MH 777 missing - MH370 media statement

[markis10]

Seriously though there was a small turn noted, which may put their final landing place far from where everyone is looking.

The turn is actually flight planned, how much the turn differed from that plan is a question.

 

[JessicaTam]

Good grief people. So after September 11, people with middle eastern appearance have been targeted for extra security checks, and now you want to scrutinise anyone whose name does not match their passport nationality? :shock:

FWIW, I believe that only the UK and USA make regular use of the Interpol passport database.

 

[prozac]

The captains both wanted to defect to North Korea, did a brief turn back to confuse everyone, dropped town to below radar detection level, turned off the transponders, and are now safely on the ground in pyong yang (?)
Unless you believe in alien abduction.
Seriously though there was a small turn noted, which may put their final landing place far from where everyone is looking.

They were requested by ex-PM Harold Holt who wants to learn to fly.
As a young engineer-cadet based in Singapore in the '70s I met my first spy ...really. He looked to be Korean (if I don't offend anyone) and asked if I knew HH. I said of-course I did, HH was our ex-PM who drowned a few years earlier. He responded, "No, HH is alive and living in N. Korea." True story.

So, flying lessons.

 

[Rallo]

They were requested by ex-PM Harold Holt who wants to learn to fly.
As a young engineer-cadet based in Singapore in the '70s I met my first spy ...really. He looked to be Korean (if I don't offend anyone) and asked if I knew HH. I said of-course I did, HH was our ex-PM who drowned a few years earlier. He responded, "No, HH is alive and living in N. Korea." True story.

So, flying lessons.

Sorry Prozac but that is a bloody long swim!

 

[QF WP]

Reviewing this story: Stolen passports booked onto second flight - Yahoo!7, what concerns me are these comments in the story: "Interpol confirmed that "at least two passports" recorded in its Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database" and ""The Austrian and Italian passports were added to Interpol's SLTD database after their theft in Thailand in 2012 and 2013 respectively," it said in a statement."

Why didn't they use Interpols service?? Too costly - too few "hits"? (Thanks JessicaTam for your comment above)

But would clever terrorists have had the through bookings to AMS and CPH to draw away attention that they were on a one-way mission? Cost is less of an imperative to a successful mission...

 

[amaroo]

This guy has strong views on the mystery...

Chinese radar expert has doubts that Malaysian airliner simply 'vanished' | South China Morning Post

""Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 could not just "disappear", a Chinese military radar expert said yesterday, and asked whether Vietnamese authorities were withholding crucial information or if staff had "neglected their duty".

If the plane's black box can be found, investigators should examine whether there was any delay in the rescue operations, according to the radar expert.

"Radars have no blind spot on the ocean. After an accident, radar data should provide a fairly accurate estimate on the plane's final location," he said.

"There has been very little transparency with the information. This is murder to survivors," he added.""

 

[Rox]

I would like to think that someone investigated more into how the passports were stolen.
The Italian was quoted as saying he left it as a deposit on a motorbike, and when he returned, was told it had been given to a man who claimed to be his husband.
Seems too easy.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...nces-in-thailand/story-fnizu68q-1226849959855

 

[DrA]

The identity discussion is perhaps a thread seperate to MH370 discussion, but my favourite anecdote is me being told (on several times):

"Oh but you don't speak with an {insert confused persons expectations} accent"..

*sigh*

I get this occasionally when I'm travelling on my UK passport. "But you don't have an English accent". Well no, I've lived in Australia most of my life. But do they ever look at the "Place of Birth" on my photo page?

 

[Fleetz]

4 people evidently checked in for flight MH370 yet failed to board the plane? Their baggage was off loaded before the flight and screened with nothing suspicious found. Why would you check your bags in and not board the aircraft? Strange....

 

[SamR]

Can we get back to having some good old fashioned conspiracy theories - I'm sure AFF will put up a prize for the best one. Or perhaps a separate thread?

Well, @flyingwithfish over at Twitter is saying that he's been speaking with US Homeland Security people and says that they "continue to believe it’s more than likely that the #MH370 flight crew was in on whatever happened" and that things are leaning towards state sponsored activities. He says "The theory I have been listening to all day from a government agency is just mind blowingly inconceivable, except it makes sense", which is often the hallmark of a good conspiracy theory, no?

