More on the false passport travellers

There is still no sign of the missing Malaysia Airlines 777 and the speculations and rumours continue to abound. One of which is what role the two passengers travelling with the stolen Italian and Austrian passports might have had. According to the BBC the two men man purchased their tickets at the same time from China Southern Airlines. They had consecutive ticket numbers and were both booked on the same onward flight from Beijing to Amsterdam on Saturday. Then the itinerary for the Italian passport holder continued onto Copenhagen while the Austrian passport holder was booked to Frankfurt. Both passengers…

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Jet may have turned back

Malaysia’s air force chief Rodzali Daud has suggested that the missing Boeing 777 jet may have turned back from its scheduled route to Beijing before disappearing. He stated “What we have done is actually look into the recording on the radar that we have and we realised there is a possibility the aircraft did make a turnback” Malaysia’s civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (pictured), advised a press conference that the search area had now been expanded, to include the west coast of Malaysia.   According to armed forces chief Gen Zulkefli Zin there are now 22 aircraft and 40…

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Sun rises on a new day in Malaysia

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…

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Two MH 370 Passengers on STOLEN passports

Two  of the passengers on the Malaysia Airlines passenger list were not on the plane. The passenger list  includes Luigi Maraldi, 37, an Italian citizen. The Italian Foreign ministry is saying no Italian was on board. In an interview with Corriere Della Sera, the Italian newspaper, Maraldi’s father said he has spoken to his son who is currently living in Phuket, Thailand.  Maraldi’s passport was reportedly stolen last August in Thailand. His father said: “He deposited it with rental car agency, and when he returned the car it was gone,”  The Italian government has not confirmed this…

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MH 370 Full passenger List

Malaysia Airlines released the full passenger list. Nationality breakdown: Australians – 6 Austrians – 1 Canadians – 2 Chinese – 152 plus 1 infant Dutch -1 French – 4 Indians – 5 Indonesians – 7 Italians -1 Ukranians – 2 USA -3 plus 1 infant Malaysians – 38  New Zealanders -2  Russian -1 Taiwanese – 1 (I notice MH on one list placed the Taiwanese passengers separately to the Chinese and then placed them together on another list) Update: Malaysia’s civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, told a press conference this afternoon in Kuala Lumpur that…

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Oil slicks indicate possible crash site

Vietnamese search planes have spotted two oil slicks in the crash site area, 140 kilometres (90miles) south of Tho Chu island off Southern Vietnam. The  two oil slicks were each 10-15 kilometers long (six to ten miles) and about 500 meters apart.  These could be from the jet engines.   Ships have been sent to the site and we will wait for further information as soon as it comes to hand. Malaysia Airlines had said the air search would be called off until Sunday morning local time. Relatives of MH370 victims are still waiting for the…

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No sign of MAS370 [updated]

Malaysian naval vessels have found no immediate signs of wreckage in the maritime area off the country’s northeast coast where the missing Malaysia Airlines MAS 370 last made contact. “Our aircraft spotted an orange speck in the sea where the last signal came from. We sent a vessel to search the area and it was confirmed that it was nothing,” an official was reported. Admiral Ngo Van Phat from Vietnam has denied earlier reports in Vietnamese state media quoting him as saying the plane had actually crashed. His recent statement suggested the plane “could have”…

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What a day: Now Nepal!

Not a brilliant day for flying in Asia. Yesterday, state-owned  Nepal Airlines Corporation only domestic aircraft, a Twin Otter, was grounded following a right engine failure. The fault was detected soon after takeoff from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. The Captain shut down the right engine and used the left one to land the aircraft back at TIA.  All 15 passengers, including two infants and one child, and three crew members were safe. This morning (local time) a Malaysian 777 vanished en route from Kuala Lumut to Beijing. This afternoon, an Air Indigo Airbus 320 flying Flight 6E 031 from New…

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Family support & grief over MH370 [updated]

Malaysia Airlines has reportedly spoken with family members of 80 per cent of the passengers who were on board MAS 370. Malaysian Airways CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya announced at a press conference that the carrier has also arranged to ferry a team to Beijing “to provide support and assistance to families there”. The passenger manifest will not be released until all families of the passengers have been informed but some names are listed here. In China at the Lido Hotel near Beijing Airport, security staff  are apparently having a hard time  holding back a large group of reporters who are making it…

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Vietnamese Navy says MH370 HAS crashed into ocean

Tuoi Tre (“Youth News), a main daily Vietnamese newspaper has reported that the Vietnamese Navy has confirmed that the missing Malaysian Airways 777  crashed into the ocean. Navy Admiral Ngo Van Phat, Commander of the Region 5, military radar recorded that the plane crashed into the sea at a location 251kilometers (153 nautical miles) South of Phu Quoc island in Malaysian territorial waters. If there are any survivors, then they need to be rescued now as every hour in the ocean reduces their chances. The Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has not been able to confirm…

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