Sunrise this morning in Malaysia is at 0722am local time today. With the sun rise comes a bewildering lack of answers as to how one of the world’s safest aeroplanes flown by a five star airline suddenly vanished off radar screens on a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.The weather was clear with no warnings.
The signs point to a catastrophic event for Malaysia Airlines MH 370. If there had been a mechanical failure, the pilot should have been able to radio for help. Did the plane suddenly break up and/or went into a very steep dive, similar to the Air France 447 experience described in the video below.
Associated Press are reporting that the disappearance of MH 370 could be caused by:
- A structural failure of the airframe caused by constant pressurisation and depressurisation of the cabin
- Corrosion of a key part of the aluminium cabin
- The sudden stoppage or explosion of both of its two Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines simultaneously (which happened in 2008 for a Boeing 777 flying as British Airways flight 38 into London).
- Pilot disorientation which caused them to veer off course which could mean the plane is 5000km (3000 miles) in any direction from its last contact point
- Bomb – similar to what brought down Pan Am Flight 103 between London and New York in 1988
- Accidental or deliberate shoot-down by some country’s military
- Hijacking with terrorists forcing the plane into the ocean but there was no “squawk” by the pilots warning of this
- Accidental shoot-down by some country’s military
- Pilot suicide with the pilot deliberately putting the plane into a steep dive.
Adding to the mystery are that two of the European passengers listed on the passenger list but were not there at all. Both had had their passports stolen in Thailand. One was stolen in August last year and the other two years ago. How did the passports both end up being used on this flight and by whom? The passports were used by people who had bought their tickets through China Southern Airlines (this was a CSA-Malaysia Airlines codeshare). Some are saying these things point to a terrorist attack, possibly linked to the Kunming Train Station knifings. If it was a terrorist attack, however, why has no one claimed responsibility?
Malaysian Airlines asks us to pray as the search by air and sea goes on. Watching and praying seems to be all we can do.
Related Posts
Two MH 370 Passengers on STOLEN passports
Family support & grief over MH370
Vietnamese Navy says MH370 HAS crashed into ocean
China ships to search for MH370
MH370 Passenger & Crew information [updated]
Malaysia Airlines Missing Plane
I am an ex Boeing widebody Captain, and have flown heavy corporate jets since. I have NO right to speculate on this, but let me tell you this…you certainly do not. Your list of possibilities are not accurate by any means.
Why don’t you have respect for posting only what you know about, instead of making up stuff, and much more importantly for the families of the passengers and crew on a sad, tragic day? I doubt you will moderate his comment to be viewed. In any case… Have respect and think of others before you post this kind of self important speculation. Look at Gary and Lucky’s posts and I hope you are ashamed.
I’m a bit disinclined to think the two passports are relevant. They were bought and paid for together, and the two passengers were booked to fly together through Beijing and on to Amsterdam, where one would go on to Frankfurt, and the other to Copenhagen. If you were a terrorist with intentions of blowing up the plane, why would you pay to go that far when just tickets to Beijing would do the job, and why would they plan to split up? False passports obtained by theft are being used all the time by criminals, and I’m thinking this may be the case here (in which case it looks like karma may have caught up with them in the worst way!)
Sorry, I meant that the tickets of the passengers travelling on the false passports were bought and paid for together, not that the passports were!
Dear Andy
It is clear that my post has struck a nerve with you, It is never my intention to be disrespectful. Yes, I did struggle whether to post your comments or not.
Just to be clear, I feel connected in a number of ways to this plane. I do know how sad and tragic it is. I have a friend who has a friend on that flight. I am friends with current and ex Malaysia Airlines staff. I fly Malaysia a bit and have been through Kuala Lumpur numerous times in the last year. I am booked on Malaysia again in a month’s time. To complete the connection, I have a friend who flew that exact same aircraft three weeks ago and I work with a colleague whos brother took that flight, one week before the disappearance of the plane.
I have spent time researching this as carefully as possible. I have avoided the worst speculation, You will note I resisted posting about the unsubstantiated “findings” of bits of wreckage of the plane. I avoided going into detail about the thought there may have been four people on the plane. I have qualified statements through all my posts with “apparently”, “It appears to be”, “The Guardian is reporting etc etc”. “My list of possibilities”? Not mine. Please take up your gripe with Captain John M. Cox, who spent 25 years flying for US Airways and is now CEO of Safety Operating Systems and Scott Hamilton, managing director of aviation consultancy Leeham Co. They are the ones that Associated Press took their information from.
I am happy to take your feedback but did you actually read my blog posts or skim and jump to conclusions? I am happy for you to explain how I can improve instead of a hysterical statements that I should be ashamed. It would help if you actually gave me an examples of what I should be ashamed of. Then I can work on improving.
In the meantime, I hope you will join me in praying for the passengers and crew, their families and friends.
Martin J Cowling