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Tag: Flight 370

  • Flight 370 Lawsuit: Why Two Teens Have Stepped Up In The Face Of Tragedy

    It has been nearly eight months since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.

    In that time, a coalition of multiple nations has participated in the search for clues as to Flight 370’s fate. But as of yet, there are no concrete answers.

    A number of critics agree that a combination of negligence and gross incompetence is largely to blame for hindering early search efforts for Flight 370.

    But these criticisms have transformed into a massive lawsuit against both the Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines.

    13-year-old Jee Kinson and 11-year-old Jee Kinland filed a lawsuit in the Kuala Lumpur High Court following the loss of their father Jee Jing Hang.

    According to court documents, the plaintiffs have accused both the government and airline of negligence and failing to contact the missing plane within a reasonable amount of time.

    The suit also seems to blame the government for an inability to recover a plane that has been missing for many months.

    Arunan Selvaraj, the lawyer representing Kinson and Kinland said, “A big plane missing in this age of technology is really unacceptable.”

    Selvaraj also stated that his clients had been more than patient in waiting to file their suit over Flight 370.

    “We have waited for eight months. After speaking to various experts, we believe we have sufficient evidence for a strong case.”

    The two young boys are suing for damages incurred by the loss of their father, who like hundreds of other passengers remains unaccounted for.

    Prior to his presumed death on Flight 370, Jee Jing Hang owned an internet business that earned a monthly income of about 17,000 ringgit or $5,200.

    In addition to suing over the loss of his financial support, the young boys are suing for emotional stress and mental duress brought on by the Flight 370 tragedy.

    These young boys represent the first case filed in relation to the missing plane in court. Following the outcome of this trial, it may touch off a firestorm of legal actions taken against both Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government itself.

    It’s been reported that numerous Chinese families (most of the victims on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 were in fact from China) have hired a lawyer. However, no legal actions have been taken at this point.

  • Flight 370 Victims Reportedly Robbed Of $35,000

    Flight 370 victims have now been victimized yet again. A few of the missing passengers, now presumed dead, have been robbed of a large amount of money.

    Police say they have two suspects of the heinous crime in custody.

    City police Senior Deputy Commissioner Tajuddin Md Isa said,

    “We have identified the suspects involved and are gathering more evidence before we take further action,”

    He added of the Flight 370 robberies, “Do not speculate on this matter and allow us to conduct a thorough investigation.”

    He also said that the police and bank were conducting their own investigations into what happened to the money of Flight 370 victims.

    Apparently, the money was transferred from three of the victims accounts into a fourth account.

    City Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Izany Abdul Ghany explained,

    “The suspects then made an internet transfer of RM35,000 to another account, believed to be that of one of the suspects, two weeks prior to July 18 and made ATM withdrawals of RM5,000 daily until the account was empty.

    “We are now trying to trace the identity of the suspect who opened that account,” he said.

    Malaysian Flight 370 went missing mysteriously en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8th of this year. Neither wreckage nor any sign of passengers or survivors have ever been found. All aboard are presumed dead.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OAlAI5-Ko4

    However, just because victims of the theft are most likely dead, these thieves will still be brought to justice.

    “We are investigating the case as unauthorized access with intent to commit an offense,” Izany said.

    He added, “We are getting CCTV footage from the bank to identify the suspects involved.”

    Efforts to locate Flight 370 are still going strong and according to The Joint Agency Coordination Centre, the rescue operation is making “good progress”.

    Search teams are still scouring a 60,000-square-kilometre area in the Indian Ocean, and there is another deep-water search in the works for September.

    Hopefully the perpetrators of both crimes against those aboard Flight 370 will face the law.

    Image via YouTube

  • Flight 370 Search: Dutch Firm Hired to Investigate

    It has been almost exactly five months since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370) crashed somewhere along its route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China. In the frantic search conducted immediately following the plane’s disappearance, scientists and investigators found essentially no trace of the plane or the 239 passengers onboard when it disappeared. After taking a short hiatus from the hunt, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss announced that his country, which has been placed in-charge of the investigation by Malaysia, has named the newest company to head the search.

    Fugro N.V., a Dutch oil-and-gas servicing firm, won the $48.4 million contract with the Australian government to head the next phase of the investigation for Flight 370. While the company does not specialize in searching for wrecks or finding lost things on the ocean floor, it does have deep specialization in mapping underwater terrain and geolocation, along with a massive crew with the ability to run lengthy operations – a vital characteristic in the upcoming, 330 day search.

