MH 777 missing - MH370 media statement

[Cynicor]

"I am still perturbed. Can't these immigration officials think? Italian and Austrian (passport holders) but with Asian faces,"

Clearly the home minister thinks no Asians must hold Austrian or Italian passports!

That's pretty bizarre logic...
I've met French born Asians, Italian born Asians, pretty much every sort. I think since the whole 'boat' thing was invented we've had immigration.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Will soon

http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/travel-news/butterworth-to-close-58273.html

Well there you go. I just did a Google on Butterworth and it seems we still have a detachment of P3s there which makes the delayed response even more sad.

 

[Jack_OC]

"I am still perturbed. Can't these immigration officials think? Italian and Austrian (passport holders) but with Asian faces,"

Clearly the home minister thinks no Asians must hold Austrian or Italian passports!

To be fair, the names in this case would imply the people were ethnically Italian/Austrian - not people of Asian ethnicity with passports from those countries. Of course sometimes people of Asian appearance have European names, but I would have thought it's somewhat unusual and enough to attract a bit of scrutiny?

 

[prozac]

"I am still perturbed. Can't these immigration officials think? Italian and Austrian (passport holders) but with Asian faces,"

Clearly the home minister thinks no Asians must hold Austrian or Italian passports!

I think his comment was about having European names with Asian features.

 

[markis10]

Well there you go. I just did a Google on Butterworth and it seems we still have a detachment of P3s there which makes the delayed response even more sad.

Ats a detachment, does not mean physical presence of aircraft!

Headquartered at RAAF Base Edinburgh, No 92 Wing (92WG) has long been established as the first Maritime Wing in the history of the Royal Australian Air Force. 92 WG commands two flying squadrons, Nos 10 and 11 Squadrons, a training unit, No 292 Squadron; an operational detachment, 92WG Detachment A at Butterworth, Malaysia; and a number of operational support and development elements. Operating AP-3C and P3 Orion aircraft, 92WG’s combat roles include anti submarine and anti surface surveillance and warfare for which the aircraft are equipped with torpedoes and Harpoon anti shipping missiles. The Wing is also responsible for conducting long range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in support of Australia’s national interests worldwide. 92 WG is also responsible for search and survivor supply missions throughout Australia’s region of responsibility.

 

[markis10]

I think his comment was about having European names with Asian features.

I would imagine thats quite common these days with adoption being very popular ex Asia into western countries for some time. He obviously does not watch modern family!

 

[Jack_OC]

I would imagine thats quite common these days with adoption being very popular ex Asia into western countries for some time. He obviously does not watch modern family!

I'd say it's still very much a rarity actually. I know lots of people of Asian appearance, and I can only think of one who has a surname that does not sound Asian.

 

[legroom]

From VNExpress.net

* Two ships are at the location of the supposed sighted door as of last night (9th March)

* Malaysia is seeking permission from VN to allow its planes to fly to this location

* A possible door is sighted at 1730 (VN time, GMT + 7) yesterday [this plane carried the Navy's 2nd in command]

* Top brass is coordinating the search (Deputy PM, Deputy Head of the Armed Forces, Deputy Minister of Transport)

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I would imagine thats quite common these days with adoption being very popular ex Asia into western countries for some time. He obviously does not watch modern family!

I'd say it's still very much a rarity actually. I know lots of people of Asian appearance, and I can only think of one who has a surname that does not sound Asian.

Somewhat old school, that home minister! A mate of mine (in fact my best man at my wedding) is very Asian looking but he, and his name, is as Aussie as they come! He's 52 years old!

I have two cousins who have very much Anglo-Australian names yet they are adopted from Ethiopia and guess what? They don't have white skin!

I have two nieces who are very Asian in appearance yet they share my Anglo-Australian surname. My brother is married to an Asian lady and they are their daughters.

Name origin and physical ethnicity features stopped being a reliable indication of nationality a long time ago .

 

[RooFlyer]

I guess I'm a bit more demanding but given the plane was missing from radar and out of communications in a fairly populated area, with at the time, a belief that 7 Aussies and 2 Kiwis were amongst 239 missing people (a major incident in anyones book), just might have spurred immediate action. The Defence Force would know without hesitation which assets were available to scramble and from which bases and I believe there would be standby crew available for immediate deployment. The planes locale was also decided early on that it would most likely be over water which means a) given loss of power and gliding capabilities, there could be survivors in the water; and b) it's possibly international waters anyway, surrounded by "friendly" countries and with a flight time of about 6-7 hours out of Darwin.

Australia spends a fortune on military exercises, so even if this did turn out to be a red herring, surely such an operation can easily (and rightly) be chalked up to an exercise that possible had a real life saving purpose?

Not necessarily disagreeing with your argument, but as you observe, possibly a bit more forgiving (or "real world" ).

A military commander may (should) know what his assets and readiness is, but a prudent commander would anticipate the Minister asking "Are you SURE?" and call the base directly (or whatever the chain of command is).

