Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

[IceAlisa]

I really hope we get a bit lucky and find out what happened. It's hard not to know even for a casual observer.

 

[Vash01]

I heard it took them 2 years to figure out what happened to the Air France flight (Rio to Paris) 5 years ago. It could take that long for 370, or if they get lucky, less time. Worst case they may never find out what really happened.

 

[Rex]

I can't believe no one saw the plane after it veered off. Someone knows something and they are not telling.

 

[skatingfan5]

I can't believe no one saw the plane after it veered off. Someone knows something and they are not telling.

When it changed direction was less than an hour after takeoff, i.e. at 1:30 a.m., so it was in the middle of the night -- and afterwards mostly would have been flying in the dark over open water in the Indian Ocean. I don't find it surprising that no one saw it -- the tracking blips that finally were reported were at fairly large time intervals and didn't give actual location coordinates. I hope that the are able to locate what remains of the plane, especially the flight data and cockpit recorders. But as one of those involved in the search said today, it's like finding a needle in a haystack and they haven't even located the haystack yet.

 

[orbitz]

The Malaysian military radar did pick up the plane when it backtracked from its intended route and flew back over the Malaysian mainland again on its way to the Indian Ocean. Whomever was on duty that night should have notified his superior and then have the military planes investigated, but no one did anything.

 

[Skittl1321]

The Malaysian military radar did pick up the plane when it backtracked from its intended route and flew back over the Malaysian mainland again on its way to the Indian Ocean. Whomever was on duty that night should have notified his superior and then have the military planes investigated, but no one did anything.

If it was not a military threat, would investigating really be action they take?

 

[skategal]

If it was not a military threat, would investigating really be action they take?

No. Not likely.

 

[orbitz]

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/03/world/malaysia-flight-map/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Thailand's military was receiving normal flight path and communication data from the Flight 370 until 1:22 a.m., when it disappeared from its radar, the Thai government announced on Tuesday, March 18. Six minutes later, the Thai military detected an unknown signal, a Royal Thai Air Force spokesman told CNN. This unknown aircraft, possibly Flight 370, was heading the opposite direction. This bolsters the belief that missing Flight 370 took a sharp westward turn after communication was lost.

The military detected an unknown aircraft. Why didn't the military attempt to contact the pilots of the unknown plane and make them identify themselves? I think that was a definite breech of security protocol on the Malaysian military part.

 

[misskarne]

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/03/world/malaysia-flight-map/index.html?iid=article_sidebar



The military detected an unknown aircraft. Why didn't the military attempt to contact the pilots of the unknown plane and make them identify themselves? I think that was a definite breech of security protocol on the Malaysian military part.

But if this really was another "ghost flight", then there wouldn't be anyone conscious to identify themselves. Then what?

 

[skategal]

Or the communication system could have been knocked out by then and they couldn't communicate to anyone.

 

[orbitz]

If the unknown plane "refused" to identify itself then I think the military would have sent up fighter planes in order for the fighter pilots to attempt a visual contact with the pilots in the unknown plane through the cockpit windows. Depending on what the fighter pilots see then further actions will be taken.



New satellite images from 3 days ago show up to 100 floating objects 1600 miles from Perth. That seem promising.

 

[skatefan]

Did he tell any kind of authority about the oil? Could be worth looking into.

oops, sorry I missed this - yes they did report it

 

[skatefan]

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/missing-plane-ship-detects-signal-ocean-114810601.html#FmxIbzD

A patrol ship searching for the missing Malaysian passenger jet has detected a pulse signal in the Indian Ocean, Chinese state media has reported.

Xinhua news agency said the signal discovered by Chinese vessel Haixun 01 had a frequency of 37.5kHz - the same as that emitted by black-box devices.

A Chinese air force plane has also spotted a number of white floating objects in the search area, according to Xinhua.

If the aeroplane has crashed into the ocean, hopefully this may be the flight recorder.

 

[IceAlisa]

Thanks. I really hope this is it.

 

[BigB08822]

At this point, I have no doubt that it will be ANOTHER false lead. I hope it is finally what they have been searching for, though.

 

[misskarne]

I am going to echo Sir Angus Houston's remarks: we do not know yet, we must treat it with caution.

 

[*Jen*]

At this point, I have no doubt that it will be ANOTHER false lead. I hope it is finally what they have been searching for, though.

