MAS flew on for 4 hours

[Scoreboard]

Seems rolls royce just coughed that they were getting regular engine updates up to 4 hours after the flight went missing?...now speculation can get a little wilder

[go43andrti]

It may be "BS", but I saw the same report.

[nitpicker330]

Discounted BS from the Malaysian press update.

It did not happen

[SiriuslyCold]

U.S. Investigators Suspect Missing Malaysia Airplane Flew On for Hours - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282)

you'd think Rolls Royce would be the first one to check and see if the engines were still transmitting data when they first heard about the incident...

[oriental flyer]

I was under the impression that the 777 did not transmit real time engine data unlike the jumbo .Boeing do offer this service , but reportedly Malaysian did not subscribe to it
However the acars was apparently sending out pings for 4 to 5 hours after it went dark
Too much conflicting information to make a reasonable conclusion

[ZAZ]

The confusion has in part been due to the number of factors at play: the 12 nations participating in the search; the menagerie of officials telling stories that don’t necessarily align; the complicated way airlines run systems and safeguards; the complicated way in which airplanes function; the vast area in question; the fallibility of search technology; and, finally, the inevitable torrent of speculation by all parties, including the public.
Investigators from all countries seem to be doing their job as best they can, looking into every possible lead, whether passengers with suspect identities or a blip on a satellite image. News outlets have been less discerning in how they report their findings – or lack thereof.
Claim: Chinese satellite images show possible wreckage near flight path

After the images became public (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/malaysia-airlines-flight-satellite-images), outlets seized the “potential debris” line and aired the satellite still almost constantly. None embraced it as definitive proof that the plane had been found, though quite a bit of energy was expended on discussing the lead.
A screengrab showing a satellite image of possible debris from flight MH370, released on a Chinese website. Photo: BBCProblem: Surveillance vehicles sent to investigate potential debris found nothing, and the Chinese embassy told Malaysian authorities (http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/mar/13/malaysia-chinese-satellite-images-flight-mh370-video) the images were released “by mistake and did not show any debris” from the plane.
Claim: engine signals from the plane continued after contact was lost

The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282-lMyQjAxMTA0MDEwMzExNDMyWj) reported that the plane continued flying “for about four hours past the time it reached its last confirmed location”, according to unnamed American “investigators”. The Journal originally reported that sources drew conclusions (http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2014/mar/13/mh370-no-sign-of-debris-detected-by-chinese-satellite-live-updates#block-5321f89ce4b0a17a344852b0) from data automatically sent by the plane’s Rolls-Royce-made engines.
Problem: The Journal has since issued a correction (http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282-lMyQjAxMTA0MDEwMzExNDMyWj), saying the signal came not from the engines but from a “satellite-communication link designed to automatically transmit the status of some onboard systems”. The paper is standing by the substance of its story, though, and Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/malaysia-airlines-data-idUSL2N0MA18V20140313) and CNN (https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/444189997714116608) are also quoting unnamed sources as saying that “pings” continued after 1.07am, with Reuters explaining:The ‘pings’ equated to an indication that the aircraft’s maintenance troubleshooting systems were ready to communicate with satellites if needed, but no links were opened because Malaysia Airlines and others had not subscribed to the full troubleshooting service
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/3/13/1394738834153/ea9a4b72-bd1e-40de-90e4-508031ac03c3-460x276.pngA graphic of the initial evidence. Photograph: The GuardianThough neither Rolls-Royce nor Boeing have commented, Malaysia’s acting transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, has said: “As far as Rolls-Royce and Boeing are concerned those reports are inaccurate.” Hussein told the press the last transmission from the flight, at 1.07am, indicated a normally functioning flight. He went on to gravely chide the press, saying: “Whenever there are new details, they must be corroborated.”
Another wrinkle: In a CNN appearance on Thursday, the former National Transportation Safety Board vice-chairman Bob Frances called the WSJ story “remarkable”. In an interview with the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/03/13/wall-street-journal-story-about-the-malaysia-airlines-jetliner-is-under-attack/), he said:“Andy Pasztor is a very reputable journalist who knows his stuff in aviation as much as anyone. For him to create this article out of whole cloth for me stretches credulity … So you don’t know where to go. I would go with what Andy said because I have great faith in him and he doesn’t have any political ax to grind, as do the Malaysians.”
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/3/13/1394740419349/7486a98b-ad26-4f4c-91ff-3af9daa4991d-460x276.pngThe acknowledged search area as of noon ET. Photograph: The GuardianLatest: There has been no word yet from Malaysian authorities in response to the Journal’s corrected report or similar leads from other outlets.
Claim: radar signals suggest the plane entered Indian Ocean airspace

