtone when dialing the cellphones of some of the missing passengers, making them think the phones were still online.

Others pointed to a Chinese instant messenger service called QQ that indicated that missing passengers’ phones were still active, the Washington Post reported.

In the absence of any sign that the plane was in trouble before it vanished, speculation has ranged widely, including pilot error, plane malfunction, hijacking and terrorism.

The airline says the pilots didn't send any distress signals, suggesting a sudden and possibly catastrophic incident.

Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad (left) and Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza (far right) traveled together on the missing Malaysia Airlines MH 370 flight.
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Why are the missing Malaysian Airlines passengers' phones still ringing? Relatives' agony as search zone now switches to entirely new area and Iranian man on missing passport traced and 'isn't terrorist'

Smartphones of the missing aboard Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 are still ringing according to reports

As many as 19 families of missing passengers have claimed to be connected - and airline says they have rung crew's phones

Growing frustration among relatives who have received no information on their missing friends and relatives

Malaysian police say one of the two men on stolen passports was Iranian asylum seeker, 19, and 'not a terrorist' as his mother was waiting for him
Fate of the Boeing 777 remains a mystery and search now concentrates on different sea at least 200 miles from where it was last recorded

The 'unprecedented mystery' behind the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370 deepened on Monday when relatives claimed they were able to call the cellphones of their missing loved ones.

According to the Washington Post, family of some of the 239 people on board the vanished Boeing 777 said that they were getting ring tones and could see them active online through a Chinese social networking service called QQ.

One man said that the QQ account of his brother-in-law showed him as online, but frustratingly for those waiting desperately for any news, messages sent have gone unanswered and the calls have not been picked up.

This new eerie development comes as the Malaysian authorities said they had identified one of the men on two stolen European passports who were on the flight - and that he was not considered likely to be a terrorist

He was a 19-year-old Iranian asylum seeker called Pouiria Nur Mohammad Mehrdad who was trying to meet his mother in Germany.

Separately, the search for any trace of the missing airliner has now shifted to the Straits of Malacca, at least 100 miles away from where it was last recorded by electronic monitoring devices.

The dramatic shift raises the possibility that it flew undetected, crossing mainland Malaysia, before ditching into the sea.
However the phantom phone calls and online presence set off a whole new level of hysteria for relatives who have spent the past three-days cooped-up in a Beijing hotel waiting for some concrete information on the missing plane.


Repeatedly telling Malaysian Airlines officials about the QQ accounts and ringing telephone calls, they hoped that modern technology could simply triangulate the GPS signal of the phones and locate their relatives.

However, according to Singapore's Strait Times, a Malaysia Airlines official, Hugh Dunleavy has confirmed to families that his company had tried to call the cellphones of crew members and they too had also rang out.

He is reported to have told relatives that those phone numbers have been turned over to Chinese authorities.


One man who had asked police to come to his house and see the active QQ account on his computer was devastated to see that by Monday afternoon it had switched to inactive.

According to China.org.cn, 19 families of those missing have signed a joint statement confirming that their calls connected to their loved ones but that they rang out.

The relatives have asked for a full investigation and some complained that Malaysian Airlines is not telling the whole truth.

The International Business Times reported that the sister of one of the Chinese passengers also rang his phone on live television.

'This morning, around 11:40, I called my older brother's number twice, and I got the ringing tone,' said Bian Liangwei, sister of one of the passengers according to IBT.

At 2pm, Bian called again and heard it ringing once more.

'If I could get through, the police could locate the position, and there's a chance he could still be alive.'

However, at a press conference in Beijing, Malaysian Airlines spokesman Ignatius Ong said one of the numbers that had been passed on to the airline's head office in Kuala Lumpur failed to get through.

'I myself have called the number five times while the airline's command center also called the number. We got no answering tone,' said Ong.
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WHY ARE THE PASSENGERS' PHONES STILL RINGING?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2578020/Why-cellphones-missing-Malaysian-Airlines-passengers-ringing-Family-members-claim-loved-ones-smartphones-active.html#ixzz2vfoblYy4

After three days, wouldn’t the phone batteries be dead by now?

Not necessarily. Smartphones are renowned for their poor battery life and will typically last up to around 24 hours. But the batteries of older phones can last considerably longer.

For example, the Nokia 100 boasts a standby battery life of a staggering 35 days. Smartphone batteries can also last longer if the handset isn’t being used, and especially if the phone is in Flight Mode.

However, if the phone is in Flight Mode, it switches off all wireless activity meaning calls wouldn’t be able to connect, effectively ruling out this theory.

If the phone batteries are dead, wouldn’t the call go straight to voicemail?

In a word, yes. However, the process of sending the call to voicemail can differ depending on the service provider.

For example, the majority of phones will go straight to voicemail, or callers will get an out of service message if voicemail hasn’t been set up.

This will occur even if the phone is underwater, or not near a cell signal.

However, some service providers will ring once or twice before the phone goes to voicemail, or cut off. This may explain the reports that claimed phones rang before seeming to hang up.

Some reports claim the phones are just ringing and ringing though. How is this possible?

Telecoms expert Alan Spencer told MailOnline that if the phones are really ringing, they can categorically not be under the sea.

He added that the phones will only be ringing if they are ‘switched on, not in water, the battery is charged, and [they are] near a mobile cell site.’

This means that if the phones are genuinely ringing, the plane needs to have landed on land – not in the sea – and be in a location where there is cell service, rather than landing in the middle of a jungle, for example.

Why can’t network operators locate the phones?

A number of family members have asked the network operators why they can’t use the phone’s signal to locate the missing people.

Professor William Webb, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, told MailOnline: ‘The phones definitely won't be working. They'll be underwater, out of coverage and by this time out of battery.

‘So there's absolutely no way they could be used for triangulation.

‘As to why they are ‘ringing’ it'll be the same as if they were out of coverage - in some cases it may ring before going to voicemail.’

What about the T3212 timer I’ve read about?

The T3212 is a timer that causes a phone to periodically send a message to the network saying where it is.

But Professor Webb said this only works when the phone is turned on and it is in coverage. It won't work when the battery is dead.


What about reports that passengers are appearing online, on the QQ social network?

When people sign into social networks including QQ, as well as Facebook, they appear online.

This is the case whether they’ve signed in on a phone, tablet, PC, and laptop.


if missing passengers are shown as online, they may not be using the service on their phone. Instead they may still be logged in on another device.

If this other device shuts down or goes into standby, however, or there is a long period of inactivity, the social network will log them out, which may explain why some accounts went from online to offline over a period of three days.

How the search is widening - but has still to find a thing: Strait of Malacca is now main focus of air and sea search but China is deploying ships, planes and helicopters to the South China Sea to try to find any trace of the Boeing 777. Its authorities say more needs to be done to find what happened to the plane.
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I can understand the statements about the Smartphones showing as logged in, but for three days? I don't think so, not with the limitations on power. Also if those phones were underwater, they wouldn't ring, they would straight to voicemail.

Is the plane somewhere in Fairfax? No? Off topic then.

12 threads about this in OT.

Move it Wrote:
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> Is the plane somewhere in Fairfax? No? Off topic
> then.

It might be, they haven't found it anywhere else. ;)

Stabitha Wrote:
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> 12 threads about this in OT.

Off-topic sucks. It's more like a playground for Eesh. (No offense to Eesh).

What happened to Flight 370? Four scenarios fuel speculation among experts
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/world/asia/malaysia-plane-scenarios/

(CNN) -- A Boeing 777, one of the world's most reliable types of airliners, is missing, and no one knows why. Was it a bomb? Mechanical failure? A hijacking gone awry? Pilots and others in the aviation community are deeply disturbed by the mystery surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

It disappeared Saturday en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing over the Gulf of Thailand, somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam. It's hard to believe that such huge questions remain three days after the Boeing 777-200ER went missing, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members. These questions are so unprecedented that experts have been carefully speculating about possible explanations.

Here are four scenarios they're talking about, and the related facts:

1. Scenario: Mechanical failure?

Fact: The absence of a debris field suggests the possibility that pilots were forced to ditch the plane and it landed on water without breaking up, finally sinking to the ocean floor.

Analysis: But if that were the case, then why no emergency signal? These planes are able to perform a "miracle on the Hudson" maneuver. They have the ability to glide more than 100 miles and belly land on the water with both engines out, says former 777 pilot Keith Wolzinger, now a civil aviation consultant with The Spectrum Group. During the time it would take for a plane to glide 100 miles, it seems likely that pilots would be able able to send an SOS.

Fact: The missing plane had suffered a clipped wing tip in the past, but Boeing repaired it, and the jet was safe to fly, said Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya on Sunday.

Analysis: "Anytime there's been previous damage to an airplane, even though it's been repaired, and repaired within standards ... it kind of sends a warning flag," says Wolzinger. Experts agree the Boeing 777 is one of the world's most reliable aircraft. During its development it was subject to some of the most rigorous testing in commercial aviation history. "I've been talking with colleagues," Wolzinger says. "We're all baffled by this." The 777 boasts some of the most powerful and well-tested engines in the world, he says. "The reliability of airliner engines in general is impeccable these days," he says. "This is a safe plane."

Looking for a needle in a haystack

2. Scenario: Pilot error

Fact: So far, there are no known indications that pilot error contributed to the aircraft going missing.

Analysis: Some aviation experts have compared Flight 370 to the crash of Air France Flight 447 in 2009. All 228 passengers and crew died when the plane went down in a storm in the Atlantic en route from Brazil to Paris. After an expensive, nearly two-year search across the deep ocean floor, the twin-engine Airbus A330's wreckage was finally found and the voice and data recorders recovered. A French investigation blamed flight crew for failing to understand "they were in a stall situation and therefore never undertook any recovery maneuvers." But unlike Flight 447, weather was reported as good along Flight 370's scheduled route and didn't appear to present a threat.

Asiana Airlines Flight 217 -- a Boeing 777 -- fell short during a runway approach last July at San Francisco International Airport. Three people were killed and more than 180 others hurt. National Transportation Safety Board investigators have focused on pilot reliance on automated flight systems as a possible contributor to the crash, but a final report has not yet been released.

3. Scenario: Bomb? Or 'dry run'?

Fact: Two stolen passports have been linked to people who held tickets for the flight.

Analysis: This points to the possibility that someone on a terrorism watch list may have boarded the plane and blown it up. However, the stolen passports don't necessarily mean the plane was an actual target. It's possible, says former U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Mary Schiavo, that terrorists may have been performing a "dry run" for a future attack. Or, Schiavo said, "it could be just criminal business as usual," because "there are lots of stolen passports" used by travelers around the world.

Fact: So far, no debris field of plane wreckage has been linked to the 777, which would indicate a bomb blast.

Analysis: When Robert Francis, former vice chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, heard about the missing plane, his immediate thought was: "For some reason the aircraft blew up and there was no signal, there was nothing." The fact that the plane disappeared from radar without warning indicated to Francis "there was something unprecedented that hasn't happened before."