Sadly, I agree. They're investigating pings from two different search areas. I hope one of them is the black box, but there are other systems that would ping like that and as there is only one black box, it can't be both the things they're investigating.

Sigh. Those poor families

 

[skatefan]

I am going to echo Sir Angus Houston's remarks: we do not know yet, we must treat it with caution.

Yes, it's being reported this morning that he says the Chinese have located two different signals and that an Australian ship has discovered a third signal hundreds of miles away. It is just awful. Those poor people

 

[judiz]

is there a reason submarines cannot be sent down to locate the plane?

 

[Sylvia]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...e89a18-be12-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html
Excerpt:

For at least the next day, the Ocean Shield will continue its slow runs over the small area where it has picked up the acoustics. The goal, Houston said, will be to pinpoint the most likely location of the sound. If that can be done, search crews will lower an autonomous vehicle into the water and onto the three-mile-deep ocean floor to search for wreckage and map out a possible debris field. The process could be arduous, because the ocean depths are at the limit of the vehicle’s capability.

“This is not the end of the search,” Houston said. “We’ve still got a lot of difficult, painstaking work to do to confirm this is the spot where the aircraft entered the water. The best evidence we could get is imagery from the autonomous vehicle suggesting that the aircraft is on the bottom of the ocean.”

If wreckage is found on the ocean floor, searchers will require months to map its location and bring it to the surface.

“In very deep oceanic water, nothing happens fast,” Houston said.

 

[IceAlisa]

OK, I don't know about these things but could they send a submarine with a sonar?

 

[Lacey]

I heard the click click on the US National evening news, sure sounded convincing, but I am not clear how they will figure out the whole suggestion.

 

[misskarne]

OK, I don't know about these things but could they send a submarine with a sonar?

No - that really would be like finding a needle in a haystack - sonar doesn't work like that. And the submarine's presence would then interfere with the surface equipment.

 

[misskarne]

Sir Angus Houston is giving a press conference at approx 1pm AEST (in about fifteen minutes). Not sure why exactly but my guess is that they may have heard the third ping they were waiting for before sending down the submersible.

EDIT: Hasn't started yet and I have to go back to work. Sorry guys.

 

[Sylvia]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/sub-hunting-source-pings-plane-search

Angus Houston, the head of a joint agency coordinating the search in the southern Indian Ocean, said on Wednesday that the Australian navy's Ocean Shield has picked up two more underwater signals that could be from Flight 370.

The Ocean Shield first detected the sounds late Saturday and early Sunday before losing them, and Houston said the ship relocated the signals twice on Tuesday.

ETA: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26950387

Work is continuing to refine the search area before a submersible can be sent down to search for wreckage, he said.
...
The Ocean Shield has been using a towed pinger locator to listen for signals from the plane's flight recorders in waters west of the Australian city of Perth.

It twice acquired signals over the weekend.

On Tuesday, it located the signals again, the first time for five minutes and 32 seconds, and the second time for around seven minutes, Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston said.

 

[IceAlisa]

Thanks, Sylvia.

 

[myhoneyhoney]

I hope this is it. Those poor families.

 

[misskarne]

Thanks, Sylvia. It must have come on just after I walked out the door.

I hope Houston isn't about to get any crap for not sending the submersible down yet.

 

[skatefan]

This article from Reuters has lots of information about the difficulties of isolating the 'pings' and why underwater searches aren't yet feasible https://uk.news.yahoo.com/race-malaysia-plane-pings-prove-illusive-023950040--sector.html#sK6wi51 including this explanation from a US Navy Captain "I'd say they are separate acoustic events," said U.S. Navy Captain Mark Matthews, citing the fact that the pings were not close together.

"There has been variability in the geographic position which leads me to be less optimistic than I would be if I could consistently reacquire the signal so that I have a nice, small geographic area to focus the autonomous under water vehicle search on," he added.

The process of teasing out those signals from the cacophony of background noise in the sea is a slow and exhausting process, experts say.

Angus Houston has definitely received extremely positive editorial over here so hopefully that will continue.

 

[Vash01]

I have stopped getting my hopes high every time there is a report of an object or a ping. They are looking for a tiny object in the vast ocean. The odds are so against them! I wish them well and I hope they get lucky but until there is a real discovery, I am not taking even the news conferences seriously. I know they have to do it, and not give up hope, or they will not be able to do their job.