Malaysian Airlines MH370 contact lost

[Capt Groper]

Thousands of fishing boats - therefore it shouldn't be too had to find.

There are thousands of fishing boats in this part of the world so somebody should easily spot any wreckage.
In some locations you can imagine walking from boat to boat...

[Heathrow Harry]

Well its all we have right now in the public domain so we can use it but be mindful of the possible problems

As for anyone on the platform seeing something I'd have thought it unlikely - especially at night anyone working will be inside or heads down at their work. Better bet might be any safety or supply vessel in the area

But unless there was a fire it would just be a dark piece (s) of metal so not likely. Should be easier in daylight

Should be able to find the FR failry quickly - this should be a lot faster than the AF crash to resolve

[fly123456]

Any idea of how much fuel they'd carry for such a flight?
I suppose no fuel in the centre tank?

[Flyingmole]

As I seem to have stirred the proverbial by daring to refer to FR24 as a source of data, I'd like to make a point or two. (i) I get the strong impression that because it is not 'official' , many 'flying' people pooh-pooh it. (ii) While FR24 may indeed not be 100% reliable, a simple check in the sky (i.e look at plane, check with FR24, see if what it says correlates with Mk I eyeball) indicates that it is pretty reliable. (iii) When there is a terrible disaster and a total absence of 'official' information, is it not sensible to at least pay heed to whatever information is available and to rapidly check it out? As as example of 'official' versus 'unofficial', yesterday I checked into LHR to wait for a delayed EY to arrive and take me to AUH (fog plus no runway lights had previously shut AUH). On duty Etihad staff at LHR had no idea where the two incomings were: I was able to accurately tell them of their ETA simply by having a dekko at FR24. "Well, you know more than I do, sir!" said the EY chap. FR24's prediction was spot on. QED

[Chutchada]

ToC may be a suitable time to switch on the centre tank fuel pumps to recover the fuel which could have migrated there during the climb?

[Commuting Pilot]

I can't help but suspect major pilot error/incapacitation here.

Incapacitation would have left the aircraft flying along at the last flight level and if LNAV engaged, then on the planned track. Any major event, such as decompression, that occurred to the aircraft would have been picked up by MAS Ops via ACARS.

Pilot error? After 2hrs plus and at FL350 the aircraft would have certainly been on autopilot. What error could they have made that resulted in the aircraft being lost?

Aircraft do not just suddenly fall out of the sky without some huge catastrophic event occurring. No radio calls at all were allegedly received (maritime operations monitor 121.5 too) and I am sure that slowly the events will be pieced together and a conclusion will be made.

It's extremely sad to read this morning's news and my thoughts are with everyone directly involved and affected by this incident.

[boxerpilot]

Li-ion perhaps. Burns fast

[momo95]

Fairly experienced crew, according to Malaysian officials the captain had 18365 hours.

[nick murry]

All you will see from the 777 at TOC is a thrust reduction and depending on SOPs turning off the exterior lights.. Whatever happended happend sudden. Eg bomb or possible pilot suicide. Pilot error in cruise is virtually non existant. Who knows, one of the pilots might of gone to the loo after reaching TOC.. Pure speculation. A very sad day

[snowfalcon2]

I'm puzzled. It's now approx 18:30 local KL time and sun sets in 1 hour. Local weather seems favourable for searching, the search area seems to be fairly well defined and there appears to be good radar coverage in the area to have it pinpointed. Still, no credible reports of traces after almost one full day's search - no oil slick, debris etc. reported so far.

OK, the sea crossing is some 200-250 NM so it is a sizeable piece of water and the middle parts may be beyond helicopter range. But it's not in the middle of the ocean either.

Hope we get clarity soon.

[SOPS]

Please stop rubbish speculation. 777 uses automatic scavenge pumps in the centre tanks. Fuel does not "mitigate " to the centre tank during climb. Please stop making stuff up.

[Bobman84]

Missing MAS 777-200 had uneventful history - 3/8/2014 - Flight Global

Missing MAS 777-200 had uneventful history
By: GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE Source: 16 hours ago
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER bearing registration 9M-MRO was delivered in 2002, and had an incident free history prior to disappearing on 8 March while operating the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing sector.

Journalists eh? FlightGlobal at that.

He must have forgotten about the wing incursion incident.

[henra]

Originally Posted by onetrack

The major difference this time, it's a Boeing, not a Bus. I can't help but suspect major pilot error/incapacitation here.

What should the pilot have done to achieve this? Do you assume they were manually flying aerobatics at that point in time, when they were suddenly incapaciated during the maneuver???

You can safely assume they were on Autopilot before this (whatever it was) occured.

What happened then will hopefully be answered by the FDR/CVR.
At the moment nothing can be really ruled out.
Structural failure (e.g. incorrect repair of wingtip?)
Failure to mind the store while AP disengaged/did strange things.
Explosive device.
CWT explosion.
Suicide.
FCS problem.
x other scenarios.
Although some might be more likely than others.
We will know for sure when they found and analysed the recorders.
Until then I'm afraid the only thing which might become clearer somewhat sooner is if it disintegrated at altitude, once the wreckage has been found.

[Worldwidew]

Stolen Passport used on Flight!

3 Italian Sources to confirm that passenger Luigi Maraldi was not on flight as stated by the passenger manifesto.

Is there foul play suspected here??? An aircraft disappearing out of the sky .... smells of foul play.

Luigi called his parents from Thailand to tell them he was safe on the ground and was never on the flight.

Sources:

Aereo scomparso in Malaysia, mistero su Luigi Maraldi: non era a bordo ma chi è salito con il suo passaporto?

Aereo Malaysia Airlines caduto in Vietnam, Luigi Maraldi chiama casa: 'non ero sull'aereo' | The Horsemoon Post

Aereo Malaysian scompare in mare. 239 a bordo. Paura per italiano ma è vivo | Blitz quotidiano

He reported his passport stolen in Thailand on August 1 2013

The flight manifesto:



He was clearly on the passenger list. Now the question becomes... who was using his passport?

And is this foul play connected to the aircraft disappearance?

[737Jock]

I know my airline has a huge screen (can see it from the entire room) with FR24 in their ops center to simply track the entire fleet. They also have weather overlay addons with it (radar, colour coding airports etc)

I would definitely rate it a bit higher then an enthusiasts tool.

[Super VC-10]

Another photo of the wing damage sustained by 9M-MRO -

?????????????????? - ???? - ???

[On_The_Top_Bunk]

Any nautical people have any idea of water depth in the approximated area of the last position?

Will crash recovery be hampered by depth?

[Top_Cat]

Bathymetry Data Viewer | ngdc.noaa.gov

Roughly 100m depth.

[GlueBall]

ALL references to the Perth in-flight upset incident involve ANOTHER airframe.

9M-MRG

[Heathrow Harry]

check the earlier posts - not very deep at all apparently