What about satellite technology? Is it possible that data from orbiting satellites might show a flash or infrared heat signature from an explosion? Very unlikely, says satellite expert Brian Weeden, who spent years tracking space junk in orbit for the U.S. Air Force. Dozens of government and private satellites orbit the earth, looking down from distances from 300 kilometers to 1,500 kilometers (185 to 930 miles). It's a long shot that one of them coincidentally floated over at the exact right time and location to capture a flash from an explosion.

However, there's an "off chance," Weeden says, that a super secret U.S. government satellite orbiting 22,000 miles in space might have grabbed evidence. These satellites are in geosynchronous orbit. As a group, they can observe virtually the entire globe. "We know that their mission is to detect ballistic missile launches via heat," says Weeden, now a technical adviser for Secure World Foundation. "We don't know if they're sensitive enough to track something like a bomb blast, even if that's what happened."

Then there's another unanswerable question: Would the government hesitate to release such an image for fear of revealing the satellite system's ultraclassified capability?

Who travels with a stolen passport?

4. Scenario: Hijacking?

Fact: Before it disappeared, radar data indicated the plane may have turned around to head back to Kuala Lumpur. Is that a clue that a hijacker had ordered the plane to change course?

Analysis: So far, there have been no reports that the flight crew sent any signals that a hijacking had occurred.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
~'Baffled' experts speculate on what happened to missing airliner
~Did the plane ditch on the water and then sink?
~Ex-satellite tracker: It's possible but unlikely that satellites captured clues about the plane
~Ex-DOT inspector Mary Schiavo: It may have been a terrorism "dry run"

Wolf Blitzer was just on CNN reporting that a Malaysian official has "unofficially" told them that the plane changed direction and headed for an island near Sumatra.

Here it is...

Source: Jet was hundreds of miles off course
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/11/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

(CNN) -- [Breaking news update at 1:23 p.m. ET]

The Malaysian Air Force has traced the last known location of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 to a spot above Pulau Perak, a very small island in the Straits of Malacca and hundreds of miles from the usual Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight path, according to a senior Malaysian Air Force official. The official declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

If the Malaysian Air Force data cited by the source is correct, the aircraft was flying the opposite direction from its scheduled destination and on the opposite side of the Malay Peninsula from its scheduled route.

Previous accounts had the aircraft losing touch with air traffic control near the coast of Vietnam.

Source: Jet was hundreds of miles off course
Malaysian air force data cited

The Malaysia Airlines 777 was traced to the skies above a very small island hundreds of miles from the usual Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight path, a senior official said

Watch the news story here:
http://www.cnn.com/?hpt=sitenav
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I dont understand what good all this electronic tracking shit does if the pilots or hijackers can just turn it off whenever they feel like it?

Stabitha Wrote:
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> 12 threads about this in OT.

You started two,numbnuts.

Mystery Malaysia flight may have been hundreds of miles off course
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/11/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

(CNN) -- Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was hundreds of miles off course, traveling in the opposite direction from its original destination and had stopped sending identifying transponder codes before it disappeared, a senior Malaysian Air Force official told CNN Tuesday.

If correct, these are ominous signs that could call into question whether someone in the cockpit might have deliberately steered the plane away from its intended destination, a former U.S. aviation investigator said.

"This kind of deviation in course is simply inexplicable," said Paul Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board.

However, veteran pilot Kit Darby, president of Aviation Information Resources, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that mechanical problems could still explain everything: A power failure would have turned off the main transponder and its backup, and the plane could have flown for more than an hour, he said.

CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes said the news "still leaves mechanical, terrorism (and) other issues as much in the air as they were before."
According to the Malaysian Air Force official, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, the plane's transponder apparently stopped working at about the time flight controllers lost contact with it, near the coast of Vietnam.

The Malaysian Air Force lost track of the plane over Pulau Perak, a tiny island in the Straits of Malacca -- many hundreds of miles from the usual flight path for aircraft traveling between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, the official said.

If the data cited by the source is correct, the aircraft was flying away from Beijing and on the opposite side of the Malay Peninsula from its scheduled route.

Earlier, the head of the international police organization Interpol said that his agency increasingly believed the incident was not related to terrorism.

"The more information we get, the more we're inclined to conclude that it was not a terrorist incident," Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said at a news conference in Lyon, France.

Among the evidence pointing in that direction, Noble said: news from Malaysian authorities that one of two people said to be traveling on stolen passports, an Iranian, was trying to travel to his mother in Germany.

Further, there's no evidence to suggest either was connected to any terrorist organizations, according to Malaysian investigators.

However, CIA Director John Brennan said his agency is not yet willing to discount the possibility of a terror link in what he called a "very disturbing" mystery.

"No, we're not ruling it out. Not at all," he said Tuesday at a Council on Foreign Relations event.

The two passengers who have dominated headlines the last two days entered Malaysia using valid Iranian passports, Noble said at a news conference. But they used stolen Austrian and Italian passports to board the missing Malaysian plane, he said.

Noble gave their names and ages as Pouri Nourmohammadi, 18, and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, 29.

Malaysian police had earlier identified Nourmohammadi, using a slightly different name and age, and said they believed he was trying to migrate to Germany.

Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar of the Royal Malaysian Police said it doesn't appear the younger Iranian posed a threat.

"We have been checking his background. We have also checked him with other police organizations of his profile, and we believe that he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group," Khalid said.

After he failed to arrive in Frankfurt, the final destination of his ticket, his mother contacted authorities, Khalid said. According to ticketing records, the ticket to Frankfurt was booked under the stolen Austrian passport.

CNN obtained an iReport photo of the two men with two of their friends, believed to have been taken Saturday before the plane disappeared. In it, they are posing with the two others, whose faces CNN has blurred to protect their identities.

The bigger piece of the puzzle

The identification of one of the men helps peel away a thin layer of the mystery surrounding the passenger jet, which disappeared about an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

But in the bigger puzzle of the missing plane's whereabouts, there were no reports of progress Tuesday.

Every lead that has raised hopes of tracing the commercial jet and the 239 people on board has so far petered out.

"Time is passing by," a middle-aged man shouted at an airline agent in Beijing on Tuesday. His son, he said, was one of the passengers aboard the plane.

Most of those on the flight were Chinese. And for their family members, the wait has been agonizing.

There were also three U.S. citizens on the plane, including Philip Wood.

"As of yet, we know as much as everyone else," Wood's brother, Tom, told CNN's "AC360" Monday. "It seems to be getting more bizarre, the twists in the story, where they can't find anything. So we're just relying on faith."

The challenge facing those involved in the huge, multinational search is daunting; the area of sea they are combing is vast.

And they still don't know if they're looking in the right place.

"As we enter into Day 4, the aircraft is yet to be found," Malaysia Airlines said in a statement released Tuesday.

Four scenarios
Days, weeks or even months

Over the past few days, search teams have been scouring tens of thousands of square miles of ocean.

They have also been searching off the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, in the Strait of Malacca, and north into the Andaman Sea. The airline said Tuesday that authorities are still investigating the possibility that the plane tried to turn back toward Kuala Lumpur.

The search also encompasses the land in between the two areas of sea.

But it could be days, weeks or even months before the searchers find anything that begins to explain what happened to the plane, which disappeared early Saturday en route to Beijing.

In the case of Air France Flight 447, which disappeared over the Atlantic in 2009, it took five days just to find the first floating wreckage.

And it was nearly two years before investigators found the bulk of the French plane's wreckage and the majority of the bodies of the 228 people on board, about 12,000 feet below the surface of the ocean.

The Gulf of Thailand, the area where the missing Malaysian plane was last detected, is much shallower, with a maximum depth of only 260 feet and an average depth of about 150 feet.

"If the aircraft is in the water, it should make recovery easier than the long and expensive effort to bring up key parts of the Air France plane," Bill Palmer, an Airbus A330 captain for a major airline, wrote in an opinion article for CNN.

But if Flight 370 went down farther west, it could have ended up in the much deeper waters of the Andaman Sea.

No possibilities ruled out

Aviation officials say they haven't ruled out any possibilities in the investigation so far. It's hard for them to reach any conclusions until they find the plane, along with its voice and data recorders.

Malaysian police, who are tasked with looking at whether any criminal cause was at play, are focusing on four particular areas, Khalid said Tuesday: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems of the passengers and crew, and personal problems among the passengers and crew.

He said police were going through the profiles of all the passengers and crew members.

Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told CNN's Jim Clancy that those involved in the search for the plane are determined to carry on.

"We just have to be more resolved and pay more attention to every single detail," he said Tuesday. "It must be there somewhere. We have to find it."

'Crucial time' passing

But if the plane fell into the sea, the more time that goes by, the harder the task becomes as ocean currents move things around.

"Crucial time is passing," David Gallo, with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday. "That search area -- that haystack -- is getting bigger and bigger and bigger."

Gallo described what will happen once some debris from the aircraft is found, though he stressed there's still no evidence the plane hit the water.

"Once a piece of the debris is found -- if it did impact on the water -- then you've got to backtrack that debris to try to find the 'X marks the spot' on where the plane actually hit the water, because that would be the center of the haystack.

"And in that haystack you're trying to find bits of that needle -- in fact, in the case of the flight data recorders, you're looking for a tiny little bit of that needle," he said.

Technology put to use

Countries involved in the search have deployed sophisticated technology to help try to track down the plane.

China has adjusted the commands for as many as 10 satellites in orbit so that they can assist with weather monitoring, communications and other aspects of the search, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

And the United States has put a range of naval technology to use in the search.

That includes a Navy P-3C Orion aircraft, which can cover about 1,000 to 1,500 square miles every hour, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet.

The Orion, which is focused on the area off the west coast of Malaysia, has sensors that allow the crew to clearly detect small debris in the water, the fleet said.

CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest described the search as "extremely painstaking work," suggesting a grid would have been drawn over the ocean for teams to comb, bit by bit.

Quest said that the expanding search area shows how little idea rescue officials have of where the plane might be. But he's still confident they'll find it eventually.

"It's not hopeless by any means. They will find it.," he said. "They have to. They have to know what happened."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
~NEW: Still could be terror, mechanical problems or something else, analyst says
~Missing flight was way off course, heading wrong direction, official says
~Plane's transponder had also stopped, Malaysian Air Force official says
~Aviation safety expert says course change "simply inexplicable"
Attachments:

Stabitha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I dont understand what good all this electronic
> tracking shit does if the pilots or hijackers can
> just turn it off whenever they feel like it?

That's exactly what I was thinking too. I found this article that may help to clarify a few things...

There is precedent for a jetliner going missing
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/08/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-jet-missing/index.html?hpt=bosread

(CNN) -- How can a Boeing 777-200ER passenger jet go missing for more than a day? Turns out, it's not so easy.

That's not just because the state-of-the-art jetliner has a wing span of nearly 200 feet and a length of more than 209 feet. It's also because it's bristling with communications gear, including radios, automatic beacons, GPS and computer communications systems, according to CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest.

In addition to carrying UHF and VHF radios, the planes -- which cost more than $250 million apiece -- are equipped with Aircraft Communications and Reporting System technology. Embedded in the plane's computers, it tells the airline how the aircraft is performing -- speed, fuel, thrust. "If anything fails, it will send a signal to Malaysia Airlines," Quest said.

