Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Damn! I missed this!

This is the reason why I watch CNN! Gold Jerry! GOLD!

Josh Feldman wrote:CNN’s Don Lemon: ‘Is It Preposterous’ to Think a Black Hole Caused Flight 370 to Go Missing?

Yes.

Yes it is.


Next question?

 Breotan wrote:
No worries. CNN has something that tops even The Event.

FOXNews is targeting the "right wing" demographic and MSNBC is targeting the "left wing" demographic. CNN appears to be targeting the "I get my news from tabloid magazines" demographic. Remember when CNN actually did news?

there's a joke to be made here about right wing, left wing, and lost airplanes but i'm too tired to make it.

 wana10 wrote:

 Breotan wrote:
No worries. CNN has something that tops even The Event.

FOXNews is targeting the "right wing" demographic and MSNBC is targeting the "left wing" demographic. CNN appears to be targeting the "I get my news from tabloid magazines" demographic. Remember when CNN actually did news?

there's a joke to be made here about right wing, left wing, and lost airplanes but i'm too tired to make it.

CNN targets the fuselage?

Fox and MsNBC target the wings. CNN targets the wing nuts.

I see the oil slick theory is making the rounds on the news sites today, was Courtney love right?

 Frazzled wrote:
Fox and MsNBC target the wings. CNN targets the wing nuts.

There we go!

More "evidence" for both sinister stuff and non-sinister stuff keeps on coming up, although it seems like they are getting pretty certain of where it crashed.

They keep on talking about the pilot erasing stuff from his computer and flight simulator and how that might mean that he had a secret plan for the plane and was covering his tracks.

But the presumed location of the crash (southern coridor) seems to also back up the theory of the plane making the sharp turn to head towards the specific airport because of some possible emergency on the plane and then just cruising on that path until it ran out of fuel. Also sounds like the last recorded automated reporting system showed that the computer was programmed to head to the original location and that it was not preprogrammed to turn when it did. Also looks like the plane made a drop in altitude which might point towards the pilots trying to get to an altitude that would have enough oxygen to support the pilots and passengers.

Yeah, this just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Why would he do all this stuff just to fly the plane to the south Indian Ocean and crash it?

Well, I'd say just to mess with people...as that certainly seems to have worked.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Well, I'd say just to mess with people...as that certainly seems to have worked.

You don't kill more then 200 people just to "mess with people".

 djones520 wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
Well, I'd say just to mess with people...as that certainly seems to have worked.

You don't kill more then 200 people just to "mess with people".

Depending on the psychological state of the pilot, if this was indeed a case of "suicide in the workplace" as has been suggested--then it could have an element of fame seeking behavior attached to it.

Maybe he just erased his porn collection because his girlfriend was coming over. If I had a cockpit with that many screens you could watch all your dirty videos at once while learning to control your joystick!

Of course there are a ton of non-shady reasons why he could have been erasing stuff on his simulator. And it seems like the fact that he erased stuff is the biggest "evidence" for wrongdoing.

This story that the Malaysian powers that be are creating, where the pilot is a terrorist linked to the former Prime Minister (who is in jail for false charge of sodomy) is just way too convenient.

 sebster wrote:
This story that the Malaysian powers that be are creating, where the pilot is a terrorist linked to the former Prime Minister (who is in jail for false charge of sodomy) is just way too convenient.

Is that what they are saying now? I haven't heard any news since Friday, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Malaysian government was trying to forge a narrative and push facts into holes until they fit. Last I heard, several knowledgeable groups (the FAA among them) have offered to assist in the investigation side of things (figuring out what happened and why) but have been politely rebuffed by Malaysian authorities. It seems the Malaysian government is eager to accept help in the search side of things (as they haven't turned anyone with an airplane, satellite, or boat away) but really wants to have sole responsibility for the investigation itself. It may not be for sinister reasons; it may just be a case of the Malaysians wanting to prove they are as capable as any western investigative agency. But if they are trying to stitch up the pilot without any hard evidence, that may come back to bite them when the black box is found. After all, if they say "the pilot was a terrorist and he was in league with criminals and enemies of the state" and the black box actually shows it was an accident, they are going to look awfully foolish.

squidhills wrote:
Is that what they are saying now? I haven't heard any news since Friday, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Malaysian government was trying to forge a narrative and push facts into holes until they fit. Last I heard, several knowledgeable groups (the FAA among them) have offered to assist in the investigation side of things (figuring out what happened and why) but have been politely rebuffed by Malaysian authorities. It seems the Malaysian government is eager to accept help in the search side of things (as they haven't turned anyone with an airplane, satellite, or boat away) but really wants to have sole responsibility for the investigation itself. It may not be for sinister reasons; it may just be a case of the Malaysians wanting to prove they are as capable as any western investigative agency. But if they are trying to stitch up the pilot without any hard evidence, that may come back to bite them when the black box is found. After all, if they say "the pilot was a terrorist and he was in league with criminals and enemies of the state" and the black box actually shows it was an accident, they are going to look awfully foolish.

