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

Technically an Urghur/Xinjiang rebel group did claim it right at the beginning but China dismissed the claim (2nd largest population in world = Kazakhstan).

It can be a hijack and be the pilot hijacking btw.

Also now really can't discount the organised crime theory now.

I'm not clear the pilots would have know about the RR pings. MH didn't subscribe to the service. No reason for the pilots to know RR still tracked the data.

Not saying it is/was a pilot btw just that it's one of the more provable options now.

The silence is deafening, brings a whole new fear that if it has been hijacked we have no idea who by and what their intent is.

Those poor poor passengers, imagine being on that flight, after 9/11 the thoughts going through their minds, doesn't bare thinking about.

IMO if this is an organised group responsible (and not that of a line pilot) which seems likely then this is by far the most worrying thing that has happened since 9/11.

How long will these people bide their time? Weeks? Months?

What is going on?
They are only searching the pilot's house today!!!!
My heart goes out to the passengers and relatives of those on the plane.

What cargo was on the plane?? Why hasn't this info been released?

Ah true about the locking out. I thought that there were always at least 2 in the cockpit on long haul, as there is a navigator as well I thought? Or is that just on the big double deckers and the 747s?

They are only searching the houses now?

they just said on the polish telly there was 10 tonnes of gold on the plane. I dont know if its true, but why would they say it on the news?

I,ve seen reference to the cargo as well.It hasnt been disclosed what this plane was carrying and was 50 passengers light off capacity so was there valuable cargo?

I read one theory that the plane was headed to Diego Garcia and had been shot down by the Americans. That's starting to seem possible now. It would explain why the Americans are keeping quiet, although doesn't explain why China haven't said anything, unless they don't know?! Does anyone think that's possible/likely?

I've spoken to my dad who flies privately and had many pilot friends.
He is convinced the airplane has not crashed and has landed somewhere. He thinks probably in a country that lacks the ability to track what's flying in and out.
However my dad is certain America knows where the plane is and he also said it wouldn't be any good if they were planning on flying it into a developed country as it would be picked up and recognised and shot down before reaching its target.
He said it could only be used to either fly into another airplane or to crash into a target such as a boat out at sea.

I'm not sure if this is a reassuring opinion or not.

I agree with those disputing the suicide idea. Why change course and why cut off signals?

The changes in height could be due to whoever was flying the plane trying to render the passengers unconscious.

This info about it being diverted has been circulating for days but was denied by the malaysians the intelligence of other countries. The Malaysians continued to search the same area of water.

The stories about the phones ringing weren't dismissed as such but they were explained in a "they could be ringing because. .." way. I've been glued to this story and I read something the other day about a passengers phone showing as being located in a very random country. Can't remember where and haven't been able to find same story.

My worry is that they have landed somewhere, that they arent found and they become airborne again to use the plane as a weapon.

My dad says that you can't decompress part of the plane and not the other, the oxygen masks would fall for everyone. Is that true? So they couldn't have stopped the oxygen supply to the main aircraft.
He also says even if a gas had been used then it would have seeped into the cockpit.

Which countries could they have landed in that wouldn't have noticed?

Ive also heard that there was gold bullion in the cargo but wont believe that until its been confirmed

Or countries that would have agreed to it...although that would be suicide for that nation in itself to have the wrath of China and probably the US on its head.

I still don't fully understand how a plane can fly back over Malaysia and this wasn't picked up by someone.
I assume the military (Malay, US, Russia or China) between them must have every corner of the planet covered.
Even if it's just an overlay of commercial flights and then anything else not transmitting a 'call sign'. I'm pretty sure nuclear bombs from N.Korea don't came with call sign Bravo, Oscar, Mike, Bravo.

Can you really fly 'under the radar'? If so, how low is this?

The gold theory is interesting.

There is very high demand for gold in China both private and official PBOC buying (ie China central bank). There has been a lot of gold shipped to China in recent years and it all goes by plane.

There is a very large gold mine 2 hours north of Kuala Lumpur owned by Newmont mining. There are a number of other significant gold mines in Malaysia.

I don't think it's been shot down by anyone. Imagine the furore if a country had knowingly shot down a passenger plane and had not come forward with this evidence by now.

What do we "know" really?

The comms were deliberately shut down.

The plane was piloted on a specific course using waypoints.

The flight continued for up to 8? Hours.

The satellite pings can be plotted on two paths but cannot be narrowed down to which path specifically.

Each of those two paths throws up differing conclusions. The SW path is a likely suicide, ditched in the sea. The NW path intention to land the plane somewhere for unknown purposes.

hmmm so a heist then?

What does that mean for the people on board though? If the robbers were that mercenary to kill them or whether they will release them who knows if that's the scenario.

I wondered if the Chinese and US definitely do know what's happened and there's some very delicate negotiations going on right now. Clutching at straws but maybe to release passengers? I'm sure they do know what has happened as I still can't believe a whole plane can just disappear like that, but they can't say what's going on for safety reasons?

It's the unknowns that are so creepy and unnerving. I've had a bad feeling about this from day one. I knew it was hijacked. Just knew. And the lack of a motive is the frightening part.

Hollywood is going to have a field day with the corrupt crew / heist theory.

Will someone start a new thread before this one fills up?

New thread

I am repeatedly checking the news to see if there are any updates. Surely someone must have an idea where it is?! A week wasted in the search in the wrong place, I'm sure that was deliberate on the part of the person(s) who did this. The cargo theory makes sense, otherwise it seems so very random. Why this plane on this route?

I'm not sure you can say the SW route is likely to be a suicide, given how active AQ Indonesia is assessed to be.