MH370 - Presumed Lost in Indian Ocean, Possible Debris Spotting in Reunion

[Denguin]

I don't care about the speculation.. What I meant was its been over a month and still no sign of the airplane. Something seems fishy when the news coverage is dropping minus CNN. Planes just don't disappear.

Yes, cause we all know how media outlets like to join conspiracies...

There's no news because there's simply no news, why is that so hard to understand?. The search is now in a bit of a plateau stage until they can map the ocean floor with sonar.

[Mr. Ambien]

Talking about it? You mean posting the same story over and over again?

Those guys will do anything for ratings...

People turn CNN on during disasters, because they cover them like a coke addict cleans up all the powder. They're trying to keep up with FOX news because no one in the US cares about CNN's one-sided mediocre coverage of politics or anything else.

Anyways, I'll just be happy when this story dies already.

[Offensive Threat]

Yes, cause we all know how media outlets like to join conspiracies...

There's no news because there's simply no news, why is that so hard to understand?. The search is now in a bit of a plateau stage until they can map the ocean floor with sonar.

I dont have much faith in that side scanning sonar finding anything. It was designed to locate sunken ships. Not small pieces of debris which is most likely all thats left of the plane. IF one of the engines is left generally intact (and thats a big if) it may have a chance of catching it IF the sonar passes in the correct spot and they are chasing ghosts right now on where the correct spot is.

[Buddhas Hand]

I dont have much faith in that side scanning sonar finding anything. It was designed to locate sunken ships. Not small pieces of debris which is most likely all thats left of the plane. IF one of the engines is left generally intact (and thats a big if) it may have a chance of catching it IF the sonar passes in the correct spot and they are chasing ghosts right now on where the correct spot is.

Seems like you are correct in your judgement

Missing Malaysia Airlines flight: Underwater search for MH370 has a w

The best leads in the underwater search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 will be exhausted in about a week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Mr Abbott said if the Bluefin-21 underwater drone scanning the Indian Ocean's seabed in the search area fails to locate wreckage, there would need to be a rethink.

"We believe that search will be completed within a week or so," Mr Abbott said.

"If we don't find wreckage, we stop, we regroup, we reconsider."

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Mr Abbott said he was confident searchers were looking in the right place for the plane based on the electronic signals, possibly from the aircraft's black boxes, detected by equipment towed by Australian naval vessel ADV Ocean Shield on April 5 and 8.

The prime minister's latest comments come as the US media questions the Australian government's use of the single Bluefin-21 in the search area after its first two missions were aborted.

The man who led the search for aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart's plane in the Pacific Ocean has been critical of the Bluefin-21.

"I can tell you it didn't work for us," Richard Gillespie, founder of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, told CNN.

"We were very hopeful the Bluefin-21 would be the answer - the way to search for this very hard to find wreckage.

"What we found was the Bluefin-21 couldn't perform reliably.

"We had extremely frustrating aborted missions, just as we have seen in the Indian Ocean.

"We saw malfunctions."

Mike Dean, the US Navy's deputy director for salvage and diving, told CNN one of its Orion-towed search systems was available in Maryland for use in the search if Australia requested it.

The Orion can send back real-time data to searchers.

Other search experts say a REMUS 6000 autonomous underwater vehicle, used to find Air France flight 447 after it went down in 2009, would be more suitable.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was carrying 239 passengers when it disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

[Denguin]

I dont have much faith in that side scanning sonar finding anything. It was designed to locate sunken ships. Not small pieces of debris which is most likely all thats left of the plane. IF one of the engines is left generally intact (and thats a big if) it may have a chance of catching it IF the sonar passes in the correct spot and they are chasing ghosts right now on where the correct spot is.

It's been used successfully countless times before, and it's something that has a relatively good chance at working, granted they're searching in the right location, of course.

As for size of debris, that is all conditional. If the plane impacted the water intact, it's likely to create a sizeable debris field on the ocean floor, as the debris would all be clumped together. On the other hand, if there was a break-up mid-air, it'd be more difficult to find a characteristic debris field, since things would be scattered over miles.

The problem I foresee is the fact that the ocean floor appears to be a lot deeper than anticipated. I'm not too familiar with how exactly sonar is affected by all these factors, but something tells me that that might be a problem.

Oh well, let's face it. It's all they have right now to work with, so cross your fingers!

[Green Building]

It's been used successfully countless times before, and it's something that has a relatively good chance at working, granted they're searching in the right location, of course.

As for size of debris, that is all conditional. If the plane impacted the water intact, it's likely to create a sizeable debris field on the ocean floor, as the debris would all be clumped together. On the other hand, if there was a break-up mid-air, it'd be more difficult to find a characteristic debris field, since things would be scattered over miles.

The problem I foresee is the fact that the ocean floor appears to be a lot deeper than anticipated. I'm not too familiar with how exactly sonar is affected by all these factors, but something tells me that that might be a problem.

Oh well, let's face it. It's all they have right now to work with, so cross your fingers!

This is why I feel that even if the plane went down intact the debris field would be very scattered across a large area, and not very clumped together.

Side scan sonar helped identify the crash site for Air France Flight 447, but they had surface debris from which to start a search.

