cjphilly

I didn't see this posted yet, but it would explain why Boeing has nothing to say on the matter:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...jets-data.html

JackTripper

Originally posted by beowl. I'd add it to the Wikipost but I don't have access.

RussianTexan

Holy moley, that's huge.

BNE2?

I wouldn't even use Facebook to find a lost puppy, let alone as a source of informative information for something so serious as we have here........I can only imagine the crap that is floating around on that site. Disgusting would be an understatement.

There may well be some questions asked of the official handling of the situation by the pertinent authorities tasked with the SAR in the wash up of all of this, but gee, I really feel for them at this point in time as the sensationalism being flung like dung to a wall by the main stream media is totally out of control. It must be so demoralising having such a huge task in front of them only to have to waste valuable time and effort in disputing 99% of the dung being flung!

I really think the Mod's here have done a wonderful job in keeping this thread as factual as possible and deleting the crap, well done guys and girls. I just hope something definitive is found soon so the loved ones of those missing don't have to be torn apart any further by the media circus. It's just so sad.

WindowSeat123

It gets more confusing by the minute doesn't it?

Cyan

Just added it. Thanks for finding the original image!

haddon90

i am not speculating what happened...but given that radius. with no radar. that is a lot of area.

cjphilly

Thanks, I somehow missed this. Scary to think how much area that covers if the plane did in fact manage to fly until it ran out of fuel

WindowSeat123

Heck, if posters here have enough trouble tracking the latest information, not knowing whether it is "fact" or "rumour", I can imagine the confusion and chaos out there on the more irresponsible online sites. At least flyertalk here tries to keep things straight. ^

Guava

The SAR is fine despite the lack of a central command. However, no amount of SAR coordination would work when they aren't even sure where the plane was last spotted with stories keep changing by the hour. The competing territorial claims are completely irrelevant here and I am unsure why you bring this topic up. The fact countries like Viet Nam which has serious dispute with China over territorial claims have no problem giving China access to their territorial waters for SAR tells me whatever issues they may have, it's been set aside for now.

The real problem here is information. You could have the entire NATO navy here with a single centralized command and it wouldn't help them if the plane actually wasn't even there at all to begin with. It shouldn't be a surprise that Viet Nam has just announced they are suspending their SAR. The fact is any country would have been fed up by now with an ever "evolving" story and changing information. It's one thing to have incomplete information - everyone expected that but to have the little amount of info you have doing "summersaults" every few hours...even the most organized military commands in this world can't deal with that. I have been following this story closely and I think the wiki in this thread should just be deleted because most of which is not even reliable anymore.

miffSC

I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments here. Having also read many of the links posted, a few I've found on my own, I find the discussion here to be very informative - and the technical posts have been worded in such a way that even I can understand and follow.

I use this forum to catch up on developing news and appreciate the images and links that have been shared by the posters. So, well done to those who have shared their thoughts and analysis.

Again, thank you to the Moderators.I know that monitoring a forum can be time consuming on the lightest of days. But you all have done an excellent job in keeping the focus of the commentary on topic.

Rifleman69

China may have found something? Anyone translate Chinese to find out what is being written along with the photos?

http://www.mod.gov.cn/hdpic/2014-03/...nt_4496593.htm

starlanet

Given the aforementioned, this search and rescue looks like much difficult than AF447...

Here are the similarities and differences between AF447 and as far as I know MH370 (important note: even if not 100% accurate, yet gives a quick idea of the challenges and issues):

Similarities

- Still missing 3 days into the search. The Air France plane was located nearly 2 years after its disappearance. Only a few pieces of the tail were retrieved a week after the crash.
- Cruising. Airliner was above sea and at cruising altitude.
- Number of passengers. MH370 had 239 and AF447 had 228, including 12 crew in both cases.
- Safety. Both the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200 and Air France Airbus A330 have outstanding safety records.
- No mayday call. Aviation experts say that is not surprising, arguing that in the event of a sudden technical problem the crew's priority is to find a solution.
- Repairs. Both jets suffered minor damage on the ground and underwent repairs. In the case of flight AF447, it was established there was no correlation with the crash.


Differences

- ACARS. The Airbus had sent 24 automatic messages listing technical "events" in four minutes through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS). The Malaysian jet was equipped with ACARS but the airline has not yet said whether any messages had been received.
- Cruise phase. Both planes were cruising when they disappeared but in the case of flight MH370, the cruise phase had just begun, meaning the captain was likely in command of the flight deck. On the Airbus, the captain was resting and only returned to the cockpit moments before the jet went down.
- Weather. Conditions appeared good on the Malaysian aircraft's path while the Air France flight encountered major turbulence.
- Radar. Flight MH370 went missing in a busy area for air traffic, likely to be well monitored as it is close to several countries. The Rio-Paris flight went down over the Atlantic, outside of radar coverage.
- Recovery. The Air France jet crashed further away from the coast and into very deep waters, a complicating factor for the investigation.
- Relevant authorities. The AF447 crashed in international waters, allowing for French investigators to take the lead. Since the MH370 has yet to be located, it is unclear whether the Malaysians, the Vietnamese or other authorities should be in charge.

Source
– Rappler.com

coastalguy

We're flying a number of transoceanic flights over the next four weeks and while I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tad anxious, the reality is that you just NEVER know when your time is going to be up. In that spirit, we're focusing on the excitement of our mini-RTW vacation and ignoring the fact that one of the transoceanic flights is OZ101 (ICN-SFO) on a 77L.

kaushik123

Using Chrome translate feature, it says :

"At 9:20 on March 11, after more than 50 hours of continuous high-speed sailing more than 1,000 nautical miles, China Jinggangshan navy ship arrived at the Gulf of Thailand 马航飞 aircraft lost contact with suspected sea, and before the ship arrived in Mianyang, along with search and rescue operations. 9:40, found a ship suspected of Jinggangshan red life jacket, immediately dispatched rubber boats fishing. (Qian Xiaohu Gan Chun Ho, Yuan Yu Wenjiang)"