WebProNews

Tag: malaysian airlines

  • 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.

  • MH370: Man Allegedly Robbed Deceased Passengers

    The latest story emerging from the search for still missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 isn’t about that search at all.

    Investigators are presently pursuing a man named Ali Farran over accusations of theft.

    Farran is part of a group of individuals who allegedly stole money from four MH370 passengers.

    Izany Abdul Ghany, the Assistant Commissioner of the Kuala Lumpur Commercial Crime Investigation Department, said on Monday that “authorities are still trying to locate [Farran].”

    According to Ghany, Farran’s last known occupation is as a car mechanic.

    The other two individuals said to be connected to the theft are an HSBC bank officer and her husband. The pair were taken into custody by police on Thursday.

    Farran is wanted in connection with a very specific illegal transaction.

    Authorities said that the bank officer used HSBC’s internet banking system to transfer approximately $10,000 from the accounts of four missing passengers to a separate passenger’s account.

    The money was then moved from the passenger’s account to a bank account that belonging to Farran.

    When the $10,000 stolen in this instance is added to the other money believed taken from passenger bank accounts, a total of $35,000 is alleged to have been stolen in all.

    The victims of the theft are said to include passengers Ju Kun, Tian Jun Wei, and Hue Pui Heng and flight attendant Tan Size Hian.

    A spokeswoman for HSBC, which contacted Malaysian officials as soon after the transactions were noticed, released a statement about the unfortunate situation to the public:

    HSBC is deeply sorry for this incident and apologizes to the families of our customers for the distress this will cause and assures them there will be no losses on these accounts.

    Farran, who is believed to be in Malaysia illegally, is still at large but officials do not believe he has made any attempt to flee Malaysia.

    As for the the two alleged co-conspirators already in police custody, they have yet to be charged by police.

    “We have extended the remand order for the two until Wednesday to facilitate in the investigations,” Izany said.

  • Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Grim Theories Surface

    Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Grim Theories Surface

    In the months that have passed since Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared, there have been a number of theories put forth as to what went wrong.

    We can accept that a series of errors followed by irresponsible handling of the investigation (largely on the part of the Malaysian government) made the recovery of the missing plane all but impossible.

    While it won’t give the families of the 239 missing passengers the closure they still seek, perhaps the theories put forth in recent days can finally give the world some idea as to what became of the missing jetliner.

    The Australian Transport Safety Board released a 55 page report about the incident based largely on similar disasters observed in the past.

    Through a series of comparisons, Australian officials have worked out what they feel to be the most realistic scenario for Flight MH370.

    “Given these observations,” said the board in its report, “the final stages of the unresponsive crew/hypoxia event type appeared to best fit the available evidence for the final period of MH370’s flight when it was heading in a generally southerly direction.”

    A suffocation scenario means that the crew and passengers would have already died before the plane sank into the depths of the ocean.

    Australian officials also believe that the plane was likely on autopilot during and after the crash.

    The only way to truly confirm (or dismiss) the findings by these officials would be to finally find the missing jetliner.

    But with so little evidence to go on, hope is dwindling.

    It has been noted that the report released by Australian officials offers no new evidence in the case of the missing plane. Only theories.

    Perhaps what theories are shared in the report can be used to better determine where the plane could have crashed.

    With the plane believed to be resting miles beneath the waters of the Indian Ocean, searchers will need all the possible help that can be had to finally locate Flight MH370.

    Image via YouTube

  • Flight 370 Found? GeoResonance Stands By Claims.

    In the ongoing saga that is Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, here have been several purported breakthroughs.

    We reported here recently about a company, GeoResonance, that uses proprietary technology to search large areas — sections of ocean, for example — for specific elements such as metals or other minerals. The technology is usually used in mining and other mineral rights endeavors. But that company claims that it has found what could be Flight 370, but it is far from where everyone else is looking.

    Australian researchers have dismissed the claims of GeoResonance, saying that they are not looking in that area, but offering no further reason why no one is even bothering to go check.

    GeoResonance stands by its find, and asks why no one is even bothering to look in the area they have pointed to.

    You’ll also remember that even Courtney Love scanned the publicly-available satellite imagery and located the jet, once upon a time.

    Now comes a tale of another man who has dedicated weeks of his life to finding the missing plane. His research has also consisted of scanning satellite imagery. Most of what he has found is described by others as “vague white spots, blurry shapes without any clear detail.”