    Fugro will utilize two ships in its search for the missing flight and will be joined by ships from Malaysia. The two ships will be deployed at separate times and each will be towing deep-water vehicles while using side-scan sonar, multi-beam echo sounders and video cameras to identify any evidence of the wreckage.

    When the search continues in mid-September, Fugro will have the responsibility of mapping nearly 23,000 square miles of the ocean floor which promises many surprises: “We haven’t completed the mapping, so we are still discovering detailed features that we had no knowledge of, underwater volcanoes and various other things. We are finding some surprises as we go through,” stated Martin Dolan, head of the Australian Transport Safety Board.

    Despite the fact that no firm has had any success locating the plane thus far, Deputy Prime Minister Truss still holds out hope: “I remain cautiously optimistic that we will locate the missing aircraft within the priority search area.”

    On the other hand, David Mearns, a British based deep sea search and recovery expert, is less optimistic:

    At the end of the day, the plane will only be found if the searchers are looking in the right place. So, the success, or failure, of this next search effort rests mainly on the latest re-evaluation of the INMARSAT handshake pings and the probable flight path, speed and altitude of the plane. Beyond that the two biggest factors will be whether the seabed is mountainous or flat and, frankly, the commitment of the authorities to find the plane no matter how long it takes or how much it costs.

    With 330 days and nearly $50 million, let’s hope that Fugro’s attempts prove successful.

    Image via Fugro

  • Flight MH370: New Witness Comes Forward

    Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 remains unaccounted for since it vanished on March 8th.

    Though recovery efforts are ongoing, hope is fading that the plane—along with the 239 people aboard—will ever be seen again.

    In the time since the plane’s disappearance, there have been conflicting stories as to what is thought to have happened to it.

    A few “eyewitness accounts” were offered by persons who claimed they saw the missing plane fly overhead. Eventually these leads were proven false.

    Now there is yet another person who has stepped forward with an alleged eyewitness account.

    A woman named Katherine Tee said that she believes she not only saw Flight MH370 while sailing in the Indian Ocean, she may have witnessed the plane going down.

    The British woman said of the supposed sighting, “It caught my attention because I had never seen a plane with orange lights before.”

    Tee also noted “black smoke” trailing behind the plane.

    “It did occur to me that it might be a meteorite. But I thought it was more likely that I was going insane.”

    Somehow the idea that she was witnessing an actual plane crash struck the woman as “insane” and made her fear that she was “hallucinating”.

    Perhaps the reason why Tee was so puzzled by what she was seeing (and the lack of efficient response after the fact) was that according to her account,

    “There were two other planes well above [it] at the time.”

    Tee described the planes as moving away from the scene, but certainly close enough to witness the plane’s state of distress.

    When asked why she didn’t come forward with what she’d seen until months after the fact, Tee could only apologize.

    “I chose to sweep it under the carpet and now I feel really bad…I am sorry I didn’t take action sooner.”

    Do you believe Tee’s story or is it yet another false eyewitness report? Comment below!

    Image via YouTube

  • Missing Flight 370 Black Box Hunted by British Ship

    British Navy ship HMS Echo arrived Sunday in the area in the southern Indian Ocean where a Chinese ship detected “pulse signals” that could be from the black box of the Malaysian Boeing 777-200 jet that has been missing since March 8.

    The HMS Echo, deployed to where the crew of the Chinese vessel Jaixun 01 detected pulses last week, is “capable of collecting an array of military hydrographic and oceanographic data,” according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense.

     The Australian Navy’s Ocean Shield, which is carrying high-tech sound detectors from the U.S. Navy, will first investigate also deploy to the location, but will first investigate other sounds it picked up 300 nautical miles away from the Chinese ship.

    Flight 370 disappeared from radar and broke all communication during a trip from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing with 239 people on board on March 8.

    Crews are racing to recover the aircraft’s black box. No signal has been detected from the box since last week, and searchers fear the box’s battery may be dead. Black boxes hold flight data and emit signals so that they can easily be found, but the battery typically lasts only about a month.

    “We’re now into Day 37 of this tragedy,” said aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas on Sunday.

    “The battery life on the beacons is supposed to last 30 days. We’re hoping it might last 40 days. However, it’s been four or five days since the last strong pings. What they’re hoping for is to get one more, maybe two more pings so they can do a triangulation of the sounds and try and narrow the (search) area.”

