http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_447

But how did these people get on the flight in the first place with stolen passports?

Ukraine crisis: Russian troops take Ukrainian border guards hostage

William Hague demands that Russia attends Ukraine peace talks, as Russian troops take their 11th border control post in Crimea


Armed men, believed to be Russian servicemen, march outside an Ukrainian military base in the village of Perevalnoye

Damien McElroy

By Damien McElroy, Donetsk

10:39AM GMT 09 Mar 2014


Russian forces have taken control of a Ukrainian border guard post in western Crimea, trapping 30 personnel inside.


The latest move by the Russians to tighten their grip on Crimea was made without the firing of guns – unlike on Saturday, when a Ukrainian border patrol plane was fired at, and European monitors trying to enter Crimea were repelled by "warning shots" from balaclava-clad militias.


The capture of the Chernomorskoye border post – the 11th so far – unfolded without bloodshed before dawn.


Russian forces' seizure of the southern Ukrainian region, which began 11 days ago, has been without open combat. Ukrainian troops are trapped in a number of bases but have offered no armed resistance.


The latest seizure came as William Hague demanded Russia joins formal negotiations over the crisis in Ukraine, as pressure grows for talks under the terms of a treaty in which the Kremlin guaranteed the independence of the former Soviet state.


Four party talks between Russia, US, Britain and Ukraine under the Budapest Memorandum offer a proposed route out of the crisis that has erupted since Russia took control of the Crimean peninsula and threatened further intervention on behalf of Russian-speaking populations in the east.

The Foreign Secretary told BBC One's Andrew Marr programme that Russian had obligations to get involved in direct talks.

"We want see diplomatic progress on Ukraine. We want to see tensions reduce," he said. "It is in our national interest that international treaties and laws are upheld."

Vitaly Klitshko, a former world boxing champion and leading candidate for Ukraine's May presidential elections, also demanded that the countries that guaranteed Ukraine's integrity begin negotiations to end the Russian intervention.

"This is an aggression against our country," he told a meeting in Donetsk, in the Russian speaking east. "We expect in the next couple of days a meeting under the Budapest agreement. Crimea is part of Ukraine and everything that happens in Crimea is happening in Ukraine.

"The independence of Ukraine has been guaranteed by Russia, the US and Britain. Those guarantees said we would live in safety. Those countries must prevent the violence."

Mr Hague said that negotiations were in Russia's interest and persisting on its present course would cost Moscow greatly. "Over time this will be a serious miscalculation for Russia," he said.

A Russian official met Ukraine's ambassador to Moscow last week but otherwise the Kremlin has spurned the caretaker government, claiming it had taken power in an unconstitutional coup.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10685915/Ukraine-crisis-Russian-troops-take-Ukrainian-border-guards-hostage.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/09/us-malaysia-airlines-security-idUSBREA280BD20140309

Looking increasingly grimmer by the hour. The fact that it was a China bound plane, might suggest it's Uighur related. Although, we shouldn't speculate. Still too early.

It took the investigators nearly two years to locate, and bring up the wreckage of the Air France jet that went down smack bang in the middle of the Atlantic a few years ago. And they recovered the black boxes in nearly 6,000 meters of water. I doubt the waters off Southern Vietnam are close to being that deep, but it could still take months, to find the actual wreckage, and perhaps years to find out what happened.

The Royal Australian Air Force has now sent 2 Lockheed P-3 Orion planes to assist in the search. Plenty of nations have supplied various military and civilian aircraft, as well as naval ships to assist in the search & rescue efforts - 40 aircraft, and 34 ships. I wouldn't be surprised if they find the location of the wreckage this week.



Edited by Heineken: 10/3/2014 12:09:58 AM

I'd imagine that the currents and rough waters of the Atlantic would make it more difficult to search.

That's not racist at all :lol:

Man with stolen passport on jet was asylum seeker


Tuesday, March 11, 2014


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A man traveling with a stolen passport on a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner was an Iranian teenager trying to migrate to Germany, and is not believed to have any terrorist links, police said Tuesday.

The announcement is likely to dampen, at least for now, speculation that the disappearance of the Boeing 777 was linked to terrorism. Police said a second passenger also traveling with a stolen passport has not been identified. Both bought their tickets in Thailand and entered Malaysia together.