    Donald Elliott says that the images he sees in these satellite photos are of the sinking plane, passengers floating with life jackets and being attacked by sharks, and signal fires burning on pieces of wreckage.

    “It’s frustrating because nobody will listen to me,” said Elliott, “I don’t care if people call me crazy,” he said. “I was watching those people die, and I owe it to them to keep trying to convince the authorities that I’m right.”

    Image via YouTube

  • GeoResonance Co. May Have Found Malaysian Plane

    GeoResonance Co. May Have Found Malaysian Plane

    CBS News is reporting that an Australian company may be onto something in the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

    GeoResonance, a company with proprietary search techniques that aids in the hunt for specific minerals or materials, says it has found what appears to be a commercial aircraft. However, it is thousands of miles from where everyone else has been searching, in the northern Bay of Bengal, off the eastern coast of India.

    GeoResonance bills itself as a “company that offers a unique and proven method of geophysical survey.” They use a methodology that combines proprietary technology with the experience of engineers adept at finding mineral deposits for mining purposes. They have also participated in the hunt for shipwrecks and other sea-floor items.

    Their website claims that, “[Our] technology has also been used to successfully identify WWII munitions that later led to the recovery of explosives left buried under layers of silt in the coastal Black Sea.”

    GeoResonance used their usual methodology, aiming to find the “ingredients” that make up the missing airliner.

    “During the search for MH370, GeoResonance searched for chemical elements that make up a Boeing 777: aluminum, titanium, copper, steel alloys, jet fuel residue, and several other substances. The aim was to find a location where all those elements were present,” the company’s statement said.

    Their search has revealed an item that seems to be composed of many of the constituent parts that make up an airliner.

    The company had scans of the area in question from dates in the recent past, and could determine that what they found had not been there prior to March 5. Flight 370 went missing on March 8.

    If GeoResonance turns out to be right, this could be the first big break in this long-running saga. But is would certainly also mean that investigators have been chasing the wrong leads for weeks.

    Some experts are dismissing GeoResonance’s claims, saying that they don’t know how the company could have equipment that could penetrate that much water to get an image like they have. GeoResonance says their methodology is proprietary and that they will not discuss specifics about it. But they have urged the Malaysian government to investigate the area in question for over two weeks, to no avail.

    Image via YouTube

  • Malaysia Airlines Flight May Become Unsolved Mystery

    Malaysia Airlines Flight May Become Unsolved Mystery

    The most unsettling aspect of the disappearance of Flight MH370 is the lack of finality presented by the case.

    The collective global population is about as close to knowing what happened to the missing jetliner today as we were on March 8th.

    The lack of efficiency in the hunt for MH370 has raised far more questions than there are answers available. In a situation where there are already far too many questions, this is particularly distressing.

    One question remains largely unasked: What if Flight MH370 is never found?

    To ask such a question is to admit that 239 individuals could be lost to their families forever. It also figuratively represents one hand of two raised in the air in admission of defeat.

    For onlookers, it is a reality that is swiftly approaching.

    Though the physical search for the plane is a major focus, there is also an ongoing criminal investigation.

    Officials are looking into the backgrounds of the pilots, crew, and all passengers in minute detail in hopes of recovering clues. Thus far there is nothing to suggest that anyone aboard the plane had a hand in its disappearance.

    Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar updated reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday about the grim outlook facing officials.

    “At the end of the investigations, we may not even know the real cause [of the plane’s disappearance],” said Bakar. “We may not even know the reason for this incident.”

    Adding to the confusion is the ever-changing search location deemed to be the likely resting place of the downed airplane.

    Initially the Boeing 777 was believed to have crashed in or near the Gulf of Thailand. As weeks passed, the search area shifted to the frigid southern waters of the Indian Ocean.

    Debris has been spotted and recovered within the past week, but nothing definitely tying to the disappearance of the missing jetliner.

    Should no debris or bodies ever be recovered, the lost plane will inevitably become one of the greatest mysteries of the 21 century.

    If nothing else, this case has demonstrated in harrowing fashion that such disturbing mysteries are still possible in this day and age.

    Image via YouTube

  • Malaysian Airlines: Flight Ended In Indian Ocean

    Malaysian Airlines: Flight Ended In Indian Ocean

    It appears that the mystery of the Malaysian Airline Flight 370 has been solved. As ABC reported, it “ended” its journey in a “remote location” of the southern Indian Ocean, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said today.

    U.K. officials used “a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort” to chart the jet’s path along the southern corridor, terminating in a “remote location” in the Indian Ocean west of Perth, Australia, Razak said.

