I do wonder if there was someone important on the plane.

But more than likely it is just an accident 🙁

It has already been speculated in the news that there were two false passport holders on the flight.
(Equally, on the French flight there was a passenger noted for his campaigning against the South American drug lords/trade who was speculated to be a target at the time).

Steady on people.

Maybe this might help:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9811495/I-can-t-give-up-hope-says-wife-of-missing-passenger

200+ people missing and the folk on here are winking and smiling! well done.

It’s interesting what hits the top of the news agenda, isn’t it? (and that we take our cues from that – this is top of the headlines so it must be a “significant tragedy”), meanwhile in other world news:

More people blown to bits, this time in less headline-grabbing fashion

For those who can’t be arsed with the link (and why should you?), I was struck by this little summary

Iraq has seen a spike in violence since last April, with the death toll climbing to its highest levels since the worst of the country’s sectarian bloodletting in 2006-2008. The U.N. says 8,868 people were killed in 2013, and more than 1,400 people were killed in January and February of this year.

Oh yes, and in 2012, in the UK, 1,754 people were killed on the UK’s roads, just not in one, big, headline grabbing incident, so we don’t feel the need to be so subdued when discussing it.

My money is on the Chinese

You mean Islamic Uighurs as opposed to the Chinese? Because China is a big ass country with a lot of different ethnic groups within it’s borders.

I know it’s unlikely but this could be an extra terrestrial grab.

Nobody can say it’s not possible.

It’s not possible.[/quote]

It is actually possible.

Oh yes, and in 2012, in the UK, 1,754 people were killed on the UK’s roads, just not in one, big, headline grabbing incident, so we don’t feel the need to be so subdued when discussing it.

I can’t remember people coming on here and making light of RTAs however so not sure what your point is?

Yes bad things happen all the time, and some are reported more than others, but making light of it 48hrs after its happened is a bit misplaced, IMO.

Massive sonic boom just occurred over west Wales…

^^^ That was me on a new Bronson C – Big air near Lampeter

Also, I have to laugh at the Chinese attacking the Malaysians for lax seruity….having flown through China, they are by far the most incompetent country I have been through when it comes to this. They make Manila Ninoy seem like the height of competence.

Maybe Freddy Laker nicked it to start up again?

Massive sonic boom just occurred over west Wales…

Been attributed to training jets apparently. I think a naughty pilot will be getting a telling off.

For those finding the light-hearted comments seemingly offensive, heres a word of advice: Do not get yourselves a job in the Lloyds Insurance market or any of the associated city insurance brokers and underwriters. You would not last a morning.

The spontaneous humour that quickly circulates the market even before the Lutine bell is struck, is however borderline genius at times.

I fly with them rather often in the past. Still do domestically rather than the cheaper alternative if I can afford. Feel sick in the stomach hearing the news as I flew 10 trips the last few months in that region.

The possible scenarios are:

1. Mid-air explosion.

2. Sudden dive into sea. (plane at bottom of the sea now)

Both scenarios mean captain did not have time to mayday call or react. For scenario 2, something could have happened to the captain.

I expect Airbus are responsible to boost sales of their own aircraft

Flights for the 2 stolen passports were booked in Thailand by a travel agent for an Iranian man called Mr Ali as a middle man…according to 5 live.

They wanted to get to Amesterdam as cheaply as possible, the airport to the world…for me I think they had a bomb, it went off early/by mistake. No claim over it as they messed up and don’t want to ruin how they got it aboard for the next attempt.

I think they had a bomb, it went off early/by mistake. No claim over it as they messed up and don’t want to ruin how they got it aboard for the next attempt.

Quite an intriguing thought—–there sure seems to be some something odd about the 2 passports. I hadn’t seen anything about the Iranian middleman, but did hear the tickets were consecutively numbered, so purchased at the same time.

R5 also said that many flights have passengers with stolen passports and that we shouldn’t read too much into just that fact – yet

So if they know they are stolen passports why do they let them on the plane?…

Or do they only check when something goes wrong.

Yeah they did, in fairness they could be just after asylum etc. but the Mr Ali ticket buyer from Iran did sound a bit strange!!

We’ll probably never find out.

chewkw – Member

I fly with them rather often in the past. Still do domestically rather than the cheaper alternative if I can afford. Feel sick in the stomach hearing the news as I flew 10 trips the last few months in that region.

The possible scenarios are:

1. Mid-air explosion.

2. Sudden dive into sea. (plane at bottom of the sea now)

or 3. Pressurisation failure, crew and passengers asphyxiate and plane continues flying until it’s out of fuel like Helios Flight 522. Guess the apparent loss from radar probably rules that out though?

Quite an intriguing thought—–there sure seems to be some something odd about the 2 passports. I hadn’t seen anything about the Iranian middleman, but did hear the tickets were consecutively numbered, so purchased at the same time.

