Missing MH370 thread cont...

[Pennies]

Old thread here

New thread here.

Thanks Goldie for your update, and also the other kind person who addressed my query upthread.

Agree NickNacks, place marking is irritating - you folks who can't be bothered to bookmark, why don't you just keep this thread open on its own tab and then just refresh it when you come back to it ? That's what I did throughout the first thread -as you come back to it exactly where you last looked, and can then just scroll down to cover the new ground.

Sorry, 'update' is the wrong word really, I meant comments / thoughts!!

Is sky news for fucking real?! Waited all morning for news on the cargo, and when somebody finally asks they have some stupid twat talking over it. FFS did anyone hear the answer?!

I think they just said the cargo was screened as normal. Nothing about what it was. I had to wind it it back to see if I could hear over the presenter talking

They did say the acars was switched off before the final sign off "goodnight Malaysia" or similar. Surely this is significant re the pilots?

Did they say they do have sensitive information, which they are not yet revealing?

Yes it was switched off before pilots last contact.

Working on the simulator today, wonder what will show up on that

The presenter just said they did have info they didn't want to reveal yet, but the search areas weren't changed

Agree with alpaca why are people assuming that a suicidal pilot would also be homicidal? And want to kill a load of his passengers

"yes i read there are access hatches to front and aft cargo holds on 777's and that that is quite unusual compared to other passenger planes of that size. wondered if there was any relevance. so cargo hold exterior doors can't be opened. is there anyway to get yourselves and cargo off of a plane at 20,000ft if you don't give a damn what happens to the plane and passengers afterwards? and is there any way to survive exiting a plane at 20,000ft?"

Honey, you would have to put on oxygen cylinders and depressurise the plane first (perhaps by shooting large holes in the fuselage). Why wouldn't you take the plane lower instead?

Nothing useful to add but wanted to thank all the very knowledgeable contributors, especially Goldie. Thanks for taking the time to answer all the qus! And good luck with your sister :)

Thank you Goldie for your calm and knowledgeable insights/debunking of myths.

I tried to watch the live Malaysian press conference at 9:30 but got a phonecall at the vital moment! The Guardian live updates thing summarised that more information was hinted at, but they were not willing to share it?

Those place-marking, could you perhaps click Watch this Thread at the top of the page? then all you need to do is click 'Threads I'm watching' later and voila! you will find it again at once. It's mystifying why people use full stops and 'place-marking' posts when there's no need?

typical If you comment on a thread to mark your place you can go specifically back to your comment rather than trying to find out where you read up to. I havent tried with bookmarking to see if it does the same.

It is annoying but on the app on my phone you cant go to specific pages of the thread, which would mean wading through 500 odd comments to get to where you left off.

Hope that makes sense.

10.40 Our South Asia Editor Dean Nelson was at the press conference in Kuala Lumpur, and has sent through the following notes:

The pilot of MH370 had either switched off the plane's radar and transponders when he said goodnight to Malaysian air traffic controllers or had done so under duress by hijackers, Malaysia's transport minister said.

The police investigation is focussing on crew, passengers and ground staff. The perpetrator/s had one of four motives/causes: hijacking, sabotage, personal problem or psychological problem.

Passengers from four different countries have been investigated by their own intelligence agencies and cleared of any suspicion.

"The information that the two pilots had not requested to fly together would seem to rule out any possible collusion between them."

am dying to know what the 'sensitive' information is. I suspect they're in the middle of ransom negotiations and know where the plane is... I imagine if they wanted to steal a plane to use as a weapon they'd have put the plan into action days ago. If they were able to. Far too stressful hiding a 777 until you're ready to act.

"is there anyway to get yourselves and cargo off of a plane at 20,000ft if you don't give a damn what happens to the plane and passengers afterwards?"

Only if you cut a hole in the fuselage and depressuirse it. The doors cannot be opened - you'd need a herd of elephants to pull them open!

Would they really be asking other countries to carry out expensive air and sea searches if they knew exactly where the plane was? Sadly I think they genuinely don't know where the plane is.

I am using the bookmark feature, but it doesnt work on phones/apps so the people place marking are probably viewing that way. You cant leave it open on the app as it refreshes every time you open so short of wading through the entire thread every time, place marking is the only option.
I really don't think it is worth getting worked up about, i happens on every thread every day.

Thanks Goldie and everyone else for your fantastic information, this is getting stranger by the day and the fact they are holding back information (which hardly ever happens, things leak to the press constantly) is really unnerving!

Did I misunderstand it or did they say at the press conference that the transponder was switched off before the pilot said "goodnight"?

If they felt the plane was on land they will need all the help they can get to search for it.

If they thought it was in the ocean then perhaps not as much help.

"Agree with alpaca why are people assuming that a suicidal pilot would also be homicidal? And want to kill a load of his passengers"

Because it's happened twice before?

The ACARS was switched off before. The transponder after...