No debris from the plane has been found. On Tuesday, baffled authorities expanded their search to the opposite side of Malaysia from where it disappeared more than three days ago with 239 people on board.

The airline says the pilots did not send any distress signals, suggesting a sudden and possibly catastrophic incident. Speculation has ranged widely about possible causes, including pilot error, plane malfunction, hijacking and terrorism.

News that two of the passengers were traveling with stolen passports immediately fueled speculation of foul play. However, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference Tuesday that investigators had determined one was a 19-year-old Iranian, Pouria Nourmohammadi Mehrdad, who was planning to enter Germany to seek asylum.

"We believe he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group," Khalid said.

He said the young man's mother was waiting for him in Frankfurt and had been in contact with police. He said she contacted Malaysian authorities to inform them of her concern when her son didn't get in touch with her.

He also said there was no truth to a statement by at least one other government official that five passengers had checked in for the flight but never boarded the airplane.

The plane took off from Kuala Lumpur, on the western coast of Malaysia, early Saturday en route to Beijing. It flew across Malaysia into the Gulf of Thailand at 35,000 feet (11,000 meters) and then disappeared from radar screens.

Authorities have said the plane may have attempted to turn back toward Kuala Lumpur.

The hunt began on Saturday near the plane's last known location. But with no debris found there, the search has been systematically expanded to include areas the plane could have reached with the fuel it had on board. That is a vast area in which to locate something as small as a piece of an aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines said search and rescue teams have expanded the scope beyond the flight path to the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia's western coast and Indonesia's Sumatra island — the opposite side of Malaysia from its last known location.

An earlier statement said the western coast of Malaysia was "now the focus," but the airline subsequently said that phrase was an oversight.

"The search is on both sides," Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said.

The search currently includes nine aircraft and 24 ships from nine countries that have been scouring the Gulf of Thailand on the eastern side of Malaysia. Land areas also are being searched.

China, where two-thirds of the passengers are from, urged Malaysian authorities on Tuesday to "speed up the efforts" to find the plane. It has sent four ships, with another four on the way.

A shopping mall in Beijing suspended advertising on its large outdoor LED screen to display a search timer — an image of an airplane along with a digital clock marking the time since contact with the flight was lost.

Assuming the plane crashed into the ocean or disintegrated in midair, there will likely still be debris floating in the ocean, but it may be widely spread out, and much may have already sunk. In past disasters, it has taken days or longer to find wreckage.

The United States has sent two navy ships, at least one of which is equipped with helicopters, and a Navy P-3C Orion plane with sensors that can detect small debris in the water. It said in a statement that the Malaysian government has done "tremendous job" organizing the land and sea search effort.

Vietnamese planes and ships are also taking part.

Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of the Vietnamese People's Army, said authorities on land had also been ordered to search for the plane, which could have crashed into mountains or uninhabited jungle. He said military units near the border with Laos and Cambodia had been instructed to search their regions also.

"So far we have found no signs ... so we must widen our search," he said.

___

Minh reported from Hanoi, Vietnam. Associated Press writers Jim Gomez and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur and Chris Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/international/asia/2014/03/man_with_stolen_passport_on_jet_was_asylum_seeker

A white guy with Ballotelli's haircut maybe?

I'm reaching here.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/kim-jong-un-100-percent-reelection-north-korea

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/new-zealand-to-hold-referendum-on-new-post-colonial-flag

Wow the Malaysian Air Force have tracked the aircraft down, it's in the completely wrong area and the transponder was off. Almost a U- turn.

I don't think they've actually found the exact position of the plane, but it most certainly did fly off-target.

What is now making it more suspicious is that it's taken about 5-days for the Malaysian military to come out with this information. Surely when the plane went missing on Saturday the Malaysian military would have come out immediately and been all "Oh, yeah, we kinda saw it on our radar, and it was going the complete opposite way it was meant too", instead of wasting time, and other countries military resources searching in the completely wrong area.

What I also find suspicious, is that China yesterday was putting pressure on the Malay authorities to do more in the search, and now their military comes up with this?