After the first few days the Malaysian government has been putting out stories about the pilot, that he was a die-hard supporter of Anwar Ibrahim, he was at his trial hearings etc, and therefore trying to tarnish Anwar with the brush of this apparent suicide terror thing done by the pilot.

Whether any of that is just fiction by the Malaysian authorities, or whether he is actually a supporter I have no idea. But lurching from him supporting Anwar to a conclusion that he was a terrorist who did this because of his ties to Anwar strikes me as a very convenient fiction.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Depending on the psychological state of the pilot, if this was indeed a case of "suicide in the workplace" as has been suggested--then it could have an element of fame seeking behavior attached to it.

But then where's the suicide note? If you're going to commit suicide and murder 238 people just for the fame then why wouldn't you do everything you can to make sure that everyone knows it? Why risk letting it become just another tragic accident with unknown causes? And why not even bother trying to crash on land instead of the middle of the ocean where the wreckage may never be found? Or in the middle of a city to maximize your mark on history?

squidhills wrote:
But if they are trying to stitch up the pilot without any hard evidence, that may come back to bite them when the black box is found. After all, if they say "the pilot was a terrorist and he was in league with criminals and enemies of the state" and the black box actually shows it was an accident, they are going to look awfully foolish.

That's assuming anyone has the attention span to care. Crash investigations take a long time even when the black box and wreckage are found, so who really cares if a full report is published a year from now and hardly anyone bothers to read it or put it in a prominent position in the news? And who will really care about how the government was wrong about something a year ago when there are current problems to worry about?

 djones520 wrote:
Yeah, this just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Why would he do all this stuff just to fly the plane to the south Indian Ocean and crash it?

If it was a real inflight emergency/fire.... chances are he succumbed to smoke or whatever with the rest of the crew. Depressing as it might sound in that circumstance everyone aboard was dead by the time that plane hit the water.

Both Chinese and Australian search planes have found 'stuff' floating in the sea

no real evidence it's from the plane, but both lots are in the right area and boats are moving in to pick it up

fingers crossed this at least confirms the search is in the right area

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26716572

Malaysian Airlines says it now has to assume "beyond any reasonable doubt" that missing flight MH370 has been lost and there are no survivors.

The announcement came in a text message, seen by the BBC, that was sent to families of those on board.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, with 239 people on board, went missing after taking off from Kuala Lumpur 8 March.

The announcement came as a search effort in the southern Indian Ocean completed a fifth day of operations.

More on This Story

.. by text message ?!

 reds8n wrote:


.. by text message ?!

Stay classy, Malaysian Air...

They've clarified that the text messages were in addition to contacting them personally. Although, does seem a bit of a risky thing to do (and why bother if they have spoken to them?)

Heard that some hi-tech equipment from the US that can find the black box is on its way to where the 2 satellites think they may have found the plane. I suppose it is only once they are found that we might find out what has happened.

 Pacific wrote:
They've clarified that the text messages were in addition to contacting them personally. Although, does seem a bit of a risky thing to do (and why bother if they have spoken to them?)

Heard that some hi-tech equipment from the US that can find the black box is on its way to where the 2 satellites think they may have found the plane. I suppose it is only once they are found that we might find out what has happened.

Well i hope that they find it soon, if only to give a sense of closure to the family's.

This is truly bizarre and sad. I've been following this on cctv cause american news doesn't give any real out of country coverage aside from xenophobic propaganda.

As I said, this is truly bizarre. There seems to be no mundane answer that will explain everything, so we are left guessing. I mean this sounds like a James Bond plot intro where the evil genius makes a jumbo jet disappear.


One of the air crash investigators interviewed stated that right now he feels that people are not being imaginative enough on the possible cause. He clarified that in the past, investigations have shown that the causes of many of the most deadly crashes ended being things of which people had never even considered the possibility of occurring.

For some reason I immediately wondered if this could be the first case of computer hacking hijack. Not really saying I believe it is such. Just that this is where my imagination went after listening to the expert essentially say that we should be open to possibilities not considered.

If I was going to really guess. Carbon monoxide or toxic gas build up in cockpit that slowly asphyxiated the flight crew. While being slowly asphyxiated they could easily make errors in the auto pilot settings that would lead them to go off course.

Sorry if the speculation is in bad taste. Just trying to come to grips with how something like this could happen in this day and age.

So this is really weird.

If you guys remember, the Malaysian gov had said 3 weeks ago that the last words of the pilot on the plane were "All right, good night."