    “It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” Razak said. “Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development.”

    After weeks of searching, starting in the South China Sea, to the Strait of Malacca and ending in the Indian Ocean, search teams have been frantically searching for answers to what happened to the aircraft.

    The new information came from British satellite maker Inmarsat, which used a new type of analysis in pinpointing the plane’s last known location, Razak said.

    “Inmarsat has been performing calculations on the data using type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort and they have been able to shed more light on MH370. Based on the new analysis, Inmarsat and the [British] Accidents Investigation Branch have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that it’s last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth,” Razak said.

    From Inmarsat’s website: Routine, automated signals were registered on the Inmarsat network from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 during its flight from Kuala Lumpur.

    Malaysian Airlines has contacted the families of the 239 people on board, saying that he was aware that the past few weeks had been “heartbreaking” and that this new development is probably even more difficult.

    The airlines sent a text message to the families, one of whom shared the message with ABC News:

    “Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s Prime Minister, we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean,” the message read.

    Earlier today, an Australian plane spotted two objects they described as gray or green and “circular” as well as orange and “rectangular” in the search area that has been combed for days, off Australia’s southern coast.

    Other search crews spotted similar objects over the weekend that included wooden pallets. The Malaysian government confirmed that the missing flight was carrying pallets, but there was no information on whether these were the same ones on the missing Boeing 777.

    As of today, no wreckage has been recovered.

    A team of investigators is still trying to figure out what happened to the plane after it took off around midnight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, headed for Beijing, China. It disappeared off the radar nearly an hour into its flight, but continued to fly, according to satellite data, for up to seven hours.

    Some of the possibilities being considered are hijacking, sabotage, and terrorism or pilot issues; however, none of these theories can be determined until the “black box” is retrieved.

    Image via YouTube

  • Indian Ocean Search Could Take Quite A While

    The search for wreckage from Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in the south Indian Ocean could take quite a while, investigators say, because even if the debris spotted by a satellite earlier this week does belong to the aircraft, it may have sunk or moved quite a ways from its original coordinates.

    Planes and ships from China, Australia, Britain and Malaysia are being sent to the area to search, but bad weather is making it slow going, and the debris was found two days ago. Many are surprised that the aircraft could have made it that far, but according to authorities, the plane flew for several hours after it broke contact with ground control and went off course.

    The debris has brought hope to the families and friends of those on board the flight, as even if there are no survivors found, at least a confirmed crash would bring closure.

    “I’m desperate to hear it is an airplane wing and there are survivors clinging to it, and one of them is Philip,” said Sarah Bajc, whose boyfriend Philip Wood was on the plane. “I’m apprehensive it will be unrelated and the wait will just continue after many more hours of misery. I am prepared for dead bodies, but I am not prepared for never knowing.”

    Still, even if the pieces are found soon, it will take a while to confirm their origin.

    “We have to locate it, confirm that it belongs to the aircraft, recover it and then bring it a long way back to Australia, so that could take some time,” said John Young, general manager of emergency response for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Malaysia Airlines Lead Brings Hope To Families

    Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been on the minds of many over the past two weeks; as we enter day 13 in the search for the missing plane, the families and friends of those on board have been given new hope in the form of two pieces of debris floating in the south Indian Ocean.

    Rough weather is making the search tough going, but authorities have sent out merchant vessels and search planes to the area, which is about 1500 miles southwest of Australia. Officials are calling the debris, which was spotted by a satellite, their best lead yet after long days of speculation and theories with no definitive answers.

    The jet lost contact with ground control during its departure from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, but pings from the plane’s check-in system showed that it took a sharp detour, from a northeastward path across the Gulf of Thailand to the west, across the Malaysian Peninsula. Authorities have been working on the assumption that someone intentionally changed the plane’s course, and that someone must have been very familiar with the aircraft’s controls and flight plan. The FBI has reportedly been investigating one of the pilot’s home flight simulator, because he reportedly deleted data from it not long before the flight.

    The news of possible debris has given hope to those waiting to hear what happened to their loved ones. Sarah Bajc’s boyfriend, Philip Wood, was a passenger on the flight and says that the not-knowing is the worst part.

    “I’m desperate to hear it is an airplane wing and there are survivors clinging to it, and one of them is Philip,” she said. “I’m apprehensive it will be unrelated and the wait will just continue after many more hours of misery. I am prepared for dead bodies, but I am not prepared for never knowing.”

    Image via Thinkstock