    Despite having no new transmissions from the black boxes to track, air and sea crews continued their search on Sunday for debris and any sounds that may be emanating from the boxes.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Missing Jet: Black Box Feared Dead

    Missing flight 370 has been at the center of an enormous search since March 8, when it disappeared from radar and broke communication with the ground during a trip from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing with 239 people on board. Last week, searchers were optimistic after discovering several pings that were consistent with black box signals deep in the Indian Ocean, but no new sounds have been heard since Tuesday, and now it’s feared that the batteries in the black box have died.

    “We’re now into Day 37 of this tragedy,” said expert on aviation Geoffrey Thomas. “The battery life on the beacons is supposed to last 30 days. We’re hoping it might last 40 days. However, it’s been four or five days since the last strong pings. What they’re hoping for is to get one more, maybe two more pings so they can do a triangulation of the sounds and try and narrow the (search) area.”

    Though the search had been narrowed down significantly due to the signals–about five were captured using high-tech listening devices–the area was still quite large, about the size of Los Angeles, and extremely deep. Searchers were given a boost of confidence after detecting the signals, but stressed to the media that there was still a lot to do.

    “I’m now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what is left of the aircraft, in the not too distant future – but we haven’t found it yet, because this is a very challenging business,” search leader Angus Houston said. “I think that we’re looking in the right area, but I’m not prepared to say – to confirm – anything until such time as somebody lays eyes on the wreckage.”

    Officials say that when they’re sure the signals are finished, they’ll send down a Bluefin 21 submersible to explore at depths of 15,000 feet, which is where the signals came from.

    The Washington Post published a very informative infographic showing just how deep the plane may be here.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Underwater Signal Detected In Flight 370 Search

    Underwater signals were detected anew on Thursday in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, in the same area where previous signals have been detected.

    An Australian navy vessel has been patrolling the area heavily in recent days and has picked up five different sounds that are consistent with black box signals. The search has been focused on Australia’s west coast.

    “The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight,” search leader Angus Houston said in a statement.

    There have been several listening devices dropped into the water in an effort to pinpoint where the signals are coming from, because the search area is roughly the size of Los Angeles. However, Houston says he feels that the wreckage will be found soon and that they are on the right track. He can’t confirm with surety that the area is in fact the crash site, though.

    “I’m now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what is left of the aircraft, in the not too distant future – but we haven’t found it yet, because this is a very challenging business,” Houston said. “I think that we’re looking in the right area, but I’m not prepared to say – to confirm – anything until such time as somebody lays eyes on the wreckage.”

    Flight 370 disappeared on March 8 during a trip from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing with 239 people on board. Speculation about what might have happened to the jet–and why it seemed to move off course just before the last ground communication–has run rampant, but few answers have come forth. As far as Houston is concerned, the search is made even more difficult by the fact that the bottom of the Indian Ocean is covered in a thick layer of silt which could suck under anything which lands on the bottom. Also, the black box–if that’s what is sending out the sounds heard underwater–has a battery that could be dying.

    “So we need to, as we say in Australia, ‘make hay while the sun shines,”‘ Houston said.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Nearly Found?

    Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Nearly Found?

    In a short time the black box belonging to Flight MH370 will run out of battery life. That is, if the black boxes on the plane haven’t lost power already.

    Time is not on the side of the international joint search effort hoping to find the lost airplane.

    On Tuesday, it will have been a full month since the Malaysia Airlines flight went missing. It will also mark the anticipated end of the battery life of the black box equipment on the plane.

    Experts say it is possible for black boxes to send out signals for up to several days beyond this time limit.

    The race is on to confirm possible signals from the jetliner before it’s too late.

    Three pings have already been detected nearly 1,000 miles off the coast of Perth, Australia.

    Angus Houston, who is at the head of a joint agency coordinating the search, considers the latest ping a promising lead.

    He said, “In the search so far, it’s probably the best information that we have had.”

    Despite the renewed optimism and interest in the case, Houston warns that confirmation will likely not come overnight. It may be days before it is known if those pings belong to the missing jetliner.

    Malaysian defence minister Hishammudin Hussein echoed the tone of “cautious optimism” as news is released regarding this latest search effort.

    He also said that “miracles do happen” and that they will “continue to pray for survivors”. Though it’s highly unlikely at this stage that survivors will be found.

    As for the pings, there were three confirmed signals: The first two lasted two and a half hours and the third a mere thirteen minutes.

    It is now a matter of finding a signal again and sending down an underwater vehicle to investigate. Since the water in this part of the ocean is so deep, such items will be operating at their capacity limit.

    It is expected that even if an object is located, the act of confirming whether or not it’s the missing flight will begin a new and difficult phase of the search process.