R5 also said that many flights have passengers with stolen passports and that we shouldn’t read too much into just that fact – yet

Indeed, and that the tickets were booked by asking for the cheapest route possible to europe (not to amsterdam specifically), rather than booking either a specific flight/route or destination. If planning an attack you’d imagine you’d have a plan as to where and when the attack would happen for the greatest effect – who the passengers are and the territory where it happen.

So if they know they are stolen passports why do they let them on the plane?…

Or do they only check when something goes wrong.
As in “Did you steal this passport yourself sir?”

I suspect it didn’t become apparent until they contacted the relatives of who they thought were missing/deceased passengers and found them to be alive and well

Nothing really adds up with it, every way you look at it doesn’t make sense.

It is indeed possible to fly under the radar. I recall reading about a French pilot who was a very reluctant hero for gliding an air transat flight for over 400 miles without fuel into the Azores. Turned out he was very reluctant as he had learnt that particular skill flying drugs flights from Colombia under the radar into Mexico.

Can’t see that happening here, but it is possible. It’s a damn sight more likely that the 777 ditched in the sea though. People seem to think it’d be very easy to find something like that, but in reality it is the proverbial needle in the haystack.

As has been mentioned earlier, it was six days before any wreckage was found of the Air France plane and two years before the Black Box was found so it’s still early days yet.
Latest news reports are suggesting searches being carried out in areas totally off the flight path though which suggests more is known than is being said…

proverbial needle in the haystack

You’ve got that right—when I was in the Navy, we went on a search & rescue mission for a 40-foot sailboat in trouble due to an explosion below decks. After the blast, it split in half and started sinking between Long Beach, CA and Catalina Island (about 25 miles)—–even with specific coordinates that the crew radioed that placed it in an area of about 2 square miles—we (and 3 other division ships)reached the area within about 2 hours and searched all day, then through the next night and never found even a trace.

tightywighty – Member

or 3. Pressurisation failure, crew and passengers asphyxiate and plane continues flying until it’s out of fuel like Helios Flight 522. Guess the apparent loss from radar probably rules that out though?

That is a possibility but in this particular case it just disappeared from air. There is also a speculation that it was turning back.

As for searching for the plane in the South China Sea that will take sometime because they do not have all the hi-tech stuff to assist them.

searches being carried out in areas totally off the flight path though which suggests more is known than is being said

^ what he said.

As for searching for the plane in the South China Sea that will take sometime because they do not have all the hi-tech stuff to assist them.

Here’s a list of aircraft missing in California: http://www.aircraftwrecks.com/missing.htm
Just remember how long it took to locate Steve Fossett, when he vanished.

As a professional pilot, I won’t bother to speculate on what happened. Condolences to all involved.
I hope closure comes soon.

I fly the same type as AF447. Yes, the pilots made a tragic series of errors, but why? Look at their training, experience etc.

Many cheap short haul operators (now creeping into long haul market) use cheap pilots who haven’t span, stalled, taken aircraft to the limit to find out what happens. They’ve been brought up on autopilots after a couple of hundred hours and they are the future captains. I still occasionally get to enjoy spinning, but in my day job am glad that I’ve had many years of hands-on handling. It’s saved my life on more than one occasion.

But pilot error is much more complex than just ‘screwing up’. Keep asking the ‘why’ questions. I conducted a training day where one pilot was laying into the crew of a sad fatal, labelling them as ‘criminally negligent’ . He judged them by the consequences not their actions. They made a mistake that many of us have done (rushed approach) and the resulting chain of events saw them fly into a mountain.

The better you are, the bigger your mistakes become.

RIP

Miketroid.. Posted from your A320 flight deck..?

Agree about the sadness though. Sad days.

News of debris being spotted now 🙁

Miketroid.. Posted from your A3230 flight deck..?

If it’s the same as AF447 😉

I like the co-pilot’s style. The old ‘come up to the flight deck and you can see my joystick’ trick. news.com.au

The plucky pilots reportedly wanted Ms Roos and Ms Maree to change their travel arrangements and extend their stay in Kuala Lumpur and join them on a night on the town.

The better you are, the bigger your mistakes become.

Thought provoking stuff, and very true.

AF447 – maintenance error, instrument error, pilot error

It’s combinatorial failures that are hard to identify and design-out of systems, that cause the disasters.

njee20 – Member
Miketroid.. Posted from your A3230 flight deck..?
If it’s the same as AF447

Or Airbus ‘commonality’

Looks like debris claims were a hoax.

Now there are reports it was tracked 500km west over the Malacca Straights. http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.579123

It really is very odd that they are struggling to even find the tracking data.

It’s combinatorial failures

I’m anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have read such a pericombobulation.