Malaysia 777 Missing

[GDR]

Interesting article.

http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/search-for-mh370/

[Kip Powick]

Now if someone can explain the redacted area on google maps / google earth just north, north west of Diego Garcia that would be cool.

I don't believe that is a redaction. It is just a archipelago called Chagos...a lot of it is underwater and much is a marine conservation area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagos_Archipelago

Been to Diego three times....without air conditioning you would die !!!

[DEFCON]

Being the Indian Ocean has something on the order of a half a dozen aircraft carrier battle groups operating in at at all times, isn’t it odd, or a bit of stretch to believe flight 370 would have gone on completely unnoticed by anyone over several hours, but in the case of Malaysia 17, the US was able to issue a report confirming the involvement of a surface launched missile within minutes of its downing?

[blues deville]

Being the Indian Ocean has something on the order of a half a dozen aircraft carrier battle groups operating in at at all times, isn’t it odd, or a bit of stretch to believe flight 370 would have gone on completely unnoticed by anyone over several hours, but in the case of Malaysia 17, the US was able to issue a report confirming the involvement of a surface launched missile within minutes of its downing?

Yes it's interesting how these things work. To most Americans not as interesting as what Kanye West has to say at various awards ceremonies.

The Russians have a good track record of making airliners disappear. Techniques vary.

[Seeker]

Interesting. The last waybill of 2250 Kgs has no description of the item being shipped. What was in this shipment?

2250kgs? That's a seriously large microchip!

Maybe it's just packed really well.

[blues deville]

2250kgs? That's a seriously large microchip!

Maybe it's just packed really well.

I believe it to be a seriously small device. Golf ball dimple sized. Perhaps there were lots of them. Or lots of bubble wrap.

Who knows if these waybills are authentic. They've been out for awhile but still no information as to what this part of the cargo shipment contained.

[Guest]

It is the large shipment of Lithium batteries that drew my attention.

[blues deville]

It is the large shipment of Lithium batteries that drew my attention.

It got mine too after this type of cargo was reported to be on board. And it's clearly listed on the waybill. Used lithium batteries are even more dangerous.

[DEFCON]

I can appreciate the inherent risk associated with the transport of large quantities of lithium batteries. I do have some difficulty though imaging how a fire in the shipment could incapacitate the crew, yet leave the aircraft intact and capable of wondering on with the autopilot engaged in some mysterious way for several hours. Even though any number of possibilities remain open, the battery fire explanation just doesn’t seem too practical, or plausible.

[blues deville]

I can appreciate the inherent risk associated with the transport of large quantities of lithium batteries. I do have some difficulty though imaging how a fire in the shipment could incapacitate the crew, yet leave the aircraft intact and capable of wondering on with the autopilot engaged in some mysterious way for several hours. Even though any number of possibilities remain open, the battery fire explanation just doesnt seem too practical, or plausible.

I've been all over the map with potential causes of this flight going missing. The lithium battery cargo was an initial concern. These things should never be carried on any aircraft. Passenger or cargo. There is no current aircraft fire suppression system to extinguish the flame. They stop burning when they're ready. If they are to be carried on an aircraft, it should be in some kind of specially designed container with its own fire system.

The other serious issue with a lithium battery fire is the hydrogen gas produced that will burn your throat and you will quickly become incapacitated. There have been two recent cargo fires with these batteries. Asiana and UPS. Both 747's. Both aircraft crashed because of flight crew incapacitation.

However, I don't think this was a battery fire.

[acsidestick]

Clearly, the battery issue is a red herring.

The plane was flown very deliberately and exactly over invisible waypoints by the FMS. It required course changes and reversals (one was 120 degrees) which would never happen in a real FMS flight plan unless someone told it to. The ACARS and transponder failing less than a minute apart meant someone had to leave the flight deck to go downstairs and pull the breakers, so that rules out someone locked out of the flight deck trying to get back in. Anyone who took control would be overwhelmed when they exited if there was anyone able to challenge them.

If the other good Pilot had been under duress, then when the instigator left the flight deck, the good pilot would lock him out till kingdom come and save the day with Maydays, radio, landing etc.

I think it is quite clear that one of the two incapacitated the other, and then incapacitated the passenger ( probably by denying O2). It is the only way he could freely move about the plane without interference.

