Guest longtimer Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 If he is right..... then the co-ordinates might help the search.Oil Rig Worker Thinks He Saw Malaysia Air Flight 370 Go Down In FlamesThe WireAbby Ohlheiser, The WireMar. 12, 2014, 12:13 PM 30,176 18In yet another odd twist to the mysterious story of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a New Zealand man working on an oil rig in the South China Sea has come forward to say he believes he saw the airplane on fire right around the time it disappeared.Mike McKay, a worker on the "Songa Mercur" drilling platform, sent an email to his bosses detailing his version of events. McKay said that he "observed the plane burning at high altitude...in one piece" about 50-70 KM from his location.He gave coordinates for the location of the rig, which recently moved from Cuba to the shores of Vietnam. McKay's employer confirms that the letter, posted online by several news outlets today, is authentic.ABC's Bob Woodruff spoke with the Japanese Idemitsu Oil & Gas Co after acquiring the letter to confirm the letter's veracity. McKay, who carries a New Zealand passport, said that he tried to contact Malaysian and Vietnam officials about what he saw "several days ago," adding that he'd received no confirmation that they got his message.Vietnamese officials confirmed to ABC that they'd received the letter. Apparently, they found nothing in the water at the location specified by McKay.Given the apparent location of the rig, and the original flight path of MH370, it's possible that McKay is correct. But that would also seem to discount the theory that the plane turned and headed in the complete opposite direction, as some military authorities have (at least temporarily) claimed.Meanwhile, officials are expanding their search for the still-missing plane, and the 239 people on board. There are several reports indicating that the plane may have veered off its intended flight path and changed direction before disappearing from radar, but those reports conflict as to where, exactly it went.At least 10 countries are involved in the Malaysian-led search for the missing jet, which carried passengers from at least 13 different countries, although most of the passengers were Chinese citizens.Here's the full letter:letterhttp://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53208663ecad04ac742ef2dc-600-800/69cb145f7.jpgRead more: http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/03/oil-rig-worker-says-he-saw-malaysia-air-flight-370-go-down/359093/#ixzz2vmEUqzqI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torque wrench Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Can anyone advise if and if not the ACARS data transmission was working???? No mention of this at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanishing point Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Here's some food for thought; if this aircraft is still intact and I'm sure at least 90% of the passengers had their cell phones on, can't providers use their technology to locate the phones provided the phones are within range of towers?For all I know, does a phone even have to be "on" to locate it?Just throwing this out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Well, at least there's two pieces of information that almost match. The distance is wrong, but the location of the most recently spotted flotsam seems to be at least in the right direction from the rig at about 200 km. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torque wrench Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Can anyone advise if and if not the ACARS data transmission was working???? No mention of this at all. Guess I can answer my own question: Thanks people.....Rolls-Royce, which made the Boeing 777′s Trent 800 engines says it received two batches of engine diagnostic data from the plane after takeoff and during the cruise, as part of the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) – but there’s nothing unusual about that. It does imply, however, that Malaysian Airlines — which received the full ACARS report — would know by now if the plane was suffering from any issues. As the airline hasn’t said anything about the ACARS report, it’s probably fairly safe to assume that all systems were functioning normally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blues deville Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 From CNN. Is this the 777 underwater? http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1103537?hpt=hp_t1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AAS Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 BBC have just broadcast a satellite image which Chinese officials believe could be wreckage from Flight MH370. There are also reports that Chia has spotted debris.(I can't add links from my phone??)ThanksChina's civil aviation chief says they can't confirm satellite images are connected to missing plane - @Reuters http://t.co/FbOhxW9aLv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakelad Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Satellite Image - BBC News Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Say Again, Over! Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 inchman,Phased array sites have directional beams that can be used to measure altitude as well as azymuth and range. If that's what they were using, any altitude they offer would technically be legit.Felix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Thanks, Felix. By the way things seem to be being handled, I was half expecting their radar to be a guy out standing on a lazy susan with an old TV antenna and his buddy standing beside him with an satellite dish and a stethoscope. Phased array never even crossed my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Whoa, this is starting to get really hoaryhttp://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282-lMyQjAxMTA0MDEwMzExNDMyWjU.S. investigators suspect that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 stayed in the air for about four hours past the time it reached its last confirmed location, according to two people familiar with the details, raising the possibility that the plane could have flown on for hundreds of additional miles under conditions that remain murky.Aviation investigators and national security officials believe the plane flew for a total of five hours based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from theBoeing Co. 777's engines as part of a routine maintenance and monitoring program.That raises a host of new questions and possibilities about what happened aboard the widebody jet carrying 239 people, which vanished from civilian air-traffic control radar over the weekend, about one hour into a flight to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.Six days after the mysterious disappearance prompted a massive international air and water search that so far hasn't produced any results, the investigation appears to be broadening in scope.U.S. counterterrorism officials are pursuing the possibility that a pilot or someone else on board the plane may have diverted it toward an undisclosed location after intentionally turning off the jetliner's transponders to avoid radar detection, according to one person tracking the probe.The investigation remains fluid, and it isn't clear whether investigators have evidence indicating possible terrorism or espionage. So far, U.S. national security officials have said that nothing specifically points toward terrorism, though they haven't ruled