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| Southeast Asia |
| Missing jet flew back over Malay peninsula |
| 2014-03-12 |
| [The Peninsula] The mystery of the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft deepened yesterday, as a senior military official suggested it had not only turned around but flown back across the Malay peninsula. Flight MH370 was bound for Beijing when it vanished in the early hours of Saturday morning with 239 people on board. Until yesterday, the last known contact with the flight was thought to be around 1.20am -- 40 minutes after take-off from Kuala Lumpur -- after the plane had crossed Malaysia's east coast and was flying over the South China Sea towards Vietnam. But air force chief Tan Sri Rodzali Daud said the plane was detected at 2.40am near Pulau Perak, an island in the Malacca Strait, several hundred kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur. "After that, the signal from the plane was lost," he told the Berita Harian newspaper. An unnamed military official told Rooters news agency: "It changed course after Kota Bharu (on the east coast) and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait." Pilots are supposed to inform their airlines and air traffic control if they change course. MH370 never did so; nor did it issue a distress call. It is unclear why the west coast contact, if correct, was not made public until now. Asked on Monday why crews were searching the strait, the country's civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman told news hounds: "There are some things that I can tell you and some things that I can't." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #30 I just wanted to take this opportunity to work Rod Serling into the thread. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-03-12 22:54 |
| #29 the spot noted on the Chinese sat image is in the s chna sea seabed there is probably about -5000' much harder to find stuff then in Gult of Thailand |
| Posted by: lord garth 2014-03-12 20:20 |
| #28 Yesterday I looked at aircraft performance data and a great circle route to Pyongyang from Kuala Lumpur. No prob for a B-777ER. Wonder what would have happened if the Bo-Jet overflew Beijing and headed Nork without a word. Would China shoot it down, escort it or what? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-03-12 19:54 |
| #27 Chinese sats spot wreckage right near loss of contact spot. Malaysian military has lots of kowtowing to do to China. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-03-12 18:10 |
| #26 Paging Amelia Mary Earhart - Be on the look out for a very large aircraft headed your way .... |
| Posted by: Marilyn Glinerong5826 2014-03-12 18:06 |
| #25 Theory: Explosion/fire at altitude takes out port engine, electrical systems, cabin pressurization, crew. Remaining engine at full-power vectors aircraft to south in a gradual descent. Aircraft flies itself into sea/ground. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 18:03 |
| #24 UK MailOnline story and map provides reported witness sightings. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 17:15 |
| #23 Place 9.167179,106.91543 in Google browser for map vic oil rig. Appears to be in close proximity to the aircraft's original line of flight to destination. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 16:55 |
| #22 Oil rig worker's report/e-mail. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 16:47 |
| #21 And now there are reports that the reports of the course change were mistaken. (I don't know about hte expanded search area decision). And another report of a flaming crash of the plane viewed from a Vietnamese oil rig. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-03-12 16:30 |
| #20 Barb sez screw Judge Crater, this is Ambrose Bierce territory. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-03-12 16:22 |
| #19 Hmmmm. So the conspiracy theory that it was highjacked and flown under radar to Iran |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-03-12 16:05 |
| #18 This thing compares more to the disappearance of Judge Crater than to any other modern commercial airline catastrophe... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2014-03-12 15:10 |
| #17 Some are now comparing this to Air France 447, which disappeared over the Atlantic in 2009. From what I know, of that one (a fair bit) and the current one (not much), that's not likely. However, AF 447 sent 6 messages and 19 warnings to the 'central computer' before it 'disappeared'. Yet the aircraft was not recovered until 2011 and the final report was made in June, 2012. I don't think the automated messages were ever in the news until the plane was recovered and the transcript of the voice recorder was leaked to the public in 2011. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-03-12 14:42 |
| #16 Air Force Un Heheh. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-03-12 13:42 |
| #15 Yes, someone needs to see if that young Kim boy from NK has a freshly repainted Air Force Un to ferry Dennis Rodman and his entourage around in. |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2014-03-12 13:24 |
| #14 Curiouser and curiouser. A 777 is a rather large beast and needs a long place to put down. If the plane was being stashed for later use, it would need a secure and friendly place to land. (military base?) The rumor/fact (is there a word for this?) that the Chicoms diverted multiple (!) orbital assets to scope out the area is indicative of *something*. (hey, is that insight good enough to get me a desk at the CIA?) |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-03-12 13:05 |
| #13 Don't know if these dots connect but the F1 Malaysian Grand Prix is coming up in on March 30th- arguably the biggest international event for this country. Many big international sponsors fly in for it, it is partially funded by both the government and Big Asian Oil interests and has a much larger worldwide audience than that little NFL game we call the SB. If someone wanted to pee in the Malay picnic punch, the timing would be pretty good. Arab Spring proponents tried to do the same to the Bahrain event 2 and 3 years ago. Just throwing my lighter fluid into the conspiracy camp fire... |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2014-03-12 12:36 |
| #12 I heard a report that 777s have a back-up system in case something fails so they know the transponder was deliberately turned off, at the same time it turned with evidence it entered the Malacca Strait. Sumatra? India is joining the search but I'm curious as to passengers & cargo too. |
| Posted by: Flaiger Uneamp8181 2014-03-12 10:14 |
| #11 The news reporting last evening and yet this morning continues to point to potential deception by Malaysian investigators. Evidently our NTSB people are sitting in their hotels with no Malaysian crash investigation officially convened. This is both curious and troubling. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 09:57 |
| #10 IF/IF the plane turned west back over MY, it still had 5 plus hours of gas flying is airspace w/little or no long range radar coverage. Darn thing could have flown to Diego Garcia. |
| Posted by: Bangkok Billy 2014-03-12 09:28 |
| #9 Drop 5.211306,97.457959 into Google browser for area map. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 08:54 |
#8  |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 08:39 |
| #7 I was sure I saw a map showing the search area over the Malacca Strait several days ago, in a link inside a story at Rantburg. The best I could find was this, which is about one day old. Whatever the time, I am sure I remember thinking, "Why are they searching so far to the west?" Maybe I'm just corn-fuuzed... |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-03-12 08:31 |
| #6 Any interesting cargo on board? |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2014-03-12 06:23 |
| #5 How far is Malacca Strait from Bermuda Triangle? Just saying... |
| Posted by: Incredulous 2014-03-12 06:21 |
| #4 One could make an argument in China's favor that the actions and words of the Malaysian Military were casus belli for war. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-03-12 03:35 |
| #3 Ditto TFSM. I was wondering why the Chinese became so anxious they dynamically re-tasked a bunch of orbiting systems to come have a look see. They probably got wind of the bullshi*. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 01:38 |
| #2 Besoeker: if they're telling the truth now. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-03-12 01:27 |
| #1 Nice of the bastids to let everyone search where they apparently knew it wasn't. Another Fort Hood "workplace violence" event unfolding ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-03-12 01:22 |