    Image via YouTube

  • Malaysia Airlines Flight Simulator News Update

    Malaysia Airlines Flight Simulator News Update

    We told you recently that investigators had finished their comb-through of all the passengers of flight MH370. The police Inspector-General had determined that there was no reason to suspect anyone with a ticket of hijacking, sabotage, psychological, or personal problems that might have led to the disappearance of the airliner. However, we did note that the cabin crew, pilot and co-pilot were still under investigation.

    Now one more piece of the puzzle has been cleared. Remember the flight simulator belonging to the pilot, Captain Zaharie Shah? It had been the focus of a lot of suspicion and concern. Authorities had seized the equipment, wondering if Shah had practiced any maneuvers or flight paths that might give them a clue as to what happened. The equipment was sent to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Virginia for further investigation.

    Then came the news that some files had been deleted from the flight simulator. The 24-hour news cycle was all abuzz on that revelation for a bit. While some saw that as suspicious, others realized that it may be a simple matter of a man clearing hard drive space so he could load more simulation materials.

    Now, ABC News reports that the FBI has finished its fine-tooth-comb work on the flight simulator.

    “They have finished with the simulator,” an official confirmed. “There is nothing suspicious whatsoever about what they found. There’s nothing at all (criminal) about the pilot. Right now there is zero evidence of a criminal act by the flight crew.”

    The further the loose ends of this investigation are sewn up, the more it looks like what almost everyone has come to suspect for a while: there was a fire in the cabin or cockpit. In an effort to fight that fire, altitude was changed, systems were rebooted, and perhaps a course change was made to try to find a place to land. Failing in that effort, the plane eventually crashed in the Indian Ocean.

    Crews are still searching for wreckage, hoping to find a flight data recorder and other evidence about what may have happened.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Jon Stewart Compares CNN To Old Man With Metal Detector

    Jon Stewart doesn’t mince words when it comes time to take on the media, particularly with news channels and their coverage of certain topics. In the case of flight 370, outlets like CNN went to the extreme in reporting and ended up looking like an old man with a metal detector on the beach, sure he’s found treasure when all that’s buried is a soda can pop-top.

    The mystery of what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight 370 has only deepened over the past several weeks, and the families and friends of the victims have been left with more questions than answers. The constant media coverage has led to quite a bit of misinformation, which Stewart skewers in his report.

    Several countries have contributed to the search over the Indian Ocean, but scores of trash and debris unrelated to the plane have dotted satellites and given false hope to those waiting for word about where it ended up.

    Image via YouTube

  • Black Box Data Detector: Why Did It Take So Long?

    Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing on the morning of March 8th. Nearly three weeks later, a warship equipped with a black box detector will be used to attempt to find the missing plane. It comes by way of the United States.

    For those who have been following the increasingly bewildering and frustrating search for the missing jetliner, the first question that comes to mind would have to be, “It took you THIS long?!”

    Weeks were spent flying over the area or diverting ships to search much of the Indian Ocean. There’s no telling what the final cost will be even if at some point a search is called off.

    And after all of the man hours that have been spent, we’re just now starting to look for the black box?

    The delay for deploying the use of such vital recovery technology is mind-bogglingly frustrating to say the least. It certainly adds to the anger expressed by citizens over the lack of transparency and efficiency in how the matter has been handled thus far.

    Even though it is easy to argue that the use of such a device is long overdue, it’s also possible there were many constraints that stood in the way of allowing such an item to be made available.

    At the same time, the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is making it clear just how many changes need to be made in how information and resources are used for these type of large-scale missions.

    Open ommunication between government organizations and the upfront acknowledgement of available resources is key.

    The black box detector will be carried to the search area by way of Australian navy ship, the Ocean Shield. It’s expected the vessel will take approximately three to four days to arrive in the designated search area.

    Despite objects being recovered from and spotted in the ocean, there is no definite connection that has been established to the missing Boeing 777.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Malaysia Plane: The Saga Continues

    Malaysia Plane: The Saga Continues

    It has been a grueling three weeks for the families, the search teams, and the others involved in this unprecedented aviation disaster with the vanishing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

    Malaysian authorities say the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean. Search efforts are concentrated in an area far off Australia’s west coast. The first search area started in the southern part of the Indian Ocean, approximately 1,500 miles southwest of Perth, AU.

    However, after a more detailed and calculated search, the first suspected area has changed. The new area is to the north by nearly 700 miles. Search teams have found quite a few new objects, but whether the debris is connected to the to the Boeing 777 is still undetermined.