Though officials do not know what happened to Flight MH370, whatever it may have been must have been catastrophic, he said. "Planes don't fall out of the sky at 36,000 feet."

Asked to detail the communications devices aboard the missing jet, Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said, "It's not appropriate for us to discuss that right now."

Still, there is precedent for a modern jetliner to fall from the sky while "in the cruise" and lay hidden for months, Quest said.

On June 1, 2009, Air France flight 447 was en route from Rio De Janeiro to Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport when communications ended suddenly from the Airbus A330, another state-of-the-art aircraft.

"One of the first things we had was a series of ACARS messages that showed failure of the aircraft and degradation of the systems," Quest said. "What we didn't know was why. We knew what had gone wrong; we knew how it had gone wrong; we didn't know why it had gone wrong."

It took four searches over the course of nearly two years to locate the bulk of flight 447's wreckage and the majority of the 228 bodies in a mountain range deep under the ocean. It took even longer to find the cause of the disaster.

In May 2011, the aircraft's voice recorder and flight data recorder were recovered from the ocean floor after an extensive search using miniature submersible vehicles.

It was not until July 2012 that investigators published their report, which blamed the crash on a series of errors by the pilots and a failure to react effectively to technical problems.

France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis detailed how the pilots failed to respond effectively to problems with the plane's speed sensors or to correct its trajectory when things started to go wrong.

When ice crystals blocked the plane's pitot tubes, which are part of a system used to determine air speed, the autopilot disconnected and the pilots did not know how to react, the report said.

"The occurrence of the failure in the context of flight in cruise completely surprised the crew of flight AF 447," the report said.

The crew responded by over-handling the aircraft, which destabilized its flight path and caused further confusing readings, the report said.

"In the first minute after the autopilot disconnection, the failure of the attempt to understand the situation and the disruption of crew cooperation had a multiplying effect, inducing total loss of cognitive control of the situation."

The Airbus A330 went into a sustained stall, signaled by a warning message and buffeting of the aircraft, the report said.

"Despite these persistent symptoms, the crew never understood they were in a stall situation and therefore never undertook any recovery maneuvers."

The pilots responded by pointing the nose upward, rather than downward, to recover.

"That rewrote our understanding of what happens in massive crashes like this," Quest said. "In 447, you had a minor malfunction of the aircraft, and the pilot flew the airplane in a way that caused it to crash."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
~The Boeing 777-200ER is bristling with communications gear
~In 2009, Air France 447 crashed into the ocean en route from Rio to Paris
~It took nearly two years to locate the bulk of the wreckage
Attachments:

First I have wondered why the transponder can be turned off. Seems to me that the breaker for it should be located where you can't turn it off while flying or some other fail safe design. If the Jet was at altitude and blew up into pieces there should be thousands of floating objects including bodies, which should be found. The fact they are finding nothing suggests it went into the sea intact. The fact it suddenly disappeared without the transponder showing decreasing altitude suggests it was turned off or the jet disintegrated, which conflicts with the lack of debris.

Well, disregarding the last part, latest updates now indicate that it did turn back and managed to fly west for about an hour...

"It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait," the military official, who has been briefed on investigations, told Reuters." (See: goo.GL/fEjFKk)

Either gross incompetence there or the Malaysian authorities were deliberately lying for days, wasting precious time and rescue resources of 10 countries in the process.

12-2=10 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stabitha Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 12 threads about this in OT.
>
> You started two,numbnuts.

Regardless of who created the threads, this doesnt belong here.

People fail to realize that these jets fly at 5-7 miles up during cruise. I think the use of feet makes it difficult to quantify in real, everyday distances. The few times i've flown, the aircraft was pretty much at its operational ceiling most of the flight, and i can tell you right now, even a straight vertical plummet from that height would take a few minutes. The fact that there has been no visible trace, plus the fact that it was shown turning back, tells me it may have flown into something below radar detection altitude. The plane turning around could have also been something that happened without pilot input.

Oceanic 815 is the first thing that I thought of when I first saw this on the news... Hehe

Turn off the transponder and descend to below the radar coverage. Radar does not reach the surface (land or sea). The fact that the radar returns appeared to show the plane turning back could indicate such a scenario. Without evidence to show a particular outcome, we should keep open to other possibilities.

Maybe the Russians shot it down to divert media attention from Crimea? If so, it's working because everything I turn on the news it's "we still don't have any updates on the missing plane, but we'll still talk about it for 20 mins"

a fisherman near Kelantan saw a low flying aircraft in the morning of 8th march. he only made a police report after he saw the news about MH370 in the news. watch this youtube. it's in bahasa malaysia though http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

It's pretty obvious to me that one of two things could have happened to this aircraft.

1. It was hijacked, the transponders were ordered to be turned off, and it is now sitting on some tarmac in Sumatra.

2. The aircraft blew a door or window, lost compression, made the turn it did and flew until it ran out of fuel, and now rests in the Indian Ocean (where no one is currently searching, btw). Think Payne Stewart.

I haven't seen the data that you have. Do you know how long between sweeps of the radar that would have illuminated the plane? If the pilot intended to dive as fast as the plane would handle under the radar, how much time was there to do it?

The last seconds before it abruptly vanished from flightradar24 also show a strange behavior (see: goo.GL/LbsJOh). On the other hand, the earlier spotted oil slick and debris are now confirmed to be not from the plane.

metsfan123 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> People fail to realize that these jets fly at 5-7
> miles up during cruise. I think the use of feet
> makes it difficult to quantify in real, everyday
> distances. The few times i've flown, the aircraft
> was pretty much at its operational ceiling most of
> the flight, and i can tell you right now, even a
> straight vertical plummet from that height would
> take a few minutes. The fact that there has been
> no visible trace, plus the fact that it was shown
> turning back, tells me it may have flown into
> something below radar detection altitude. The
> plane turning around could have also been
> something that happened without pilot input.

You need to recheck your math there. The plane was at 35,000 feet (6.62 miles above sea level) and cruising at 543 mph. That's 9.05 miles per minute. At a straight vertical plummet the plane would reach the ground in 44 seconds, fast enough to avoid the next radar sweep. It wouldn't reach the ground at that speed anyway before disintegrating due to structural failure.

JSeal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I haven't seen the data that you have. Do you know
> how long between sweeps of the radar that would
> have illuminated the plane? If the pilot intended
> to dive as fast as the plane would handle under
> the radar, how much time was there to do it?

Radar sweeps normally run 5 times a minute.

Mr. Byrd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's pretty obvious to me that one of two things
> could have happened to this aircraft.
>
> 1. It was hijacked, the transponders were ordered
> to be turned off, and it is now sitting on some
> tarmac in Sumatra.
>
> 2. The aircraft blew a door or window, lost
> compression, made the turn it did and flew until
> it ran out of fuel, and now rests in the Indian
> Ocean (where no one is currently searching, btw).
> Think Payne Stewart.

The whole point of terrorism is to send a political message. If no one claims responsibility, no message gets out, which would defeat the whole purpose of an attack. Obviously, al Qaeda knew they'd be hunted after 9/11, do you think they cared?

Math Checker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> metsfan123 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > People fail to realize that these jets fly at
> 5-7
> > miles up during cruise. I think the use of feet
> > makes it difficult to quantify in real,
> everyday
> > distances. The few times i've flown, the
> aircraft
> > was pretty much at its operational ceiling most
> of
> > the flight, and i can tell you right now, even
> a
> > straight vertical plummet from that height
> would
> > take a few minutes. The fact that there has
> been
> > no visible trace, plus the fact that it was
> shown
> > turning back, tells me it may have flown into
> > something below radar detection altitude. The
> > plane turning around could have also been
> > something that happened without pilot input.
>
> You need to recheck your math there. The plane was
> at 35,000 feet (6.62 miles above sea level) and
> cruising at 543 mph. That's 9.05 miles per minute.
> At a straight vertical plummet the plane would
> reach the ground in 44 seconds, fast enough to
> avoid the next radar sweep. It wouldn't reach the
> ground at that speed anyway before disintegrating
> due to structural failure.

I'm clearly referring to a DROP, not a powered decent. In any case, I think people should make an effort to be informed about the world they live in, vs float in a cloud of popular myth and assumptions. :)

They've concluded that the plane didn't explode, because lots of floating debris would have been seen. Other than a sudden explosion, it's hard to see how terrorists could have gained control without the pilot or co-pilot being able to send a distress call. Of course, they could have let the terrorists into the cockpit. Also, people on the flight had cell phones and some likely had satellite phones. It seems likely that someone would have tried to call a relative. Of course, that would be true in the event of a mechanical failure, too. I haven't heard whether turbulence was expected that day. Strong turbulence followed by a mechanical failure could have plunged the plane into the ocean.

Woman says she and friend flew in cockpit with missing jet's co-pilot in 2011
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/11/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-cockpit-companions/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

(CNN) -- The first officer aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight invited people he did not know into the cockpit of his plane during an international flight, a woman has told Australia's Channel 9 program, "A Current Affair."

Such a practice would be illegal on U.S. carriers, but not necessarily so on international ones, according to CNN Aviation Correspondent Richard Quest.

Access to the cockpit is up to the discretion of the captain.

In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said it was "shocked by these allegations."

"We have not been able to confirm the validity of the pictures and videos of the alleged incident," it said. "As you are aware, we are in the midst of a crisis, and we do not want our attention to be diverted."

The TV program said the woman, identified as Jonti Roos, e-mailed its producers about the incident after she recognized Fariq Ab Hamid, 27, as one of the two pilots who invited her and her friend -- who were both teenagers at the time -- to sit in jump seats in the cockpit during a December 2011 flight from Phuket, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The teens were returning from a vacation, she said.

Hamid, who joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007, had compiled 2,763 flying hours by last Saturday, when the Boeing 777-200ER carrying 239 people went off radar screens.

The teens' privileged access in the cockpit lasted from takeoff until landing, Roos said.

"Throughout the whole flight, they were talking to us," Roos told the television program. "They were taking photos with us in the cockpit while they were flying. ... I was just completely shocked. I couldn't believe it."

According to her Facebook page, Roos studied at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and is living in Melbourne.

She said she and her friend were standing on line at the boarding gate at Phuket International Airport when the pilot and co-pilot walked past, then returned and asked if they would like to sit with them in the cockpit during the flight. "So, obviously, we said yes," Roos said. "I think anyone would have jumped at the opportunity."

Though the pilots entertained their guests during the flight, at one point commenting on one teen's nail polish, Roos said she felt safe throughout.

"I don't think there was one instance where I felt threatened or I felt that they didn't know what they were doing," she said. "They were very friendly, but I felt that they were very competent in what they were doing."

After the flight, she said, Hamid sent her a Facebook message, wishing her a safe flight home.

Roos said she was shocked when she learned that Hamid was at the controls of the missing plane.

"I couldn't believe it," she said. "When I saw all his friends and his family posting on his wall, obviously, my heart really broke for them and my heart broke for all the families of the passengers. It's a really sad story."