I've seen enough 'Air Crash Investigation/Mayday' episodes to know that a total loss in navigation tools would allow this to happen, but the fact the Malaysian military had it on it's radar screens for around an hour, makes it sound a little suspicious.

I'm also struggling to believe, that if it did fly over the straight of Malacca, arguably one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes, that no ship or marine craft spotted it - especially if it were flying low. I don't buy into the theory that it crashed into the straight of Malacca either, for that exact reason, the Malacca straight is so busy, somebody would have come across the wreckage fairly quickly.

Look, the whole thing has sounded a bit strange to me from the beginning. Satellite technology can tell those who may be interested what you've had for breakfast this morning but can't find a missing plane? Come on.

Edited by u4486662: 12/3/2014 09:33:15 PM

no evidence
merely a media fabrication

the Malay Air Force have denied they've established the plane flew off course

New theory coming out that there was a slow decompression of oxygen in the cabin. Caused by a crack by the fuselage. Apparently the decompression was too slow to notice and therefore the pilot or crew would not have reacted. As a result they could have all been incapacitated and the plane continued flying on autopilot and then when it ran out of fuel it dropped. Now the problem with this theory is that it means the plane would be someone past Beijing. As a result, the new reports of it near the Malacca would mean that there was some actual involvement in turning the plane off course. There is no chance auto-pilot would be able to change the course of the plane.

I also find the whole phone ringing interesting. If the plane was in the water, the phones would automatically stop working due to water damage and not ring. Any calls would go straight to voice mail. For a phone to ring, it needs to be near a phone tower or have some sort of phone coverage otherwise it would not ring. This would seem to discount it being in a jungle or in the ocean, and would seem to point to it being on land near some sort of phone coverage area.

Edited by zimbos_05: 12/3/2014 01:52:15 PM

the phone ringing thing has been debunked somewhere....something to do with the phone being out of range it will return a ring tone...cant remember the details

probably an attempt to get some advertising

But didn't the plane disappear off the radar almost instantly? Indicating something rapid, as opposed to a plane running out of fuel and falling to the ground after a long period?

I don't know much about planes other than that was my understanding.

I wasn't so sure on the phone ringing thing. I just read where they asked some Telco experts and they were saying that phones don't ring if they out of range, they go straight to voicemail or have that "I'm sorry, but the number you have dialled is currently unavailable" message.

Everything is so sketchy.



That's the thing, how does a plane just disappear off the radar? Also, planes are built such that if there is an issue then the crew and pilots would have the opportunity to send a distress signal or try and rectify the problem. For it to have just vanished and so quickly, would suggest that something hectic would have had to have happen. I think normal airport radars don't detect planes under 30.000ft. But if the plane was on auto-pilot, it wouldn't have dropped so low I don't think.

If it is something rapid, then it's pointing towards action that took place in the plane by one of the pilots or someone else, or that it was so hectic, then for the radar and plane to be completely knocked out, it is something unheard off in aviation history, almost drawing parallels to the rapidness of Hindenburg.

I am no aviation expert, but there seems to be so many theories, and almost each theory has some plausibility, but then is also with flaws or more questions. It is all so sketchy, they really need to start being more clear on what's going on. With the amount of technology and manpower currently out there searching, I think this is turning in to some Amelia Earhart stuff. The waters there are much shallower than when the Air France plane went down, so to assume that we dealing with much deeper depths is I think out of the questions. Once again, not so sure.

lol @ 'something hectic'

how does anyone know it dropped off the radar instantly. you didnt have access to the radar, you only saw a website called 'flightradar' which is notoriously inaccurate

there are radar blind spots all over the place

Hahaha, My zim slang coming through. I could have used Brobdingnagian



I wasn't going off flightradar. Was going off the reports coming through in which they say that both Beijing and Malysia flight control lost it on the radar.

That flag actually looks pretty schmick.

This should be their flag.

No countries have black flags for a reason...


Edited by afromanGT: 12/3/2014 09:49:17 PM

Eh I'd keep that as sort of an unofficial sports flag or w.e.

Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: US issued warnings over Boeing 777s

DateMarch 12, 2014 - 3:50PM 52 reading now

Read later



Tom Allard


MH370 vanished from radar, then flew for an hour
Confusion and disarray surrounds investigation

The US airline safety regulator warned last year of cracking in the fuselage skin underneath a Boeing 777’s satellite antenna, issuing a worldwide alert for the flaw to be fixed as it could lead to decompression that would leave occupants unconscious.

