Good Morning!!
For completely selfish reasons I’m going to focus this post on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane mystery, because I’m obsessed with the story and I want to read about it.
A week after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared from radar, what happened is still a mystery. Where could it have gone? Early Saturday morning, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the plane was diverted off course by “deliberate action.” Faith Karimi and Barbara Starr at CNN:
“Malaysian authorities have refocused their investigation on crew and passengers aboard,” Najib told reporters. “Evidence is consistent with someone acting deliberately from inside the plane.” [….]
“Despite media reports that the plane was hijacked, we are investigating all major possibilities on what caused MH370 to deviate,” he said.
Shortly after he spoke, a source close to the investigation told CNN that Malaysian police had searched the home of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53. Shah lives in a gated community in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier Saturday there was no police presence at the residence of his co-pilot, Fariq Ab Hamid, 27.
Here’s a transcript of the Prime Minister’s statement at CNN.
From Bernama, the National News Agency of Malaysia: Cops Visit Residence Of Missing Flight’s Captain.
SHAH ALAM, March 15 (Bernama) — Police were seen arriving at the residence of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot of the Flight MH370 at about 2.42pm Saturday.
This followed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s press conference on the development of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft.
A check by Bernama noted that three plain clothed police personnel introduced themselves as coming from Bukit Aman police headquarters to the security guard manning the Laman Seri residence at Section 13 here before obtaining a security pass to go in.
It was believed that the police have conducted a search at the pilot’s house and all of them were seen leaving the residence at about 4.46pm.
From the Sydney Telegraph: Investigators digging deep into the lives of the pilots from the missing airliner.
THE psychological background, family life and connections of the two pilots aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have become a major focus of the investigation into the missing jet.
Pilots Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and Fariq Abdul Hamid have been described as respectable, community-minded men.
Mr Fariq has drawn the greatest scrutiny after the revelation that in 2011, he and another pilot invited two women boarding their aircraft to sit in the cockpit for a flight from Phuket, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur….
Fariq, the son of a high-ranking civil servant in Selangor state, joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007. With 2763 hours of flight experience, he had recently started co-piloting the Boeing 777. “His father still cries when he talks about Fariq. His mother too,” Ahmad Sarafi said.
Fariq had a brush with fame when he was filmed recently by a crew from “CNN Business Traveller,” and reporter Richard Quest described it as a perfect landing of a Boeing 777-200, the same model as the plane that vanished. Neighbour Ayop Jantan said he had heard Fariq was engaged and planning his wedding. The eldest of five, Fariq’s professional achievements were a source of pride for his father.
Zaharie, the pilot of MH370, joined the airline in 1981 and had more than 18,000 hours of experience. His Facebook page showed an aviation enthusiast who flew remote-controlled aircraft, posting pictures of his collection, which included a lightweight twin-engine helicopter and an amphibious aircraft. Born in northern Penang state, the captain and grandfather was an enthusiastic handyman and proud home cook.
Back to CNN story on the Prime Minister’s statement, linked above:
“The plane’s last communication with the satellite was in one of two possible corridors: a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, or a southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean,” Najib said.
Given that the new search area involves a number of countries, the relevant foreign embassies have been given access to the new information. Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry will brief the governments that had passengers aboard the plane and will brief the relatives of its 239 passengers and crew….
“Based on new satellite information, we can say with a high degree of certainty that the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, was disabled just before the aircraft reached the East Coast of peninsular Malaysia,” the Prime Minister said. “Shortly afterward, near the border between Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control, the aircraft’s transponder was switched off. From this point onwards, the Royal Malaysian Air Force primary radar showed that an aircraft — which was believed but not confirmed to be MH370 — did turn back.”
Military radar showed the jetliner flew in a westerly direction back over the peninsula before turning northwest toward the Bay of Bengal or southwest into the Indian Ocean, he said.
“Up until the point at which it left military primary radar coverage, these movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane,” he said, adding that investigators had confirmed by looking at the raw satellite data that the plane in question was the Malaysia Airlines jet.
American and British aviation authorities agreed with these conclusions. A story from McClatchy (via the Miami Herald) explains that an experienced person must have been flying the plane.
Najib’s comments further suggest that someone with significant flying experience must have commandeered the flight, or that a hijacker managed to coerce the crew to take two actions that diverted the flight from reaching Beijing. One involved disabling the flight’s “Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System” over the northeast coast of Malaysia. Then, at 1:21 a.m, someone turned off a transponder that was reporting the aircraft’s location, altitude, speed and other information.
Forensics work and a review of Malaysian radar, Najib said, has now revealed that MH 370 turned back and started traveling in a westerly direction. But the flight was still tracked by satellites overhead. A review of that data, Najib said, revealed that the last confirmed communication between the plane and the satellite was at 8:11 a.m. Malaysian time last Saturday, nearly seven hours after air traffic controllers lost track of it.