Asked why she had contacted the television program, Roos said, "It seems like everybody's completely in the dark and nobody has any information, so I thought the tiny bit that I have I just want to share and maybe it can help with something."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
~"They were talking to us" the entire flight, Jonti Roos tells Australian TV show
~But the cockpit passenger, a teenager at the time, says she never felt unsafe
~Roos says she hopes her information might help investigators
~Malaysia Airlines is checking the report, spokesman says

It happened in one of my co-worker's flights. Pilot couldn't get a seat for his wife. She sat in the cockpit while he flew.

Soon as they landed, the passengers went to press and the pilot and co-pilot were suspended indefinitely pending investigation adn review.

Hmmmmmmm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mr. Byrd Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It's pretty obvious to me that one of two
> things
> > could have happened to this aircraft.
> >
> > 1. It was hijacked, the transponders were
> ordered
> > to be turned off, and it is now sitting on some
> > tarmac in Sumatra.
> >
> > 2. The aircraft blew a door or window, lost
> > compression, made the turn it did and flew
> until
> > it ran out of fuel, and now rests in the Indian
> > Ocean (where no one is currently searching,
> btw).
> > Think Payne Stewart.
>
> The whole point of terrorism is to send a
> political message. If no one claims
> responsibility, no message gets out, which would
> defeat the whole purpose of an attack. Obviously,
> al Qaeda knew they'd be hunted after 9/11, do you
> think they cared?

If you are insinuating that I think hijacking an airplane is synonymous with terrorism, then, sir, you misread my post or I did not make myself clear. In no way do I believe this to be a terrorist act. People have hijacked airplanes for many purposes, of which terrorism is but one of those reasons.

Mr. Byrd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's pretty obvious to me that one of two things
> could have happened to this aircraft.
>
> 1. It was hijacked, the transponders were ordered
> to be turned off, and it is now sitting on some
> tarmac in Sumatra.
>
> 2. The aircraft blew a door or window, lost
> compression, made the turn it did and flew until
> it ran out of fuel, and now rests in the Indian
> Ocean (where no one is currently searching, btw).
> Think Payne Stewart.

This plane was hijacked, but the hijacking did not go according to plan.

1) Hijackers instruct pilot to disable transponder: explains why last known position was wrong)

2) Explains why no debris was found because rescue teams were looking in the wrong place.

3) Explains why no distress signal was sent; pilots either killed or not allowed to use radio.

A struggled likely ensued in the cockpit, similar to Flight 93 on 9/11, and either the hijackers or the pilots downed the plane into the Strait of Malacca.

Has anybody checked Diego Garcia? It looks like the plane was making a beeline for it.

Mr. Byrd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hmmmmmmm Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Mr. Byrd Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > It's pretty obvious to me that one of two
> > things
> > > could have happened to this aircraft.
> > >
> > > 1. It was hijacked, the transponders were
> > ordered
> > > to be turned off, and it is now sitting on
> some
> > > tarmac in Sumatra.
> > >
> > > 2. The aircraft blew a door or window, lost
> > > compression, made the turn it did and flew
> > until
> > > it ran out of fuel, and now rests in the
> Indian
> > > Ocean (where no one is currently searching,
> > btw).
> > > Think Payne Stewart.
> >
> > The whole point of terrorism is to send a
> > political message. If no one claims
> > responsibility, no message gets out, which
> would
> > defeat the whole purpose of an attack.
> Obviously,
> > al Qaeda knew they'd be hunted after 9/11, do
> you
> > think they cared?
>
> If you are insinuating that I think hijacking an
> airplane is synonymous with terrorism, then, sir,
> you misread my post or I did not make myself
> clear. In no way do I believe this to be a
> terrorist act. People have hijacked airplanes for
> many purposes, of which terrorism is but one of
> those reasons.


Last time I heard, Hijacking was an act of terrorism.

metsfan123 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Math Checker Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > metsfan123 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > People fail to realize that these jets fly at
> > 5-7
> > > miles up during cruise. I think the use of
> feet
> > > makes it difficult to quantify in real,
> > everyday
> > > distances. The few times i've flown, the
> > aircraft
> > > was pretty much at its operational ceiling
> most
> > of
> > > the flight, and i can tell you right now,
> even
> > a
> > > straight vertical plummet from that height
> > would
> > > take a few minutes. The fact that there has
> > been
> > > no visible trace, plus the fact that it was
> > shown
> > > turning back, tells me it may have flown into
> > > something below radar detection altitude. The
> > > plane turning around could have also been
> > > something that happened without pilot input.
> >
> > You need to recheck your math there. The plane
> was
> > at 35,000 feet (6.62 miles above sea level) and
> > cruising at 543 mph. That's 9.05 miles per
> minute.
> > At a straight vertical plummet the plane would
> > reach the ground in 44 seconds, fast enough to
> > avoid the next radar sweep. It wouldn't reach
> the
> > ground at that speed anyway before
> disintegrating
> > due to structural failure.
>
> I'm clearly referring to a DROP, not a powered
> decent. In any case, I think people should make an
> effort to be informed about the world they live
> in, vs float in a cloud of popular myth and
> assumptions. :)


u need to recheck ur common sense, vertical drop doesnt happen when travelling horizontal m8. Assuming both wings in tact, you would see somewhat diagonal path taking much longer than the 44 seconds you say. Also u forgot the fact that modern radar sweeps multiple times per minute.

I sure hope their on an island just waiting to be found with the best, happiest ending through their ordeal. For some reason, I'm still holding on to that hope. It hurts me when some people assume their dead and saying stuff like "may those souls RIP"
Attachments:

...
Attachments:

WTF!??!?!?! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Woman says she and friend flew in cockpit with
> missing jet's co-pilot in 2011
> http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/11/world/asia/malaysia-
> airlines-cockpit-companions/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
>
> (CNN) -- The first officer aboard the missing
> Malaysia Airlines flight invited people he did not
> know into the cockpit of his plane during an
> international flight, a woman has told Australia's
> Channel 9 program, "A Current Affair."
>
> Such a practice would be illegal on U.S. carriers,
> but not necessarily so on international ones,
> according to CNN Aviation Correspondent Richard
> Quest.
>
> Access to the cockpit is up to the discretion of
> the captain.
>
> In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said it was
> "shocked by these allegations."
>
> "We have not been able to confirm the validity of
> the pictures and videos of the alleged incident,"
> it said. "As you are aware, we are in the midst of
> a crisis, and we do not want our attention to be
> diverted."
>
> The TV program said the woman, identified as Jonti
> Roos, e-mailed its producers about the incident
> after she recognized Fariq Ab Hamid, 27, as one of
> the two pilots who invited her and her friend --
> who were both teenagers at the time -- to sit in
> jump seats in the cockpit during a December 2011
> flight from Phuket, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur,
> Malaysia.
>
> The teens were returning from a vacation, she
> said.
>
> Hamid, who joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007, had
> compiled 2,763 flying hours by last Saturday, when
> the Boeing 777-200ER carrying 239 people went off
> radar screens.
>
> The teens' privileged access in the cockpit lasted
> from takeoff until landing, Roos said.
>
> "Throughout the whole flight, they were talking to
> us," Roos told the television program. "They were
> taking photos with us in the cockpit while they
> were flying. ... I was just completely shocked. I
> couldn't believe it."
>
> According to her Facebook page, Roos studied at
> the University of Pretoria in South Africa and is
> living in Melbourne.
>
> She said she and her friend were standing on line
> at the boarding gate at Phuket International
> Airport when the pilot and co-pilot walked past,
> then returned and asked if they would like to sit
> with them in the cockpit during the flight. "So,
> obviously, we said yes," Roos said. "I think
> anyone would have jumped at the opportunity."
>
> Though the pilots entertained their guests during
> the flight, at one point commenting on one teen's
> nail polish, Roos said she felt safe throughout.
>
> "I don't think there was one instance where I felt
> threatened or I felt that they didn't know what
> they were doing," she said. "They were very
> friendly, but I felt that they were very competent
> in what they were doing."
>
> After the flight, she said, Hamid sent her a
> Facebook message, wishing her a safe flight home.
>
> Roos said she was shocked when she learned that
> Hamid was at the controls of the missing plane.
>
> "I couldn't believe it," she said. "When I saw all
> his friends and his family posting on his wall,
> obviously, my heart really broke for them and my
> heart broke for all the families of the
> passengers. It's a really sad story."
>
> Asked why she had contacted the television
> program, Roos said, "It seems like everybody's
> completely in the dark and nobody has any
> information, so I thought the tiny bit that I have
> I just want to share and maybe it can help with
> something."
>
> STORY HIGHLIGHTS
> ~"They were talking to us" the entire flight,
> Jonti Roos tells Australian TV show
> ~But the cockpit passenger, a teenager at the
> time, says she never felt unsafe
> ~Roos says she hopes her information might help
> investigators
> ~Malaysia Airlines is checking the report,
> spokesman says

Nobody could make this story up, even Hollywood hasn't that type of talent!!!

pYuDD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mr. Byrd Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hmmmmmmm Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Mr. Byrd Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > It's pretty obvious to me that one of two
> > > things
> > > > could have happened to this aircraft.
> > > >
> > > > 1. It was hijacked, the transponders were
> > > ordered
> > > > to be turned off, and it is now sitting on
> > some
> > > > tarmac in Sumatra.
> > > >
> > > > 2. The aircraft blew a door or window,
> lost
> > > > compression, made the turn it did and flew
> > > until
> > > > it ran out of fuel, and now rests in the
> > Indian
> > > > Ocean (where no one is currently searching,
> > > btw).
> > > > Think Payne Stewart.
> > >
> > > The whole point of terrorism is to send a
> > > political message. If no one claims
> > > responsibility, no message gets out, which
> > would
> > > defeat the whole purpose of an attack.
> > Obviously,
> > > al Qaeda knew they'd be hunted after 9/11, do
> > you
> > > think they cared?
> >
> > If you are insinuating that I think hijacking
> an
> > airplane is synonymous with terrorism, then,
> sir,
> > you misread my post or I did not make myself
> > clear. In no way do I believe this to be a
> > terrorist act. People have hijacked airplanes
> for
> > many purposes, of which terrorism is but one of
> > those reasons.
>
>
> Last time I heard, Hijacking was an act of
> terrorism.

In the old days, people used to hijack airplanes for political asylum reasons. Maybe hijacking for such a reason is making a comeback.

hTVNp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe the Russians shot it down to divert media
> attention from Crimea? If so, it's working because
> everything I turn on the news it's "we still don't
> have any updates on the missing plane, but we'll
> still talk about it for 20 mins"

Do you really think the Russians are so insane that they would kill hundreds of civilians (many including civilians of their own Allies) just to divert attention? How madly anti-Slavic do you have to be?