Problem: Given the technical jargon of aircraft and aircraft control, and given its overlap with the bland language of airlinese, some reports have conflated terms like “radar”, “transmitter” and “transponder” and confused meanings of official reports and language from unnamed sources. Thus, it’s not surprising that reports have resorted to vague words, such as “ping” and “data”, which don’t misrepresent the story but also aren’t very clear.
Nevertheless, it appears now that investigators have expanded the search to include the Strait of Malacca and at least some region of the Indian Ocean. Hussein has so far said that the main efforts are still concentrated in the South China Sea, though parties will investigate any and all plausible leads.
As of now, the record states that the flight disappeared from civilian radar at 1.30am. Authorities have not confirmed whether a 2.15am blip, caught on Malaysian military radar (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-search-indian-ocean) near the Strait of Malacca, was MH370. Hussein, similarly, has refused to say whether the blip also dropped off military radar.
Claim: the US will search the Strait of Malacca

ABC News’ Martha Raddatz first reported (http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-officials-malaysia-airline-crashed-indian-ocean/story?id=22894802) from a “senior Pentagon official” that the USS Kidd, an American destroyer, was moving to search for MH370 in the Indian Ocean, in what would be a major move west of the previously acknowledged search area.
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/3/13/1394738930477/49652ded-74d9-48a6-b9b3-28da8b04e172-460x276.pngThe potential search range according to the Wall Street Journal's report. Photograph: The Guardian/WSJLatest: White House spokesman Jay Carney confirmed that a new search area may be opened over the Indian Ocean, with Carney saying “one possible piece of information, or pieces of information” spurred the move, and that US investigators are “pursuing possible leads (http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2014/mar/13/mh370-no-sign-of-debris-detected-by-chinese-satellite-live-updates#block-5321f7e1e4b0b23261daf428)”.

Claim: plane may have been subject to corrosion under skin of the fuselage

Last November, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning (http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2014/mar/13/mh370-no-sign-of-debris-detected-by-chinese-satellite-live-updates#block-53216847e4b001fc5871579e) about a corrosion problem that may pertain to some Boeing aircraft.
Problem: Not only has Boeing pointed out that this warning did not apply to the missing plane, but Hussein has said that the aircraft was fully serviced and passed all maintenance checks on 23 February 2014, and wasn’t due for another service until 19 June.
Finally…

There have also been any number of more elaborate theories, including about passengers with suspect identities (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/10/flight-mh370-passengers-stolen-passports-not-asian-looking) or the pilots, the latter purporting that the pilots deliberately turned off tracking devices and transmissions and proceeded to take the plane away from its flight path and/or crash it.
Authorities have not even acknowledged such speculation, though they continue to investigate all passengers and crew. Similarly, beyond the questionable identities of four passengers, no evidence exists thus far to support such conjecture.

The Malaysian communications minister has asked people not to spread rumors (http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2014/mar/13/mh370-no-sign-of-debris-detected-by-chinese-satellite-live-updates?view=desktop#block-5321dccfe4b0bde291cd0769)




PPrune RUMOUR NETWORK

[mr did]

Have they released the cargo manifest?? Any Lithium batteries (cargo fire)? Or was it full of gold/banknotes (hijack)?.

[Sam Ting Wong]

Can I dare to say the obvious thought?
This really looks a lot like Silk Air...

[HamishMcBush]

1. Plenty of times has the question been raised about the cargo manifest yet nothing seeems to have been disclosed.

2. Many of the thoeries about diversion from the intended route show the plane entering airspace other than Malaysian. If so, and if the T7's transponders had failed or been turned off, why did no other nation scramble military jets to investigate the unidentified potential threat in their airspace?

[Shutterbug]

Zaz,

Absolutely brilliant update. Thanks for taking the effort to put all that together. I got more from your one post in the last 10 minutes than from the bumbletw:mad:ts of the international press corps and their various editorial staff in the last 5 days.

That's how you put together a proper piece for the Rumours Network.

Surprised a gaggle of twittering press tw:mad:ts haven't retwatted this already.

[Scoreboard]

so acars off, then transponder off....then after transponder off, the last voice contact occurrs....already plan in action....who would have believed last week this would ever have happened.

[Sam Ting Wong]

Anybody can shed a light on the technical background of engines reporting their status automatically? Is this system decoupled from ACARS? What kind of data is included??

[R.OCKAPE]

Latest theory circulating is that the PIC was negotiating the release of Anwar Ibrahim

[SWSpindler]

Sam Ting Wong
Silk air is obvious - and the aggressive brainwashing done job by you know who has been so successful that nobody dares to think, much less write about the obvious...