Missing Malaysia Air plane

[KenAdams]

It's so sad. They still haven't found anything, but thinks it's crashed into the sea.

For anyone that hasn't heard

sauce and meditrina I think I should be banned from typing this early :) apologies.

I was just thinking too that they have achieved their aim in publicity terms, as you say sauce. The whole world is focused on this event. One wonders what will happen next :(

Don't know about Malaysia airlines proceedures, but most airlines have a "set phrase" should someone try and use the cabin crew to get access to the cockpit

Ie: normal day offering pilots drinks "I'd like to come in"
Hijack situation, "a passenger would like to come in"

Different airline have different "trigger" sentences that would alert the pilots that the cabin crew are not asking solely for themselves.

And most airlines have a policy that unless something is threatening the a/c staying up in the air, then no matter how many people (crew /passengers) are being killed in the cabin, the door will not be opened.

Which makes me think if this hijack story does have some truth to it, then someone on the flight deck must have been in on it

Yes Recharging my dh said the same re runway, you need length more for take off and as you say not full and if flying for 5-8 hours less fuel on board.

Now is about the point I wish we weren't flying to NY in 2 weeks :s

The poor passengers & families. :(

I'm flying to NY tomorrow and not worried - I'd imagined they will be very careful, security wise!

Yes Gold I agree with you, just being conservative in my estimations

Cherry I would think it's the optimum time to fly. Radar everywhere on high alert for objects in the sky.

Following this thread with interest as someone who works in the skies. I have nothing of value to add, just to clarify sop procedures with regards to flight deck entry (at least with my airline, couldn't and wouldn't want to speak for MA).

Normally one of the crew (quite frequently the one or two working in a position near the fd or the cabin manager) will ring the flight crew roughly every twenty mins/ half hr depending on service to offer a drink, check all ok. In our case we have to say a pre agreed password (normally agreed at start of flight pre boarding) so no prior knowledge of this. The flight deck are then expecting the crew member who will only approach the fd door if no pax are in the vicinity,the door will be unlocked by one of the flight deck after checking the camera to make sure all is 'as it should be'. If the crew member entered the emergency code to enter the fdeck, say assuming they thought the pilots were somehow incapacitated the pilots have a certain period of time to deny entry, ie lockdown because they think the crew member has a gun to their head. Lockdown would remain in place until the ac landed.

In a lot of ways the locked flight deck door has, as mentioned before I think, caused major concerns and I know lots of flight crew who don't like it because it's too easy for a kamikaze/suicidal/unconscious pilot to have the time/means to do something horrific.

Crew are always taught the you 'protect the flight deck at all costs.'

I just can't bear the thought of what the crew,passengers and families are going through.

If the authorities are now investigating everyone on the flight, that would include stewards for whom a locked door would be opened. Or one/both pilots might be involved. Or there may be someone on the flight who knows the 'open up' code phrase.

And Pear yes to you too, except if the 'knocker' was under duress (eg: knife to the throat) they might not have been able to follow 'procedure' and the hijackers probably found out the 'phrase'.

I just hope that they know more than what they are telling the public....

We still don't know that it was a hijacking related to terrorism. The Malaysian authorities have been talking all week about how they have been investigating the psychological state of the crew. There is still a high possibility that a member of the crew for whatever reason is responsible for this.

Hope they can establish what happened up there. The poor families :(

Upjacob- I did wonder if the flight crew with the emergency code could be over ridden by the cockpit. Which means the crew in the cockpit have complete control with no way of anyone else getting in during the flight, if they so wish.

As a night flight I guess if the pilot/co-pilot were in on it then the rest of the plane could be none the wiser during the flight and carried on as normal.

Do the cabin crew have anyway of talking to the ground during a flight in a normal situation? Or is it only the cockpit?

This is a very curious incident. I hope for all involved a conclusion is found soon.

Trina, not all airlines are as strict. Not to mention airports. I have been allowed to take drinks through security at 2 different airports and I know others have as well....

I can't imagine what's going through the minds of those awaiting news, of their loved ones :(

What a rollercoaster. I keep thinking of the blonde lady with the young sons.

I just hope hope hope, that it's been landed somewhere & there are survivors.

With regards to someone outbreaks saying they wouldn't fly now, this won't put me off. We've flown amidst terror attacks, and all the extra security checks had the effect of making us feel safer. The chances of being hijacked are probably as slim as the chances of a crash... So I'll continue taking that chance :)

But those procedures with flight deck security have been proven to have been breached on at least one occasion by one of the pilots on this flight - he invited girls to spend the flight messing about in the flight deck with them. So if he was that lax, then who knows what other security procedures with regards access to flight deck he might have been breaching

Stockhausen. :( I can't even begin to imagine.

It crashed, according to CNN

It is worth noting that Malaysia is not as strict with process and rules as the UK, and what we would generally expect.

I have no idea if this would apply on flights though.

edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?c=asia

I also think this new revelation answers a lot of the questions people have been asking about how it was possible for a plane to disappear, with no trace.

The answer is that it didn't disappear, there are records of where it went, and either the authorities just haven't checked the right countries airspace yet (because they didn't know to look) or some countries aren't cooperating, or they know full well where it went and just aren't telling us yet.

Either way, it's slightly reassuring to me that the plane hasn't just disappeared, that's just the impression the authorities are allowing us to have for the moment until they're ready to release more info.

"But those procedures with flight deck security have been proven to have been breached on at least one occasion by one of the pilots on this flight - he invited girls to spend the flight messing about in the flight deck with them."

I haven't seen the link about girls, nor whether this is confirmed. But allowing children to a flight deck, though against the rules, isn't going to pose a threat. And if his past form is just children, it's pure speculation he'd let adults through. But I suppose that'll be covered in the investigations into everyone on the flight.

Fox News think sending the destroyer ship is a sign they know they're looking for something in that area. (FoxNews in a crisis is always good fun)
If they can find silent submarines, they can find a plane sending out pings.
Was what a guest was saying, I agree with him.

Surely an organised terrorist group/hijacker states their wants or that they've killed close to 300 people?

meditrina, it has been reported that the FO allowed two South African women, not girls, aged over 18 into the flight deck three years during a flight

And children should be thought of as just as dangerous in the flight deck as adults. They can be used as hijackers just as well. And if not a deliberate threat, they can also cause accidental destruction- the Russian plane from the 80's springs to mind where the captains own 12 the old son knocked the auto pilot out and the plane went into a dive, from which the crew couldn't recover from