Old Guy with Grey Pubes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pYuDD Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Mr. Byrd Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Hmmmmmmm Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Mr. Byrd Wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > >
> > > > -----
> > > > > It's pretty obvious to me that one of two
> > > > things
> > > > > could have happened to this aircraft.
> > > > >
> > > > > 1. It was hijacked, the transponders
> were
> > > > ordered
> > > > > to be turned off, and it is now sitting
> on
> > > some
> > > > > tarmac in Sumatra.
> > > > >
> > > > > 2. The aircraft blew a door or window,
> > lost
> > > > > compression, made the turn it did and
> flew
> > > > until
> > > > > it ran out of fuel, and now rests in the
> > > Indian
> > > > > Ocean (where no one is currently
> searching,
> > > > btw).
> > > > > Think Payne Stewart.
> > > >
> > > > The whole point of terrorism is to send a
> > > > political message. If no one claims
> > > > responsibility, no message gets out, which
> > > would
> > > > defeat the whole purpose of an attack.
> > > Obviously,
> > > > al Qaeda knew they'd be hunted after 9/11,
> do
> > > you
> > > > think they cared?
> > >
> > > If you are insinuating that I think hijacking
> > an
> > > airplane is synonymous with terrorism, then,
> > sir,
> > > you misread my post or I did not make myself
> > > clear. In no way do I believe this to be a
> > > terrorist act. People have hijacked
> airplanes
> > for
> > > many purposes, of which terrorism is but one
> of
> > > those reasons.
> >
> >
> > Last time I heard, Hijacking was an act of
> > terrorism.
>
> In the old days, people used to hijack airplanes
> for political asylum reasons. Maybe hijacking for
> such a reason is making a comeback.

Well, that's true too I suppose.

Commercial aviation radar has many dead spots especially over large bodies of water. If a plane is flown near-as-possible to the ocean surface its radar profile is lost to the clutter of the moving waves.

In this case the aircraft was out of radar range when its transponder went black.

Ruskies? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hTVNp Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Maybe the Russians shot it down to divert media
> > attention from Crimea? If so, it's working
> because
> > everything I turn on the news it's "we still
> don't
> > have any updates on the missing plane, but
> we'll
> > still talk about it for 20 mins"
>
> Do you really think the Russians are so insane
> that they would kill hundreds of civilians (many
> including civilians of their own Allies) just to
> divert attention? How madly anti-Slavic do you
> have to be?

I think it's unlikely in this case - too far away to make the point. They did shoot down that KAL over Kamchatka some years ago, and remained unrepentant after it was shown the fighter pilot knew it was a marked civilian aircraft. Nothing to do with anti-slav feelings.

If the plane descends below the reach of radar, then there would be no return. Radar is angled upward in relation to the ground at the radar site. That, along with the curvature of the earth, causes the altitude of the radar waves to increase the farther you get from the radar transceiver. If the plane descended below that altitude, primary radar could not paint it and it would "disappear" from radar.

Welcome to the Third World, where all the things you're used to simply don't exist.

That, or they're broken.

I read on a Chinese news website they have been calling their loved ones and their phones are actually ringing but no one answers. This would mean the phones are on. If they were the phones I mean we're dead it would go straight to voice mail but that isn't the case. They are still ringing.

The plane had a lot of fuel for a 5-6 hour flight, they could have landed in an area that didn't have "any country there" - air traffic control, military or nonmilitary, has its limits. If this is a pre-planned terrorist maneuver, they would know where and how to fly it.

uXdwv Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the plane descends below the reach of radar,
> then there would be no return. Radar is angled
> upward in relation to the ground at the radar
> site. That, along with the curvature of the earth,
> causes the altitude of the radar waves to increase
> the farther you get from the radar transceiver. If
> the plane descended below that altitude, primary
> radar could not paint it and it would "disappear"
> from radar.

There would be a radar signature until the plane hit that point. There is no way for a 777 to make a controlled decent of more than 34000 feet without still being seen on radar. Even if the pilots max performed the jet, the highest rate of descent would be in the ballpark of 6-7000 fpm, so it would still have been a 5 minute descent. That includes dropping the gear and throwing out the boards. There is no way to just dip below radar without ripping the jet apart as there would not be enough drag to control the airspeed in relation to the descent angle (the plane would continue accelerating after a certain angle). This is not a C-17, it is an airliner and not designed to perform 10000+ fpm descents.

Truth or Rumors?? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I read on a Chinese news website they have been
> calling their loved ones and their phones are
> actually ringing but no one answers. This would
> mean the phones are on. If they were the phones I
> mean we're dead it would go straight to voice mail
> but that isn't the case. They are still ringing.


if the phones are ringing this means they are in dry land not in ocean right ?

Do we know that there are no more radar signals after Pulau Perak? Genuinely asking. That's Malaysia's western border, so they wouldn't have anything further west. Has Indonesia said anything?

Oceanic 815 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I sure hope their on an island just waiting to be
> found with the best, happiest ending through their
> ordeal. For some reason, I'm still holding on to
> that hope. It hurts me when some people assume
> their dead and saying stuff like "may those souls
> RIP"

Highly unlikely they landed somewhere unnoticed. You cant land a 777 in a cornfield or a deserted stretch of road. I guess it's possible they could have made a controlled descent into a body of water and had some survivors.But I dont think this is going to be a Castaway script. It's certainly a mysterious situation.

The satellites were too busy last weekend over Ukraine and Dianne Feinstein's house to focus on a silly little airplane..

Oceanic 815 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I sure hope their on an island just waiting to be
> found with the best, happiest ending through their
> ordeal. For some reason, I'm still holding on to
> that hope. It hurts me when some people assume
> their dead and saying stuff like "may those souls
> RIP"

Just a guess, but I'd think that any field capable of accommodating a 777 that is within the fuel range of this flight, has been checked for unexpected traffic. That doesn't preclude a crash in the jungle somewhere, however. Surely there's all sorts of equipment on an over-water commercial flight that pings in the presence of water? An EPIRB type of thing? I don't know.

Truth or Rumors?? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I read on a Chinese news website they have been
> calling their loved ones and their phones are
> actually ringing but no one answers. This would
> mean the phones are on. If they were the phones I
> mean we're dead it would go straight to voice mail
> but that isn't the case. They are still ringing.

There's no cell phone reception in outer space...

Mr. Byrd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's pretty obvious to me that one of two things
> could have happened to this aircraft.
>
> 1. It was hijacked, the transponders were ordered
> to be turned off, and it is now sitting on some
> tarmac in Sumatra.
>
> 2. The aircraft blew a door or window, lost
> compression, made the turn it did and flew until
> it ran out of fuel, and now rests in the Indian
> Ocean (where no one is currently searching, btw).
> Think Payne Stewart.

Scenario #2 sounds like a winner.

i believe the plane was "hacked". There is a report by the Federal Register titled "

"Special Conditions: Boeing Model 777-200, -300, and -300ER Series
Airplanes; Aircraft Electronic System Security Protection From
Unauthorized Internal Access"

It goes on to describe that these models of planes (777) have an onboard network that is vulnerable to attacks: "This onboard network system will be composed of a network file server, a
network extension device, and additional interfaces configured by
customer option. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain
adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature...14 CFR regulations and current system safety assessment policy and
techniques do not address potential security vulnerabilities which could
be exploited by unauthorized access to airplane networks and servers."

I would not propose whom may have been responsible if this is the case, and this scenario itself is a longshot, but as good as any hypothesis at this point.

HACKED! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i believe the plane was "hacked". There is a
> report by the Federal Register titled "
>
> "Special Conditions: Boeing Model 777-200, -300,
> and -300ER Series
> Airplanes; Aircraft Electronic System Security
> Protection From
> Unauthorized Internal Access"
>
> It goes on to describe that these models of planes
> (777) have an onboard network that is vulnerable
> to attacks: "This onboard network system will be
> composed of a network file server, a
> network extension device, and additional
> interfaces configured by
> customer option. The applicable airworthiness
> regulations do not contain
> adequate or appropriate safety standards for this
> design feature...14 CFR regulations and current
> system safety assessment policy and
> techniques do not address potential security
> vulnerabilities which could
> be exploited by unauthorized access to airplane
> networks and servers."
>
> I would not propose whom may have been
> responsible if this is the case, and this scenario
> itself is a longshot, but as good as any
> hypothesis at this point.



Nothing is out of question at this point. I feel sorry for those families. Hopefully they and the rest of the world have answers soon. My guess is a hostile guest of the first officer decided to crash the plane on purpose, who probably had an aviation background, considering the transponder turn off at the set point.

Any news on this? Why did the Malasyan officials lie about the position of the plane?

If I was searching in Fairfax County, it would be the old Lorton Prison grounds. My second choice would be that huge Korean church on Centrevill Rd that looks big enough to land a jet on.

They are up to something. Anybody else find it odd that they were searching with boats and planes in an area that they knew was nowhere near where the last known position of the plane was?

Confusion clouds search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/12/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

(CNN) -- More than four days since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over Southeast Asia, Malaysian officials not only don't know what happened to the plane, they don't seem sure where to look.

On Wednesday, officials announced they have once again expanded the search area. It now covers 27,000 square miles -- in the Straits of Malacca and in the South China Sea.

The lack of a clear direction prompted Vietnam to say Wednesday that it's pulling back on its search efforts until Malaysian authorities come up with better information on where to look.

"We have scaled down the searches for today and are still waiting for the response from Malaysian authorities," Phan Quy Tieu, Vietnam's vice minister of transportation, told reporters.

He described as "insufficient" the information provided so far on the airline, which vanished early Saturday over Southeast Asia with 239 people on board.

At a news conference Wednesday, Malaysian transportation minister Hishamuddin Bin Hussein defended his government's approach.

"We have been very consistent in the search," he said.

The path of the plane

Part of the cause of the veiled irritation on the Vietnamese side seems to concern the deepening mystery over the path the plane may have taken after it lost contact with air traffic control on its scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

A senior Malaysian air force official on Tuesday told CNN that after the plane lost all communications around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, it still showed up on radar for more than an hour longer. Before it vanished altogether, the plane apparently turned away from its intended destination and traveled hundreds of miles off course, the official said.

It was last detected, according to the official, near Pulau Perak, a very small island in the Straits of Malacca, the body of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Those assertions, reported by CNN and other new organizations, have fueled surprise among aviation analysts and a fresh burst of theories about what might have happened to the plane. They also appear to have created tensions between some of the different countries involved in the search efforts.

Uncertainty over exact path

But some Malaysian officials have reportedly cast doubt on the details of the change in direction.

The New York Times cited Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, spokesman for the Prime Minister's office, as saying that he had checked with senior military officials, who told him there was no evidence that the plane had flown back over the Malay Peninsula to the Straits of Malacca, only that it may have attempted to turn back.

The Prime Minister's office didn't immediately return calls from CNN seeking comment Wednesday.

But the air force chief Gen. Rodzali Daud didn't go as far as denying that the plane had traveled hundreds of miles off course.

The air force is still "examining and analyzing all possibilities as regards to the airliner's flight paths subsequent to its disappearance," he said in a statement Wednesday.

Rodzali said it "would not be appropriate" for the air force to "issue any official conclusions as to the aircraft's flight path until a high amount of certainty and verification is achieved."

He denied, though, that he had made statements to a Malaysian newspaper similar to those that the senior air force official made to CNN.

Searchers find no trace

The reported change of course would fit in with some of the areas that search and rescue teams have been combing over the past several days.

Forty-two ships and 39 planes from 12 countries have been searching the sea between the northeast coast of Malaysia and southwest Vietnam, the area where the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers.

