Malaysia airlines B777 missing

[Jimbuna]

Just on local radio...search efforts are concentrated in the area of the two oil slicks.

[GoldenRivet]

The passport news is interesting.

If it were an act of terrorism, why blow up or hijack the aircraft in the middle of the ocean? Seems you would want to there to be a lot of people see the airplane explode or have them witness some sort of devastating 9/11 type attack in China. Unless they managed to hijack the aircraft and it crashed during a struggle to regain control

I can tell you it is damned hard to get into the flight deck of an airliner without just being let in freely. And i dont know how security is over there but in the US you'd have a hard time smuggling curry spice in your bag or shoes etc let alone an explosive device.

Why no terrorist groups claiming responsibility? they usually claim responsibility for every little thing whether they are responsible for it or not.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

Why no terrorist groups claiming responsibility? they usually claim responsibility for every little thing whether they are responsible for it or not.

They propably got already dozens of claims by some obscure groups, weirdos and general maniacs. That's why groups like the IRA or ETA always used code words to inform the authorities and press to emphasize their warnings and claims.
Regarding todays means of communication, I would assume that fake claims probably grew during the past years,

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

The passport news is interesting.

If it were an act of terrorism, why blow up or hijack the aircraft in the middle of the ocean? Seems you would want to there to be a lot of people see the airplane explode or have them witness some sort of devastating 9/11 type attack in China. Unless they managed to hijack the aircraft and it crashed during a struggle to regain control

I can tell you it is damned hard to get into the flight deck of an airliner without just being let in freely. And i dont know how security is over there but in the US you'd have a hard time smuggling curry spice in your bag or shoes etc let alone an explosive device.

Why no terrorist groups claiming responsibility? they usually claim responsibility for every little thing whether they are responsible for it or not.

That is the tricky thing, it certainly doesn't seem as though it was a hijacking of any sort since no beacons were activated prior to the aircraft impacting the sea, which would indicate an explosive device of some kind if this is indeed terrorism. In regards to why it detonated over the sea instead of over land, that is something that is harder to answer definitively, since we don't know the device involved, however a premature detonation is entirely possible, or perhaps incorrect timing.
However, I still can't rule out a catastrophic structural failure, despite the passport leads, when AF447 went down the crew didn't have time to broadcast any messages but the aircraft itself was still transmitting until it hit the water, for an aircraft to just suddenly stop transmitting dead mid-flight points to a rapid event...which, one hopes gave those who have lost their lives a swift exit rather than one of terror.
This reminds me more than a bit of TWA800, if I'm honest...

[Admiral Halsey]

Originally Posted by Oberon

This reminds me more than a bit of TWA800, if I'm honest...

You think the 777's might have some flaw with the fuel tank like that 747 had? Then again why the lack of debris from the flight? Even if the thing crashed into the ocean whole you'd expect some stuff to have floated to the surface by now. Something just isn't adding up and I don't like it.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

You think the 777's might have some flaw with the fuel tank like that 747 had? Then again why the lack of debris from the flight? Even if the thing crashed into the ocean whole you'd expect some stuff to have floated to the surface by now. Something just isn't adding up and I don't like it.

If they do then it'll be a first for them, the 777s have had a damn good record of service. It's not so much the cause that is bringing back memories, but the whole rapidity of the incident.

[Admiral Halsey]

Originally Posted by Oberon

If they do then it'll be a first for them, the 777s have had a damn good record of service. It's not so much the cause that is bringing back memories, but the whole rapidity of the incident.

Wasn't that crash that killed 3 last year the first time a 777 had a fatal accident? As for the whole rapidity of it this is starting to remind me of that Air France flight that crashed a few years ago. No distress signal or anything from the pilots and the plane was transmitting right until it hit the ocean.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

Wasn't that crash that killed 3 last year the first time a 777 had a fatal accident? As for the whole rapidity of it this is starting to remind me of that Air France flight that crashed a few years ago. No distress signal or anything from the pilots and the plane was transmitting right until it hit the ocean.

That was more pilot error than mechnical error, they were doing a manual landing and came in too low and slow. I mean, I'm not saying the 777 is 'unsinkable', what goes up has to come down after all, but it's been flying since '94-'95 and has only had three hull losses in that time, with only two deaths (from that Asiana flight) caused.
The Air France flight has some similarities, however the plane was transmitting until it crashed, this flight just stopped transmitting, one minute normal operations, the next gone. In that respects it's more like TWA800 and Pam Am 103, both of which were caused by completely different things, however both of which occurred so quickly that the pilots weren't able to take any action, nor was the on board equipment able to transmit any data. Whatever happened to this aircraft, it's rather likely that the hull disintegrated at 35,000 ft which means that the debris will be spread out over quite a wide area. Of course, until the data recorder is recovered, this is pure speculation, which is at this time about all we can do.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

The passport news is interesting.

If it were an act of terrorism, why blow up or hijack the aircraft in the middle of the ocean? Seems you would want to there to be a lot of people see the airplane explode or have them witness some sort of devastating 9/11 type attack in China. Unless they managed to hijack the aircraft and it crashed during a struggle to regain control

I can tell you it is damned hard to get into the flight deck of an airliner without just being let in freely. And i dont know how security is over there but in the US you'd have a hard time smuggling curry spice in your bag or shoes etc let alone an explosive device.

Why no terrorist groups claiming responsibility? they usually claim responsibility for every little thing whether they are responsible for it or not.

If it was a terror strike, then no hijack but a suicide attack, with explosives in hand luggage. Air port security is not flawless. It got reported in our newspapers yesterday that German jihadist mummies used to shuttle between Germany and Syria - with AK47 magazines, ammo and rifle scopes in their suitcases. Repeatedly. Also, many jihadist brides, age as low as 15, are flying to Syria from Germany, to serve as comfort women (and while that is reported over here, media cry crocodile tears about precious jihadist lives being used and killed as cannon fodder by Syrian jihadist veterans. I would say we are lucky they turn out the madness inside of them over there, instead of here in Germany. If they survive and return to Germany with all their additional experience in terror and fighting and indoctrination - then we have a problem with them. Not when they still are easily disposable). But I stray off. Sorry.