The problem identified by the US Federal Aviation Administration provides a possible explanation as to why a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane mysteriously went missing en route to Beijing on Saturday.

A structural failure related to the flaw could not only have led to a slow decompression that left the 239 passengers and crew on the missing flight unconscious, it would also have disabled satellite communications, including the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), which transmits data of the plane’s location automatically.

It would also have rendered the plane invisible to all but 'primary radar', which has a range of only 100 nautical miles.

Malaysia authorities are now saying the missing Malaysia Airlines plane flew for one hour and 10 minutes after Malaysian aviation authorities saw it vanish from radar over the South China Sea and potentially travel off course.

According to a posting on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network, the end of satellite communications would not have disabled the mobile phone network on the plane, which runs off a different communications system.

Nineteen families signed a statement saying they were able to telephone the mobile phones on the plane. While they got a dial tone, no one picked up.

The posting theorises that a structural failure fitted with much of the information know so far about the disaster of Flight MH370.

‘‘A slow decompression (e.g. from a golfball-sized hole) would have gradually impaired and confused the pilots before cabin altitude (pressure) warnings sounded,’’ it said.

‘‘If the decompression was slow enough, it’s possible the pilots did not realize to put on oxygen masks until it was too late. [It] also explains why another pilot thirty minutes ahead heard “mumbling” from MH370 pilots. (VHF comms would be unaffected by SATCOM equipment failure.).’’

The theory of how the incident may have unfolded is speculative, but the directive from the US Federal Aviation Administration is fact.

The 777-200 ER, the model operating flight MH370 was not specifically identified in the directive.

An inspection of a 14 year old Boeing 777 owned by an unnamed airline uncovered a 16-inch crack, the FAA found.

‘‘We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 777 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of cracking in the fuselage skin underneath the satellite Communication (SATCOM) antenna adaptor.

‘‘This proposed AD would require repetitive inspections of the visible fuselage skin and doubler if installed, for cracking, corrosion, and any indication of contact of a certain fastener to a bonding jumper, and repair if necessary. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct cracking and corrosion in the fuselage skin, which could lead to rapid decompression and loss of structural integrity of the airplane.’’

The FAA directive called for additional checks to be incorporated into the routine maintenance schedule of the worldwide 777 Boeing fleet.

The flaw was first identified on June 12, 2013. Comment was sought from airlines and the manufacturer by November but the final airworthiness directive was not issued by the FAA until February 18.

According to a Malaysia Airlines spokesman, the missing aircraft was serviced on February 23, with further maintenance scheduled for June 19.

Whether the directive was picked up by the airline remains unknown.

A Boeing spokeswoman told Fairfax Media it was up to individual airlines to follow the directive, not the manufacturer.

Despite both the Boeing 777 and Malaysia Airlines having good safety records, there have been other incidents which could prove relevant during the investigation of the disappearance.

In 2005, a 777 operated by Malaysia Airlines suffered problems with its autopilot system on a flight between Perth and Kuala Lumpur.

It led to the plane pitching up into a sudden 3000-foot climb, almost causing the plane to stall.

The problem led to another airworthiness directive to correct a computer fault that had been found on 500 Boeing 777s.

Airworthiness directives are commonplace, similar to car recalls.

In the majority of cases, airlines are told to look for and correct the fault, if found, during maintenance.

While investigators from Malaysia and the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington search for the plane's black box, they will also be able to glean vital information from a live-data stream broadcast during the flight.

Known as Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, it is the equivalent of an "online black box".

However James Healy-Pratt, an aviation lawyer who has represented bereaved families in other air accidents, warned they face a long wait before the original black boxes are recovered.

A Boeing spokesman said it was working with the NTSB as a technical adviser.

"The team is now in position in the region to offer whatever assistance is required."

The company declined to comment further.

- with the Telegraph, London


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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-us-issued-warnings-over-boeing-777s-20140312-hvhqz.html#ixzz2vkLJH9LI

Ever heard the "Tickle your arse with a feather?" joke?
That's what it looks like.

:lol: