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Malaysian Airlines MH370 contact lost

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Malaysian Airlines MH370 contact lost

Old 14th Mar 2014, 08:28
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Malaysian Airlines MH370 contact lost

Plot thickens!!:

Military radar-tracking evidence suggests a Malaysia Airlines jetliner missing for nearly a week was deliberately flown across the Malay peninsula towards the Andaman Islands, sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters.

Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints - indicating it was being flown by someone with aviation training - when it was last plotted on military radar off the country's northwest coast.

The last plot on the military radar's tracking suggested the plane was flying toward India's Andaman Islands, a chain of isles between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, they said.

Waypoints are geographic locations, worked out by calculating longitude and latitude, that help pilots navigate along established air corridors.

A third source familiar with the investigation said inquiries were focusing increasingly on the theory that someone who knew how to fly a plane deliberately diverted the flight, with 239 people on board, hundreds of miles off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"What we can say is we are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards," said that source, a senior Malaysian police official.

All three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media and due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

Officials at Malaysia's Ministry of Transport, the official point of contact for information on the investigation, did not return calls seeking comment.

Malaysian police have previously said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.

The comments by the three sources are the first clear indication that foul play is the main focus of official suspicions in the Boeing 777's disappearance.

As a result of the new evidence, the sources said, multinational search efforts were being stepped up in the Andaman Sea and also the Indian Ocean.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 08:34
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The Chinese Xinhua news agency is now throwing up another possibility. They claim that a Chinese research group on seismology and physics of the earth's interior, detected a "sea floor event" at 2:55AM local time (doesn't say whether Vietnamese or Malaysian local time, but we'll presume Vietnamese) that threw up an "earthquake wave".
They claim it could have been MH370 hitting the sea in that spot - which spot has been claimed to be 116km NW of the last recorded location of the aircraft. The area is reputed to be normally "non-seismic".

"Seafloor event" possibly linked to MH370: Chinese researchers - Xinhua | English.news.cn

My opinion? A possibility, but unlikely. After nearly 7 days of SAR work, plus wind and wave action, surely some debris would have been found in this area of the Gulf of Thailand, by fisherman at least.

There is a world earthquake map, showing earthquakes over the last 7 days - but only magnitude 4.5 and greater.
A B777 hitting the water wouldn't produce anything near a 4.5 magnitude measurement, but it would likely be recorded as a verifiable tremor.

http://earthquakestoday.info/

Last edited by onetrack; 14th Mar 2014 at 08:45.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 08:40
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If it was tracked to be flying towards Andaman Island, then there might be a possibility of terrorism angle. Especially in light of recent intelligence report by government of India:

Remnants of LTTE trying to make Andaman and Nicobar islands safe haven?
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 08:51
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Military radar-tracking evidence suggests a Malaysia Airlines jetliner missing for nearly a week was deliberately flown across the Malay peninsula towards the Andaman Islands, sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters.

Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints - indicating it was being flown by someone with aviation training - when it was last plotted on military radar off the country's northwest coast.
And no interception by the Thai (Gripen, F-16, F-5) and/or Malayan (Su-30, MiG-29, F-18, F-5) air forces? Modern jet fighters in their inventory and no corresponding surveillance/fighter control infrastructure in place? Very hard to believe...
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 08:53
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Andamans

The Andamans themselves would not be five hours flying time from when the aircraft stopped transmitting.

Plus, if the Americans indeed DO have all the data they claim (GPS altitude etc.) then if the Pinger is activated every 30 minutes, they must KNOW the location of the aircraft plus or minus 250 nm? Which would explain why they are sending assets to the Indian Ocean.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:00
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then if the Pinger is activated every 30 minutes, they must KNOW the location of the aircraft plus or minus 250 nm?
Yep, I'm sure they do. But you're looking for a 200' x 209' aircraft in a 250NM search square - and it's in pieces, and 90% of it has sunk after 7 days. Good luck with that.

http://cdn.lowyat.net/wp-content/upl...r200_300lr.gif
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:02
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Grrr

Why bother "kidnapping" a B777 with pax to "hide it" before "using it elsewhere"?