But they are also looking off the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, in the Straits of Malacca, and north into the Andaman Sea -- areas that would tally with a change of direction by the plane.

They are also searching the land surface in between those areas.

So far, though, searchers have found no confirmed trace of the plane anywhere.

Vietnam scales back searches

Vietnamese authorities, who have been heavily involved in the search, appeared to be showing increasing frustration Wednesday with the information coming from the Malaysian side.

"Up until now we only had one meeting with a Malaysian military attache," Phan, the vice transportation minister, said. "However, the information they have provided is insufficient."

Vietnam informed Malaysian authorities that the plane was turning westward at the time it disappeared but didn't hear anything back, Phan said.

For the moment, Vietnamese teams will stop searching the sea south of Ca Mau province, the southern tip of Vietnam, and shift the focus to areas east of Ca Mau, said Doan Luu, the director of international affairs at the Vietnamese Civil Aviation Authority.

Doan also told CNN that Vietnam has asked Malaysian authorities to clarify which location is the focus of their search, but that it has yet to hear back.

Families' frustration

Families of those on board the plane also want to know more, and some have vented their anger.

"Time is passing by, the priority should be to search for the living!" a middle-aged man shouted at meeting with airline officials in Beijing on Tuesday before breaking into sobs. His son, he said, was one of the passengers aboard the plane.

Other people at the meeting also voiced their frustration at the lack of information.

Most of those on the flight were Chinese. And for their family members, the wait has been long and anguished.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Wednesday appealed to families of the people on board to be patient.

"What we want to tell them is that we must, indeed, consider their feelings," Najib said. "The families involved have to understand that this is something unexpected. The families must understand more efforts have been made with all our capabilities."

The Chinese government had on Monday urged Malaysia to speed up the investigation into what happened to the plane.

Analysts puzzled

The possibility that the plane changed direction and flew over the Straits of Malacca has perplexed aviation experts.

Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, said he thinks the information, if correct, ominously suggests that someone purposefully cut off the transponder -- which sends data on altitude, direction and speed -- and steered the plane from its intended destination.

"This kind of deviation in course is simply inexplicable," Goelz said.

Other experts aren't convinced that there was necessarily foul play involved. They say there could have been some sort of sudden catastrophic electronic failure that spurred the crew to try to turn around, with no luck.

"Perhaps there was a power problem," said veteran pilot Kit Darby, former president of Aviation Information Resources, adding that backup power systems would only last about an hour. "(It is) natural for the pilot, in my view, to return to where he knows the airports."

Still, while they have theories, even those who have piloted massive commercial airliners like this one admit that they can't conclude anything until the plane is found.

Authorities have said they're not so far ruling out any possibilities in their investigations.

For now, the massive multinational search has yielded no breakthrough -- which has only added to the heartache for the friends and family of the 239 passengers and crew on board.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
~NEW: Vietnam says it's scaling down its searches Wednesday
~NEW: Information from Malaysian authorities is "insufficient," a Vietnamese official says
~A Malaysian air force official tells CNN that the plane showed up on radar after it lost contact
~The plane flew way off course, heading in the wrong direction, the official says

Go here to watch the route of the plane..
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/12/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Attachments:

Crowdsourcing volunteers comb satellite photos for Malaysia Airlines jet
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/11/us/malaysia-airlines-plane-crowdsourcing-search/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

(CNN) -- You -- the person now reading this story -- can help experts solve the mystery of what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared over the open sea.

In fact, thousands of aspiring good Samaritans are volunteering their time to scour part of the plane's search zone using detailed satellite images posted online by DigitalGlobe, a Colorado firm that owns one of the world's most advanced commercial satellite networks.

So many volunteers have joined the effort that the firm's website -- with its pinpoint pictures of everything floating in the ocean -- has crashed.

It is a busy week for "crowdsourcing," the Internet phenomenon where information is gathered from John and Jane Q. Public -- people like you -- and from your social media postings.

"This is a real needle-in-the-haystack problem, except the haystack is in the middle of the ocean," Luke Barrington of DigitalGlobe told CNN affiliate KMGH. "I will ask you to mark anything that looks interesting, any signs of wreckage or life rafts."

DigitalGlobe's satellite photos taken 400 miles above the Gulf of Thailand can capture a detail as small as a home plate. The challenge is finding the manpower to scour 1,235 square miles of such images on one of DigitalGlobe's websites, Tomnod.com -- with more pictures to be posted this week from satellites above the Strait of Malacca, said Abby Van Uum, an Edelman publicist retained by DigitalGlobe.

That's where crowdsourcing comes in.

"In many cases, the areas covered are so large, or the things we're looking for are so hard to find, that without the help of hundreds of thousands of people online, we'd never be able to find them," Barrington said.

One volunteer, Mike Seberger, 43, found a fascinating image in a matter of minutes: the silhouette in the ocean has the scale of a Boeing 777-200, the same model of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

His discovery can be seen on his CNN iReport page, which is also a form of crowdsourcing used by CNN.

"At first, I skipped past it, thinking, 'Nah. No way I would find anything that quickly,' " Seberger told CNN on Tuesday. "But then I kept scrolling back to it and thinking to myself, 'It does resemble a plane....'

"I played with the zoom on my browser a bit, and took a screenshot at 200%, which is what I uploaded" to CNN iReport, said Seberger, a manager of information technology in the Chicago area.

But Seberger does have his doubts: "Looking at it objectively, the shape of 'my' object appears plane-like and the dimensions are consistent with a 777-200. That said, I feel it is more likely to be a boat."

DigitalGlobe and the Tomnod.com website officials have yet to respond to his flagging of the curious image. "Their site is getting slammed, apparently, because about half the time that I try to access it, I get an error page, and sometimes even though I log in, no map loads," Seberger said Tuesday. "The site got slammed like healthcare.gov."

Company officials weren't available to respond to CNN's requests for a comment Tuesday.

In response to the Malaysia Airlines plane's disappearance, DigitalGlobe activated its subscription service to emergency managers, which provides online access to satellite images before and after the incident, the firm said on its website. The photos are used for emergency response, damage assessment and recovery.

The company performed a similar "global crowdsourcing campaign" in November's Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, allowing volunteers to tag online more than 60,000 objects of interest from satellite photos. The information was forwarded to emergency responders, the firm said.

The firm also tracked damage last year in the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado and the Colorado floods. In another case, the satellite imagery also helped locate the remains of two missing hikers in Peru, the affiliate reported.

The firm, based in Longmont, also uses geospatial big data, which is "information and insight taken from imagery and derived from various sources such as social media," the firm said.

The company used the technology in satellite images of the recent Sochi Olympics in Russia and cross-referenced the photos with social media data "to analyze overall activity, linguistic composition and mood for people around Sochi," the firm said.

DigitalGlobe and tomnod.com offer their satellite photos of ocean in crowdsourcing effort.
Attachments:

Malaysia Airlines MH370 / TomNod crowd-search
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1103537



CNN PRODUCER NOTE MikeSeberger said he read an article about DigitalGlobe's crowdsourced search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and decided to help out. He said he saw this image very quickly after he started looking at sections of the map. "At first, I skipped past it, thinking, 'Nah. No way I would find anything THAT quickly,' he said. "But then I kept scrolling back to it and thinking to myself, 'It DOES resemble a plane.'"

He said he couldn't tell what section of the map he was looking at, but he flagged it so someone else could take a look. He didn't see anything else that looked unusual.

Seberger said he thinks it's unlikely that this image shows the missing plane and assumes that he proably saw a ship that was in the area.

You can read more about the search on CNN.com.

- davidw, CNN iReport producer


I was able to get onto the TomNod site earlier today, and found a VERY interesting satellite image. Scale looks proper for a 777-200. I don't know how to tell the lat / long of that map, but am hoping by tagging it on TomNod that they will take a closer look and notify the searchers / authorities if appropriate. The website seems overloaded with traffic, but the link is: http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/malaysiaairsar2014/map/6060 (image attached).
Attachments:

I think they are looking at the wrong place. This plane might have crashed somewhere in the Indian ocean so someone will find a piece of debris from it a month or two from now, or it can even take longer....Since the transponder was shut off and the plane flew for another 1 hour and 10 minutes, it might have been shot down by a US missile and the authorities are concealing this because of the Iranians who possibly had a terrorist plot in mind. It really is very suspicious....maybe the plane crashed on the land....it's a matter of chance when they find it.

UFO Man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Truth or Rumors?? Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I read on a Chinese news website they have been
> > calling their loved ones and their phones are
> > actually ringing but no one answers. This would
> > mean the phones are on. If they were the phones
> I
> > mean we're dead it would go straight to voice
> mail
> > but that isn't the case. They are still
> ringing.
>
> There's no cell phone reception in outer space...

Actually there is cell phone reception in space. Astronauts from the International Space station would call their families all the time using their cell phones. Coverage was limited to certain times during the day as I recall when the satellite was in a position near the station.

Slant eyed liars Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They are up to something. Anybody else find it odd
> that they were searching with boats and planes in
> an area that they knew was nowhere near where the
> last known position of the plane was?

I completely agree, something is definitely afoot.
Attachments:

This will get better in the future when the entire ATC system becomes satellite driven. It will take advantage of the Iridium satellite system for instruction and guidance. It will be next to impossible for a plane to just disappear from detection unless it literally drops from the sky. But it is only in the first phases of development now.

So, do you think we've solved this mystery yet? If not, it won't be long. With all these great ideas I'm sure we will figure it out. Thanks FFXU!

FFXU Is On The Case Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So, do you think we've solved this mystery yet? If
> not, it won't be long. With all these great ideas
> I'm sure we will figure it out. Thanks FFXU!

You're welcome, all ready our team of couch ridden misfits are scanning the area and picking the lint out of their navels as the clock continues to click. In the end, CNN will thank us and Meade will sing our praises!
Attachments:

Plane won't be found where most people are searching.

Evidence HIGHLY suggestive of plane takeover, likely with help from
insiders. Someone should check on history of plane crew and pilots.

Plane had fuel to remain airborne until ~8:30am. Could the plane reach Africa, Iran, Pakistan in that time?

A fully refueled plane with hundreds of innocent hostages would become a very dangerous and an unstoppable weapon!

Time is running out and authorities need to ask the right questions and look in the right places!!!

seems awful fishy that 4 days of searching by 10 different countries and NOW out of the blue the Malaysian AF has this data of the airplane turning around and going a whole different direction. Something stinks with this story....

What's inexplicable is the Malaysians are only now saying the aircraft turned west out over the Malacca Straits. Well thanks to all the man hours, costs and efforts that went into looking in the wrong location.
How the hell did that happen?