 

[markis10]

This guy has strong views on the mystery...

Chinese radar expert has doubts that Malaysian airliner simply 'vanished' | South China Morning Post

""Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 could not just "disappear", a Chinese military radar expert said yesterday, and asked whether Vietnamese authorities were withholding crucial information or if staff had "neglected their duty".

If the plane's black box can be found, investigators should examine whether there was any delay in the rescue operations, according to the radar expert.

"Radars have no blind spot on the ocean. After an accident, radar data should provide a fairly accurate estimate on the plane's final location," he said.
"There has been very little transparency with the information. This is murder to survivors," he added.""

I would question the term "expert" in this case, to say radar has no blind spots over the ocean is very much false. Radar is a LOS technology, and cannot penetrate the ocean or the earth, so earth curvature naturally gives you a blind spot. Radar also travels limited distance, for instance there is no coverage all the way to NZ etc. It also depends on what type of radar, SSR requires a transponder to see a location.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

4 people evidently checked in for flight MH370 yet failed to board the plane? Their baggage was off loaded before the flight and screened with nothing suspicious found. Why would you check your backs in and not board the aircraft? Strange....

This happens all the time! people get caught up in the lounge, or eating in a restaurant, they forget the time, they make a mistake on the departure time, any number of reasons. Any regular traveler would know this happens often.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Well, @flyingwithfish over at Twitter is saying that he's been speaking with US Homeland Security people and says that they "continue to believe it’s more than likely that the #MH370 flight crew was in on whatever happened" and that things are leaning towards state sponsored activities. He says "The theory I have been listening to all day from a government agency is just mind blowingly inconceivable, except it makes sense", which is often the hallmark of a good conspiracy theory, no?

is there any reason to believe this guy actually knows ANYTHING at all?

 

[drron]

Good grief people. So after September 11, people with middle eastern appearance have been targeted for extra security checks, and now you want to scrutinise anyone whose name does not match their passport nationality? :shock:

FWIW, I believe that only the UK and USA make regular use of the Interpol passport database.

The initial press release from Interpol on this matter said that 250 million requests a year from the US,120 million from the UK and 50 million from the UAE per year.These 3 made up over 50% of the requests.
N2014-038 / 2014 / News / News and media / Internet / Home - INTERPOL

 

[DrA]

I'll throw one out there...

I've been accused of secretly working for ASIO before because I travel to a lot of developing countries. Clearly that means I'm a spy. So really, it's probably someone on AFF or FT regular with an epic mileage bank who's secretly a spy who created this incident to cause mass confusion over airspace ownership. Because why else would this happen right on the intersection of multiple airspace boundaries?

No? I need more coffee.

 

[dajop]

This happens all the time! people get caught up in the lounge, or eating in a restaurant, they forget the time, they make a mistake on the departure time, any number of reasons. Any regular traveler would know this happens often.

Or for midnight departures, fall asleep somewhere.

 

[Jack_OC]

Good grief people. So after September 11, people with middle eastern appearance have been targeted for extra security checks, and now you want to scrutinise anyone whose name does not match their passport nationality? :shock:

FWIW, I believe that only the UK and USA make regular use of the Interpol passport database.

I would like to see everyone scrutinized, and all countries utilizing the Interpol database. And just to clarify again, I don't think anyone is suggesting people whose names don't match their passport nationality are subject to extra screening. However, I think it's reasonable to scrutinize anyone who, for any reason, might be suspected of travelling under a false name. There would seem to have been enough reason in this case to conduct some cursory checks, and a cursory check is all that would have been needed to find the passports were stolen.

 

[veganftw]

is there any reason to believe this guy actually knows ANYTHING at all?

I have been thinking the same thing after seeing he TL last night.

 

[MelUser]

I must say the number of "experts" that has popped up around the world is astonishing.

I think we just need to wait for plane to be properly found and a thorough investigation undertaken - which might take years a bit like the swissair 111 investigation.

 

[SamR]

is there any reason to believe this guy actually knows ANYTHING at all?

No, not at all, which is why I mentioned him in the same breath as conspiracy theories. He appears to be a photographer by trade, yet claims to be an aviation security expert of some years standing.