    The change in the search area is based on radar and satellite data, and further mathematical calculations indicating that investigators believe the plane was traveling faster than initially thought in the early part of its flight. Because of that, it burned through more fuel than first believed, hence the 700 miles north of the ‘previously assumed’ crash site.

    Meaning that authorities have concluded that it could not have traveled as far south as they once thought.

    Early Friday, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that as a result of ocean drift, the new search area “could still be consistent” with various objects spotted earlier by satellites. The objects that were initially spotted came from satellite data by China, France, the U.S., and later Imnarsat.

    However, Australia has a different view of the search area:

    “In regards to the old areas, we have not seen any debris,” said John Young, general manager of emergency response for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

    “And I would not wish to classify any of the satellite imagery as debris, nor would I want to classify any of the few visual sightings that we made as debris. That’s just not justifiable from what we have seen.”

    But in contrast to the first search area, which could only be flown over a couple of hours each trip due to the 4 hour flight to the area, Australian officials say the new search area is closer to land and in a gentler region of ocean, making for longer, safer and more consistent searches.

    But it’s still a huge area at 123,000 square miles and will take some time to search.

    “We’re kind of starting from square one with a whole new search and a whole new set of premises,” CNN aviation analyst Jeff Wise said Friday.

    Family members are in agony as they wait for answers, many displaying emotional outbursts picked up by cameras.

    “My heart can’t handle it. I don’t want to hurt my children,” Cheng Li Ping told CNN as she waited in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for evidence about what happened to her husband.

    Although as of Saturday, debris spotted in the new area should be retrieved in the very near future, but nothing is concrete as to where Malaysian Flight 370 is, or where it ended up.

    Image via YouTube

  • Flight 370: Is New Debris Found Best Lead Yet?

    Wednesday, Malaysia’s defense minister announced that Europe’s main commercial satellite company, Airbus Defense and Space, had forwarded images depicting more than 122 objects floating in Indian Ocean near the suspected area Malaysian Flight 370 went down.

    Although the debris could be trash, and unrelated to the aircraft, Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said, “this is still the most credible lead that we have.”

    According to calculations, the pieces of debris are up to 75 feet in length, and are visible through gaps in clouds over an area of 154 square miles, he said. Some of the objects are bright, he noted without elaboration. However, they could be aircraft related because metal objects might be reflective.

    Hishammuddin said he wasn’t sure if Australian authorities coordinating the search for the plane Wednesday had been able to follow up on the new satellite images yet.

    The search did resume on Wednesday after a weather delay, but even after 12 planes searched the area, nothing was found, Australian officials said.

    ‘Eventually something will come to light,’ Hishammuddin said.

    A search plane did spot three objects, but none were obvious plane parts, the Australian Maritime Safety Agency said.

    “The latest images appear to be the most significant discovery yet in the hunt for the missing plane,” which vanished March 8 with 239 people aboard, said CNN aviation analyst Miles O’Brien.

    “There’s a very good chance this could be the break we’ve been waiting for,” he said.

    David Soucie, also an aviation analyst agreed, adding that he was ‘intrigued’ by the size of the 75-foot object.

    “It has potential to be a wing that’s floating,” he said. “So I’m really encouraged by it, I really am.”

    Officials have warned that objects spotted in the water may turn out to be debris from cargo ships, and not from the plane. Finding pieces of the plane, or anything from the aircraft, could still take a long time.

    “There’s always a possibility we might not actually find something next week or the week after,” Mark Binskin, vice chief of the Australian Defense Force, told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Tuesday. “I think eventually, something will come to light, but it’s going to take time.”

    Seven military reconnaissance planes — from Australia, China, New Zealand, the United States, Japan and South Korea — and five civil aircraft are combing the vast search area, which covers 469,407 square nautical miles.

    Five ships — one from Australia and four from China — also are in the search zone, Australian authorities said.

    Image via YouTube

  • Missing Malaysian Plane: Protests Go On Despite Ban

    Missing Malaysian Plane: Protests Go On Despite Ban

    “We want them to give us the truth.”

    On Tuesday as fierce winds and high waves prevented crews from searching the large area where Malaysian Flight 370 is said to have gone down, families of those on the flight protested outside of the Malaysian embassy despite China’s ban on protests.

    The angry group left their hotel, shoving past police officers, and walked 40 minutes on foot to the embassy where they presented a Malaysian diplomat with a statement saying that they would consider Malaysian leaders to be “murderers” if evidence emerges that the crash was caused by missteps.

    Even after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak made a statement on Monday that Flight 370 went down in the southern part of the Indian Ocean, families of those on board do not believe it. They say no evidence has been produced.

