Beijing-bound MAS plane carrying 239 people missing as of 20 mins ago.

MRuss
Right. China says they've had these images since Sunday.

Here it is... Wednesday.

Maybe they have had it all along and they hoped Malaysia would actually know where the plane was by now.

I can kind of understand that if these images are from spy/secret satellites. I'm sure with all that is happening in the world China probably doesn't want to openly allow other countries to have any clue what there satellites are capable of.

Any surprise this is coming out of China? Our satellites wouldn't see these "objects" or the search wouldn't have discovered them? Ok

Leonidas

bobs_uruncle

Zaphod58
reply to post by bobs_uruncle

 

The 777 has flown over 7 million flights, and this is the third crash. Prior to this there were three fatalities in the first two.

How is that NOT a stellar record?

Also responding to Leonidas,

I did not single out the 777, I stated Boeing and after seeing some of the evidence I have seen on automatic fire fighting measures within a plane and the availability of crew based fire fighting equipment, it's sorely lacking. If a fire starts on a plane, the crew has between 3 and 5 minutes to put it out and have a 50/50 chance of making the next airport. At 7 minutes those odds drop to about a 20% chance. At 10 minutes, you're done. Was the 777-200 a pax only plane or was it a combi (pax and cargo on the same level), many of the combi's had a -2xx designation. One of the incredibly stupid things Boeing did in the 747-244 combi was that they shared the cargo environmental systems with the pax environmental systems. So, if a fire starts in the cargo area and there was no automatic fire fighting system, the pax get the smoke, pretty clever huh? They also had only 2 fire extinguishers, wow, that's gonna help lots and if I remember right, 1 portable respirator, so only the FE or other trained person can fight the fire. And the checklist, drop to 5000 feet and 175 knots and open the door? Seriously, add fuel to the fire to clear the smoke, it simply amazes me. No, I'm sorry, it's stupidity at least in the case of some of Boeing's planes.

Cheers - Dave

edit on 3/12.2014 by bobs_uruncle because: (no reason given)

I am curious how Boeing's safety record compares to Airbus, Antonov, Embraer, Bombardier and Suhkoi? What does your research say about those manufacturers?

To be perfectly honest, I have not checked the others. The investigations I have been pursuing all involve Boeing unfortunately and some serious political targets and/or military contraband. I doubt though they are any better than Boeing and I expect probably the same use and/or non-use of auto fire fighting equipment and hand held extinguishers.

Cheers - Dave

It said they were published by the Chinese State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), and dated March 9. They show a suspected crash site in the South China Sea, not far off the plane’s projected flight path. They show three large pieces at sea, the largest of which, according to SASTIND, measured 24m by 27m.

Cosmocow
just read this...the FAA directive into the skin of the Boeing 777 has finally made the news.

"The Federal Aviation Administration ordered checks on hundreds of U.S.-registered 777s after reports of cracking in the fuselage skin underneath a satellite antenna."

www.nbcnews.com...

Thanks for the link. I don't know how to interpret this statement at the end of that article:

The FAA directive on cracks applies to all Boeing 777-200, -200LR, -300, -300ER, and -777F series airplanes. The missing jet is a 777-2H6/ER.

They list some models the directive applies to, then they show the model of the missing aircraft but I don't know how to tell if it applies or not, but the model isn't an exact match for the listed models. Can any aviation experts clarify?

this is hitting all the news

www.breakingnews.com...

Arbitrageur

The FAA directive on cracks applies to all Boeing 777-200, -200LR, -300, -300ER, and -777F series airplanes. The missing jet is a 777-2H6/ER.

They list some models the directive applies to, then they show the model of the missing aircraft but I don't know how to tell if it applies or not, but the model isn't an exact match for the listed models. Can any aviation experts clarify?

Wouldn't the 777-2H6/ER be a part of the 777-200 series?

It appears that nobody can count on China to release any information until they have thoroughly considered all the possible implications of each disclosure.

While that may make sense to them, that has to be frustrating for their partners involved in the search.

Leonidas
It appears that nobody can count on China to release any information until they have thoroughly considered all the possible implications of each disclosure.

While that may make sense to them, that has to be frustrating for their partners involved in the search.

Yeah that must be it

Now nothing as of yet has been found, so we don't even know if that is the plane... but you have to start wandering, assuming this is the plane, if Malaysia knew the whole time and just played dumb to get China to reveal their cards... errr capabilities.

Have they said the sizes of the debris sighted?

I've been at the Tomnod site doing a grid search and the image is also from the 9th. Maybe the Chinese took the image on the 9th but the debris wasn't discovered in real time.

US is sending hi tech aircraft to the Chinese image area.

Myrtales Instinct
Have they said the sizes of the debris sighted?

Earlier on this page..

"They show three large pieces at sea, the largest of which, according to SASTIND, measured 24m by 27m. "

reply to post by Leonidas


Also for the families that had loved ones on the plane, most being from China itself. This entire situation is so bizarre.

Call me crazy, but I seriously wonder if China even knew what they had.

The Tomod site where you could help search for the plane, had satelite footage from the 9th.

When I scoured the map tiles, it was mosaic, but I did manage to find an oil rig and three ships.

The reason I mention this is, something I just read mentioned a man on an oil rig who says they saw/heard something.

The point I'm trying to make is, perhaps those images on the Tomnod site weren't digital globe's but chinese satelite the public have been searching.

it's just a thought and might explain why it's only coming to light now???

Then again, this just up on the Gaurdian site...

China’s State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense announced the discovery, including images of what it said were “three suspected floating objects and their sizes.” The objects aren’t small at 13 by 18 meters (43 by 59 feet), 14 by 19 meters and 24 by 22 meters. The images were captured on March 9 - which was the day after the plane went missing - but weren’t released until Wednesday. The Chinese agency gave coordinates of 105.63 east longitude, 6.7 north latitude, which would put it in waters northeast of where it took off in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and south of Vietnam.

Linky here


You have got to ask yourself why they would sit on it for days, especailly as they have expended resources looking for the plane too.

reply to post by Myrtales Instinct


I can seem to tell what area we are searching on Tomnod for the 9th...I believe I only found a ship....

Kennit
Wouldn't the 777-2H6/ER be a part of the 777-200 series?

Maybe, but I don't know, that's why I asked. I thought someone reading this thread might be more familiar with these model designations than I am.

solargeddon
You have got to ask yourself why they would sit on it for days, especailly as they have expended resources looking for the plane too.

I did that, and my self replied that maybe they had a ton of images to review and it took time to review them? But I don't know the real reason for the delay.

Fox News is breaking it now. They said they have had it for an hour, but have been hesitant to run the story since they don't know the veracity of the story.

"We do not know, but the Chinese say they think it is. The planes are on the way, the boats are on the way, that's all we know."