There were Electrical problems in the aircraft...The crew realizes this and attempts to turn back.....Because of problems they get the wrong heading..... and the plane goes way off course....Problems grow and over come aircraft and it vanishes an hour or so later...

it is hard to believe that Boeing would not incorporate communications into these aircraft that CANNOT be turned off by anyone, a SIMPLE GPS location device for real time tracking, in the event of hi-jacking a $250 million dollar aircraft that can be used in devasting ways? how is this possible? Where are the mandates to track these potential missiles? Wow! Where is your aircraft that could now be used as a missile? Hook them up to real time satelite tracking to norad. arghhhh

I did some research on the plane, a Boeing 777-200ER. It has a range of 7,700 Nautical Miles or a little over 8,500 ground miles. That's like going from Boston to LA, back to Boston, then back half way to LA in the SAME flight without stopping. It costs around $300 Million and is a massive aircraft. This plane could have made it to East Africa easy.. lots of unstable countries over there..

Notice how they disable the plane's tracking prior to making the turn... they wanted people to think it crashed into the ocean.. and waste time searching there.. This is even more interesting... taken directly from a cited Wikipedia article:

On April 2, 1997, a Malaysia Airlines -200ER named "Super Ranger" broke the great circle "distance without landing" record for an airliner by flying eastward from Boeing Field, Seattle to Kuala Lumpur, a distance of 10,823 nautical miles (20,044 km), in 21 hours and 23 minutes.

10,823 nautical miles without landing is baffling. That's 12,454 miles on the ground. (Coast to coast in the US 5 times without stopping.) It also holds the record for flying without fuel, which it did for more than 2 hours (after the tanks were empty) and landed safely.

Boeing: 777-200/-200ER Technical Characteristics
http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/777family/pf/pf_200product.page

Malaysia Airlines mystery: US issued warnings over Boeing 777 'weak spot'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10691089/Malaysia-Airlines-mystery-US-issued-warnings-over-Boeing-777-weak-spot.html

American transport officials warned of a potential weak spot in Boeing 777s which could lead to the "loss of structural integrity of the aircraft" four months before the disappearance of Malaysiaairlines Flight MH370.

The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington drew up an Airworthiness Directive in November. It was triggered by reports of cracking in the fuselage skin underneath a Boeing aircraft's satellite antennae.

In its directive the FAA, which is responsible for supervising the safety of American-made aircraft such as Boeing, told airlines to look out for corrosion under the fuselage skin.

This, the FAA said, could lead to a situation where the fuselage was compromised leading to possible rapid decompression as well as the plane breaking up.

"We received a report of cracking and corrosion in the fuselage skin underneath the SATCOM antenna adapter," the FAA warned. "During a maintenance planning data inspection, one operator reported a 16-inch crack under the 3-bay SATCOM antenna adapter plate in the crown skin of the fuselage on an aeroplane that was 14 years old with approximately 14,000 total flight cycles.

"Subsequent to this crack finding, the same operator inspected 42 other aeroplanes that are between 6 and 16 years old and found some local corrosion, but no other cracking. Cracking and corrosion in the fuselage skin, if not corrected, could lead to rapid decompression and loss of structural integrity of the aeroplane."

The FAA directive in November called for additional checks to be incorporated into the routine maintenance schedule of the worldwide 777 Boeing fleet.

According to a Malaysia Airlines spokesman, the missing aircraft was serviced on February 23, with further maintenance scheduled for June 19.

The FAA stated that carrying out necessary inspection work would cost airlines $3.060 (£1,841).

With terrorism now appearing less likely as a cause of the Malaysian airlines disaster, which claimed 239 lives, focus has switched to problems with the aircraft or pilot error.

Despite both the Boeing 777 and Malaysia Airlines having good safety records, there have been other incidents which could prove relevant during the investigation of the disappearance.

In 2005, a 777 operated by Malaysia Airlines suffered problems with its autopilot system on a flight between Perth and Kuala Lumpur.

It led to the plane pitching up into a sudden 3,000-foot climb, almost causing the plane to stall.

The problem led to another airworthiness directive to correct a computer fault that had been found on 500 Boeing 777s.

Airworthiness directives are commonplace, similar to car recalls.

In the majority of cases, airlines are told to look for and correct the fault, if found, during maintenance.

On rare occasions an entire fleet will be grounded as happened in January last year when the FAA ordered Boeing to stop flying its flagship 787 Dreamliner after faults were discovered with the plane's batteries.

While investigators from Malaysia and the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington search for the plane's black box, they will also be able to glean vital information from a live-data stream broadcast during the flight.

Known as Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, it is the equivalent of an "online black box".

However James Healy-Pratt, an aviation lawyer who has represented bereaved families in other air accidents, warned they face a long wait before the original black boxes are recovered.

A Boeing spokesman said it was working with the NTSB as a technical adviser.

"The team is now in position in the region to offer whatever assistance is required."

The company declined to comment further.
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Airlines do not put a full tank of gas in the plane - they fill it with the minimum amount of fuel to save weight, and therefore ultimately fuel costs. Google Wikipedia Flight Planning.

Former Keller man said to be passenger on missing jetliner

A former Keller resident was one of the 239 passengers on a Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared off radar screens early Saturday, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.

Philip Wood, 50, works for IBM and was on flight MH370, his father, Aubrey Wood, told The New York Times and KTVT/Channel 11.

Aubrey Wood declined to comment when contacted by the Star-Telegram, saying he would not talk to media organizations until Monday. CBS 11 reported that the embassy had notified him that his son was on the flight.

Aubrey Wood told The New York Times that the family had little information beyond what had been reported in the news media.

“We’re all sticking together,” he said from his home in Keller. “What can you do? What can you say?”

“We’re relying on our Lord. He’s the one who carries the load.”

Wood’s mother, Sandra, told NBC 5 that Philip Wood had visited Keller last week and that she was at peace because of it.

Wood’s ex-wife, Elaine, posted a status to Facebook that said, “Philip Wood was a wonderful man. Although we were no longer married, he is still family.”

The Times reported that Philip Wood lives in Kuala Lumpur, previously lived in Beijing and has two sons in Texas, the younger one a student at Texas A&M University. The newspaper reported that Wood’s father also worked for IBM and retired from the company.

On Saturday night, the family released a statement to NBC 5 that read: “Philip Wood was a man of God, a man of honor and integrity. His word was gold. Incredibly generous, creative and intelligent, Phil cared about people, his family, and above all, Christ. Though our hearts are hurting, we know so many families around the world are affected just as much as us by this terrible tragedy. We ask for your prayers, not only for ourselves, but for all involved during this difficult time.

“As a family, we are sticking together through Christ to get through this. Thank you for your understanding.”

As of late Saturday, Vietnamese ships and planes were still hunting for the missing Malaysian jetliner. They had found no wreckage close to where they spotted two large oil slicks.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/03/08/5632547/keller-man-said-to-be-passenger.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

xVEkW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Airlines do not put a full tank of gas in the
> plane - they fill it with the minimum amount of
> fuel to save weight, and therefore ultimately fuel
> costs. Google Wikipedia Flight Planning.

Or they tanker it if the fuel price is significantly lower at the departure point. News said it had 7-1/2 hours onboard, but that would be at altitude; at low altitude it would burn 2 or 3 times as much per hour and go slower (thicker air = drag).

I can't speak from too much knowledge of Malaysia's foreign affairs, as all I know is from the reading I've done since I heard about this story, but taking a look around them it doesn't seem unlikely that some combination of corruption, incompetence, lack of resources, or outright assistance from one of their neighbors could have happened. They aren't exactly sitting in the freedom capitol of the world. Vietnam, Laos, Burma... Not countries I would want to run into in a dark alley.

Q. and A. on the Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/world/asia/q-and-a-on-the-disappearance-of-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370.html?_r=0

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has left investigators, aviation experts and the authorities in several countries at a loss to explain what happened. As the search and inquiry continue, Matthew L. Wald, a correspondent for The New York Times, answers a few basic questions:

Q. How could a Boeing 777 simply vanish? Aren’t they always tracked by radar or satellites?

A. Radar coverage is not universal, especially over water. In areas without radar, pilots are generally required to radio in their positions at fixed intervals, mostly to assure that air traffic controllers can keep aircraft out of one another’s way. Between intervals, something could go wrong.

Planes like the 777 also have automatic systems that send out data on engine performance and other technical functions. Those signals go to a maintenance base, not to air traffic control. Air France used those signals to help determine what happened when its Flight 447 disappeared over the equatorial Atlantic. Investigators may be doing something similar in Kuala Lumpur.

Q. Plane crashes most often happen on landing or takeoff, but this flight vanished almost an hour after takeoff when it was cruising. What could cause a plane to crash at that point in a flight?

A. In three crashes at sea in the last few years, the aircraft’s speed-sensing systems have malfunctioned. In two of those cases, crews failed to diagnose and cope with the problem. (In the third, there was probably nothing they could have done.) A deliberate act by a pilot, terrorism or an attack in the cockpit could be other causes.

Q. Shouldn’t the signals from transponders or “black boxes” have pinpointed the aircraft by now?

A. If the black boxes are in water, “pingers,” which emit a tone, are activated. But these are audible only in a limited area. And the plane may not be in the water.

Q. Why would the authorities not have found debris after so many hours of searching?

A. They may not be looking in the right place. The plane flies at 10 miles a minute, and no one knows exactly when it crashed, or whether it departed its assigned track before doing so.

Q. How far from its last known location could the aircraft have strayed?
Continue reading the main story

INDONESIA

A. While we know where the last radio contact was, we do not know how long after that the airplane crashed, so it is hard to say. A jetliner cruising at 35,000 feet could glide as far as 80 or 90 miles after losing engine power if the pilots still had control.

Q. Are there any signs that terrorism might have been involved?

A. No group is known to have claimed to have destroyed the plane. Beyond that, not enough is known to speculate.

Q. If the plane had a major malfunction, wouldn’t the pilots have called for help and sent distress signals?

A. Pilots have a mantra for setting priorities in an emergency: aviate, navigate, communicate. The first priority is to fly the airplane. Telling air traffic controllers on the ground what is going on comes third, since doing so is unlikely to instantly yield any help with the crisis in the cockpit, whatever it may be. If the pilots are fighting to keep the plane aloft, they may not have time to use the radio.

Q. Could one of the pilots have crashed the plane deliberately?

A. It’s been known to happen: The crashes of an EgyptAir flight from Kennedy International Airport in 1999 and a SilkAir flight in Indonesia in 1997 were attributed to intentional acts by cockpit crew members. But nothing is yet known publicly to suggest that that happened on the Malaysia Airlines flight.


Q. Have other planes disappeared in this way in recent years?

A. There is no record of big planes simply disappearing, though they may take some time to find. A few pieces of debris from Air France Flight 447 were spotted floating in the Atlantic the day after the plane crashed in June 2009, but it took five days to find most of the wreckage. Small aircraft may be missing for much longer if they go down in remote areas. Steve Fossett, the daredevil adventurer who flew around the world solo in a plane and set records in a balloon, took off in his private plane in Nevada on Sept. 3, 2007, and his remains were found in October 2008.
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Search area with titles...
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Live: Search for missing Malaysia Airlines moves to west of peninsula as records show it flew another 350 miles after disappearing

Officials believe they have made the first major breakthrough since the jet carrying 239 people vanished
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-live-3219331#ixzz2vkhx0QNI

Here is a timeline of events in the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight:

Saturday, March 8
•Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Flight departs at 12:41am (1441 GMT Friday), and is due to land in Beijing at 6:30am (2230 GMT) the same day. On board the Boeing 777-200ER are 227 passengers and 12 crew.
•Airline loses contact with plane between 1-2 hours after takeoff. No distress signal and weather is clear at the time.
•Missing plane last has contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.
•Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam says plane failed to check in as scheduled at 1721 GMT while flying over sea between Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh City.
•Flight tracking website flightaware.com shows plane flew northeast over Malaysia after takeoff and climbed to altitude of 35,000 feet. The flight vanished from website's tracking records a minute later while still climbing.
•Malaysia search ships see no sign of wreckage in area where flights last made contact. Vietnam says giant oil slick and column of smoke seen in its waters.
•Two men from Austria and Italy, listed among the passengers on a missing Malaysia Airlines flight, are not in fact on board. They say their passports were stolen.