Nothing to do with batteries.

[blues deville]

Clearly, the battery issue is a red herring.

The plane was flown very deliberately and exactly over invisible waypoints by the FMS. It required course changes and reversals (one was 120 degrees) which would never happen in a real FMS flight plan unless someone told it to. The ACARS and transponder failing less than a minute apart meant someone had to leave the flight deck to go downstairs and pull the breakers, so that rules out someone locked out of the flight deck trying to get back in. Anyone who took control would be overwhelmed when they exited if there was anyone able to challenge them.

If the other good Pilot had been under duress, then when the instigator left the flight deck, the good pilot would lock him out till kingdom come and save the day with Maydays, radio, landing etc.

I think it is quite clear that one of the two incapacitated the other, and then incapacitated the passenger ( probably by denying O2). It is the only way he could freely move about the plane without interference.

Nothing to do with batteries.

FYI.....you don't have to leave your seat to disconnect ACARS or the transponder. I won't post the methods here.

[Guest]

MH370: Tracking test is 'not a silver bullet'

By: DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW

Source:

19:21 2 Mar 2015

Australian officials have acknowledged the potential weakness of deliberate disconnection while detailing an upcoming aircraft tracking trial programme.

The programme – based on automatic dependent surveillance contract (ADS-C) technology – aims to test short-interval tracking capability, following the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

But air navigation authority Airservices chair Angus Houston, in a briefing on the initiative, cautioned that it would not necessarily have assisted in the case of the missing Boeing 777, given the possibility that several transmitters were disengaged during MH370’s disappearance.

“I think we’ve got to be very, very careful – because you can turn this system off,” he says. “While the system was operating we’d know exactly where the aircraft was.

“But if somebody had turned the system off…we’re in the same set of circumstances as we’ve experienced on the latter part of the flight of MH370.”

ICAO is formally recommending that aircraft be tracked at 15min intervals. Houston says the tracking test will probably use a 14min spacing, which will shorten – to around 5min or even less – in the event of an unexpected deviation.

Deviation would involve a 200ft change from the assigned altitude or 2nm shift from the expected track, he states.

“[This] obviously means we’re going to be in a much better position, not only to track the aircraft but, if something goes wrong, to provide the necessary information to the search and rescue authority as to where the best place to start the search is,” he adds.

But Houston says the tracking capability is “not a silver bullet” and that the crucial aspect of disconnection has yet to be fully addressed.

“This is one of the arguments that is put forward…if there this an electrical problem, which results in smoke – or, even worse, fire – you need to be able to isolate the electrical systems that are affected,” he states.

“This is something that needs to be looked at and discussed very carefully before any decisions are made.”

Airservices will initially host the tracking trial at its Brisbane centre. It is to hold discussions with air traffic control counterparts in Indonesia and Malaysia, within the next couple of weeks, to extend the programme to both countries.

[Guest]

Malaysia Airlines has begun tracking the location of its long-haul flights every 15 minutes or less, a proposal put forward by the UN aviation agency after the disappearance of the carrier's Flight MH370 a year ago, Malaysia's transport minister said.

The Southeast Asian country has also improved co-ordination between its military and civil aviation authorities to avoid the confusion and missteps that plagued the initial search for the jet, Liow Tiong Lai told Reuters.

No trace has been found of the Boeing 777-200, which vanished on a flight to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, with 239 passengers and crew on board, in what has become one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.

Widespread shock that a large passenger jet could simply disappear led to calls for more efficient tracking, with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) proposing as a global standard that all aircraft should automatically report their position at least every 15 minutes by 2016.

Airlines said the deadline was not practical, but this week Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia said they were launching a trial of such a system.

"In fact, we directed Malaysia Airlines to take the lead in this real-time tracking and MAS has implemented, for long-haul flights, implemented every 15 minutes, they have to download the data." Liow said in an interview. "It has been done independently without the ICAO's requirements."

The system proposed by ICAO uses equipment already installed on long-haul aircraft that collects on board data such as location, altitude, heading and speed.

Not all airlines configure the equipment to transmit that data to a satellite in-flight — Malaysia Airlines previously did not — and for those that do the norm is every 30 minutes.

