Tag Archives: flight
Malaysia says jet crashed in sea; bad weather halts search
Malaysia says jet crashed in sea; bad weather halts search (Reuters) / 25 March 2014 Theories range from a hijacking to sabotage or a possible suicide by one of the pilots, but investigators have not ruled out technical problems. Bad weather and rough seas on Tuesday forced the suspension of the search for any wreckage of a missing Malaysian jetliner that officials are now sure crashed in the remote Indian Ocean with the loss of all 239 people on board. Citing groundbreaking satellite-data analysis by British firm Inmarsat, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Monday that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished more than two weeks ago while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, had crashed thousands of miles away in the southern Indian Ocean. Recovery of wreckage of the Boeing 777 could unlock clues about why the plane had diverted so far off course. Theories range from a hijacking to sabotage or a possible suicide by one of the pilots, but investigators have not ruled out technical problems. An international air and sea search in the area on Monday spotted several floating objects that might be parts of the plane and an Australian navy ship was close to finding possible debris, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.( Click here for full text of official statement from Malaysia Airlines ) But the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said gale-force winds, heavy rain and low cloud meant planes could not fly safely to the zone on Tuesday, and waves of 6 metres (20ft) or more forced the navy ship from the area. “AMSA has consulted with the Bureau of Meteorology and weather conditions are expected to improve in the search area in the evening and over the next few days. Search operations are expected to resume tomorrow, if weather conditions permit,” AMSA said in a statement. The search site is far from commercial flight paths about 2,500 km (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth, a region of deep, frigid seas known as the Roaring 40s where storm-force winds and huge waves are commonplace. “This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites,” Malaysia’s Najib said. “It is therefore, with deep sadness and regret, that I must inform you that, according to this new data, Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.” SMS TEXT Some relatives of those on board first received the news that the search for survivors was over in a Malaysia Airlines SMS message which said: “We have to assume beyond all reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and none of those on board survived.” There were hysterical scenes at the Beijing hotel where many of the relatives of those on board were staying. Most of the passengers on the flight, from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, were Chinese. A group reportedly representing families issued a statement describing the Malaysian airline, government and military as “executioners” who constantly tried to delay and deceive them. “We will take every possible means to pursue the unforgivable crimes and responsibility of all three,” said the statement on the microblog of the Malaysia Airlines MH370 Family Committee. Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that it would make arrangements to fly relatives to Australia once it had approval from the investigating authorities. Abbott said he expected the families to travel to Australia soon. “They will find a welcoming country that is more than willing to embrace them in this difficult time,” he told reporters. COSTLY DIFFICULT INVESTIGATION Najib’s announcement opens the way for what will be one of the most costly and difficult air crash investigations ever. Normally, an official investigation can only begin once a crash site has been identified. That would give Malaysia power to coordinate and sift evidence. Malaysia has faced heavy criticism over the progress of the search and its informal investigation, especially from China which had more than 150 citizens on board the plane. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng immediately demanded Malaysia hand over all relevant satellite-data analysis showing how Malaysia had reached its conclusion about the fate of the jet. Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the Malaysian statement moved the search to a new phase. “It moves it to a stage where we are now investigating an accident, a loss of an aircraft and some new decisions will have to be taken now about the direction of future operations,” Truss told reporters. “Malaysia needs to take control under the Chicago convention of those investigations.” The United States said it was sending an undersea Navy drone to Australia, in addition to a high-tech black box detector, to help in the search. A vendor stands next to newspapers carrying headlines of the missing Malaysia Airlines, flight MH370, as he waits for customers in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. – AP The so-called black boxes – the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder – record what happens during flight. Black boxes carry locator beacons but they fade out after 30 days. Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off on March 8. No confirmed debris from the plane has been found since. Investigators believe someone on the flight may have shut off the plane’s communications systems. Partial military radar tracking showed it turning west and re-crossing the Malay Peninsula, apparently under the control of a skilled pilot. Najib said Inmarsat had been performing further calculations on data gleaned from faint pings picked up by satellite that initially only narrowed the search area to two massive arcs. The Inmarsat analysis had narrowed the search area “but it’s still a big area that they have to search”, said Stephen Wood, CEO of All Source Analysis, a satellite analytic firm. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Malaysia Airlines: What may have happened to MH370
