Airliner missing between Malaysia and Cambodia/Vietnam, terrorism possible

[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.

[Dayuhan]

This is one of the first things I've seen that actually offers a credible reason for the vanishing airliner... no, it doesn't involve aliens or trans-dimensional portals, which makes it a little less exciting than some of what's been floating around.

"Aviation investigators and national security officials believe the plane flew for a total of five hours based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing Co 777's engines as part of a routine maintenance and monitoring programme"

"As part of its maintenance agreements, Malaysia Airlines transmits its engine data live to Rolls-Royce for analysis. The system compiles data from inside the 777's two Trent 800 engines and transmits snapshots of performance, as well as the altitude and speed of the jet."

"A total flight time of five hours after departing Kuala Lumpur means the Boeing 777 could have continued for an additional distance of about 2,200 nautical miles, reaching points as far as the Indian Ocean, the border of Pakistan or even the Arabian Sea, based on the jet's cruising speed."

http://my.news.yahoo.com/lost-mh370-...052653561.html

[Biggus]

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/ma...-on-four-hours

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — A Malaysia Airlines spokesman today contested reports that Rolls Royce received bursts of engine information from missing flight MH370, insisting that the data link was severed the same moment the plane dropped off civilian radar.

For nearly every new piece of information so far, there is a retraction or obfuscation within hours. Right now, the facts appear to be as follows:

MH370 departed from KL at 0041 local time. Last ACARS tranmission was said to be at 0107, last radio contact was at 0121. An unknown contact was tracked until 0240. Two people on board were travelling on false passports, which apparently is not unheard of. ACARS data suggesting that the aircraft flew for several more hours are currently unsubstantiated.