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Tag: Malaysian flight

  • MH370 Report: Could Gap Be Why Search Is Difficult?

    The MH370 report that has been anticipated for a long while was released yesterday along with the flight map, passenger manifests, and recordings from the communication with the plane’s pilot.

    Unfortunately, this small report could open Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control authorities to some criticism of their handling of the disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370.

    According to the report, which was only five pages long and originally written on April 9th, there was a conspicuous four-hour gap after Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control at 01:19:24 local time instructed the captain to contact Ho Chi Minh Air Traffic Control Center on radio frequency 120.9 MHz.

    Ho Chi Minh had lost contact and noticed the plane flying off path by then. The only response from MH370 was the now infamous statement, “Good night, Malaysian three seven zero.”

    The plane then disappeared off of Kuala Lumpur’s radar at 01:21:13 after it passed over a waypoint named IGARI. Then, at 01:38 Malaysian time, Ho Chi Minh ATC asked Kuala Lumpur ATC about the location of the MH370 aircraft. Kuala Lumpur ATC then initiated an effort to locate the aircraft through Malaysia Air’s operations center and air traffic control in Singapore, Hong Kong and Phnom Penh.

    However, when that effort was unsuccessful, it wasn’t until around 5:30 local time that search and rescue was initiated. Malaysia could be under some criticism in the following days for the delay. They could also be under intense scrutiny about the gap in the report that gives little to no information about efforts that were being made to find the plane in that important four-hour gap.

    It could be concluded that the four-hour delay in initiating search and rescue might just be the reason that MH370 has been so incredibly difficult to find. If the plane is ever found, perhaps those questions might be answered.

    Image Via YouTube

  • Malaysian Airlines: Chinese Satellite Spots Object

    Another image of debris has been picked up by a Chinese satellite on Saturday, giving new hope for possible answers to the near three-week missing Malaysian flight MH370.

    The image is in close proximity to the other satellite images found by an Australian satellite earlier this week, in the remote stretch of the southern Indian Ocean, a vast expanse of deep and endless water.

    China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said on its website that a Chinese satellite took an image of an object 22 meters (72 feet) by 13 meters (43 feet) around noon Tuesday. The image location was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of where two other objects were discovered.

    “The news that I just received is that the Chinese ambassador received a satellite image of a floating object in the southern corridor and they will be sending ships to verify,” Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters Saturday said.

    The latest image seems to be just another clue in the mysterious and futile search for the Boeing 777, which went missing March 8 less than an hour after leaving Kuala Lumpur heading to Beijing with 239 people on board.

    After about a week of confusion, and many suspicious officials withholding information, authorities said pings sent by the aircraft for several hours after it disappeared from radar left officials to strongly assume that the plane ended up in one of two huge arcs: a northern area stretching from Malaysia up to Central Asia, and a southern area that stretches in an arch toward Antarctica.

    The objects are extremely difficult to locate and many search teams have been involved in the effort to locate them, however, the weather and vastness of that area of ocean is making it difficult.

    Search aircraft are flying from Perth, AU, to the site, which is nearly 1500 miles to the suspected site, and with limited fuel and visibility for searching, they have found nothing.

    The efforts are being reinforced as two military planes from China arrived Saturday in Perth to join Australian, New Zealand and U.S. aircraft in the search. Japanese planes will arrive Sunday and ships are already in the area or on their way.

    Many experts feel that the search should continue on land as well, because even if both satellites detected the same object, it may be unrelated to the plane.

    Image via YouTube

  • Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: The Search For Satellite Debris

    The mystery of what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight 370 remains unsolved, and it is now day 13. Today, the only glimpse of a possible answer to this unending puzzle is two pieces of debris in the Indian Ocean, approximately 1500 miles southwest of Australia.

    A massive international search has been underway for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, shortly after it disappeared from radar less than an hour into its flight. There were 239 people on the Boeing 777. The jet lost contact during its departure from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. Malaysian officials, U.S. intelligence agencies, FBI, and authorities from 26 other nations, as well as experts from around the world are still trying to piece together fragments of information, with hope it will lead them to answers of what happened to the jetliner.

    The theories have been many, with expert speculation in the media, including a never-ending array of conspiracy theories, in which the world has tried to solve right along with the experts – and then there are the families in wait.

    In what officials are calling the “best lead” since the disappearance of flight MH370, a satellite detected two objects floating off the coast of Australia.

    The search took place today, but deteriorating weather in Perth, Australia, on Friday is making the search for possible pieces of the missing plane in the southern Indian Ocean extremely difficult.

    Many were hoping for answers after the search today, however, with winter approaching, the south Indian Ocean is rough and the skies are cloudy, both added challenges for the Australian pilots.

    Even a freighter with searchlights began early Friday, scanning the rough seas near where the satellite images were spotted.