Based on this new data, the prime minister said, investigators think the plane could have traveled in two possible directions — “a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, or a southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian ocean.” An international search effort has already shifted its attention to those areas, he said.
That first scenario raises the possibility that a hijacker or hijackers could have attempted to land the plane and its passengers in a remote part of Central Asia known to harbor militant groups. But in an age of satellites, doing so undetected would be extremely difficult, and so far there’s been no reported claim of responsibility for the plane’s disappearance.
According to The New York Times, Search for Malaysian Jet Becomes Criminal Inquiry.
Mr. Najib’s news conference, at an airport hotel here on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, came a day after American officials and others familiar with the investigation told The New York Times that Flight 370 had experienced significant changes in altitude after it lost contact with ground control, and altered its course more than once as if still under the command of a pilot.
Military radar data subsequently showed that the aircraft turned and flew west across northern Malaysia before arcing out over the wide northern end of the Strait of Malacca, headed at cruising altitude for the Indian Ocean.
News sources indicate the plane could have kept flying as long as 7 hours after it cut off contact.
“The investigation team is making further calculations, which will indicate how far the aircraft may have flown after the last point of contact,” Mr. Najib said, reading a statement in English. “Due to the type of satellite data, we are unable to confirm the precise location of the plane when it last made contact with a satellite.”
The northern arc described by Mr. Najib passes through or close to some of the world’s most volatile countries, home to insurgent groups, but also over highly militarized areas with robust air-defense networks, some run by the American military. The arc passes close to northern Iran, through Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, and through northern India and the Himalayan mountains and Myanmar.
An aircraft flying on that arc would have to pass through air-defense networks in India and Pakistan, whose mutual border is heavily militarized, as well as through Afghanistan, where the United States and other NATO countries have operated air bases for more than a decade.
Air bases near that arc include Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, where the United States Air Force’s 455th Air Expeditionary Wing is based, and a large Indian air base, Hindon Air Force Station.
A few more articles on missing Flight 370:
WSJ: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Probe Sharpens Focus on Sabotage
The Independent: Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Plane’s communications ‘deliberately disabled’ says prime minister as new radar evidence points to hijacking
CBS News: As U.S. role expands, so do search area and suspicion of foul play
NPR: Boeing 777 Pilots: It’s Not Easy To Disable Onboard Communications
WaPo: Mystery of missing jet recalls past disappearances
Comments
59 responses to “Saturday Reads: Where is Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?”
Ah, interesting…flight path to avoid radar. Off course, to avoid detection, it would be best to go right between surveillance areas, or at the borders.
WSJ:
How Flight 370 few under the radar (WSJ video)
I’d love to know a couple of things. First, it would seem to make sense to have a transponder on a passenger jet that could not be turned off by anyone on the plane. Why would that capability be necessary on a passenger jet?
Also, and this might seem overly simplistic and show my ignorance about such things, but I wonder about tracking the cell phones of every passenger on the plane. You can find an IPhone with the Find-My-Phone app even if the IPhone is turned off.
I think a lot of people are wondering about your first question–maybe that will change.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they are trying to track passengers’ cell phones. Apparently the signals can be picked up by nearby towers.
Experts are also saying Malaysia should have had the radar info by the day 2 of this crisis.
Oh I think they knew the first day. Remember the areas that the search was being conducted. Only a small square around the site were it went missing and then the large area off to the west and north of the peninsula…I thought that was weird when I first saw that image on the BBC. I even saved it on my laptop….but trashed it the other day. It was the first graphic they used to show the areas search and the places the search was expanding to. Damn I wish I had that still.
If the plane was hijacked, the cell phones aboard are probably all disabled, with the batteries removed etc. Over the ocean there are no towers to pick up signals.
Why did the cell phones ring when relatives called them? The plane flew over land as well as sea.
The ring is not a response from the phone.
Yes, but what is it? Normally, if a phone is out of range it will go to voicemail, not keep ringing.
I have no clue why that would be the case.
Very mysterious.
Even in the US, there are still rural & wilderness areas where there is no cell phone service.
Closest thing I could find to what I was talking about. See the shaded areas. Those are the original search areas. The black outlines were where the search was extended on March 11th. All the search was on the west side of the last known contact.
My understanding is that the plane went over China and may have landed in China. I’m no good with maps, so I don’t get the point you’re making. I think I have just about zero spacial ability.
From day one they knew where the plane was going, and that it did not crash where it lost contact. All that crap about reports that it “glided” over the peninsular. I don’t think the Malaysians have been looking for a debris trail…they knew they were looking for a landed plane all along. And the map of the area when the plan first went missing just always bothered me. It would not surprise me if Malaysia concentrated their efforts on islands and land, while they had other countries waste time on the water searches.
