Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

(26-03-2014 01:41 )bigglesworth Wrote:  The plan has been foiled by these satellite pings

If it wasn't for the satellite pings the plane would almost certainly never have been found. It still might not be, but as it appeared to be heading north west when it was still on radar it basically means that without the satellite pings the searchers would be looking thousands of miles away from where the plane actually is.

The most promising sighting so far has been announced today, with a French satellite having picked up what may be a debris field of 122 objects. Some objects were a metre in length and others were as much as 23 metres in length and the sighting is close to the area of the previous sightings. I know it's been said before but this could be a big breakthrough.

(26-03-2014 01:41 )bigglesworth Wrote:  The one thing I am certain about is that someone wanted this plane to vanish.

I don't know if you can say that's certain. Perhaps the pilots pointed the plane over empty ocean to avoid it crashing on land and were just trying to save lives on the ground?

(25-03-2014 11:29 )event horizon Wrote:  Malaysia Airlines mentioned yesterday the loss of "226 passengers and our 13 friends and colleagues” although the passenger manifest shows 227 passengers and 12 crew. Has the airline explained the discrepancy?

One of the passengers was an employee of Malaysia Airlines. That's why the count was changed from what's shown on the passenger manifest, but it still of course adds up to 239 people.

(26-03-2014 06:11 )tony confederate Wrote:  If it wasn't for the satellite pings the plane would almost certainly never have been found.

Without the satellite pings there would be no evidence whatever of the plane going south. I think searchers would currently be scrutinising satellite pictures of China and Afghanistan.

Satellite images of debris field

Are they saying that these objects could be bodies?

(26-03-2014 20:02 )babelover48 Wrote:  Are they saying that these objects could be bodies?

No, I don't think anyone has made that inference. The fact that some of the objects are brightly coloured on the images suggests that they are solid material, but they are still "unknown objects" until a ship can reach them.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said today that the search site is "as close to nowhere as it’s possible to be" and "if someone had wanted to take a plane somewhere so it couldn't be found they couldn't have chosen a better place."

Some people have made their mind up.

Chicago-based firm Ribbeck Law has filed a petition for discovery against Boeing Co, alleging the plane had crashed due to mechanical failure. "Our theory of the case is that there was a failure of the equipment in the cockpit that may have caused a fire that rendered the crew unconscious, or perhaps because of the defects in the fuselage which had been reported before there was some loss in the cabin pressure that also made the pilot and co-pilot unconscious," Monica Kelly, head of Global Aviation Litigation at Ribbeck Law, told reporters. "That plane was actually a ghost plane for several hours until it ran out of fuel." Kelly said the conclusion was made based on experience on previous incidents, and dismissed the possibilities of hijacking or pilot suicide. (Reuters)