Malaysian Airlines B777 still missing

[Marcel]

In the dutch news was that a Chinese plane possibly found wreckage in the south indian Ocean, aproximately where satelites earlier found floating objects. Also the pilot seems to have been practicing dificult landings on islands in that area on his flightsimultator at home.

 

[bobbysocks]

according to cnn it has been determined it went down in the southern indian ocean....although no debris has been found or recoverd yet. ??

Flight 370 passenger's relative: 'All lives are lost' - CNN.com

 

[bobbysocks]

You just don't take a plane the size of a 777 and re-paint it - even if you want to use it for a one way trip. There are weight and balance considerations and I doubt you'll find anyone dumb enough to try to fly the aircraft from a take off to attack a target on a suicide mission if the aircraft was re-painted with "brush and rollers." You'll need ground support equipment, tow bars, tugs, etc. Above 18,000 feet you're in class "A" airspace and unless you're on a flight plan you're going to become an immediate bogey. 911 was a better plan....

i trust your assessment but i also know when USAir became USAirways they come up with a new paint scheme ( basically the reverse of the united colors as wolf was trying to work that merge back then). the first ones ( 737s...DC8s..and F100s ) were sent to texas. they were scuffed and sprayed and came back looking really nice. but when it got close to the deadline they were painting them with rollers in the hangars....and it looked like it. far away it was presentable but close up not so good. the mechanic i talked with told me how much weight it added ( i have since deleted that infromation from my brain ). they went from the white with stripes to navy blue and gray....and i was told since the whole plane was painted the CG didnt change much but the load that could be added did by "X" number of pounds.

 

[The Basket]

according to cnn it has been determined it went down in the southern indian ocean....although no debris l]

More evidence than the aircraft is in Pakistan

 

[Marcel]

This provides more insights:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/inmarsat-missing-flight-mh370-tracked-162708166.html#3Ni3CU9

 

[fubar57]

From CBC minutes ago Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 'ended' in southern Indian Ocean, PM says - World - CBC News

Geo

 

[FLYBOYJ]

i trust your assessment but i also know when USAir became USAirways they come up with a new paint scheme ( basically the reverse of the united colors as wolf was trying to work that merge back then). the first ones ( 737s...DC8s..and F100s ) were sent to texas. they were scuffed and sprayed and came back looking really nice. but when it got close to the deadline they were painting them with rollers in the hangars....and it looked like it. far away it was presentable but close up not so good. the mechanic i talked with told me how much weight it added ( i have since deleted that infromation from my brain ). they went from the white with stripes to navy blue and gray....and i was told since the whole plane was painted the CG didnt change much but the load that could be added did by "X" number of pounds.

I question that - I worked DC-9s and B727s that were painted and depending what you were doing you would have some significant changes in CG when fully loaded. As you mentioned when you paint a large aircraft with rollers, it shows when you're up close to it.

I guess this is all hangar talk now as it seems portions of the aircraft are slowly being spotted.

 

[The Basket]

I do find it awful that the Internet can be used to spread the most insane conspiracy theories without even the merest shread of proof.
Yes...even today...no wreckage has been id and so it is all speculation.
How a modern airliner can fly so far off course is unusual to say the least.
Even using facts we have only add to a bizarre story.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

A dumb question, but where can I find information regarding the procedures of Malaysian airlines pilots? I've been speculating with some friends, but I don't want to fall into the trap of judging the possible actions by the wrong standards. I know little of the airlines safety record, policies, or how the pilots have been trained to react to emergencies. I know a little with US carriers, but not Malaysian.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I do find it awful that the Internet can be used to spread the most insane conspiracy theories without even the merest shread of proof.
Yes...even today...no wreckage has been id and so it is all speculation.
How a modern airliner can fly so far off course is unusual to say the least.
Even using facts we have only add to a bizarre story.

PERTH, Australia – The hunt for crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will resume later Tuesday after rolling seas, gale force winds and heavy rain forced the search to be suspended, authorities said.

Winds of up to 50 mph and a cloud ceiling as low as 200ft made conditions in the remote corner of the southern Indian Ocean too hazardous to allow planes and ships to search for possible debris. Weather in the zone where debris was spotted - some 1,500 miles southwest of the coast of Australia - is expected to improve, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement MH370: Debris Search to Resume Later Tuesday - NBC News

Although this "debris" has yet to be identified to the missing aircraft, I'd bet dollars to donuts its from the wreck. I'm also confident the black boxes will be found.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

A dumb question, but where can I find information regarding the procedures of Malaysian airlines pilots? I've been speculating with some friends, but I don't want to fall into the trap of judging the possible actions by the wrong standards. I know little of the airlines safety record, policies, or how the pilots have been trained to react to emergencies. I know a little with US carriers, but not Malaysian.

