trailboss99

Yes, but were they equipped with the VHF version or the Satellite version? if the former it could well have been yelling it's head off with no one to hear it scream (so to speak). Same goes for the ADS-B, sat or VHF? The sat versions of both should have been mandatory a long, long time ago.

NewbieRunner

Live commentary from the press conference with Malaysian aviation authorities on the Guardian website.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...continues-live

hanmer

From the MH press conference, via the BBC

"Authorities are also investigating two men who boarded the missing plane on Italian and Austrian passports stolen in Thailand years ago.

Malaysian police said one of the two had been identified as a 19-year-old Iranian man who they believe was hoping to settle in Germany and was not likely to belong to a terrorist group."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26513077
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26525281
Bri

WingWise

Finding no trace of MH370 is very frustrating for everyone. If the aircraft is not at, or near, the end of the radar track, then what are the possible scenarios?

1) Uncommanded forward flight - some sort of rapid system failure that incapacitated the flight crew, and failed electrical systems (to include the transponder), but allowed the aircraft to continue on a straight, or altered path, that could have taken it 100's or 1,000's of miles from current search area, until it eventually descended to the ocean/ground.

2) Commanded forward flight - A) again some sort of system failure that disables comms/transponder, but the crew is able to maneuver for an initial period, and fly some distance, possibly back towards KUL, or, B) some sort of hijacking gone awry, where hijackers disabled radios/transponders and tried to take control of the aircraft, but then lost control at some point (again 100's or 1,000's of miles away).

Once MH370 is located, the answer/cause will be determined in due time.

Unfortunately, perhaps MH370 is hundreds/thousands of miles away, in any direction, from the current search areas. This would present a daunting task on where to look.

deant

Would not the line of sight of a VHF receiver be about 240 miles or so assuming the aircraft was at 39,000 ft? I admit that the calculation is probably not considering weather etc., but it should give a reasonable approximation.

LH738

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...continues-live
“We are looking into four areas: one, hikacking, two sabotate, three psychological problems of the passengers and crew and four personal problems among the passengers and crew.”

“We are going through all the passenger manifests and our counterparts in at least 14 countries...and also from other parts of the world.”

NewbieRunner

From the Guardian live commentary of the press conference:

"We have identified an Iranian by the name of Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad. He is 19 years old and he is an Iranian, we believe that he is an Iranian."

"We believe that he is trying to migrate to Germany."

"The police chief said they are in contact with Mehrdad’s mother in Frankfurt, who was waiting for him to arrive:"


"Somebody there on the flight who has bought huge sums of insurance who wants the family to gain from it."

"Yeah we are looking into all possibilities."


"The police chief has also contradicted the earlier statement made by Malaysia’s aviation chief on Monday that five people did not board the plane. In no uncertain terms he said:

"There is no such thing as five person who did not board the plane. There is no such thing."

NewbieRunner

• The missing plane may have tried to head to another airport, according to an announcement from Malaysia airlines on Tuesday. The search area has again been expanded as it entered a fourth day.
  
• There has been no confirmation of any findings of debris. Earlier reports from Vietnamese authorities of debris were not substantiated.
  
• The United Nations Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation has asked nuclear experts to check for any evidence of an explosion in relation to the missing plane.

ashkale

Watching this moronic PC Reinforces my theory that MAS/ Malaysian govt approved bare minimum safety standards for airlines operating out of Malaysia, now they got found out which also exposed the ATC capabilities of this country, they cant stand up and say sorry we removed all the safety features except the bare minimum,
Another disaster is playing on the ground with these regular "pressed conferences". can they just do media releases in the future.

WindowSeat123

The live press conference in Malaysia is now showing the photo of one of the passenger with the stolen passport. Can't really see clearly, only that its a man, wearing what seem to be a dark coloured short-sleeve shirt and also carrying a handbag. The TV news report just repeated that he is an Iranian seeking asylum.

trailboss99

The effective range of VHF is a huge variable and I'd hesitate to give a definitive answer. I have had VHF comms airborne over far greater distances than that in freak conditions than that in the past but yes, that is close to the expected limit in "average" conditions. The fact that in this day and age VHF is still the norm for commercial aviation coms is regrettable IMHO. We have a world wide net of satcom and that should be the norm with both VHF and HF as backup. Penny pinching is costing valuable info and in some cases lives.

hanmer

Thanks for that. Just to clarify, the quote down to the Iranian males mother waiting for him was separate from the insurance policy quote, it was not referring to the Iranian male.

The insurance policy quote was in response to a question from a Sky news journalist, when the chief of police mentioned that there were three options Sabotage, terrorism or a psychological issue of the passengers or a crew member. The sky news journalist pressed him on the last point an the police chief made the quote above. However the Gaurdian left out a key word that the police chief said

"PERHAPS somebody there on the flight who has bought huge sums of insurance who wants the family to gain from it."

No source yet, just saw the sky news journalist live explaining the question he posed and the answer given.

Bri

mbece

While here in this forum we're trying to keep discussion from suggesting explanations that have no basis yet the police is looking into, what would seem to me, a very implausible motiv. Not impossible, but at least from the information made available, sounds unlikely -of course, they may have information that indicates otherwise.

I know neither the airline, nor the governments from the countries with stakes on the issue have all the information we'd like, but their management of the situation has been very opaque from the beginning. I'm not saying they are intentionally trying to hide something but that I expected the SAR efforts to be more transparent.

Polomarc

In the Guardian one of the summaries mentions that"The United Nations Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation has asked nuclear experts to check for any evidence of an explosion in relation to the missing plane." Why nuclear experts, are they specialized in general explosives?

hanmer

I agree, see my post above that the police chief was slightly mis quoted and began this quote with the word prehaps. It seems that he is speculating. The problem is a senior official should be sticking to facts so there is no misunderstanding.

Bri