Malaysia Airlines 777 - Missing

[Old fella]

Why is it that the press have not spoken to Mike McKay?

One would think the "investigators" would have keen interest rather that the press to talk to this person, that is, if they(investigators - who ever they are) haven't already done so.

Then again some countries involved are totalitarian regimes with their state run press and their spokesmen(on civilian aviation issues) are from the military - probably says a lot. One can't help to think that established organizations/manufactures/investigative arms etc etc from the free world are wondering what kind of a gong show this is...........

[FenderManDan]

I know nothing about the 777 systems. Saw on one TV report that they had a "777 Captain" talking about this incident. He stated that there are 10 power generators on board the 777 that would have to fail to loose all power to the plane.

not sure how accurate this info is, but it was stated, and not on FOX news.

CNN is not much better. This is the breaking news when it happened (notice what they wrote on the bottom)

[pdw]

After encountering some sort of emergency the crew could have successfully ditched the aircraft in the ocean? If they managed to pull a Sullenberger, the aircraft would remain largely intact and sink.

I suppose it's theoreticly possible - but in reality - pulling off a succesful water landing in the pitch black of night is impossible.

Would it be pitch black if the Rolls Royce engine monitoring signals suggest it's still flying 5 hours later ... with first light being just before 6Am ?

With that idea (or air/sea pirates), have to watch where there were smooth waters, at first light, and remote.

"If they managed to pull a Sullenburger", ... needed good visibility / no waves.

[Sulako]

Pic of Michael McKay's email for those who haven't seen it.





ABC News confirms that the guy actually send the email. Not that he's correct, per se, but that there is a guy on that oil rig who did send that email.

https://twitter.com/BobWoodruff/statuse ... 8513411072

[B52]

Here is his email.




That is around 270 degrees of his location.
His distance of 50-70 k is wrong due to optical illusion.

I'm waiting till the press interview him.

[B52]

More news.

The Foreign Ministry of Vietnam has directed authorities in Vung Tau to meet an oil-rig worker who claimed that he saw the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 crash off the country’s southern coast Saturday morning.

Nguyen Ngoc Hung, director of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province's Foreign Affairs Office, confirmed this information with Tuoi Tre at 10:30pm on March 13.

New Zealander Michael Jerome McKay, who is working on Songar Mercur oil-rig off Vung Tau, claimed in an email to his employers that he saw the plane crash about 50 to 70 km away from his location.

“I believe I saw the Malaysia Airlines plane come down. The timing is right” – the man wrote. “I tried to contact the Malaysian and Vietnam officials several days ago. But I don’t know if the message has been received.”

McKay said the surface location of the observation is Lat 08 22’ 30.20” N Lat 108 42.22.26” E and the possible plane appeared to be in one piece. “From when I first saw the burning (plane) until the flames went out (still at high altitude) was 10 to 15 seconds” - he said.

Vietnamese naval officer Le Minh Thanh told America’s ABC News that Vietnam has sent a plane to the area to investigate the man’s claims but the search was fruitless.

ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff, who obtained a copy of Mckay’s email, twitted that Richard Beaton at Japanese Idemitsu Oil & Gas Co, who hired Songa Mercur to drill, confirmed with him that McKay’s email is real.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/18298/vie ... lane-crash


An identical name comes up in NZ as a company director.
Other than that, he keeps a clean public trail.
It appears he laid his name on the email to show his credibility.

For that the world owes him some recognition and appreciation.


https://opencorporates.com/companies/nz/1950834
Registered Address

32 Glenelg Road,, Red Beach, Whangaparaoa,, Auckland, 0932.
NZ

[ogopogo]

I never knew aircraft engines had the ability to send real time data to the ground.

What system do they use? Is it ACARS?

Does it work over water? (I am thinking it isn't a satellite uplink) I gather this speculation about the aircraft continuing to fly for four hrs after it disappeared from radar is based on this engine 'ping' data?

Another unrelated question: Why only the engines? If there is a real time system that allows the engine data to be sent and analyzed on the ground, why isn't the FDR data also linked in? That would be so useful.

[pdw]

.... I gather this speculation about the aircraft continuing to fly for four hrs after it disappeared from radar is based on this engine 'ping' data?

The "ping data" would support other unconfirmed witnesses (supposedly) seeing the aircraft an hour west .. the opposite direction .. of the heading/location with the last on-course radar hit.

If a satellite picks up such a ping from an aircaft's engine system ... does that automatically mean it's still airborne or could that also be possible after landing on the water ?

[ditar]

It's quite possible that the eyewitness might have been looking at Jupiter. I entered the coordinates, date and time into planetarium software. This is what would have appeared in the sky at that position. The azimuth nearly matches the compass heading given in the description, and the altitude of 19 degrees above the horizon could easily be construed as an aircraft at the estimated distance. Shimmering low near the horizon, and then maybe disappearing behind a distant cloud, the planet could have been mistaken for a burning aircraft. It would not be the first time that someone mistook a planet for an airplane, after all.