On a side note, the projected cost of a prolonged side scan sonar search by a private company is above $200 million US. Added to the cost of the search already and it is a very expensive accident. No disrespect to the families of the missing who could care less about that.

[hsedin33]

People turn CNN on during disasters, because they cover them like a coke addict cleans up all the powder. They're trying to keep up with FOX news because no one in the US cares about CNN's one-sided mediocre coverage of politics or anything else.

Anyways, I'll just be happy when this story dies already.

Uh, the news isn't story time where its supposed to make you happy or sad. Its a place where news gets reported, and generally it's never going to make you happy because its mostly all bad.

[hsedin33]

This is why I feel that even if the plane went down intact the debris field would be very scattered across a large area, and not very clumped together.

Side scan sonar helped identify the crash site for Air France Flight 447, but they had surface debris from which to start a search.

On a side note, the projected cost of a prolonged side scan sonar search by a private company is above $200 million US. Added to the cost of the search already and it is a very expensive accident. No disrespect to the families of the missing who could care less about that.

To which they can bill the airline company.

[CB007]

People turn CNN on during disasters, because they cover them like a coke addict cleans up all the powder. They're trying to keep up with FOX news because no one in the US cares about FOX's one-sided mediocre coverage of politics or anything else.

Anyways, I'll just be happy when this story dies already.

Makes sense and relevant now.

[Mr. Ambien]

I idolize Pee Wee Herman and his sense of humour

Ahh yes, makes quite a bit of sense now.

[CB007]

ط تمتص الديوك الصبية الصغار "

Got it! Good to know.

[Heretic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWSx0bBiNIs

We all know "the truth is out there"...but this is the type of response we can expect. ^ Guarenteed cover-up!

[Offensive Threat]

So in the absence of any real news we are just posting whatever idiotic crap we find now?

[Heretic]

So in the absence of any real news we are just posting whatever idiotic crap we find now?

LOL - yeah, thought I'd post a different viewpoint

[Dr.Strangelove]

Okay I lol'd

You've been kidnapped by the US Govt and you hide your cellphone in your butt so the first people you notify is a conspiracy website that'll get the word out .

Disregard the fact that the particular base that you're being held at is small with no place to hide a 777 and swarming with regular Naval personal.

I could add more but I don't see the point

Edit read the comments on youtube well worth it if you want a good laugh.

[hsedin33]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/22/mh370-pilot-zaharie-shah-chief-suspect_n_5519379.html?utm_hp_ref=canada&ir=Canada

MH370: Captain Zaharie Shah Becomes Chief Suspect In Disappearance Of Missing Malaysian Airlines Flight

The Huffington Post UK | Posted: 22/06/2014 16:51 BST

The pilot of the vanished flight MH370 has become the chief suspect in its disappearance, after police learned he had made no social plans after the day it disappeared.

Captain Zaharie Shah had no social or professional engagements after March 8, the day the flight vanished while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard.

The Malaysian police investigation has not ruled out mechanical failure as an explanation but says he is the most likely culprit if human action was to blame, The Sunday Times (£) reported.

The rest of the crew were all cleared by security checks, the paper reported.

As well as not making any arrangements for after the flight, Shah also programmed flights far into the southern Indian Ocean - the plane's most likely resting place - on the flight simulator at his home.

The official police inquiry is due to report soon.

“The police investigation is still ongoing. To date no conclusions can be made as to the contributor to the incident and it would be sub judice to say so. Nevertheless, the police are still looking into all possible angles," a police spokesperson told The Sunday Times.

“The leads uncovered so far are still being investigated.”

Data provided by the satellite company Inmarsat have shown that MH370 deviated from its route, taking a left turn towards the Indian Ocean. It is presumed to have run out of fuel and crashed.

[The Colt 45s]

Okay I lol'd

You've been kidnapped by the US Govt and you hide your cellphone in your butt so the first people you notify is a conspiracy website that'll get the word out .

Disregard the fact that the particular base that you're being held at is small with no place to hide a 777 and swarming with regular Naval personal.

I could add more but I don't see the point

Edit read the comments on youtube well worth it if you want a good laugh.

Totally agree with some of what you said, because it is logical. There are some other non-US bases in the Indian Ocean, like Chinese, but I do not think the Chinese are that sophisticated to pull something like this off.

It is also plausible the plane landed at Diego Garcia, the passengers deplaned, and the flight was later ditched in the sea.

As for personnel it could have been compartmentalized and those involved have orders to be quiet. Level of security needed for this type of op would need that.

Further, most on base personnel would have had no clue of what happened because it took place overnight while they were asleep.

It could have been a snatch and grab by Delta Force or SEALS. There were some people on that flight that we may have wanted.

The question is what would you do with the people the US government did not want. That makes me think this operation did not happen, unless we then ditched the plane with them on it. I guess we will not find out until they locate the plane and see if there are people in it.

[Dr.Strangelove]

Totally agree with some of what you said, because it is logical. There are some other non-US bases in the Indian Ocean, like Chinese, but I do not think the Chinese are that sophisticated to pull something like this off.

