Missing Malaysian Airliner Linked to Al Qaeda?

[longknife]

I'm not gonna tell ya, Told ya so! But, from the very beginning, this has been in the back of my mind. And that they've spent all that money searching in the middle of nowhere is something I shake my head at. Want to hear a good one? A Mexican psychic claims she has seen the passengers of that place in a cold, icy cave. Now, where could that be?

Eleven terrorists with links to Al Qaeda have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the disappearance of MH370

Suspects were arrested in the capital Kuala Lumpur and the state of Kedah

Said to members of violent new terror group said to be planning attacks

Interrogations came after demands from agencies including FBI and MI6

Manifest revealed presence of consignment but did not reveal its contents

Airline has admitted 200kg of lithium batteries was among the items

It refused to say what else, citing 'legal reason' related to 'ongoing' probe

Read more: What haven't we been told about the cargo on MH370? | Mail Online

 

[waltky]

Airliner not in area searched...

WHAT'S NEXT IN THE STALLED HUNT FOR FLIGHT 370?
May 29,`14 -- Thursday marked a bleak moment for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. For the first time since it disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board, no one is looking for it.

An unmanned sub that spent weeks scouring the area of the Indian Ocean where searchers had detected acoustic signals they hoped were from the aircraft finished its work Wednesday, after finding nothing. Australian officials leading the search acknowledged that the area can be ruled out as the aircraft's final resting place. A civilian expert with the U.S. Navy told CNN that the "pings," detected about a month after Flight 370 disappeared, probably were not from the jet. A Navy spokesman later said the comments were premature, but now that 850 square kilometers (330 square miles) of ocean floor have been thoroughly searched, the point may be moot.

Australian and Malaysian authorities still believe the plane is somewhere in a broader expanse of ocean close to where they had been searching. They released details this week of satellite contact with the jet that led them to that conclusion. Answers to the tragic mystery appear to be months away - at best. Here are details about where the search stands:

Australian navy ship Ocean Shield lies docked at naval base HMAS Stirling while being fitted with a towed pinger locator to aid in her roll in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in Perth, Australia. A U.S. Navy spokesman on Thursday, May 29, 2014 dismissed as "speculative and premature" an American expert's reported comments that the acoustic "pings" at the center of the search for the missing Malaysian plane did not come from the jet's black boxes.

Q: IF THE PINGS WERE NOT FROM THE PLANE, HOW DOES THAT AFFECT THE SEARCH?

A: Given that the head of the search operation, Angus Houston, once dubbed the pings the "most promising lead" in the hunt for Flight 370, a determination that they were unrelated would be a huge disappointment. But it wouldn't change the direction of the search. Officials have already been planning to move beyond the search area centered on the pings to a far larger search zone, which was calculated based on an analysis of satellite data. That plan remains in place.

---

Q: WHY IS NO ONE SEARCHING FOR THE PLANE NOW, AND WHEN WILL THE SEARCH RESUME?

A: The Bluefin 21, the unmanned sub that scoured the ocean floor for several weeks, finished its search on Wednesday. Officials now must find a vessel that can go even deeper than the Bluefin to survey the expanded search zone, parts of which have never been mapped and where the maximum depth remains a mystery. Officials must organize contracts for the new equipment with a private company. The Joint Agency Coordination Center, which is heading up the search effort, said the new search involving powerful towed side-scan commercial sonar equipment will begin in August.

Q: HOW BIG IS THE SEARCH AREA NOW, AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR THE NEW EQUIPMENT TO COVER IT?

 

[bianco]

Airliner not in area searched...

WHAT'S NEXT IN THE STALLED HUNT FOR FLIGHT 370?
May 29,`14 -- Thursday marked a bleak moment for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. For the first time since it disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board, no one is looking for it.

An unmanned sub that spent weeks scouring the area of the Indian Ocean where searchers had detected acoustic signals they hoped were from the aircraft finished its work Wednesday, after finding nothing. Australian officials leading the search acknowledged that the area can be ruled out as the aircraft's final resting place. A civilian expert with the U.S. Navy told CNN that the "pings," detected about a month after Flight 370 disappeared, probably were not from the jet. A Navy spokesman later said the comments were premature, but now that 850 square kilometers (330 square miles) of ocean floor have been thoroughly searched, the point may be moot.