[bizjets101]

http://online.wsj.com/news/article_emai ... MzExNDMyWj Wall Street Journal Update - Jetliner 'Pinged' Satellites With Location, Altitude for Hours After Disappearance

USA searches believe aircraft is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean - where exactly ???

[GyvAir]

USA searches believe aircraft is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean - where exactly ???

At risk of contributing to what is already an incredible morass of wild theories and misinformation, here's a question for those more knowledgeable about satellite links:
If in fact there were pings from the flight received and they were picked up by 3 or more satellites, would it be possible for the satellite operators to calculate approximate positions of the source of the pings through triangulation, thus coming up with an area to focus the search effort on?

If a satellite picks up such a ping from an aircaft's engine system ... does that automatically mean it's still airborne or could that also be possible after landing on the water ?

For the system to continue transmitting, it would require a live bus for power. Pretty unlikely, even if they had pulled off an even more unlikely successful ditching, that the aircraft would remain afloat with a functioning electrical system for very long at all.

..10-15 seconds.

The guy does write a credible sounding report. An in-flight aircraft fire visible from those kinds of distances simply going out after 15 seconds doesn't seem likely though. Granted, he doesn't say that he saw the burning commence. That report sounds more like an observation of a meteor burning up on entry.

[Inverted2]

This is turning out to be far more bizzare than the Caravan disappearing out of CYAM last year.

[boeingboy]

Was engine data even being xmitted?

There are numerous news sources saying RR says yes, and there are news sources that quote RR saying no. Even investigators are saying it didn't.

I dont know what to believe anymore?????

[boeingboy]

Would it be pitch black if the Rolls Royce engine monitoring signals suggest it's still flying 5 hours later ... with first light being just before 6Am ?

With that idea (or air/sea pirates), have to watch where there were smooth waters, at first light, and remote.

"If they managed to pull a Sullenburger", ... needed good visibility / no waves.

Yes - well at the time we were discussing that - there was no talk of the plane flying around for 5 hours.

We still don't know if it actually did or not.

[gapper]

A possible theory is the plane is parked in a military hanger in Iran.

[BigQ]

A possible theory is the plane is parked in a military hanger in Iran.

See, I'm going with CIA operation. Location of last known position + rumoured overflight of Khota Baru and the other islands whose name eludes me in the Straight of Malacca --> draw straight line west, and you get - roughly - at the edge of 2000nm from Khota Baru, the US/UK airbase of Diego Garcia, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Known base of operations of the UK navy, US navy, and various covert governmental agencies.

[gapper]

I remember a report a few days ago that the plane left with 8 hours of fuel. Do a scan on Google Earth, and come up with Iran.

[JayVee]

I may not have read this entire thread, but has anyone else thought that al-q has their very own triple seven at this moment to use for carrying whatever they wish to as far as they can get?

[MrWings]

This is all sounding very Hollywood. Very bizarre.

[co-joe]

A possible theory is the plane is parked in a military hanger in Iran.

+1

Would make a pretty dangerous WMD in a few months right after we all give up looking.

[beaverbob]

Maybe a new weapons delivery system for Iran to attack Israel?
I know, far fetched, but fits right in with all the other strange and twisted theories.
Bob

[all_ramped_up]

I fail to see how you can sneak a 777 that distance over that many millions of people, radars, air traffic, naval traffic and "slip in" to Iran or any other such unfriendly Nation.

If they do the math for runway performance for a 777 they can narrow down all the hiding spots for one. Bets are you're not going to land it off-strip if it wants to be used again for some nefarious purpose. Then there's getting rid of 239+ bodies without someone noticing. The logistics alone for some Hollywood-esque Caper like this are insane. Possible? Maybe but highly unlikely.

I think that theory is a bunch of hogwash. It's probably sitting on the bottom of the Ocean somewhere.

[MrWings]

I fail to see how you can sneak a 777 that distance over that many millions of people, radars, air traffic, naval traffic and "slip in" to Iran or any other such unfriendly Nation.

I agree.

With all the super secret spy monitoring equipment, you'd assume they'd be focused on places like Iran. They'd know who's coming or going there.

[Kokanee]

Has anyone checked the departure airport? Did the plane even depart? Is it sitting at the wrong departure gate? Or is it sitting in a maintenance hanger due to a snag?

[Gilles Hudicourt]

Iran has nothing to do with this.
Iran has missiles that can reach twice the distance between Iran and Israel, it has airliners of its own that could be used for the purposes insinuated here for the lost 777 and it has over 200 combat aircraft, many of which have Air to Air refueling capability. It has a B707 refueller, a B-747 refueller and a fleet of Su-24 with refueling pods. And now, thanks to US stupidity, Iran can overfly a friendly and air-defenseless Irak (and Syria as well) to bomb Israel if it so wishes. Iran to Israel is just 500 NM.

If planet Mars was to vanish from our solar system today, there are some people who would point to Iran as the culprit, because it serves their agenda to do so. Let's move on please.