Malaysian Airlines MH370 contact lost
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Phone call??
At the end of the press conference that ended just now, a journalist from ?Reuters asked about a phone call that was given from ? the cockpit to ??? and the answer was "we are investigating". The sound was not good. Anyone heard about this phone call??
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SLFJB- not sure what you mean about turning the Comms off when away from the home airport. I've never heard of that before. And napping down the back presumes three crew and no bunks.
At my old airline, three crew kicked in at about 8:30 flight time and 9+ for a daytime report. The blanket FAA 8 hr thing does not apply everywhere and I don't know what kind of FTL's Malaysia use.
I would hope that we wouldn't sleep off the flight deck leaving only one pilot alone up there. It sort of defeats the purpose of having two pilots, non? Rather than getting away with an emergency, I would think it more likely that the cabin crew or a savvy pax would complain to management and you'd have an interesting time explaining yourself.
At my old airline, three crew kicked in at about 8:30 flight time and 9+ for a daytime report. The blanket FAA 8 hr thing does not apply everywhere and I don't know what kind of FTL's Malaysia use.
I would hope that we wouldn't sleep off the flight deck leaving only one pilot alone up there. It sort of defeats the purpose of having two pilots, non? Rather than getting away with an emergency, I would think it more likely that the cabin crew or a savvy pax would complain to management and you'd have an interesting time explaining yourself.
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@Squawk_ident
Yes apparently the captain made a personal phone call to someone before take-off. Last I heard was the matter is being investigated, nothing out of it yet.
refer to link: Pilot 'made call in cockpit minutes before take off'
Anyone heard about this phone call??
refer to link: Pilot 'made call in cockpit minutes before take off'
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ELTs switch on when the aircraft crashes but often the aerial breaks so the transmission is not heard and they don't work under water. Hence the suggestions of having EPIRBs that float. Life rafts have PLBs with an ON switch.
Whatever is done to improve security, nothing can stop determined pilots killing passengers; it might make it more difficult to disguise the fact and get them the benefit of the doubt.
Whatever is done to improve security, nothing can stop determined pilots killing passengers; it might make it more difficult to disguise the fact and get them the benefit of the doubt.
If this is suicide it is surely one of the most complicated and bizarre suicides in history. Leaving aside the astonishing cruelty of taking 226 others with you, what counts against murder-suicide, in my opinion is the infeasibly elaborate nature of the plan. You have to ensure the FO (or Captain) was out of the cockpit, passengers and crew incapacitated, you have to make sure this happens on an ATC handover, then you have to sneak past the radar of half a dozen countries and fly seven hours into the Indian Ocean somewhere.
Furthermore this audacious and intricate plan must be executed perfectly by an individual who is so miserable that he no longer wants to go on living. So many things could go wrong with this.
Admittedly there have been pilot suicides in the past, but they have been simple and quick. If murder-suicide is the best explanation that can be made fit the data so far, then I prefer no explanation until something else turns up.
Freight God
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Now finally being revealed that the the aircraft was carrying a consignment of Lithium-Ion batteries !
can you give us a source for this invaluable information?
ULB battery life
Going forward industry-wide, could another pound of weight be invested in doubling the life of the flight data recorder's pinger from 30 to 60 days?
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caution re New Straits Times
@wewereborndrunk
I'd caution about reporting from the New Straits Times. The piece you cite is a television report based on a New Straits Times story that *speculates* that Australia is holding back vital data sourced from its Jindalee radar.
I have noticed that repeatedly the New Straits Times takes a hypothetical (e.g. the Australians have amazing radar and therefore must have seen the plane), combines it with a fact (the Australians would not tell Bloomberg news agency if they saw anything) and then creates a sensationalist story (Australians know and are refusing to share). There is no original reporting, no news, and it's not what I would call journalism.
As to the Jindalee, it's been discussed a lot on here. It would have had to be on and pointing in the right direction. The Australians, no more or less than any of the other nations, are hardly going to publicly announce when and where their radar is pointed.
However, imo, the data or lack of data (and either is helpful) gathered by Jindalee is obviously going to be internally leveraged within the Australian SAR effort. That imo is part of why they're taking the lead in the south. They can leverage their intel without routing it through other countries. They certainly are not hiding it from their own SAR effort -- otherwise they'd be putting on a multi-million-dollar theatrical event! Let's show some good faith that what seems to be a well-conducted and earnest search in the Indian Ocean is exactly that.
I'd caution about reporting from the New Straits Times. The piece you cite is a television report based on a New Straits Times story that *speculates* that Australia is holding back vital data sourced from its Jindalee radar.
I have noticed that repeatedly the New Straits Times takes a hypothetical (e.g. the Australians have amazing radar and therefore must have seen the plane), combines it with a fact (the Australians would not tell Bloomberg news agency if they saw anything) and then creates a sensationalist story (Australians know and are refusing to share). There is no original reporting, no news, and it's not what I would call journalism.
As to the Jindalee, it's been discussed a lot on here. It would have had to be on and pointing in the right direction. The Australians, no more or less than any of the other nations, are hardly going to publicly announce when and where their radar is pointed.
However, imo, the data or lack of data (and either is helpful) gathered by Jindalee is obviously going to be internally leveraged within the Australian SAR effort. That imo is part of why they're taking the lead in the south. They can leverage their intel without routing it through other countries. They certainly are not hiding it from their own SAR effort -- otherwise they'd be putting on a multi-million-dollar theatrical event! Let's show some good faith that what seems to be a well-conducted and earnest search in the Indian Ocean is exactly that.
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Batteries
During the PC the MAS CEO was questioned about these batteries packages. Answer was that it was properly packed and NOT considered dangerous/hazardous as per ICAO standards.
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There is little evidence about anything, so all possibilities remain open.
So, if the Lithium batteries weren't categorised as dangerous goods, how can you pack them according to ICAO instructions? ICAO only provides instructions for dangerous goods, doesn't it?
A quick search reveals lithium batteries have UN code 3090 or 3481 in the dangerous goods manual, so they are categorised and the CEO is lying.
So, if the Lithium batteries weren't categorised as dangerous goods, how can you pack them according to ICAO instructions? ICAO only provides instructions for dangerous goods, doesn't it?
A quick search reveals lithium batteries have UN code 3090 or 3481 in the dangerous goods manual, so they are categorised and the CEO is lying.
Last edited by max nightstop; 21st Mar 2014 at 11:14.
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"Anyone notice that Hishamuddin definitely said six pings were received at the press conference tonight?"
The only way they could have narrowed down the search to such an extent is with the data from all six pings. It would have been impossible with just the final ping at 8:11 (unless I've got the facts wrong).
The only way they could have narrowed down the search to such an extent is with the data from all six pings. It would have been impossible with just the final ping at 8:11 (unless I've got the facts wrong).
Freight God
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Hmmm, it is two years since I left cargo operation, but at my last place we did consider those batteries as CAO (cargo aircraft only), and included a temperature check before loading and a holdover time in hot outside temperatures. Basically we treated them like any other temperature sensitive material with the addition of an potential offload in case of.
Malaysian Cargo has obviously changed a lot since management change.
Malaysian Cargo has obviously changed a lot since management change.
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And Dangerous Goods range from corrosives and the real stuff to things which aren't dangerous when limitations are complied with. Like gas powered hair curlers, matches, and sporting ammo. I would be interested to know what "a shipment of lithium ion batteries" actually means. A couple of new laptops in their boxes? Or a slab of just the batteries?