Australian and Malaysian authorities still believe the plane is somewhere in a broader expanse of ocean close to where they had been searching. They released details this week of satellite contact with the jet that led them to that conclusion. Answers to the tragic mystery appear to be months away - at best. Here are details about where the search stands:

Australian navy ship Ocean Shield lies docked at naval base HMAS Stirling while being fitted with a towed pinger locator to aid in her roll in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in Perth, Australia. A U.S. Navy spokesman on Thursday, May 29, 2014 dismissed as "speculative and premature" an American expert's reported comments that the acoustic "pings" at the center of the search for the missing Malaysian plane did not come from the jet's black boxes.

Q: IF THE PINGS WERE NOT FROM THE PLANE, HOW DOES THAT AFFECT THE SEARCH?

A: Given that the head of the search operation, Angus Houston, once dubbed the pings the "most promising lead" in the hunt for Flight 370, a determination that they were unrelated would be a huge disappointment. But it wouldn't change the direction of the search. Officials have already been planning to move beyond the search area centered on the pings to a far larger search zone, which was calculated based on an analysis of satellite data. That plan remains in place.

---

Q: WHY IS NO ONE SEARCHING FOR THE PLANE NOW, AND WHEN WILL THE SEARCH RESUME?

A: The Bluefin 21, the unmanned sub that scoured the ocean floor for several weeks, finished its search on Wednesday. Officials now must find a vessel that can go even deeper than the Bluefin to survey the expanded search zone, parts of which have never been mapped and where the maximum depth remains a mystery. Officials must organize contracts for the new equipment with a private company. The Joint Agency Coordination Center, which is heading up the search effort, said the new search involving powerful towed side-scan commercial sonar equipment will begin in August.

Q: HOW BIG IS THE SEARCH AREA NOW, AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR THE NEW EQUIPMENT TO COVER IT?

Many Aussies are questioning the cost of further searching.
However, with Aussies not being 'quitters' and there having been Aussies on the plane, the govt seems determined to leave no ocean floor unsearched.

Wonder what happened about that underwater image the man showed that sure looked like the missing plane could be just off Malaysia or wherever and in shallow water?

I'm still 'troubled' by the fact that the phones were ringing days after the supposed crash.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

We should ask Val Jarrett what she knows since she stepped in for OBL

 

[Bill Angel]

One factor attributable to human error that may have contributed to causing the loss of this aircraft is the phenomena known as "spatial disorientation". This phenomena has been linked to the crashes of a number of commercial aircraft. Spatial disorientation can especially be a problem with flights at night over water, which was the situation with the Malaysian flight.

See: Spatial Disorientation Accidents in Large Commercial Airplanes: Case Studies and Countermeasures

One possible scenario is that the plane was either hijacked or deliberately taken off course by a crew member, and whoever was then flying the plane experienced "spatial disorientation" which resulted in the crash of the plane into the ocean.

 

[HenryBHough]

One factor attributable to human error that may have contributed to causing the loss of this aircraft is the phenomena known as "spatial disorientation". This phenomena has been linked to the crashes of a number of commercial aircraft. Spatial disorientation can especially be a problem with flights at night over water, which was the situation with the Malaysian flight.

See: Spatial Disorientation Accidents in Large Commercial Airplanes: Case Studies and Countermeasures

One possible scenario is that the plane was either hijacked or deliberately taken off course by a crew member, and whoever was then flying the plane experienced "spatial disorientation" which resulted in the crash of the plane into the ocean.

Overwater at night, especially on a cloudy night, is a bitch. Been there; done that. Excellent AOPA magazine article some 20 years ago titled (approximately) "Exit The Graveyard Spiral".

It's especially lethal for low-time pilots like young Kennedy who got brave and tried to fly his wife to The Vineyard on a direct route.

With two experienced ATR pilots and a host of instruments the odds of it happening are small but the mental effects of what the body is telling you, even then, can override the best training.