Missing Malaysia Airlines MH370... Thread 4

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Presumably it just depends how long they take to find it - could be soon, could be ages.
It will be so hard for the families if it turns out to be shipping containers, thinking they're about to get a resolution and then not.

If this area is a shipping lane then why haven't any ships reported seeing debris?

I also hope its the plane so the families can get closure, but wonder if we will ever find out what really happened

Why would the minister say he could not confirm when the images were taken when the date stamp is clear on the images released to the press?!

I don't think so - unless it did another turn, although it was said that the plane was travelling south east when spotted in the Maldives, which would put it in the generally right direction (well, it would need to be travelling south south east to put it in the right line to the location of the debris).

I find the press conferences so hard to hear. The sound quality isn't great (unless you are actually listening out for coughing), the head honcho seems deliberately evasive and this particular PC hasn't really given out more info than we had already heard on the news.

Oh dear. This doesn't inspire much confidence in the Malaysian op:

Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman spreads more confusion by suggesting the Australian satellite images were taken this morning, despite Sunday’s date on the images. He is corrected by Hishammuddin who points out that the news was received this morning. (from the Guardian live)

Thanks cuppatea. I guess the debris could also have moved...

Does anyone know what the position is with regard to the black box and CVDR if/when they are found? Who will get them in terms of being able to analyse them. I'm not sure I want the answer to be "Malaysia".

Avoiding the question about the date on the images again!

To me, if this does turn out to be the wreckage of the plane, it kind of makes the theory that it was heading for somewhere specific a bit less likely. Apparently, it is on the extreme edge of the search area, meaning that it is where the fuel would have run out which would have caused it to crash. The pilots would have know how far the fuel would take them, so I doubt they were trying to fly to somewhere farther away.

I agree with Member's view above, as that seems the most plausible (and understandable) to me if indeed the plane has gone down where they are now searching.

Although, I really do want some sort of answers today for the poor relatives I am still secretly hoping it has gone down in a remote desert somewhere & at least some of the 239 are still alive.

One thing I have learnt from this terrible incident - that there are deserts in China!

Hmm Neverknowingly, I suspect there is an official rule for that kind of thing - although if it happened to be the US who found it, I can't imagine them not analysing it themselves IYSWIM.

Is anyone saying why it's taken till Thursday if the pics were from Sunday. I assume they needed some verification, but still...

For flips sake!
Are they now not even clear about the date of the pictures?

Those poor relatives.

I haven't heard anyone answer that question & have had SkyNews on all morning Merry.

I'm working on the assumption that the images have been being studied, re-studied & passed around for someone to make a decision on their significance. Or maybe I have just spent way too long trying to get blood from a stone an update from the passport office in Durham today.

The first plane to fly over wasn't able to see the debris because the weather is bad-cloud and rain limited visibility. More aircraft will be sent out to look though (from a pprune post taken from AMSA).

I hope conditions improve.

Btw, what did the 'debris' on the Chinese satellite images turn out to be? Did we ever find out?

SkyNews are definitely saying the pictures are 4 days old. There is an Australian bloke giving a press conference now, saying that they have been searching in that area since Monday 17th. But, obviously, the search has been hugely upsized today & is listing when different planes/ships/crews will arrive.

With the tides/currents in the area, the items (whatever they are) will have moved.

That update is on AMSA's twitter page (or whatever you call it, I'm not a twitterer)!

I don't get it.

The plane turned west shortly after all communication was lost. Then it turned south, carried on until the fuel ran out, and went down. Whyyy? Someone deliberately changed that plane's direction twice so they could fly it to the middle of no-where in order to fall into the sea.

If it were a terrorist attack, it was a bit of a wasted shot (no disrespect meant to the relatives of the people on board for whom it is of course an absolute tragedy, I am looking at the wider picture)

If it were a suicice, it's a bit, well, weird.

The fire theory collapses under the evidence that someone managed to turn the plane a second time, so had obviously not been overcome by smoke soon after the first course change.

A hijack to take to plane somewhere for further use? But to where could they possibly be going?

I don't get it. I think the one and only thing that makes sense now, if this is the plane, is a cyber attack. A test run, having a play and then ditching it.

I hope for the sake of the families that this is the plane. I can't quite believe it though.

Oh I can quite believe the pictures are 4 days old but this has only just been spotted. A satellite takes the pictures and then they have to be poured over very carefully. That would take more than just a couple of hours. Presumably they are attempting to get more recent pictures now although the position would have changed and so might satellite visibility. And it might have sunk further.

look at Live Ship Maps for the area

...and when you click on vessel details it goes all error 404 page not found.

I tried to post pics/screenshots, but it's not having it...there's only one unknown vessel in the area ...I am always looking at that site, and have never seen anything marked unknown

To be fair, it is usually my local area, but I do go off piste and click random areas just for shits and giggles sometimes.

Could the plane have been landed, the cargo and passengers unloaded and then the planed dumped in the sea?

The motive unknown, whether it be to target specific passengers or cargo?

the thing is it doesn't mean the plane hadn't been somewhere else already. conspiracy crazy aside if it had landed at the american base for whatever conspiracy theory reason it could have been purposely refueled and flown to that place to crash. not saying this is the case obviously but i'm saying that it would not put pay to questions and theories even if it is.

however there is the 'ping' business but given that is i believe from an american company that won't satisfy the likes of say china and russia if they believed something else had gone on as they could see it as fake data.

that's interesting Catsmamma
could it just be that everyone is looking and the site has crashed or do you think more significant? (hat please!)

Psammead - do you mean that the aircraft was controlled remotely as a 'test run' for future attacks? wouldn't 'they' choose something smaller / more remote / less 'noticeable'. Scary thought...

They certainly do know how to release information at the right times. I was just beginning to think I will only check on this once a day, as it's not going anywhere fast...and then this. Now, I will be checking all the time to see if it's been confirmed, or any debris actually found. I can't even begin to imagine the roller coaster the families are on. They are not even allowed to go into 'limbo/ waiting', it's just constantly, 'might be this, might be that'.

A little bit off topic but I couldn't help but notice that at the press conference the sky news reporters agreed that the black box will stop emitting signals after 30 days. Although Goldie confirmed that this is purely the minimum period that signals will be emitted. Should we even be listening to these reporters?