Malaysia Airlines loses contact with plane carrying 239 people

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

Malaysia Airlines says it has lost contact with a plane with 239 aboard enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The airline said in a statement early Saturday it was attempting to locate the Boeing 777 after it lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2:40 a.m. It was scheduled to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m.

China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported the plane was lost in airspace controlled by Vietnam, and did not make contact with Chinese air traffic controllers.

The plane is carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members. The airline said it is working with authorities to locate the plane.

Boeing said on its Twitter account it is monitoring the situation, and "our thoughts are with everyone on board."



http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03...ing-23-people/









Malaysian jet probe sharpens focus on passengers, crew as new clues emerge


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03...-indian-ocean/

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I'm reading a book called "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" right now about a member of a bomber crew who ended up on a raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean without much hope for rescue (before eventually being picked up and taken prisoner by the Japanese). I can't imagine how hopeless it must feel.

I wonder what the thought process is if you're floating around out there and see a ship, and then realize that it's Japanese? Or did they see him first?

I guess you probably have to wave them down and hope for the best, but maybe it depends on how long you've been out there. Did this guy address that in the book?

[MIAdragon]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Does a parachute fit in the carry-on measuring box?

Yes.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I wonder what the thought process is if you're floating around out there and see a ship, and then realize that it's Japanese? Or did they see him first?

I guess you probably have to wave them down and hope for the best, but maybe it depends on how long you've been out there. Did this guy address that in the book?

I haven't gotten to the rescue yet, but in the preface of the book, they see a plane flying over and launch a flare to get it's attention. The plane turns around and then they recognize it's Japanese as it comes in for it's first strafing run.

Based on the condition these guys are in after several days in the raft (there are initially 3 survivors), I suspect that they would signal to any plane flying over regardless of whether it's friend or foe.

[MIAdragon]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

smells like bullshit to me...

not sure if its bllshit, I wonder if an asset gathered this information from the jump. Not wanting to expose the asset or its abilities we sat on said info hoping it would come out through other means. Ultimately it did not thus "new data" emerges, just spitballing here.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Kman34

You know the solution to all of this is to always fly with a fully packed parachute on already. It would make interesting conversation during the flight.

Honestly, why don't people do that? Seems like you should have the option to bring your own parachute if you wanted. I guess they wouldn't want ppl to have an "escape plan" but seems like a right you should have as a passenger.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by kepp

Or a wing suit

I'd try that..

But I'd need a larger and tougher wing suit!

[MIAdragon]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Honestly, why don't people do that? Seems like you should have the option to bring your own parachute if you wanted. I guess they wouldn't want ppl to have an "escape plan" but seems like a right you should have as a passenger.

Yes thats what I want, the lunatic next to me to jump up at the first sign of turbulence throw open the emergency door and jump. Wait, maybe I do.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by MIAdragon

Yes thats what I want, the lunatic next to me to jump up at the first sign of turbulence throw open the emergency door and jump. Wait, maybe I do.

When I was in college getting my degree in aerospace, a student asked one time why the pilots of commercial planes don't have ejection seats. The professor replied that it was bad for passenger morale if they saw the pilot ejecting.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I haven't gotten to the rescue yet, but in the preface of the book, they see a plane flying over and launch a flare to get it's attention. The plane turns around and then they recognize it's Japanese as it comes in for it's first strafing run.

Based on the condition these guys are in after several days in the raft (there are initially 3 survivors), I suspect that they would signal to any plane flying over regardless of whether it's friend or foe.

Strafing a life raft? That's a low-rent move.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Strafing a life raft? That's a low-rent move.

I'm guessing that it ends up being unsuccessful since I'm almost to that point in the book and I still have 200+ pages to go. Maybe the pilot just wanted to see them dance.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Strafing a life raft? That's a low-rent move.

That was imperial Japan. They kind of get overshadowed by their friends in Europe...you know, with killing millions of Jews and all...

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I'm guessing that it ends up being unsuccessful since I'm almost to that point in the book and I still have 200+ pages to go. Maybe the pilot just wanted to see them dance.

Did he do any foreshadowing by saying that one of the other guys was wearing one of these?

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Should we read it again if we already read it twice before in this thread?

Yes, you should...

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by MIAdragon

I'm interested to see if they release this "new sat data" that allowed them to make the call that it's down.

It was not new satellite data. It was the same set of pings they had before, but one of their engineers got a wild novel idea, it seemed to pan out, they sent it off to other scientists to peer review, and when they all agreed thats when they notified Malaysia that there was no way it could have gone North.

They figured it out because of the Doppler effect. They took pings sent by the jet while it was on the ground and shortly after takeoff, and pings from 6 other 777 jets in that area on that day which all went north, to get a baseline. Then when they looked at the last couple pings, they found out that they were a few nanoseconds longer and that this extra time due to the doppler effect meant the plane was travelling away from the satellite at a much greater rate than it could have if it went north.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Yes, you should...

OK, I'll look at it.

Nope, we've seen this story a couple times before. That theory has not yet been ruled out, but it seems less likely to me than "crazy pilot", in my opinion. The major flaw in that theory is that burning planes don't fly for over 7 hours. You'd need the perfect fire that burned just enough to knock everyone out, but then somehow went out.