Now they admit it was something completely different: "Good night, MH370"

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/31/mh370-officials-suddenly-change-record-of-final-words-from-cockpit-to-good-night-malaysian-three-seven-zero/

Oh and here's a pic of how the rescue operations will commence eventually:

 Captain Avatar wrote:
There seems to be no mundane answer that will explain everything, so we are left guessing.

No, there are plenty of mundane answers. So far the best theory seems to be that the plane encountered some kind of mechanical problem, and the pilots turned on a direct course for a nearby airport that would have been a good emergency option but were dead or unconscious soon after and the plane flew along on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed. We've seen this exact kind of accident in the past, and the only real uncertainty here is exactly what the mechanical problem was.

For some reason I immediately wondered if this could be the first case of computer hacking hijack.

No. This is not even close to possible.

Just trying to come to grips with how something like this could happen in this day and age.

It could happen because flying is an inherently dangerous activity with very little margin for error. Air travel is only as safe as it is because of constant awareness of that danger and strict safety regulations that are often based on learning the hard way how things can go wrong.

 Sir Arun wrote:
So this is really weird.

If you guys remember, the Malaysian gov had said 3 weeks ago that the last words of the pilot on the plane were "All right, good night."

Now they admit it was something completely different: "Good night, MH370"

It's not weird at all. Both of them express the same content, and are pretty typical final statement to the controller as you're departing their area and transferring to another controller. "Good night, {flight number}" means "ok, bye", just like "all right, good night" does. The most likely explanation is that the actual statement was "good night, MH370" (the more technically correct form, since you're supposed to end each radio message with your flight number), and in some step of passing on the message from person to person it got paraphrased into "all right, good night".

So potential big news:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/05/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html

(CNN) -- A Chinese patrol ship looking for signs of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the southern Indian Ocean discovered Saturday a pulse signal with a frequency of 37.5 kHz, state news agency Xinhua reported.

"That is the standard beacon frequency" for both so-called black boxes -- the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, said Anish Patel, president of pinger manufacturer Dukane Seacom.

"They're identical."

But experts cautioned that no confirmation had been made that the signal was linked to the missing plane. "This could be a variety of things," said oceanographer Simon Boxall, who said the frequency is used by a variety of instruments.

"We've had a lot of red herrings, hyperbole on this whole search," the lecturer in ocean and earth science at the University of Southampton told CNN. "I'd really like to see this data confirmed."

He added, "It could be a false signal."

You almost hate to get your hopes up at this point in time, but maybe...

I used to work in oceanic survey.
We could sometimes have trouble finding the beacons on our sensor platforms despite having the exact GPS co-ordinates of their location.

Until it's on the deck of the ship, they've not found it.

It could happen because flying is an inherently dangerous activity with very little margin for error. Air travel is only as safe as it is because of constant awareness of that danger and strict safety regulations that are often based on learning the hard way how things can go wrong.

That and I think people often underestimate just how truly large the world still really is, and how easy it is to lose something. Combine that with books, TV, and movies making it seem like governments are omnipotent with tracking and you get a sense of confusion as to why something could go missing.

Who do you believe to be the mastermind behind this incident?
- Uygur muslims to the Xinjiang: Their hatred against Han populations traces back a millenium ago. Where their lands were conquered (Possibly by Genghis Khan, by then China had all been annexed) but the real grudge began when Hans ousted the Mongols and created Ming dynasty (whom strongly adhere to Sinocentrism, Chinese forms of Imperialism which believes in Sino Superiority over 'barbarian races'). Uygurlands were annexed and ruled over by Hans, (there were occasions where Han bureaucrats who committed serious crimes were 'exiled' there, but exiled WITH ONE'S AUTHORITY PRESERVED does NOT really punish him. instead it created a big space for him to 'express one's own resentment' upon Uygur populations. if there's no uprising, fine and once the 'servitude' is over and he can return to the east. but it usually ends with regional uprising (and he ended up being whacked by local rebels long before the Imperial forces were amassed to put them down). The Uygur VS Hans continue up to present day. modern Chinese government did Not try anything to appease these people, instead encouraging Hans to settle there (and sometimes promoting Christianity of any form so to dissolute the influences of 'religions of the rebels'). If there's no real reform, the only way out is that Xinjiang must be freed to form the nation of Turkmenistan
- China. Don't forget that famous books involving the use of dirty tricks to win the war and politics originated in China long before Niccolo Macchiavelli wrote The Prince. Sanguozi, and Sun Tzu's Art of War are the prime examples. Chinese 'Uygur problems' may be easier to be solved with violence if they frame Uygur of this incident. don't forget that

1. Flight crews were all muslim, Captain himself is 'radical ones' so he's more than happy to play his part in this grandscale transgression
2. Majority of passengers were ethnically Chinese.