It is also plausible the plane landed at Diego Garcia, the passengers deplaned, and the flight was later ditched in the sea.

As for personnel it could have been compartmentalized and those involved have orders to be quiet. Level of security needed for this type of op would need that.

Further, most on base personnel would have had no clue of what happened because it took place overnight while they were asleep.

It could have been a snatch and grab by Delta Force or SEALS. There were some people on that flight that we may have wanted.

The question is what would you do with the people the US government did not want. That makes me think this operation did not happen, unless we then ditched the plane with them on it. I guess we will not find out until they locate the plane and see if there are people in it.

Yes it could have been compartmentalized but maintaining total operation secrecy is much more difficult than one would think. Also remember that there would still have been a fair number of personal on duty during the night. More importantly scuttlebutt moves quickly one person not in the know waking up and seeing something would have led to everyone on base knowing rather quickly. Way too much risk for the powers that be not when there are much more secure location's they could have went.

Delta / Seals would not have been used in this type of operation. If the US ever wanted to do something like this they would likely have used C.I.A. or some such.

More to the point if the US wanted someone to disappear they would have likely simply taken them from a hotel , taxi or something along those lines. If (and that's a huge if) the US hijacked a passenger plane they likely would have taken who they wanted , disembarked them some where and then crashed the plane elsewhere to stop people from speculating like this.

As for what would happen to the people on board well I think they would likely always be listed as died/ disappeared on flight 370

just my 2 cents

[Denguin]

Glad to see the outrageous conspiracy theories are still going on. Hey, at least they're fun (in the most respectful way possible to the missing)!

Edit: Haven't been following anything MH370 related at all, but just checked and...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10917868/MH370-captain-plotted-route-to-southern-Indian-Ocean-on-home-simulator.html

MH370 captain plotted route to southern Indian Ocean on home simulator Detectives investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 three months ago discover new evidence which has renewed suspicions about its pilot

The pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane which disappeared in March with 239 people on board had plotted a flight path to a remote island far into the southern Indian Ocean where the search is now focused, investigators have discovered.

The route, which was deleted before MH370 disappeared on March 8, was made on a home flight simulator machine used for practice by its captain, Zaharie Shah. Its discovery has intensified suspicion that he deliberately hijacked his own plane and diverted it from its approved flight path to Beijing.

More than three months have now passed since the flight disappeared in what has become one of the great mysteries of modern aviation. And despite a lack of any hard evidence, suspicion of Capt Zaharie's involvement has grown as investigators have gradually eliminated other potential suspects and causes of its disappearance.

Detectives and investigators, including experts from Britain's Air Incident Branch, have so far found no evidence of a technical fault or malfunction which could explain its disappearance. Inquiries into the backgrounds of the flight's passengers and crew have similarly failed to yield any evidence of, or motive for, anyone hijacking the plane or sabotaging it.

But suspicion of Capt Zaharie emerged within a week of MH370's disappearance as the Chinese government intensified pressure on Malaysia to explain the mystery and find the missing plane. More than 150 of its 227 passengers were Chinese nationals.

Detectives raided Capt Zaharie's home in Kuala Lumpur and took away his flight simulator as part of their investigation as tracking information from the British Inmarsat satellite company indicated the flight had not plunged into the South China Sea off Malaysia's east cost close to Vietnam as feared but had doubled back across the Malay Peninsula, turned left and headed towards the southern Indian Ocean.

Its movement indicated it had been deliberately diverted but there is no evidence yet to conclude who was responsible.

On Friday, shortly before new details of Capt Zaharie's deleted simulator flight path emerged, Malaysia's acting transport minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, said his search team would soon begin looking in a new area in the southern Indian Ocean corridor suggested by a new analysis.

"We have to continue with the lead because the best lead we have is based on the handshake on the Inmarsat [satellite data] and still in the southern corridor", he said.

Sources close to the investigation confirmed to The Telegraph on Sunday that a deleted flight path had been recovered from Capt Zaharie's simulator which had been used to practice landing an aircraft on a small runway on an unnamed island in the far southern Indian Ocean.

The discovery leaves Capt Zaharie as the prime suspect in a crime which cannot yet be proven to have been committed – and Malaysian police have been careful in their public comments to stress that all leads are still being investigated and no conclusions have been reached.

At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on March 16, however, Malaysia's chief of police Khalid Abu Bakar said he believed the plane had been diverted by hijackers, saboteurs or someone with a personal vendetta or psychological problem. Friends and relatives of Capt Zaharie denied he had any motive for hijacking his own plane and described him as a warm and helpful man who was committed to social work.

He had campaigned for the mainstream People's Justice Party of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and did not support Islamic extremists, party worker Sivarasa Rasiah told The Telegraph shortly after the plane disappeared.

"He comes across as a really likeable guy, a warm guy. There is absolutely no way he is doing this of his own volition," he said.

Interesting if true... Would definitely convince me the pilot was the culprit; however, just searching superficially, I don't see any island that fits that description that could hope to land a 777 with reasonable success.

[Tortorella's Rant]

Just the fact the plane had no technology available allowing people to communicate with the outside world other than what is in the cockpit seems suspicious. Unless of course that is normal, but that is also retarded..