Malaysia Airlines, also known as MAS, said later the systems on its Boeing 777 fleet had been upgraded to report the plane's position every 15 minutes, and its Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A330 and A380 aircraft every 10 minutes.

Piece together its flight path

The search for MH370 began in the South China Sea, close the point off Malaysia's east coast where it vanished from civilian radar screens. Days later, Malaysia's military revealed its radar had tracked the plane as it veered west back across Peninsular Malaysia, and the search shifted to the Andaman Sea.

A handful of faint "pings" picked up by a commercial satellite for another six hours helped experts to piece together its eventual path, which led them to conclude that it crashed west of Perth, Australia, in a remote part of the Indian Ocean.

Malaysia's military came under fire for taking almost 24 hours to report to the civilian authorities that its radar may have spotted MH370's diversion. That has changed, said Liow.

"We introduced a lot of improvements in terms of efficiency of work between the two departments, we had emergency training for most of the staff," he added.

In the frantic early days of the search, Malaysia appealed to neighbouring countries to share data from their military radars that could show MH370's flight path. Its secret nature, however, meant that this information was slow in coming.

Liow said Malaysia had proposed that ICAO could provide a platform for sharing such data in future.

"Collaboration between countries is important, and how we share data and information and how we react to emergencies is crucial," said Liow.

44% of search area covered

While better tracking can pinpoint an aircraft's location, it may not prevent another MH370. Investigators believe someone deliberately switched off the plane's transponder before diverting it thousands of kilometres off course.

Malaysia is due to release the investigators' latest report this weekend. Liow said he had not yet seen it, and could not say whether it would be a final report or an interim statement.

Making aircraft tamper-proof could be another issue for ICAO, just like the measures it took to improve air safety after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, said Liow.

"I think ICAO needs to continue to enhance the safety features to be implemented in the aviation industry," he said.

Liow said that 1 per cent of the 60,000 sq. kilometre search area can be covered every day if the weather is good. With 44 per cent covered to date, the search should be completed by May.

Australia, which is leading the search, has said discussions were underway with Malaysia and China about what to do if nothing has been found by then. Liow said Malaysia was prepared to support the search financially beyond May.

Some families of those on board the plane have accused the Malaysian authorities of hiding some information, but Liow urged them not to "believe in all the conspiracy theories".

"[They] have to believe in data, facts, in ... experts who give us the data that shows that - proves that - this plane is in the south Indian Ocean," he said. "And that is why we are focused in that area."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysia-airlines-tracking-long-haul-flights-every-15-minutes-after-mh370-disappearance-1.2984123?cmp=rss

[blues deville]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysia-airlines-tracking-long-haul-flights-every-15-minutes-after-mh370-disappearance-1.2984123?cmp=rss

And those families of the missing passengers have every right to demand nothing less than full disclosure of all facts and information regarding the dispatch of this aircraft and crew. What reason would they have for withholding any known information?

[Guest]

some new information, expired battery, no wonder the pinger was not heard:

Interim MH370 report offers details but few clues

By: GREG WALDRON

SINGAPORE

Source:

in an hour

Exactly one year after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, an interim statement about the safety investigation offers few new clues into what happened to the missing Boeing 777-200ER.

The 587-page report was compiled by a 19-member, multi-national investigation team established by the county’s minister of transport under the auspices of ICAO regulations.

But among the more notable items are the revelation that the battery for the flight-data recorder's underwater locator beacon had expired, as well as clarifications on the last voice transmission from the aircraft.

The report ascertains that it was the 53-year old captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who uttered the aircraft’s last nine voice transmissions. This includes the final communication – “Goodnight Malaysian three-seven-zero” – at 01:19:30 local time (17:19:30 UTC). This transmission occurred 1min 6s before the aircraft’s transponder ceased transmitting at 01:20:36 local time.

Five sets of audio recordings between MH370 and air traffic controllers were examined, comprising some 23 “utterances”, the inquiry states. The first three sets of “utterances” were established as being spoken by 27-year-old first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid, who was on his final training flight for the 777 – he had been promoted from the carrier’s Airbus A330-300 fleet.

The recordings were assessed by replaying them to other pilots, as well as the friends and family members of the pilots. In addition, independent experts provided objective analysis.