Malaysia Airlines: What may have happened to MH370 AFP / 12 March 2014 We take a look at the possible scenarios being weighed up by industry experts as the world waits for clues as to the fate of the Boeing 777, which has one of the best safety records of any jet. Nearly five days since it disappeared while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, there is still no trace of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Also read: Last words of MH370 revealed | Click here to see complete coverage Conflicting information, false alarms over debris and confusion over the focus of the search have produced more questions than answers. Here we take a look at the possible scenarios being weighed up by industry experts as the world waits for clues as to the fate of the Boeing 777, which has one of the best safety records of any jet. WHY: According to Malaysian authorities the plane was cruising at 35,000 feet (11 kilometres) above sea level when it last made contact and vanished without making a distress call, pointing to the possibility of a sudden catastrophic event. The presence on board of two suspect passengers travelling on stolen passports fuelled fears of a terrorist attack. It was revealed Tuesday they were probably just Iranian migrants, but CIA Director John Brennan said a terror link had not been ruled out. Other possibilities include a strike by a missile or military aircraft. EXPERT VIEW: “I don’t believe it is anything to do with the serviceability or the design of the aircraft,” Neil Hansford, chairman of leading Australian airline consultancy Strategic Aviation Solutions, told AFP. “The way I see it there are three scenarios. There was a bomb on board… the aircraft was hit by a military aircraft or a rogue missile; or…the captain is locked out of the cockpit and the plane is put in a dive,” he said. WHY: The sudden disappearance could also point to a technical problem that could have led to a rapid descent. Reports from the Malaysian authorities that the jet may have made a sharp turn west before it lost contact, possibly pointing to the pilots struggling to rectify a problem, have bolstered this theory. EXPERT VIEW: “To me that (the veer) suggests there was a stall,” says former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation and aviation lawyer, Mary Schiavo. “That doesn’t mean you lose your engines. It means that you’re losing your air flow over your wings, sufficient speed to keep the plane in the air…it would lose altitude really dramatically.” She compared the possible scenario to the fate of Air France 447 — which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 after its speed sensors malfunctioned — in an interview with Australia’s ABC television. If the plane did crash, a combination of technical difficulties and pilot error would be a likely scenario, Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific aerospace consultant Ravi Madavaram said. “There is no single factor which generally leads to an airplane crash, but a combination of technical glitches and pilot decisions. Each of these glitches and decisions taken independently are harmless and often happen. It is the combination of these factors that lead to a catastrophe.” WHY: The lack of wreckage or black box transmission has led to speculation that the plane may have disintegrated mid-air. EXPERT VIEW: While structural disintegration has been behind some previous aircraft disappearances, new planes use “better materials, technology and maintenance schedules”, Madavaram says. “This last happened to China Airlines flight 611, during its cruise at 35,000 feet in 2002. Flight 611 was a Boeing 747 aircraft and the reason for that crash was faulty repair.” He added that the technology on a Boeing 747 was 20 years older than on a 777. WHY: The absence of debris around the intended flight path, the possibility that the flight turned back, and conflicting reports over whether the plane was spotted by Malaysian military way off course have added to speculation of a hijack, which has still not been ruled out by investigators. Malaysia Airlines says that all its aircraft are equipped with the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) system — which puts out information about location and airspeed — but has so far declined to release whatever data it got from flight MH370. EXPERT VIEW: The reports of a “turn back” raised yet more questions, says Scott Hamilton, managing director of US-based aviation consultancy Leeham Co. “If it were near the Vietnam coast, why turn back when there probably would have been a closer airport in the event of an emergency?” he wrote on his company website. The larger question was whether the turn was intentional “under the command of the pilots (or hijackers),” or due to other causes such as engine problems or an explosion. But Frost & Sullivan’s Madavaram believes several factors rule out a hijack, including a lack of a credible claim of responsibility and the difficulty in evading radars and witnesses. WHY: While rare, there have been cases in the past of pilots crashing planes to take their own lives. According to the US Federal Aviation Administration, pilot suicides account for less than 0.5 percent of all fatal general aviation accidents. EXPERT VIEW: A suicide bid “is possible and if that’s the case there might not be a lot of debris because the plane would have come down in relatively structural integrity,” said Terence Fan, aviation expert at Singapore Management University. “The airplane is not meant to float and if the airplane sinks in the water, water will go inside because the door seals are not meant to seal water.” For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Malaysia Airlines: Interpol releases image of passengers