Sunday, March 9
•Malaysia Airlines says fears worst and is working with U.S. company that specialises in disaster recovery.
•Radar indicates flight may have turned back from its scheduled route to Beijing before disappearing.
•Interpol says at least two passports recorded as lost or stolen in its database were used by passengers, and it is "examining additional suspect passports".
•Investigators narrow focus of inquiries on possibility plane disintegrated in mid-flight, a source who is involved in the investigations in Malaysia tells Reuters.

Monday, March 10
•The United States review of American spy satellite imagery shows no signs of mid-air explosion.
•As dozens of ships and aircraft from seven countries scour the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam, questions mounted over whether a bomb or hijacking could have brought down the Boeing airliner.
•Hijacking could not be ruled out, said the head of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority, Azharuddin Abdul Rahmanthe, adding the missing jet was an "unprecedented aviation mystery".
•The disappearance of the Malaysian airliner could dent the national carrier's plan to return to profit by end-2014, equity analysts said. Shares in MAS hit a record low on Monday.

Tuesday, March 11
•Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble names the two men who boarded jet with stolen passports as Iranians, aged 18 and 29, who had entered Malaysia using their real passports. "The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it is not a terrorist incident," Noble said.
•Malaysian police chief said the younger man appeared to be an illegal immigrant. His mother was waiting for him in Frankfurt and had been in contact with authorities, he said.
•Malaysian police say they are investigating whether any passengers or crew on the plane had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.
•Malaysia's military believes missing jet turned and flew hundreds of kilometres to the west after it last made contact with civilian air traffic control off the country's east coast, a senior officer told Reuters. The jet made it into the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping channels, along Malaysia's west coast, said the officer.
•A Colorado-based company has put "crowdsourcing" to work in search for a missing jet, enlisting Internet users to comb through satellite images of more than 1,200 square miles (3,200 square km) of open seas for any signs of wreckage.

Wednesday, March 12
•The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet expands to an area stretching from China to India, as authorities struggle to answer what had happened to the aircraft that vanished almost five days ago with 239 people on board.

I'd say at this point its fairly obvious the authorities have no fucking idea where this plane is or was.

It's so obvious from the pilots' names. The pilots wanted to go to Mecca or get their 64 virgins, whichever came first.

Allahu Snackbar Wrote:
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> It's so obvious from the pilots' names. The
> pilots wanted to go to Mecca or get their 64
> virgins, whichever came first.


One of the two of them is reported to have had two women in the cockpit for the duration of a flight two years ago.

thisisajokeright Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Allahu Snackbar Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It's so obvious from the pilots' names. The
> > pilots wanted to go to Mecca or get their 64
> > virgins, whichever came first.
>
>
> One of the two of them is reported to have had two
> women in the cockpit for the duration of a flight
> two years ago.

This is who they let into the cockpit this time...
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HA!

Report: Final Words from Jet Were 'All Right, Good Night'
http://www.nbcnews.com/#/storyline/missing-jet/report-final-words-jet-were-all-right-good-night-n50626

The last words from missing the Malaysia Airlines plane were “all right, good night,” Malaysian officials reportedly told anxious relatives in China on Wednesday.

That sentence was uttered to Malaysian air traffic controllers in response to the routine handover to their Vietnamese counterparts.

The flight then disappeared from civilian radar screens, Malaysia's civil aviation officials told families in a packed hotel meeting room in Beijing, according to a reporter for the Singapore Straits Times who attended the event.

The Straits Times said relatives were angry at the Malaysian officials for not confirming whether the Boeing 777 had been subsequently detected on military radar screens.

The report could not be independently verified by NBC News.

Ex-NTSB investigator weighs in on Flight 370
Go here to watch the video:
http://www.nbcnews.com/#/storyline/missing-jet/report-final-words-jet-were-all-right-good-night-n50626
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These muslim terrorists need to all be nuked and eliminated. Obama needs to start putting nuclear warheads on his wonderful drones.

Jet's path a mystery

More than four days since it vanished, officials don't seem to know where to look for the Malaysia Airlines jet.

(CNN) -- More than four days since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over Southeast Asia, Malaysian officials not only don't know what happened to the plane, they don't seem sure where to look.

On Wednesday, officials announced they had once again expanded the search area. It now covers 27,000 square miles, more than double the size of the area being searched just a day before.

Such a dramatic expansion at this stage of the investigation is troubling, said CNN aviation expert Richard Quest.

"At this stage in the investigation and search and rescue, I would have expected to see by now a much more defined understanding of what the route was, where the plane was headed and a narrowing of the search consequent upon that," he said on CNN's "New Day."

Indeed, the lack of a clear direction prompted Vietnam to say Wednesday that it's pulling back on its search efforts until Malaysian authorities come up with better information on where to look for the plane.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished early Saturday with 239 people on board during a flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.

Phan Quy Tieu, Vietnam's vice minister of transportation, said the information Malaysian officials provided was "insufficient."

"Up until now we only had one meeting with a Malaysian military attache," he said.

For now, Vietnamese teams will stop searching the sea south of Ca Mau province, the southern tip of Vietnam, and shift the focus to areas east of Ca Mau, said Doan Luu, the director of international affairs at the Vietnamese Civil Aviation Authority.

At a news conference Wednesday, Malaysian transportation minister Hishamuddin Bin Hussein defended his government's approach.

"We have been very consistent in the search," he said.

READ: Timeline of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Confusion over flight path

But even figuring out where authorities believe the plane may have gone down has been a difficult and shifting proposition.

In the immediate aftermath of the plane's disappearance, search and rescue efforts were focused on the Gulf of Thailand, along the expected flight path between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Over the weekend, authorities suddenly expanded their search to the other side of the Malay Peninsula, in the Straits of Malacca where search efforts now seem to be concentrated.

That location is hundreds of miles off the plane's expected flight path.

An explanation appeared to come Tuesday when a senior Malaysian Air Force official told CNN that the Air Force had tracked the plane to a spot near the small island of Palau Perak off Malaysia's west coast in the Straits of Malacca.

The plane's identifying transponder had stopped sending signals, too, said the official, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Malaysia's civilian administration appeared to dispute the report, however.

The New York Times quoted a spokesman for the Malaysian prime minister's office as saying Tuesday that military officials had told him there was no evidence the plane had flown back over the Malay Peninsula to the Straits of Malacca.

The Prime Minister's office didn't immediately return calls from CNN seeking comment Wednesday.

Then, in another shift, Malaysian authorities said at a news conference Wednesday that radar records reviewed in the wake of the plane's disappearance reveal an unidentified aircraft traveling across the Malay Peninsula and some 200 miles into the Straits of Malacca.

However, it wasn't clear whether that radar signal represented Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Gen. Rodzali Daud, head of the Malaysian Air Force, said at the news conference.

Rodzali said Wednesday that officials are still "examining and analyzing all possibilities" when it comes to the plane's flight path.

Malaysian officials are asking experts from the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority and National Transportation Safety Board to help them analyze the radar data.

The FAA said Wednesday that it "stands ready to provide any necessary additional support."

The agency has already sent two technical experts and another official to Kuala Lumpur as part of a NTSB investigative team.

How you can help find the plane

No trace

The search zones includes huge swaths of ocean on each side of the Malay Peninsula, as well as land.

Forty-two ships and 39 planes from 12 countries have been searching the sea between the northeast coast of Malaysia and southwest Vietnam, the area where the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers.

But they are also looking off the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, in the Straits of Malacca, and north into the Andaman Sea.

So far, searchers have found no trace of the plane.

What happened leading to the plane's disappearance also remains a mystery. Leading theories include hijacking, an explosion or a catastrophic mechanical failure.

Suggestions that the plane had veered off course and that its identifying transponder was not working raise obvious concerns about a hijacking, analysts tell CNN. But a catastrophic power failure or other problem could also explain the anomalies, analysts say.

In a sign authorities are looking at all options, Kuala Lumpur police told CNN they are searching the home of the airliner's Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

Families' frustration

As the vexing search drags on, frustration has grown among friends and family of those who were on board.

"Time is passing by. The priority should be to search for the living," a middle-aged man shouted before breaking into sobs during a meeting with airline officials in Beijing on Tuesday. His son, he said, was one of the passengers aboard the plane.

Other people at the meeting also voiced their frustration at the lack of information.

Most of those on the flight were Chinese, and the Chinese government has urged Malaysia to speed up the pace of its investigation.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Wednesday appealed for patience.

"The families involved have to understand that this is something unexpected," Najib said. "The families must understand more efforts have been made with all our capabilities."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
~NEW: FAA says it's ready to help Malaysia with more resources to interpret radar data
~Police in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, say they're searching missing pilot's home
~Amid confusion over route, Malaysian officials seem unsure where to look for plane
~The search zone now encompasses 27,000 square miles
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"Indeed, the lack of a clear direction prompted Vietnam to say Wednesday that it's pulling back on its search efforts until Malaysian authorities come up with better information on where to look for the plane."

That's my fave part -- 239 are missing feared dead and you don't give a fuck?? Okay. It disappeared in YOUR airspace, assholes!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2014 01:02PM by thisisajokeright.

What a fucking joke. Those nimrods in malaysia have no idea where to look for this plane. It is now even worse than a needle in haystack because they dont even know where the haystack is.

Sounds crazy but this plane could have been sucked up by a Alians. There are hundreds of planets in the universe so there must be life on some of them. Their technology could be much more advanced than ours.

Alian abuction? Wrote:
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> Sounds crazy but this plane could have been sucked
> up by a Alians. There are hundreds of planets in
> the universe so there must be life on some of
> them. Their technology could be much more advanced
> than ours.

Or Time Travellers...

Movie, "Millennium." Earthlings from the far future have screwed up the DNA pool with excessive GMO tinkering. The only way to save Earth is to go back and get some people from the period before cloning and use them to inject good DNA back into the pool. So what they do is find in newspaper articles where an airliner crashed. They use their technology to create a time nexus to the point before the plan crashes. The airliner sits in suspended animation in the future. The first thing is the door opens and the future people tell the occupants that all will need to get off the plane. Then once all the good humans are removed, they put sickly volunteers to replace them while taking their ID's, etc. Then the airline is returned to current time to allow the pending crash to happen. What fowls up the works is when somehow one of the future humans survives the crash and gives up the game.