The report also revealed that the battery for the underwater locator beacon affixed to the aircraft’s flight-data recorder had expired in December 2012, and there is no evidence it had been replaced. This could have reduced its discharge time below the nominal 30-day period, possibly limiting searchers’ ability to locate the aircraft.

Investigators state that the battery for the cockpit-voice recorder beacon was up-to-date.

The report also shows that the aircraft was picked up by primary radar several times after it turned back and headed over peninsular Malaysia, with primary radar targets transmitted to Kuala Lumpur's air traffic control centre.

After crossing the peninsula, MH370 made an abrupt right turn south of Penang, and headed to waypoint VAMPI, which is located at the north-western mouth of the Malacca Strait between Sumatra and Malaysia.

Military radar continued to track the signal as it appeared to head for the subsequent waypoint MEKAR, on the N571 airway, before it disappeared at 02:22:12 local time about 10nm after this waypoint.

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak says that Malaysia is committed to finding the lost aircraft, which satellite data indicated as having crashed in the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean. All 227 passengers and 12 crew perished in the disaster.

“Together with our international partners, we have followed the little evidence that exists. Malaysia remains committed to the search, and hopeful that MH370 will be found,” said Razak.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/interim-mh370-report-offers-details-but-few-clues-409890/

[blues deville]

Dead ELT battery. Another mystery.

I still find the so called cargo manifest floating around on the internet for this flight to be interesting as well. How many flights have you departed on and not known the exact contents of any cargo boarded on your flight? Most of the cargo on MH370 does not indicate what the contents were including the last page showing some 2200 Kgs.

[Guest]

Dead ELT battery. Another mystery.

I still find the so called cargo manifest floating around on the internet for this flight to be interesting as well. How many flights have you departed on and not known the exact contents of any cargo boarded on your flight? Most of the cargo on MH370 does not indicate what the contents were including the last page showing some 2200 Kgs.

it is quite normal for cargo to be called a consolidation and only the consolidation breakdown manifest will show the actual contents. So the manifest generated by the airline relies upon the shippers declaration that the manifest does not contain any "dangerous goods" or if it does they are declared on the AWB.

[Kip Powick]

I believe that an ELT for commercial aircraft should last 6 years.........................

FROM CNN :

The interim report, which Malaysian authorities were required to release under international civil aviation standards, revealed that the battery of the underwater locator beacon on MH370's flight data recorder expired more than a year before the plane's disappearance.

The report, citing maintenance records, said that there was no evidence to suggest the battery was replaced before its expiry in December 2012. While such a battery can operate past its expiry date, it said, "it is not guaranteed that it will work or that it would meet the 30-day minimum requirement."

The battery on the plane's other so-called black box, the cockpit voice recorder, was replaced as scheduled and remained within its expiry date, the report said.

Investigators interviewed maintenance staff and found that the computerized replacement schedule had not been updated correctly when the flight data recorder, and its locator beacon were replaced in February 2008.

[DEFCON]

The Report

http://mh370.mot.gov.my/download/FactualInformation.pdf

[boestar]

There was a documentary on the flight last night on The Passionate Eye. I PVR'd it so I could watch it again. apparently the Load of Catteries was around 200Kg. the documentary was pretty good but did not shed much new light.

[Guest]

According to this article the load was 221kgs. You can read the story at:

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/mh370-carrying-221kg-lithium-ion-batteries-what-you-may-not-know-abo

Of course the presence of the batteries does not explain how the aircraft could perform the maneuvers that have been reported (course changes etc).

[blues deville]

The mystery continues.

Apparently found on a beach last July.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/search-for-mh370-moist-towelette-discovery-unlikely-to-help-find-missing-flight-20150310-13zy0i.html

[DEFCON]

That is an interesting lead.

[Jaydee]

According to this article the load was 221kgs. You can read the story at:

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/mh370-carrying-221kg-lithium-ion-batteries-what-you-may-not-know-abo

Of course the presence of the batteries does not explain how the aircraft could perform the maneuvers that have been reported (course changes etc).

According to the cargo manifest, ( page 5 ) the flight had a container carrying over 2500 kgs of lithium ion batteries. It doesn't state whether or not the batteries were in something or by themselves.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/MH370CargoManifestandAirwayBill.pdf