Airliner missing between Malaysia and Cambodia/Vietnam, terrorism possible

[carl]

Capt. Tom knows what he is about.

[ganulv]

Matthew L. Wald at the New York Times penned a Q&A related to the disappearance which went online today.

-----------------------

Q. and A. on the Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

[…]

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.

[…]

[Dayuhan]

This morning's news (morning in my time zone)...

Report that the jet may have changed course and flew a considerable distance after the last contact, meaning search may be in the wrong place:

http://www.dw.de/malaysia-jet-search...rse/a-17488778

The two men traveling on stolen passports were both Iranian, but are not believed to have any terrorist links and appear to be illegal migrants:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26525281

[davidbfpo]

I find the reporting from Malaysian authorities slightly odd or is it just me?

The civil authorities refer to the radar tracking to the east of Malaysia; which is where an international search commences.

Then the military authorities refer to the possibility the flight reversed course and flew to the west - possibly crashing into the rather busy Malacca Straits.

So why didn't the civil and military radar operators not talk to each other at the time? Starting with: 1) where is the flight, 2) have you spotted it?

A new timeline, with maps and more:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...rash-live.html

[Dayuhan]

A great deal seems odd in what we read about the incident, but it's hard to say whether that's due to gaps in procedure or gaps in reporting.

Whether or not the people traveling on stolen passports had anything to do with the disappearance, the incident is drawing attention to a thriving cottage industry in forged documents:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...me-gangs-world

[carl]

This is just an idle thought but if the plane went down in tropical forest, they would have a very, very difficult time finding it, especially if they don't have a clue where to look. And apparently they don't. The forest just swallows things up. But then the Emergency Locator Transmitter should be putting out signal. Which it isn't. This has the makings of a Twilight Zone episode.

[Biggus]

My understanding is that ELTs are not as reliable as one would expect.

The Malaysian story doesn't seem particularly consistent right now. Perhaps having an unknown radar contact flying through your airspace and doing nothing about it is something of an embarrassment that the Malaysians don't really want to talk about.