Kiwi Flyer

No.

If the aircraft was intact until hitting the ocean, then debris will be in a relatively small area.

If the aircraft broke up at high altitude then pieces could be scattered over a view wide area (several square miles) and therefore be very difficult to spot.

lain

I would like to correct this information but cannot edit wikipost.
In fact, the person holding the authentic passport is named YU JIAN BAO. but the one recorded with MH is ZHAO QI WEI.

aBroadAbroad

Welcome to FlyerTalk, lain

If you'll please provide a link to a source report, we can see whether there is a discrepancy in our info, and make corrections if necessary. Thanks!

lain

Sure there are source links regarding this from two rather credible HK media:

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/articl...nes-flight-has

http://news.ifeng.com/world/special/...582709_0.shtml

kcaluwae

I'm surprised as well to see you manage to get onboard with a stolen passport. If it's true that there are cases on every flight maybe it's time to do something about this...

trailboss99

I'll concede that yes but the difference that looms large in my mind is that happened in conditions heavy weather and the crew simply flew into the ocean (albeit in a stalled, high angle of attack configuration) due to icing of a pitot tube which is a far less likely occurrence on a 777. AFIK the conditions in play this time around were close to ideal flying weather.

The other difference is that the ACARS transmitted several alert messages (25 IIRC) in the last few minutes of Flight AF 447. I am assuming the 777 was ACARS equipped yet no mention of untoward messages being received has been made.

As I said earlier however the lack of debris is consistent with a high angle high speed impact of an intact aircraft, I just can not see how that would have occurred in this instance. Mind you I have been wrong before and I'll be wrong again. All we are really doing here is marking time until we know what actually happened.

FWIW one of my friends is an AF pilot (now retired) and knew the guys up front in that crash. He pretty much got the cause right before the wreckage was even found. He's scratching his head on this one bar telling me the PIC was of a very high calibre and well known in the industry.

Letitride3c

Good questions, wish I could answer that in place of what the VN Colonel gave or told the news reporter at a briefing as reported in their newspaper.

The underlying issue, I'm wondering, is the unified command and true extent of SAR coordination & cooperation, at least between Vietnam & Malaysia.

VN newspaper in fact had the Twin Otter 400's picture shown, and it is equipped with floats for water landing & takeoff - and even if low on fuel, it CAN refuel if support vessel is in the area to do it. Ditto for the chopters, also equipped with floats. Not exactly impressed with their efforts although they looked & sound to be 100% committed to finding the downed 777 - but, they are doing it so full credit for trying.

Perhaps media sources reading FT's can pose the questions at the next press briefing to the military generals or colonels if the bird's status remained missing ...

The blogs relayed by CN's Sina/Weibo indicated that the Chinese ships continued to operate & search overnight, and the guide missile destroyer on scene now (or soon) has night vision & powerful searchlights, and is self-sustaining with support functions of their own, including fueling.

Milestone

BBC interview with US Navy 7th Naval Fleet SAR who is being send to Straits of Malacca. They are equipped with radar that can image debris the size of a basketball, and has full night functional capacity.

He commented there was a well organized search by Malaysian officials with in excess of 40 ships in the area searching.

mjm

So if we assume the flight path had them heading towards VN somewhere between the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, and that a subsequent turn were commenced, and that is the reason for the look in the Malacca Strait, is not logical to be having a pretty careful look at the chunk of Malaysia it would have overflown to get that far west? Could the plane be on solid ground for example?

All of this assumes no ability for any radar to see it, no beacons telling where it is, and Malaysia not having detected it over ground. But still, if the Malacca Strait is a logical search place for whatever reason surely the part of Malaysia north of Penang and the bit of Thailand from Ko Samui down to Malaysia ids fair game as well?

dsquared37

If this did happen I'd say there's a better chance it overflew Thai airspace. And that area of Thailand (Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani) is not the most pleasant.

trailboss99

It can but not in 1.5 metre seas. Amphibian aircraft are very fragile, after all it's a plane not a boat. Even a flying boat such as a Catalina would have trouble dealing with waves that size. Swell is one thing but waves are another matter entirely. The maximum allowable wave height for a Twin Otter is 40cm, a lot less than the conditions out there today.

Kiwi Flyer

Thanks to the senior mods and everyone contributing to the wiki for their housekeeping. A sterling job so far.

AA4013

Malaysian Interior Minister just confirmed that the actual passengers using the stolen passports on the MH flight have "Asian features."

sriegert

+1

or hundreds of square miles

Annalisa12

I was thinking the same thing. Also, why would a relative want to get on a plane when their loved ones are missing because of an airplane disaster?