And there may have been a prior commitment to Operation Sovereign Boarders which would need to be unwound (not to say they would hesitate to do so, but to say the P3s may have been in a commitment already, not just standing by).

And there is the fairly important connect between Australia and the Malaysians (or whoever is co-ordinating the search - not a single channel - see m10's comments earlier). I imagine you just don't say: "Hey, we've got 2 P3 in the air coming over.. where should they park?" There are the diplomatic niceties (I imagine) in asking the foreign country about what is needed. If the Americans had, say, just volunteered 10 P3s (or similar), then the Malaysians / the search centre may not want more. Gotta ask ... wait for the response, ... then mobilise (I stand to be corrected though).

 

[Programme]

I'd say it's still very much a rarity actually. I know lots of people of Asian appearance, and I can only think of one who has a surname that does not sound Asian.

It isn't quite as simple as that - for instance, many Filipinos have Spanish names and Macanese have Portuguese names. It may not be apparent to someone unfamiliar with these languages whether a name is Spanish or Italian. Thais and Indonesians also have names that would not immediately appear East Asian, and could easily be mistaken for something from the subcontinent. Complicating the matter is past migration though East Asia, where a majority or significant minority of the Macau, Philippine, Thai and Indonesian population originated in Southern China, and thus appear Chinese... This is before considering adoptions or people of mixed racial background.

Not all Asian names are as easy to recognise as Chinese, Korean or Japanese names.

I wouldn't say that it is a worry that they were allowed to board with Asian faces and Western passports, but it is a worry that the passports were on Interpol's database but no one bothered to check.

EDIT: I would say that the Malaysian official's comments blaming the people checking the passports is more to do with saving the face of the ministry and their security system by sacrificing the underlings, which should not come as any surprise for those familiar with Asia.

 

[drron]

To be fair, the names in this case would imply the people were ethnically Italian/Austrian - not people of Asian ethnicity with passports from those countries. Of course sometimes people of Asian appearance have European names, but I would have thought it's somewhat unusual and enough to attract a bit of scrutiny?

Well I know a fellow with a typical Asian name.People are a little surprised to then meet a 200cm Irishman.

 

[Jack_OC]

Well I know a fellow with a typical Asian name.People are a little surprised to then meet a 200cm Irishman.

Yeah as I said I know one person with a similar story (in reverse). I also said in my first post on this issue that this does happen. However, it's not common, and therefore it's something that I would expect to prompt some scrutiny. If it turned out that the passport was legit and the guy was among the <0.001% (or whatever) of Italians with Italian names but Asian features, then great, but he wasn't

 

[Sprucegoose]

Well I know a fellow with a typical Asian name.People are a little surprised to then meet a 200cm Irishman.

Paddy Kim?

 

[markis10]

Paddy Kim?

Reminds me of a certain ad, although Scot rather than Irish!

[video=youtube;4h3ewZxrqU4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h3ewZxrqU4[/video]

 

[Princess Fiona]

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the stolen passports thing is a massive red herring. No-one has claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack. I think there a lot of flights with passengers transiting with stolen and forged passports. I don't believe this is restricted to KL.
As for the checking of passports that's hardly foolproof. I myself have had two passport bloopers. I landed at LAX once without a valid visa or ESTA (genuine mistake). A few years ago the Aussie dept. of Immigration suspended my visa application as I was offshore when in fact I had re-entered the country 6 months previously at SYD on a UK passport.

Here's hoping they find the wreckage soon

 

[RooFlyer]

Well, let me ask the question (don't think answer has been mentioned up thread).

Do Australian emigration authorities check the Interpol "passports database" for outbound and inbound pax? I won't ask how - but are one of the 'pure'?

 

[dajop]

The other thing about the passports, is it not conceivable given that the ex-KUL tickets were purchased in Thailand, that the passengers travelled to KL under their real passports, and only presented the stolen ones at the transfer counter? Therefore immigration may not have processed them at all.

In any event, I agree with PrincessFiona and others that this may be a red herring, much more probable that it related to something like people smuggling. I guess though in the absence of more concrete information about what happened, rightly or wrongly it provides a focal point for speculation in both social and traditional media.

 

[JohnK]

No idea - is that a TV series? We all have our personal belief systems that makes life workable for us. I like mine, as it takes away a lot of stress over safety issues. Not that I throw myself over cliffs or choose Afghanistan as a holiday destination.

It was a series of movies about people who somehow escaped death when they were supposed to die and then dying one by one I unusual circumstances.

I don't think there is anything wrong with your beliefs. Personally I believe our lives are pre-ordained and while we have free will major events are beyond our control.

 

[Warks]

The Murdoch press is keeping up the wild speculation and are now calling it the "ghost flight".

They do have an article about planes that disappeared never to be found though. They have omitted the one mentioned earlier in this thread though.

I have read about the STENDEC message - very eerie. At least they did find that one, albeit 50 years later.

Ghost flights: The planes that disappeared just like Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 | News.com.au