    “This is confirmation from government, but this information is not 100 per cent confirmed,” said Mohd Aizuddin, an imam at the KLIA mosque, where some Malaysia Airlines crew members routinely worship. “We still pray and hope.

    “I will not blame my government,” Aizuddin added, “but for normal people I understand. It’s too fast.”

    But new information from the British satellite firm Inmarsat suggests that Flight 370 ended in a remote area of the ocean, approximately 2400 kilometers off the southwest coast of Perth, Australia, between 8:11 and 9:15 a.m. on March 8, seven hours after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.

    “We want to know the truth, but we are afraid the debris of the plane should be found,” said Wang Chunjiang, whose brother was on the plane. “If they find debris, then our last hope would be dashed. We will not have even the slightest hope.”

    Yesterday Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that a debris field containing approximately 122 objects, ranging from 1 meter to 23 meters, was seen by a French satellite scanning the Indian Ocean.

    “It’s the most credible lead we have,” he said. “If it is confirmed to be MH370, at least we can then we can move on to the next phase of deep sea surveillance search.”

    “This is about the most inaccessible spot imaginable,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Seven Network television. “It’s thousands of kilometers from anywhere … but we will do what we can to solve this riddle.”

    In the meantime, the first legal filing on behalf of a passenger has occurred.

    A U.S. law firm representing the father of a 24-year-old Indonesian passenger filed a petition for discovery against Boeing Co. and Malaysia Airlines, a move that could be a “multimillion-dollar litigation process.”

    Gary Logan, a Las Vegas attorney who handles aviation accident suits, said, “The big target would be Boeing because the families could sue in U.S. courts. The U.S. is the place to be in terms of collecting damages.”

    Executives of Malaysian Airlines said Tuesday that they will pay $5,000 to each of the families of the 227 passengers, but that provides little comfort when so many questions remain.


    Image via YouTube

  • Amelia Earhart Situation For Flight 370

    International attention focusing on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has led to collective concern that the most recent occurrence could be another unsolved global mystery, similar to the officially-unsolved case involving renowned pilot Amelia Earhart. Former U.S. aviation accident investigator Ric Gillespie, who studied the 1937 disappearance of Earhart, spoke about the public’s reaction to the recent unresolved tragedy.

    “When something like this happens that confounds us, we’re offended by it, and we’re scared by it. We had the illusion of control and it’s just been shown to us that oh, folks, you know what? A really big airliner can just vanish. And nobody wants to hear that,” Gillespie said.

    Though many are having difficulties grappling with the revelation that a plane can disappear from the technological radar in this day-and-age, the Journal of Transportation Security‘s editor-in-chief Andrew Thomas offered some realistic insight behind the limitations involving modern-day aviation advancements. “There are lots of reasons why they haven’t changed, but the major one is cost. The next-generation technology would cost $70 to $80 billion in the U.S.,” Thomas explained.

    Understanding the events that influenced the disappearance of Flight 370 represent only part of the public’s anxiety when discussing this most recent tragedy. Another part of the struggle is determining the societal recourse needed to lessen, if not prevent, future situations of a similar nature from occurring. According to Brian Havel, who is the director of DePaul University’s International Aviation Law Institute, “The international aviation legal system does not anticipate the complete disappearance of an aircraft. We just don’t have the tools for that at present.”

    The 1937 disappearance of female pioneer pilot Earhart shocked the international community and led to debates and discussions regarding potential underlying factors. Conspiracy theories have persisted since the late 1930’s just like the current onslaught of conspiracy theories concerning Flight 370. While it may be falsely comforting to hope that these events are relegated to the past, present-day aviation is not immune from disastrous mysteries.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Malaysia Airlines: Deleted Flight Files Now Sought

    As the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 continues, one of the avenues of investigation centers around the fact that the captain of the flight, one Zaharie Ahmad Shah, had a flight simulator in his home. While this is not necessarily proof of anything, nor even all that unusual, investigators have looked further into what sort of simulations Shah may have been running to see if they give any clues that might help the investigation.

    For example, if one theory – that Shah hijacked his flight and took it somewhere else – were given credence, he may have practiced his plan in his own flight simulator.

    However, according to the Associated Press, Malaysian authorities are now saying that they have found that there were files deleted from the simulator data storage on February 3. Again, this is not necessarily unusual. Like anyone who uses a computer, Shah may have needed to delete old files simply to make room on his hard drive.

    But investigators are leaving no stone unturned in this hunt.

    Hopefully that means they will also be chasing the theory put forth by pilot Chris Goodfellow, a shockingly simple explanation of what may have happened to the flight, that we reported on earlier.