it out.But the huge uncertainty about where the plane was headed, and why it continued flying so long without working transponders, has raised theories among investigators that the aircraft may have been commandeered for a reason that appears unclear to U.S. authorities. Some of those theories have been laid out to national security officials and senior personnel from various U.S. agencies, according to one person familiar with the matter.At one briefing, according to this person, officials were told investigators are actively pursuing the notion that the plane was diverted "with the intention of using it later for another purpose."As of Wednesday it remained unclear whether the plane reached an alternate destination or if it ultimately crashed, potentially hundreds of miles from where an international search effort has been focused.In those scenarios, neither mechanical problems, pilot mistakes nor some other type of catastrophic incident caused the 250-ton plane to mysteriously vanish from radar.The latest revelations come as local media reported that Malaysian police visited the home of at least one of the two pilots.Boeing officials and a Malaysia Airlines official declined to comment.The engines' onboard monitoring system is provided by their manufacturer, Rolls-Royce PLC, and it periodically sends bursts of data about engine health, operations and aircraft movements to facilities on the ground.Rolls-Royce couldn't immediately be reached for comment.As part of its maintenance agreements, Malaysia Airlines transmits its engine data live to Rolls-Royce for analysis. The system compiles data from inside the 777's two Trent 800 engines and transmits snapshots of performance, as well as the altitude and speed of the jet.Those snippets are compiled and transmitted in 30-minute increments, said one person familiar with the system. According to Rolls-Royce's website, the data is processed automatically "so that subtle changes in condition from one flight to another can be detected."The engine data is being analyzed to help determine the flight path of the plane after the transponders stopped working. The jet was originally headed for China, and its last verified position was half way across the Gulf of Thailand.A total flight time of five hours after departing Kuala Lumpur means the Boeing 777could have continued for an additional distance of about 2,200 nautical miles, reaching points as far as the Indian Ocean, the border of Pakistan or even the Arabian Sea, based on the jet's cruising speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
props2you Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Aside from the tragic loss of life, Malaysia is coming out looking like the biggest loser with their farcical handling of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 "Aviation investigators and national security officials believe the plane flew for a total of five hours based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing Co. 777's engines as part of a routine maintenance and monitoring program."Wow.Whole different ballgame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon The Loon Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Wow. Whole different ballgame. Ya-butt - Maybe the people are still alive. Only, where, why and how? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Moon...quite possibly, given unfolding events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. If the info about the ACARS transmissions has been known for as long as it should have been known, then the handling of this really is looking more and more like an episode of the Keystone Cops.Torque wrench, it looks like you finally got your answer. The only reason you didn't get one before is because no one knew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innuendo Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 The BBC is reporting that the Malaysian transport minister is saying that both the airline and Rolls Royce are calling this info inaccurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 We have a report by the WSJ crediting "two people familiar with the details" and the airline saying it didn't happen. Think ahead a couple of days.... the airline isn't going to outright deny something that will come to light as truth. This is a red herring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp fa Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 We have a report by the WSJ crediting "two people familiar with the details" and the airline saying it didn't happen. Think ahead a couple of days.... the airline isn't going to outright deny something that will come to light as truth. This is a red herring.Maybe, maybe not? Maybe the Malaysian government and airline officials have an idea of what happened, but are trying to deflect to avoid liability? Just thinking aloud, and comparing this to the Air Egypt investigation.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_990 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 We may be entering Wesley Sniples/Samuel L. Jackson territory with this case, and if so, I wouldn't believe much officials are saying publicly about the scenario suggested by the WSJ. Once the national security people are involved, they are going to be protective of their detection and analytical capacities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 It's one thing to argue the cause of an accident to save face.Quite another to deny material facts that might ultimately provide a clue to the whereabouts of the crash site. As screwed up as this investigation seems to be, I'm beginning to think most of the confusion is the reporting and media speculation, rather than incompetence on the part of the Malaysian authorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 We may be entering Wesley Sniples/Samuel L. Jackson territory with this case,More like Stephen King territory....I'm expecting some guy digging for dinosaurs to eventually find the black box in a 300 million year old rock formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torque wrench Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. If the info about the ACARS transmissions has been known for as long as it should have been known, then the handling of this really is looking more and more like an episode of the Keystone Cops.Torque wrench, it looks like you finally got your answer. The only reason you didn't get one before is because no one knew.Thanks and it looks like they still don't know. Just goes to show you how the TC and FAA are far superior in the investigation world that these clowns. I am surprised that RR and Boeing arent being a little more vocal. Just a solid reminder to avoid flying on some of these non North American carriers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 I am surprised that RR and Boeing arent being a little more vocal. Protecting their customer relationship in the hope of future sales; "Don't worry, if you screw something up we won't embarrass you in public." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innuendo Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Was watching CNN this morning - they posted a page from PPruneIf CNN have anyone with reasonable knowledge of aviation matters then they should know that PPRune is not the place to go for intelligent info.The last time I looked the thread was over 104 pages, in spite of the Mods working overtime. The signal to noise ratio there is ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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