Malaysia Airlines: Interpol releases image of passengers (Reuters) / 11 March 2014 One of the holders of a stolen passport on the missing Malaysian airliner was a young Iranian, not believed to have terrorist links, Malaysian officials say. Interpol has released an image of two Iranians who were traveling with stolen passports on a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner. The image showed the two Iranian men boarding a plane at the same time. Interpol secretary general Ronald K. Noble said Tuesday the two men traveled to Malaysia on their Iranian passports, then apparently switched to the stolen Austrian and Italian documents. Noble said the recent information about the men made terrorism a less likely cause of the plane’s disappearance, but that did not allay concerns about the ease of travel involving stolen passports. He identified the men as Pouri Nourmohammadi, 19, and Delavar Seyedmohammaderza, 29. The 19-year-old is believed to have planned to seek asylum in Germany. Malaysian police official at a press conference near Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang shows 19-year-old Iranian Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad (L) and Delavar Seyedmohammaderza,29 (R) at the airport, who both boarded missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight using stolen European passports. Malaysia is investigating whether any passengers or crew aboard a missing airliner had personal or psychological problems that might explain its disappearance, along with the possibility of a hijack, sabotage or mechanical failure, police said on Tuesday. A massive search operation for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER is in its fourth day, with no trace yet of the aircraft or the 239 people on board, one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history. Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early on Saturday morning, vanishing from radar screens about an hour after take-off over the sea separating Malaysia from the southern tip of Vietnam. Adding to the puzzle, Malaysian military radar tracking suggested it may have turned back from its scheduled route. See pictures: Praying for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 There was no distress signal or radio contact indicating a problem and, in the absence of any wreckage or flight data, police have been left trawling through passenger and crew lists for potential leads. “Maybe somebody on the flight has bought a huge sum of insurance, who wants family to gain from it or somebody who has owed somebody so much money, you know, we are looking at all possibilities,” Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference. “We are looking very closely at the video footage taken at the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), we are studying the behavioral pattern of all the passengers.” Stolen passports The fact that at least two passengers on board had used stolen passports, confirmed by Interpol, has raised suspicions of foul play. But Southeast Asia is known as a hub for false documents that are also used by smugglers, illegal migrants and asylum seekers. Police chief Khali said one of the men had been identified as a 19-year-old Iranian, who appeared to be an illegal immigrant. The identity of the other was still being checked. “We believe he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group, and we believe he was trying to migrate to Germany,” Khali said of the teenager. His mother was waiting for him in Frankfurt and had been in contact with authorities, he said. Asked if that meant he ruled out a hijack, Khalid said: “(We are giving) same weightage to all (possibilities) until we complete our investigations.” Both men entered Malaysia on Feb 28, at least one from Phuket, in Thailand, eight days before boarding the flight to Beijing, Malaysian immigration chief Aloyah Mamat told the news conference. Both held onward reservations to Western Europe. Police in Thailand, where the passports were stolen and the tickets used by the two men were booked, said they did not think they were linked to the disappearance of the plane. “We haven’t ruled it out, but the weight of evidence we’re getting swings against the idea that these men are or were involved in terrorism,” Supachai Puikaewcome, chief of police in the Thai resort city of Pattaya, told Reuters. The massive search for the plane has drawn in navies, military aircraft, coastguard and civilian vessels from 10 nations. The search was widened on Tuesday to cover a larger swathe of the shallow waters of the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea around the last known position of the plane. But searches were also being conducted on the western coast of Malaysia and northwest towards the much deeper Andaman Sea – based on a theory that the plane may have flown on for some time after deviating from its flight path. “This will be a long search. We need a long-term search plan,” Do Ba Ty, Vietnam’s army chief of staff and deputy defence minister, told reporters. “We will expand search to the east in the sea and to the west on land and ask for Cambodia help…we will go where our friends go and make sure we inform our citizens and fishermen to request their help in the search.” Neither Malaysia’s Special Branch, the agency leading the investigation, nor spy agencies in the United States and Europe, have ruled out the possibility of a hijack or bombing. But Malaysian authorities have indicated the evidence so far does not strongly back an attack as a cause for the aircraft’s disappearance, and that mechanical or pilot problems could have led to the apparent crash, US government sources said. “There is no evidence to suggest an act of terror,” said a European security source, who added that there was also “no explanation what’s happened to it or where it is”. The United States extensively reviewed imagery taken by spy satellites for evidence of a mid-air explosion, but saw none, a US government source said. Vietnam said it was allowing ships and planes from Malaysia, Singapore, China and the United States to enter its waters to search for the plane. About two-thirds of the 227 passengers and 12 crew now presumed to have died aboard the plane were Chinese. Other nationalities included 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French and three Americans. China has deployed 10 satellites using high-resolution earth imaging capabilities, visible light imaging and other technologies to “support and assist in the search and rescue operations”, the People’s Liberation Army Daily said on Tuesday. The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on July 6 last year when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 struck a seawall on landing in San Francisco, killing three people. US planemaker Boeing has declined to comment beyond a brief statement saying it was monitoring the situation. Read more: Malaysia Airlines’ lack of information angers relatives Read more: Search widens for missing Malaysian passenger jet Thai police doubt terror link to stolen passports on missing flight For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