You're probably going to find that Malaysian airline pilots were trained to the same standards as any western nation. You could start here...

http://www.dca.gov.my/

 

[GrauGeist]

...Although this "debris" has yet to be identified to the missing aircraft, I'd bet dollars to donuts its from the wreck. I'm also confident the black boxes will be found.

They had a bit on the news this morning about the U.S. bringing in equipment that will aid in locating it. They said it should be onsite in about two weeks. The reaction to this news by some of the victim's relatives was anger because the U.S. should have done this sooner.

I feel bad for the crew and passengers of MH370, but it made me a little mad when I was hearing some of those people yelling and throwing water bottles at the reps because the U.S. wasn't there right away.

 

[bobbysocks]

now the big question is why? and who? if it was close to land i can maybe see that they had some sort of trouble and were trying to work through it. being all the way out in the middle of the ocean looks like the pilot(s) had this planned or someone else did. since no one ( at least that we know of through open source information ) claimed responsibility looks more like a "lone wolf" action.

 

[pbehn]

Hope they find the black boxes. I dunno about the images though, have they done a check on a random area of ocean, the sea is full of junk anything could look like something from a plane.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

now the big question is why? and who? if it was close to land i can maybe see that they had some sort of trouble and were trying to work through it. being all the way out in the middle of the ocean looks like the pilot(s) had this planned or someone else did. since no one ( at least that we know of through open source information ) claimed responsibility looks more like a "lone wolf" action.

Dont rule out mechanical failure yet. The aircraft went from cruising altitude to 12K, something that would be done as emergency SOP.

http://news.yahoo.com/pilots-tried-save-mh370-193000845--politics.html

 

[GregP]

The people who got mad at the USA for not being there sooner are so far off base it isn't funny. The ocean is a BIG place and the equipment is not cheap. Why send it to some point until you think that the plane may BE there? Who is going to pay for THAT? The victim's families? Yeah, right. Malayasia? They might when they have a clue about where the plane is, but nobody wants to pay to search the entire ocean area.

The USA is sitting on a lot of debt. Why should WE rush to search the oceans all by ourselves? Naturally, we aren't and many people and nations are doing what they can to find the plane, but the ocean is a BIG place as stated above.

I'm sure that once we KNOW something about the location, the search will move into the short strokes of finding it.

The Titanic sank in 1912 and wasn't found until 1985. This plane is MUCH smaller and, if you turn off the communications, isn't any better able to be located unless some lucky shot from a satellite happens to show it. If they were broadcasting a mayday, that would be different and it would already have been found.

But I have to believe that if the crew of a Boeing 777 wanted to communicate with anyone, they COULD.

This incident shows that it might be wise to put GPS information into the engine monitoring system for just such cases as this one, even if they insert it only every 5 minutes or so ... or whatever time they think will result in an acceptably short search.

 

[gumbyk]

The USA is sitting on a lot of debt. Why should WE rush to search the oceans all by ourselves? Naturally, we aren't and many people and nations are doing what they can to find the plane, but the ocean is a BIG place as stated above.

You're not. What the American media must have forgotten to state is that the Chinese are also sending equipment and ships to the region.

 

[gumbyk]

Although this "debris" has yet to be identified to the missing aircraft, I'd bet dollars to donuts its from the wreck. I'm also confident the black boxes will be found.

I'm not too confident they will. There isn't much battery life left in the 'pingers', and they could be 4 miles under water.

I hope they get lucky and I'm proven wrong, though...

 

[gumbyk]

A dumb question, but where can I find information regarding the procedures of Malaysian airlines pilots? I've been speculating with some friends, but I don't want to fall into the trap of judging the possible actions by the wrong standards. I know little of the airlines safety record, policies, or how the pilots have been trained to react to emergencies. I know a little with US carriers, but not Malaysian.

I doubt you'd find any specifics. That sort of stuff is usually proprietary information. The link FlyboyJ gave would be about the best place to start to get some idea.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

You're probably going to find that Malaysian airline pilots were trained to the same standards as any western nation. You could start here...

http://www.dca.gov.my/

Thanks.