Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 Missing after take off

[PNGMK]

The Malaysian authorities, including the military are a bunch of bumbling idiots.

Pretty much what I thought from the start. Every disaster in MY highlights the sheer incompetence of their various government services.

[the lynx]

Couldn't be farther than the truth with this one:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-11/malaysia-failing-to-manage-plane-crisis-exposes-leadership-limit.html

[quote="Malaysia Failing to Manage Crisis Exposes Leadership Limit"]“They’re handling a huge global issue as if it was domestic politics,”

[morenangpinay]

this event will surely be in the textbooks for crisis communication..they failed to establish themselves as credible source of information.

[ScoobyDoes]

True but given Malaysia's recent history for the need of Crisis Management is it little wonder they are out of practise?

It's like the police in the Little India riot, wholly under prepared.

Now, if you were to tell me Australia screwed up crisis management, that would be harder to believe given the amount of floods, drought, forest fires, Qantas incidents, arms-round-Queens etc. that they have to suffer.

[x9200]

Crisis Management is one thing but for me it is just beyond any comprehension how the military of such big country can fail to determine whether a huge aircraft entered their airspace or not.

[ScoobyDoes]

Crisis Management is one thing but for me it is just beyond any comprehension how the military of such big country can fail to determine whether a huge aircraft entered their airspace or not.

That's something else but if you follow the '911' analogy brought up in the blog mentioned earlier, the next logical step is to work out Najib had it shot down. We all know he had friends with C4 so anything is possible, right?

The truth will come out in the end but one question for experts would be, what height does radar actually start working with aircraft?

[x9200]

Yep, I am aware of this limitation and it seems to be below 50m for the missiles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_skimming) so even lower for something bigger. Doing it at night with such a big airplane?

[BillyB]

Whilst this recovery operation was always going to be challenging - managing expectations around the size and complexity of the task / timing & release of information / factual updates / managing the wide speculation on social media and in the press etc. - i will concede it's turning into a complete farce.

The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing......

[the lynx]

Life raft found off the coast of Port Dickson.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/12/Missing-MH370-Fishermen-discover-life-raft-off-Port-Dickson/

If it is true, then it reinforces the fact that the plane veered off route.

[x9200]

Life raft found off the coast of Port Dickson.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/12/Missing-MH370-Fishermen-discover-life-raft-off-Port-Dickson/

If it is true, then it reinforces the fact that the plane veered off route.

Azman said the fishermen managed to secure the raft to their boat while waiting for the MMEA team.

However, the life raft had sunk when it was being handed over to the MMEA officials.

Yep, I fully agree with BB, it's a complete farce.

[PNGMK]

Life raft found off the coast of Port Dickson.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/12/Missing-MH370-Fishermen-discover-life-raft-off-Port-Dickson/

If it is true, then it reinforces the fact that the plane veered off route.

Azman said the fishermen managed to secure the raft to their boat while waiting for the MMEA team.

However, the life raft had sunk when it was being handed over to the MMEA officials.

Yep, I fully agree with BB, it's a complete farce.

I doubt there's a single grain of truth in that entire report.

[x9200]

It looks more and more like Russian KGB hijacked the plain so Putin can invade the Malay Peninsula under the pretext that these few hundred of Russians probably living there are not safe with such incompetent authorities.

[rajagainstthemachine]

Life raft found off the coast of Port Dickson.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/12/Missing-MH370-Fishermen-discover-life-raft-off-Port-Dickson/

If it is true, then it reinforces the fact that the plane veered off route.

next they'll find a volleyball named wilson

edit: wilson

[nakatago]

It looks more and more like Russian KGB hijacked the plain so Putin can invade the Malay Peninsula under the pretext that these few hundred of Russians probably living there are not safe with such incompetent authorities.

This is funny because I'm not anti-Russia living in Crimea.

[Strong Eagle]

I have no doubts the transponder can be disabled but I have strong doubts whether it would be possible to fly such plane long distance without being noticed by a radar or other equipment.
If there is such possibility at all it would required detailed knowledge of the radars location and their range along the planned routes
... unless of course a government of one of the neighboring countries is involved in the whole thing.

If the transponder were to have been turned off, there would have been an immediate query from traffic control. I've seen no article to suggest that such a query was made. This airplane also transmitted ACARS data which also stopped at exactly the same time. The airplane did not have Boeing's "health maintenance" package installed which would have provided real time information about engine speed and temps, and other airplane characteristics.

I can't figure out what's going on with the Malaysian military. Properly done, they would have been monitoring from the ground to maximum height. So long as all the aircraft being monitored are accounted for (for example, following the correct filed flight plan), then no actions are taken.

But, as soon as there is a deviation, the situation would go from monitor to alert. If the plane changed course and there was no confirmation from air traffic control, this would be an alert, and the radar operator would immediately inform superiors for more decision making.

So, at first the military said the plane had turned and then said that it didn't. And now, I don't know what they are saying. But, a couple of things seem clear. Either the radar operator failed to report the anomaly or the higher ups in the military hierarchy ignored it.

The real situation here is that the Malaysian military has screwed things up. They either didn't see or ignored an event that should have triggered a response, even if that was only to call civilian air traffic control (which were not contacted according to what I have read). Now the military brass is in panic mode because if they explain what actually happened, it will obvious that there has been a serious breach that they will have problems explaining away.