    And, just for good measure, they should look at Courtney Love’s scrawl on Facebook.

    Authorities do say that Shah’s family is cooperating with their investigation. They also say that they have checked out almost every passenger listed as flying on Flight 370.

    Malaysia’s defense minister said, “So far, no information of significance on any passengers has been found.”

    One thing that could be impeding the investigation is the willingness of surrounding countries to contribute what their own defense systems may have picked up for fear of revealing their own capabilities. This is theorized to be why Thailand withheld information for ten days, only revealing it after it was already discovered through other means.

    Image via YouTube

  • Malaysia Airlines: A Much Simpler Theory Emerges

    In the ongoing saga that is the mystery of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, there has been no shortage of theories. Recently we even reported on Courtney Love’s amateur sleuthing efforts involving an open source satellite image of the area marked up with MS Paint.

    Other theories include that the pilot may be a terrorist who trained for this operation with an in-home flight simulator, meteor activity, and other Bermuda Triangle-type conspiracy theories.

    But one man, a pilot with decades of experience, has put forth another theory, startling in it simplicity, that some say bears looking at. His idea of what may have happened takes an Occam’s Razor to the entire proceedings, and will hopefully be reviewed by the bumbling powers-that-be that are on the case. At the very least, Courtney Love could check it out.

    Pilot Chris Goodfellow, recently posted the following publicly from his Google+ account:

    “When I heard this I immediately brought up Google Earth and I searched for airports in proximity to the track towards southwest [of Flight 370’s last known location].”

    Goodfellow’s notion was that there was some sort of emergency on board the flight, perhaps a fire. He theorized that the pilot was looking for a good place to land.

    “We old pilots were always drilled to always know the closest airport of safe harbor while in cruise. Airports behind us, airports abeam us and airports ahead of us. Always in our head. Always. Because if something happens you don’t want to be thinking what are you going to do – you already know what you are going to do. Instinctively when I saw that left turn with a direct heading I knew he was heading for an airport. Actually he was taking a direct route to Palau Langkawi a 13,000 foot strip with an approach over water at night with no obstacles. He did not turn back to Kuala Lampur because he knew he had 8,000 foot ridges to cross. He knew the terrain was friendlier towards Langkawi and also a shorter distance.”

    But what about the loss of communication?

    “For me the loss of transponders and communications makes perfect sense if a fire. There was most likely a fire or electrical fire. In the case of fire the first response if to pull all the main busses and restore circuits one by one until you have isolated the bad one.

    If they pulled the busses the plane indeed would go silent. It was probably a serious event and they simply were occupied with controlling the plane and trying to fight the fire. Aviate, Navigate and lastly communicate.”

    What might have ended up happening to the plane?

    “What I think happened is that they were overcome by smoke and the plane just continued on the heading probably on George (autopilot) until either fuel exhaustion or fire destroyed the control surfaces and it crashed. I said four days ago you will find it along that route – looking elsewhere was pointless.”

    While many people still hope against hope that the passengers and crew of Flight 370 will be found alive somewhere, Goodfellow’s suggestion is one of the most sensible to emerge in the entire hunt.

    Image via YouTube

  • Malaysia Airlines Flight: Did Fishermen See Plane?

    An increasing number of eyewitness sightings are being shared with the public as the search for Flight MH370 approaches the end of a second unsuccessful week.

    Fishermen claim to have seen the Boeing 777 flying abnormally low and then crash into the waters of the Strait of Malacca.

    A fisherman named Hendra told this to state news agency Antara while adding, “We could not go to the location where the aircraft was lost due to large waves, and the boat did not have enough fuel.”

    He and other fisherman say they were out in the waters between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra on March 8th in the early morning hours.

    Their statements are still being investigated by Indonesian authorities.

    Meanwhile, residents of the remote Kuda Huvadhoo, located in the Maldive Islands, say that they saw a jumbo jet flying overhead at about 6:15 am local time on the same day. They described the plane as low and very loud.


    One alleged eyewitness described the sighting in the following way:

    I’ve never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We’ve seen seaplanes, but I’m sure that this was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly.

    ‘It’s not just me either, several other residents have reported seeing the exact same thing. Some people got out of their houses to see what was causing the tremendous noise too.

    In addition to describing the aircraft as a “jumbo jet”, residents described it as white with red stripes across it. It is a description that matches that of the missing Boeing jetliner.