Much easier booking a cargo widebody, it would come to your place, pick you up and off you go.....
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:03
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If god forbid you were of 'a mind' to crash a plane into the deep blue ocean and never be found, as some have speculated here, I would suggest that you would have no need or desire to follow way points.

This indicates some other motive and could well explain what we all thought were bizarre initial claims by 'well placed and informed' experts that the plane might have been taken over to be used for some other purpose.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:06
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Originally Posted by EDMJ
And no interception by the Thai (Gripen, F-16, F-5) and/or Malayan (Su-30, MiG-29, F-18, F-5) air forces? Modern jet fighters in their inventory and no corresponding surveillance/fighter control infrastructure in place? Very hard to believe...
You presume a threat. If there is no assessed threat there is no reason to maintain aircraft on alert.

For instance, in Hungary, early '90s, their major air defence operations centre was not operational overnight. Their air defence aircraft were on something like 30 minutes notice as the geography made any shorter notice period unnecessary.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:07
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onetrack

Yep, I'm sure they do. But you're looking for a 200' x 209' aircraft in a 250NM search square - and it's in pieces, and 90% of it has sunk after 7 days. Good luck with that
They said that they also knew the flight path so that would narrow the initial search area down substantially, assuming it didn't make another U-turn just ahead of ditching.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:08
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Decompression goes out of the window.

If the latest reports of the aircraft following waypoints turbot to be true, and there appear to be radar tracks to verify this, all thought of a decompression event can now be discarded. Well at least until the next twist.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:10
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Originally Posted by EDMJ
And no interception by the Thai (Gripen, F-16, F-5) and/or Malayan (Su-30, MiG-29, F-18, F-5) air forces? Modern jet fighters in their inventory and no corresponding surveillance/fighter control infrastructure in place? Very hard to believe...
Not hard to believe at all. I think it's realistic to say the majority of military might out there is simply posturing first, followed by monitoring of known and active threats second. It's not exactly mid-60s Konfrontasi out there and these days it's more likely "tak apa." Same goes for Thailand and Vietnam.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:15
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I've been reading this thread since page 125 and I swear I remember someone typing Nicobar or Andaman Islands. Can't find the post now.

But whatever the case, good call on that posters part.
It was thecrozier. With particular reference to Car Nicobar. VOCX, check it out on Google maps satellite. I'm not one for outlandish theories, but it does have a nice long runway.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:19
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Interception

Well, following waypoints would be a means of minimising the chances of military forces perceiving the aircraft as a threat and intercepting it.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:20
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There are four airports in Andaman and Nicobar Islands:

IXZ
CBD
VO94
IN-0053
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:20
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Assuming the B777 reaches this nice long runway at Car Nicobar, how do the hijackers keep all those working at this well kept nice long runway quiet about their arrival? There will be people with access to radio/mobile phones etc who would surely have let the outside world know they have a visitor?
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:23
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BTW

ELT stays for transmitter, not transponder. A small (but huge) difference.

Last edited by twalfa; 15th Mar 2014 at 00:39.
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:24
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Why would anybody think that the aircraft has landed in Andaman Islands (Indian territory) and that too in an airstrip controlled by the IAF and still remain unknown for 7 days ?
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:26
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New Evidence Suggests That Plane Disappearance Was A Deliberate Act

"Two U.S. officials believe the shutdown of two separate communications systems from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 happened at different times, indicating the disappearance was less likely the result of a catastrophic failure and more the result of a "deliberate act," according to a new report from ABC News."

New Evidence Suggests That Plane Disappearance Was A Deliberate Act | Business Insider India


My apologies if already posted earlier.

Last edited by bono; 14th Mar 2014 at 09:27. Reason: typo
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Old 14th Mar 2014, 09:38
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Two hours ago Australia's Radio National Drive program interview featured live discussion of the latest evidence leaked from the US
RN Drive - ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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