Why would they keep it secret? The US and British would have figured it out–they did.
Shaded areas on which graphic?
Putin has completely shut down the internet in Russia and halted any pretense of free press.
With Last Media Critics Blocked, Putin Silences the Russia Press
Ugh…he is really channeling the “dictator” isn’t he, only he doesn’t have the military jacket with the medals and frilly gold trim.
No no no, JJ! He’s a “strong leader” and the right wing wishes that Obama could be just like him. Yeah, wouldn’t that be great!
Slate: Missing Airliner Apparently Flew to Central Asia. Could the Passengers Still Be Alive?
I bet the passengers are all dead, think about it. They had to do something to control them, subdue them.
“Ambiguous loss – how do you mourn a missing person?” I thought the article was interesting.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/15/the-flight-370-paradox-how-do-you-mourn-a-missing-person.html
That hurts so much. I had a very close friend, very smart, very fit, who never showed up at the end of a wilderness trip. Nothing was ever found on the search. Given the geography of the area, it was impossible to safely search everywhere, and depending on what happened the terrain might not show anything (unstable massive rockfall, for example).
In this case there is so much area and so many possibilities (nearly all bad) as to what happened to the passengers.
That is so hard. At least if you have a body, there is some resolution.
Sad.
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/16/The-faces-behind-the-names/
I agree, JJ. I think that to go to all this trouble and planning, they wanted the plane, not hostages.
How would they kill all the passengers on board a plane? Or you think they were executed after landing?
NYT: 220 ethnic Uighurs fleeing China Are Detained in Raid on a Thai Jungle Camp
Statement of the MFA of Ukraine with respect to assault landing of the Russian Armed Forces in the Kherson region on March 15
http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/news/19559-zajava-mzs-ukrajini-u-zvjazku-z-visadkoju-15-bereznya-desantu-zbrojnih-sil-rf-v-khersonsykij-oblasti
Prairie Weather: The startling weakness of Democrats
This weakness is becoming something of an obsession with me. These Senators should be ashamed of themselves.
It’s frightening.
Yes, you know that is what pissed me off about my flaming eye post from Wed. When you think back 3 years ago, we thought the dems had no balls, now it has gotten even worse.
Hard to believe, but true.
Damn it. Gun violence IS a public-health issue. Anyone working in healthcare see the injuries and fatalities. Those Dem senators are spineless. If they started fighting and stood up to these bullies –not just about gun control but about fair wages and taxing the rich, the voters would like that!
BrainsAndEggs: Wendy Davis’ new communications director
From the rest of this story, the guy has already shaken up the Capital press corps and had an effect on news coverage. Looks like he’s pretty good at ‘smashmouth’ politics.
Governors’ Revolt Against SNAP Cuts Spreads
Hope the cuts erode away to nothing!
Establishing residency with his beachside vacation home. Yeah, that’ll go over well with most voters. /s
I don’t think it will work. Jean Shaheen in pretty popular.
Good! I’m glad to hear your opinion. I’ll look forward to his trouncing.
If he loses to two women in a row, it’s going to be painful for him. LOL
9 (potentially) legitimate theories on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight
http://www.boston.com/2014/03/14/potentially-legitimate-theories-the-missing-malaysia-airlines-flight/d8siKbMiJKfKhc1TvZjtrK/story.html
I haven’t seen any professional medical articles on this, but from the lay press articles my opinion is this only happened due to lacerations allowing entry for the viral pathogen.
This is quite a contradictory policy:
Seems to me Washington state is due an explanation. Maybe someone could get Sen Patti Murray to ask for one? She should have enough clout.
So it goes. A fine bloated reward for him, and screw the pensions for employees.
Our society is so screwed!
DKos: Again? Another Koch ‘victim,’ another lie
Another anti-Obamacare ad bites the dust, this time in Arkansas. This time even the base claim is completely false.
Comedian David Brenner dies at 78
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/03/15/comedian-david-brenner-dies-at-78/
Sorry that I’m a little out of things today. Friends of mine had their teenage son hit by a 18 wheeler in a hit and run a few days ago. He died a few hours ago. The father is estranged from about everyone and I’m in the process of trying to console him and it’s not easy. If you don’t see me comment, it’s because I’m speechless atm.
Oh no! How awful. I’m so sorry, Dak.
It didn’t sound good when they got him in hospital. Buddhist friends of mine from Philadelphia since the kids were little. still think of him as a pre-schooler. I can’t imagine the agony.
That is so tragic and sad, I cannot imagine the pain they are going through either. Sorry to you too babe.
I’m so sorry, dakinikat.
So very sorry.