    Despite there being some evidence to validate a possible sighting in the Maldives, authorities are saying otherwise:

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Malaysia Airlines: Thailand Held Info for Ten Days

    The Associated Press is reporting that Thailand has now come forward with a new piece of information regarding the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that has been missing for ten days now. Turns out, they may have seen it on radar right after it lost contact with the rest of the world.

    The news from Thailand may not change anything in terms of the search, and may add nothing of substance to the investigation, but it is the reason that Thailand gave for not coming forward sooner with the information that may be cause for concern to the rest of the world.

    Thailand said they had not made their radar information known sooner because they were not specifically asked about it. Even though nearly the rest of the world was out scouring the globe for this plane, they withheld what they knew. And their possible reasons for doing so could be a more common problem than some think, and could impede this investigation.

    Some countries may be hesitant to come forward with what they know or may have seen happen because they do not want anyone to know what their real capabilities are. If they had seen flight 370, and they make that known, it reveals the kind of radar and other technological capabilities they have, capabilities that they might not want others to know they have, capabilities that could even be used for spying on their neighbors.

    These capabilities may not necessarily even be cutting-edge or anything any better than their neighbors have, but it reveals what they can do, nonetheless.

    Thai air force spokesman Air Vice Marshal Montol Suchookorn described a twisting flight path that Malaysian investigators had already discovered, but revealed that Thailand knew about it days before Malaysia figured it out.

    When asked why Thailand took so long to reveal what it knew, Montol said, “Because we did not pay any attention to it. The Royal Thai Air Force only looks after any threats against our country, so anything that did not look like a threat to us, we simply look at it without taking actions.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Courtney Love Solves Malaysia Airlines Mystery?

    Rolling Stone reports that former Hole front woman and Kurt Cobain widow, Courtney Love, has offered her two cents on where the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is.

    An open source satellite imagery map called Tomnod was set up during the hunt for the plane that anyone can view. After zooming around a bit on that, amateur sleuth Love took a screen shot, marked it up in what appears to be MS Paint, and posted it to her Facebook page.

    “I’m no expert but up close this does look like a plane and an oil slick. Prayers go out to the families #MH370 and its [sic] like a mile away Pulau Perak, where they ‘last’ tracked it 5°39’08.5″N 98°50’38.0″E but what do I know?”

    Looks like investigators from multiple countries may have missed this oil slick and plane silhouette in the picture. Now everyone can get some closure.

    Meanwhile, in Love’s personal life, it looks like she’s been sued by her shrink. One Edwin Ratush claims that Love owes him over $48,000 in back payments and sued last month for breach of contract.

    Love has long been a firebrand for controversy, feuding publicly with the likes of Nirvana, Dave Grohl, and anyone who posits a theory about the death of Kurt Cobain.

    Media watchers will not soon forget Love’s head-over-heels/ass-over-teakettle appearance outside the MTV Video Music Awards in 1995 when a very drunk Love approached Kurt Loder and Madonna, interrupting an interview, and wound up falling off a stool. Such appearances ended up being par for the course for Love for a portion of her career.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Likely Hijacked

    Many questions remain unanswered following the announcement that investigators suspect, and possibly have suspected for sometime, that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may have been hijacked.

    Investigators are now saying they believe that one or more persons with flight experience switched off communication devices and deliberately steered the plane off course. Pilot or mechanical errors have been ruled out, making the reality of a hijacking “conclusive”.

    One of the strongest reasons for this assumption is the twelve minute gap between the airplane’s last transponder signal and a messaging system on the plane quitting. In the event of a crash, such a gap would never occur, suggesting deliberate human interference.

    It also seemed to investigating officials that the airplane was steered in such a way as to avoid detection by radar.

    An American official told the Associated Press that one popular theory is that the plane was taken in an act of piracy.

    There are other theories floating around at present as no one has come forward to take credit for the alleged hijacking and there is no known motive.

    The news will be vindication for the relatives who have been impatiently waiting for an explanation regarding why it is that they could still ring the cellphones of their missing family members.

    The angry gathering of family members in Beijing had recently called a press conference declaring that they did not believe what they were being told by Malaysia Airlines. They vehemently demanded the truth about the missing plane.

    The truth, or at least a new round of theories, seems to be emerging at last.

    Investigators have been reluctant to reveal what they know at present. Many are already asking exactly how long various governments have known that Flight 370 was likely hijacked.

    Is the tight-lipped response an effort to prevent hijackers from knowing that government officials are closing in on their whereabouts or is this an effort to mask incompetence?

    Only time will tell.

    Perhaps this news will allow for some glimmer of hope that though spirited away through nefarious means, the persons on Flight 370 may still be alive.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons