Malaysia Airlines 'loses contact with plane'

[basti08]

The Chinese people seems to be insinuating that there's cover up from the Malaysian Airlines and the Malaysian authorities. Urging them (the Malaysian Airlines) to "disclose" the "truth".

Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Passengers' Mobile Phones Ring But Not Answered

I dunno, but details by way it is being released by the Malaysian authorities and kinda rough around the edges (4 days late w/ regards to the turning around scenario of the plane, thus searching the Gulf of Thailand is utterly useless) as if they are trying to construct a dead end to all possible leads.

[Monseratto]

Na kuryente na naman...

Malaysia air force denies tracking missing jet to Strait of Malacca | Reuters

Malaysia air force denies tracking missing jet to Strait of Malacca
KUALA LUMPUR Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:48am IST

(Reuters) - Malaysia's air force chief denied a media report that the military last tracked a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner over the Strait of Malacca, far from where it last made contact with civilian air traffic control when it disappeared four days ago.

"I wish to state that I did not make any such statements," air force chief Rodzali Daud said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping channels, runs along Malaysia's west coast. The airline said on Saturday the flight, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, last had contact off the northeast Malaysian coastal town of Kota Bharu.

[BratPAQ]

Di naman bago ang pagtatakip ng Airlines ng mga facts sa ganitong insidente, marami nang Airlines na nagsara or nawalan ng lisensya maghatid sa isang bansa dahil sa mga aksidente.

I think ang imbestigasyon eh dapat gawin at pamunuan ng ibang ahensya at hindi yung may stake dito.

Posted via Tsikot Mobile App

[greenlyt]

Na kuryente na naman...

Malaysia air force denies tracking missing jet to Strait of Malacca | Reuters

CNN also reported the plane may have gone off course as quoted by a senior Malaysian air force official

Mystery Malaysia flight may have been hundreds of miles off course - CNN.com

It was 1:30 a.m. when Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 lost all communications, including important transponder signals that send data on altitude, direction and speed. Still, it showed up on radar for about 1 hour, 10 minutes longer -- until it vanished, having apparently moved away from its intended destination, hundreds of miles off course.
Those details -- told to CNN by a senior Malaysian air force official, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media

ngayon sino kaya nagsasabi ng totoo

[Monseratto]

Philippine tourist arrivals was 4.7 million in 2013.

Foreign tourist arrival to Malaysia not affected by MH370 incident
MARCH 11, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — Foreign tourist arrival to Malaysia including from China has not been affected by the missing MH370 flight incident.

A random survey by Bernama following the incident, found that business at most tour and travel agencies around the city was brisk as usual.

Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (Matta) president Hamzah Rahmat said feedback from association members showed no record of flight reservation cancellations by both inbound and outbound tourists.

“But we will observe and provide updates on any cancellation. Everything is normal so far,” he told Bernama.

Hwajing Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd assistant manager Mai Lim said the agency continued to receive flight reservation requests particularly from China.

“The latest we received was today, for a flight from Beijing to Malaysia tomorrow (March 12),” she said.

AAM Travel Sdn Bhd marketing executive Shahira Johari told Bernama that none of their customers called to cancel their bookings.

“All prior reservations remain intact. In fact, this March 28-31, a group of 31 people will be going to Guangzhou, China on holiday,” she said.

MJ Travel Sdn Bhd reservations staff Emily Chia Lee Hooi said the company had also not received any cancellation requests.

“So far, no one has cancelled their reservations or our tour guide services,” she said.

Meanwhile, Directlink Travel and Tour Sdn Bhd manager Dickie Leow said only five tourists from Beijing cancelled their April flight reservations to Malaysia following the incident.

“Reservations are also at a slow pace, but it is probably because holidaymakers are anticipating the Matta Fair 2014 on March 14-16 to get better deals,” he said.

On the Matta fair, Hamzah said preparations were being finalised.

“Tour operators from China will take up 10 of the booths at the fair,” he disclosed.

Twenty eight million visitors are targeted for ‘Visit Malaysia 2014’, which would potentially generate a revenue of RM76 billion for the country. — Bernama

- See more at: Foreign tourist arrival to Malaysia not affected by MH370 incident | Travel | The Malay Mail Online

[boybi]

Is there a possibility that MH370 never really took off? And MAS and/or the Malaysian gov't are covering this up? Cellphones of passengers ring when called. This can't happen if the airplane crashed in the sea, walang signal dun.

[Monseratto]

It must have crashed within range of cell towers...most probaly over or near land. Suprised why they haven't tried locating those phones.

[niky]

Ah, since bago ka palang dito, eh let me tell you who OB is.

He is the intellect wonder of tsikot. He dwells on middle earth. He fantasizes unicorns. He loves going to the gym and being fit. Also, he likes guys, hahaha! In short, si OB ang nag-iisang mascot ng tsikot nung nandito siya

He likes driving fit? (read into that what you will... or read it backwards...)

It must have crashed within range of cell towers...most probaly over or near land. Suprised why they haven't tried locating those phones.

That's pretty much what likely happened. If it crashed in the water, no cell signal... no cells. If it crashed on land or even disintegrated over land, there's a small chance some cellphones could have survived the blow-up if they fell into a dense jungle canopy.

[K.I.L.L.]

From the mercury in Australia:

AS more details emerge about missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the families of its 239 lost passengers and crew are getting fed up with the airline’s furphies.

Here are some of the conflicting statements Malaysian authorities have made, along with the rumour they’ve failed to address about Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

1. FLIGHT NOT MISSING, JUST DELAYED

Air traffic controllers apparently lost contact with flight MH370 at 2.40am on March 8 but the arrivals board at Beijing airport simply said the flight was ‘DELAYED’.

For hours relatives waiting at the destination was completely in the dark, thinking the flight was just late.

Furious family members say they found out about the disaster from the media, not Malaysian Airlines.

It wasn’t until 9.05am that Malaysian Airlines issued this statement: “We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am earlier this morning bound for Beijing.”

2. CONFLICTING REPORTS ABOUT FLIGHT PATH

Malaysia’s air force chief said Wednesday authorities have not ruled out the possibility a missing airliner inexplicably changed course before losing contact, but denied reports the jet had been detected far from its planned flight path.

“The (air force) has not ruled out the possibility of an air turn-back on a reciprocal heading before the aircraft vanished from the radar,” General Rodzali Daud said in a statement.

“This resulted in the search and rescue operations being widened to the vicinity of the waters (off the west coast of Malaysia).” But he denied a Malaysian media report on Tuesday that quoted him as saying that radar had last detected the plane over the Strait of Malacca off western Malaysia.

This comes after the Malaysian military says it has radar evidence showing missing Flight MH370 was hundreds of kilometres off course and travelling in the opposite direction to its original destination.

3. LIGHTS IN THE NIGHT SKY

Malaysian authorities are also investigating several reports of locals claiming to have seen the lights of a low-flying aircraft in an area of the Malaysian coast, just below the Malay-Thai border.

It is this area which is now included in the widened search area.

A fishermen who was in his boat at sea, says that at about 1.30am he saw the lights of a low-flying aircraft in the area of Kuala Besar.

Azid Ibrahim told The Star newspaper in Malaysia that the plane was flying so low that that the lights were “as big as coconuts”.

And another man, about 30km south of Kota Baru, is reported to have seen “bright white lights” from what he thought was a fast-descending aircraft at about 1.45am on Saturday morning.

He has since reported what he saw to authorities after seeing the lights from his home that evening.

4. WHEN WAS FINAL RADIO CONTACT?

THE pilot of a Boeing 777 flying just 30 minutes ahead of the doomed Malaysia Airlines *aircraft was the last to make contact with flight MH370.

Vietnamese air traffic control requested the pilot make contact with MH370 to relay a message to contact authorities on the ground.

The pilot, who asked to *remain anonymous, told the New Straits Times that his aircraft, bound for Narita, Japan, was able to make contact using an emergency frequency.

“We managed to establish contact with MH370 just after 1.30am and asked them if they have transferred into Vietnamese airspace.

“The voice on the other side could have been either Captain Zaharie (Ahmad Shah, 53) or Fariq (Abdul Hamid, 27), but I was sure it was the copilot.

“There were a lot of interference … static … but I heard mumbling from the other end.

“That was the last time we heard from them.

“We lost contact.”

5. THE MISSING HOUR

Some publications initially questioned the veracity of the timeline of events. Malaysia Airlines originally said the plane took off at 12.41am Malaysian time, and at 2.40am it disappeared from radar in Subang, Kuala Lumpur.

A spokesman then confirmed the last conversation took place at 1.30am between the flight crew and air traffic control in Malaysia, but reiterated the plane did not vanish from air traffic control systems until 2.40am.

After mass confusion and many conspiracy theories sprouting from the timeline discrepancy, Malaysia Airlines updated the public record to state the last time of radar tracking at 1.22am and the last contact at 1.30am

6. DID DAMAGED WINGTIP WEAKEN PLANE?

IT has emerged that the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was involved in a 2012 runway collision with another aircraft that left it with a broken wingtip.

Details of the incident at Shanghai’s Pudong airport in August 2012, in which its wingtip was broken when it hit the tail of another aircraft, emerged as one of several theories on the disappearance of the flight to Beijing, including the likelihood of an on-air bombing due to the structural strength of such an aircraft.

The theory of a possible bombing came from a leading Australian aviation analyst and chairman of Strategic Aviation Solutions, Neil Hansford — who described the Boeing 777 as the most successful and toughest twin-aisled intercontinental aircraft ever made.

What isn’t Malaysia telling us?

7. TERRORISM RUMOURS LINGERERED

Malaysian authorities activated counterterrorism units to “look at all possibilities” and maintained they were investigation two mystery men travelling on stolen passports despite one of the men’s mothers contacting authorities after he didn’t arrive at his final destination.

Two passengers on the missing flight travelling on false passports became the focus of a grim investigation as aviation and security experts claimed a bomb was the most likely cause of a crash believed to have claimed 239 lives.

After lengthy speculation about the intentions of the pair, they were last night eventually identified as asylum seekers 19-year-old Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad and 29-year-old Delavar Seyedmohammaderza.

Malaysia’s Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, said Mehrdad was travelling on a stolen Austrian passport and was planning to meet up with his mother in Frankfurt, where he is believed to have planned to seek asylum.

He said the young man’s mother had contacted Malaysian authorities to inform them of her concern when her son didn’t get in touch with her.

8. APPEARANCE OF STOLEN PASSPORT HOLDERS

Authorities claimed the two stolen passport holders — who turned out to be Iranian asylum seekers — had been of Asian appearance.

The Malaysian Home Minister that the two men were of Asian appearance before the Director-general of Malaysia’s Department of Civil aviation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, clarified that the two passengers were not Asian looking.

Asked if they looked African, Mr Rahman would not comment except to point out that footballer Mario Balotelli was Italian but was not Italian looking.


9. MYSTERY FIVE BECOMES MYSTERY FOUR

Days after the flight, mystery still surrounds the identity of four passengers who failed to board the flight.

On Monday Malaysia’s civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman told a press conference that five passengers checked in for the flight but didn’t end up boarding the plane. He was quick to assure the public their baggage was removed from the plane, in accordance with strict regulations.

However, it turns out the bags never existed in the first place because the passengers never made it to the check-in desk.

We now know there were only four people — not five — who missed flight MH370.

Malaysia Airlines released a statement overnight that quashed the civil aviation body’s claim, and in the process raised a whole new series of questions over what really happened in the moments before the flight.


10. HOW SECURE WAS THE COCKPIT? POSSIBLY NOT VERY

The laid back approach to security of one of the flight’s copilots has also come under scrutiny after two women came forward to detail how he broke rules by inviting them into the cockpit during a flight in 2011.

Investigations into the copilot of the flight have discovered he once invited a Melbourne tourist and her friend into the cockpit where he smoked, took photos and entertained the pair during a previous international flight.

In a worrying lapse of security, it’s been revealed pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid and his colleague broke Malaysia Airline rules when they invited passengers Jonti Roos and Jaan Maree to join them in the cabin for the one-hour flight from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur in 2011.