    “One of the objects on the satellite image was almost 80 feet long and the other was 15 feet. There could be other objects in the area, a four-hour flight from southwestern Australia”, said John Young, manager of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s emergency response division.

    A U.S. Navy aircraft was scheduled to join the search, but like the other planes, it will have enough fuel for only a few hours before returning to Perth.

    “It is a very long journey to the site and unfortunately, aircraft can only have one or two hours over the search area before they need to return to the mainland for fuel,” Warren Truss, who is currently Australia’s acting prime minister while Tony Abbott is overseas, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. He said that weather conditions in the area were poor and may get worse.

    “And so clearly this is a very, very difficult and challenging search. Weather conditions are not particularly good and risk that they may deteriorate,” Truss said.

    President Obama said finding out what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane is a top priority for the U.S.

    “We have put every resource that we have available at the disposal of the search process,” Obama said in an interview with Dallas-Fort Worth television station KDFW. He said the nation’s thoughts and prayers were with the grieving families. Three Americans were aboard the flight.

    Those involved can only hope that this search comes to an end soon, and that the mystery of flight 370 is solved, at last.

    Image via YouTube

  • FBI Joins Search For Missing Malaysian Airline

    It seems like everyone is searching for the Malaysian flight that went missing on March 8 with 239 people on board. Teams from 26 countries have joined in the search and now the FBI has as well.

    They are currently investigating a home made flight simulator that belonged to the captain of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight and trying to determine why the pilot deleted some of the files from the program.

    Investigators are looking at every possible angle and trying to figure out what could have happened to the plane. Many theorize that it could have been hijacked by terrorists, exploded in midair, or was used for pilot suicide. It seems like no one can decide on which theory is the most likely and the plane has not been located.

    Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s computer hard drive was taken by the FBI to determine if he and any other members of the crew may be behind the flight’s disappearance. Investigators believe that the plane’s disappearance was deliberate but are not sure who is responsible or the reasoning behind the crime.

    The United States has been working closely with the Malaysian government and other countries to search for the plane and investigate its disappearance.

    “We are finding that the level of co-operation with the Malaysian government is solid, and we are working closely with the Malaysians as well as our other international partners in this effort to find out what happened to the plane and why it happened,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

    As the days pass, the likelihood of finding the missing plane dwindles. The family members of the passengers on the flight continue to stay hopeful, but with each passing day, they grow more worried.

    What do you think happened to missing flight MH370?

    Image via YouTube

  • Malaysia Airlines Flight: What Experts Now Think

    The theories have changed dramatically over the disappearance of Malaysian flight 370, which took off on March 8th at 12:41 am from Kuala Lumpur, but lost contact with air traffic control an hour later and disappeared from radar. When it disappeared from radar it was at 35,000 feet about 140 miles off the coast of Vietnam.

    It has been six days since the plane and its 239 passengers completely vanished, despite the tremendous search efforts of 57 ships and 48 aircraft from 13 countries, all looking in a search radius that just keeps expanding.

    Today, the search radius has widened to 27,000 nautical miles, and the theories of what happened to this plane are changing daily.

    The latest theory, which was determined by top aviation experts and being evaluated at this time, is that maybe it landed in a remote Indian Ocean island chain.

    However, Denis Giles, editor of the Andaman Chronicle newspaper, says there’s just nowhere to land such a big plane in his archipelago without attracting notice, according to CNN.

    “There is no chance, no such chance, that any aircraft of this size can come towards Andaman and Nicobar Islands and land,” he said.

    This supposition of its landing on an island is based on analysis of radar data revealed Friday by Reuters which is suggesting that the plane wasn’t just blindly flying northwest from Malaysia.

    Although it is just one of many theories being discussed about what might have happened to the aircraft, it seems to be the most reasonable, considering there is not another single clue to guide these searchers, the families or airline officials in a different direction at this time.

    Reuters reported that whoever was piloting the plane was following navigational waypoints that would have taken the plane over the Andaman Islands.

    The radar data doesn’t show the plane over the Andaman Islands but only on a known route that would take it there, Reuters cited its sources as saying.

    The theory builds on earlier revelations by U.S. officials that an automated reporting system on the airliner was pinging satellites for hours after its last reported contact with air traffic controllers. U.S. investigators that concluded that the pings didn’t come from other planes have led many experts and investigators to believe that the plane flew for hours before completely disappearing.

    But this theory begs the question – Who? Why? And what do they want if the plane was indeed hijacked. Experts have pretty much eliminated the idea that the two passengers with stolen passports were terrorists – what else could they have wanted with the plane?

    It is a Boeing 777 – one of the most sophisticated and reliable planes in the sky. Could they have wanted just the plane, or are there passengers that might bring a large ransom?

    These are questions that have yet to be answered, but not because they have not been evaluated.

    At this point, there are no definite answers, and until this plane is located, it is doubtful anyone will know exactly what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 or its passengers.

    Image viaYouTube