Ms Roos, who is travelling around Australia, told A Current Affair she and Ms Maree posed for pictures with the pilots, who smoked cigarettes during the midair rendezvous.

Malaysia Airlines said it was “shocked” by allegations.

“Malaysia Airlines has become aware of the allegations being made against First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid which we take very seriously. We are shocked by these allegations,” a statement by the airline said.

“We have not been able to confirm the validity of the pictures and videos of the alleged incident. As you are aware, we are in the midst of a crisis, and we do not want our attention to be diverted.”

[K.I.L.L.]

I also read that the co-pilot was a ladies man from the Guardian:

Malaysian MH370 co-pilot entertained teenagers in cabin on earlier flight
Photos emerge of Fariq Abdul Hamid and colleague with two South Africans on flight in 2011 from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur
theguardian.com, Tuesday 11 March 2014 18.29 GMT

Photographs of the co-pilot of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have emerged showing him entertaining teenage tourists in an aircraft cockpit during a previous flight.

The images came to light on the day Malaysian officials said they were investigating potential "psychological problems" of the crew or passengers for possible reasons as to why the aircraft could have gone missing.

The first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, invited two South African teenagers in to the flight cabin for the entirety of a flight in 2011 from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur. He and his colleague entertained the two girls, smoked cigarettes and posed for photographs with them.

Jonti Roos, one of the passengers, told Australia's A Current Affair: "They were actually smoking throughout the flight, which I don't think they're allowed to do.

"At one stage, they were pretty much turned around the whole time in their seats talking to us. They were so engaged in conversation that he [Hamid] took my friend's hand, and he was looking at her palm and said, 'your hand is very creased – that means you're a very creative person', and commented on her nail polish."

The women were approached by an air steward as they took their seats on the flight and spent the whole of the one-hour trip, from takeoff to landing, in the cockpit with the two pilots.

Roos told the 9 Network programme she and her friend were picked out by Hamid as they waited to board the plane, and later were asked to have a night out in Kuala Lumpur in what Roos described as a "slightly sleazy" encounter.

In what is likely to be viewed as a damning reflection on Malaysian Airlines' security practices, Roos said she had come forward with the information because so little was known about what had happened to flight MH370.

"I'm really not saying that I think the co-pilot was in the wrong with this flight at all," she said. "It could have been absolutely anything. This is just the little bit of information that I have."

Hamid joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007 as a first officer, and had clocked up 2,763 flying hours by the time of the disappearance. His captain on the MH370, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, joined the airline in 1981, and had flown about 18,000 hours.

Shah was an "aviation tech geek" who spent his weekends at home going through drills on a Boeing 777 flight simulator and flying remote-controlled miniature aircraft, said colleagues.

His excellent track record with the airline has thrown doubt on pilot error as an explanation. "He knew everything about the Boeing 777," said a colleague. "Something significant would have had to happen for Zaharie and the plane to go missing. It would have to be total electrical failure."

Despite the potentially grave security lapse during Roos's flight, the South African, who lives in Melbourne, said she believed the two pilots had been "very competent in what they were doing".

"We wished they [would] stop smoking, because it is such a confined space. But you can't exactly tell a pilot to stop smoking[that]," she added.

It was only by reading messages that friends and family had posted on Hamid's Facebook wall that Roos realised he had been co-pilot on the MH370 flight.

"I was just completely shocked. I couldn't believe it," she said. "My heart really broke for them, and my heart broke for the family of the passengers. It's just a really sad story."

A statement issued by Malaysia Airlines said: "Malaysia Airlines has become aware of the allegations being made against First Officer, Fariq Ab Hamid which we take very seriously. We are shocked by these allegations.

"We have not been able to confirm the validity of the pictures and videos of the alleged incident. As you are aware, we are in the midst of a crisis, and we do not want our attention to be diverted.

"We also urge the media and general public to respect the privacy of the families of our colleagues and passengers. It has been a difficult time for them.

"The welfare of both the crew and passenger's families remain our focus. At the same time, the security and safety of our passengers is of the utmost importance to us."

I wonder if there was anyone else inside the cockpit.