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

Minor update from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) web-site, in their "Newsroom" section:

21 March 2014 - Search operation for Malaysia airlines aircraft: Update 8

It's only a one-page PDF, but since their site has been getting over-whelmed at times, I'll cut and paste the contents here:

Search operations in the Southern Indian Ocean for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft will continue today in the Australian Search and Rescue Region.

Today’s search will utilise four military aircraft, including two RAAF Orions, tasked by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to search a 23,000 kilometre area, about 2500 kilometres south-west of Perth.

A merchant ship remains in the search area. Another merchant ship is en route to the area and is expected to arrive tonight.

A total of six merchant ships have assisted in the search since a shipping broadcast was issued by AMSA on Monday night.

The current search area has been identified based on satellite data imagery from the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) provided to AMSA on Thursday morning.

Analysis of the imagery by AGO identified two objects possibly relating to the missing aircraft. The images have been assessed as being credible but it is possible they do not relate to the search for MH370.

The Royal Australian Navy HMAS Success is also en route to the search area and is due in the area on 22 March.

To date, no sightings have been reported.

For those in North America, keep in mind that in Australia, it is already "tomorrow".

LO(f)L!

CNN right now is talking about all the stuff I (and others here) mentioned days ago about the "zombie" plane scenario. They are even mentioning the previous incidents I linked to!

reply to post by Mikeultra


I agree with you, Mike. I too believe this has something to do with terrorism and the delivery of a WMD, in my opinion, a nuke.

reply to post by EnhancedInterrogator


CNN has been absolutely disgusting during their coverage of this story.

reply to post by onehuman


Maybe this plane thing is a distraction.....

At 10am AEST (10.13 as I type) nothing, nada, zilch, zip, zero.

drwill

theabsolutetruth
reply to post by voided

 

And is also conveniently located far from the real areas worth searching, looks like a distraction, especially given that the electrical fire theories have been debunked.

www.nbcnews.com...

A theory holding that a fire brought down the missing Malaysia Airlines flight was gaining traction on the Internet Tuesday — but there's simply no evidence of an in-flight blaze, an aviation expert told NBC News.

"I've seen those remarks. I've seen the articles. If there was an electrical fire on board, there still has to be a source. And you can't take out the entire electrical system all in one fell swoop without really catastrophically compromising the structure of the airplane," said Greg Feith, a former National Transportation Safety Board crash investigator and NBC News analyst.

I want to believe that this is _the_ wreckage so the media will shut up, and the family members won't be subjected to relentless stories and panel discussions. However, I can't help but wonder if the heart-tugging grief reaction at yesterday's briefing--which was duly recorded by the media and the videos were played every hour or so--set something in motion. Suddenly wreckage is spotted in the graveyard of the Indian Ocean, in waters so cold (8 degrees C), survival would not be
possible; where a trench cuts right to the heart of the earth. Bye bye, Black Box.
One cannot help but wonder these awful things.

As this news broke last night, I thought the exact same thing; the grief-stricken Malaysian mother's cry for answers may have set off this sudden "found debris"...

I still think that a hijacking took place....that plane is hiding in a hangar, hostages taken care of, awaiting ransom.

Splodge
At 10am AEST (10.13 as I type) nothing, nada, zilch, zip, zero.

Right? And the story (flight path, radar signature, details) changes every day!

Almost... Like... Someone... Is... Hiding... Something...

reply to post by Ploutonas


you could be right
maybe thats how the system works.
i think no matter how conscious we are, if the leaders want War, they will always have it. we can never stop them.
im afraid they will also use 'the fuel that they spent on searchin the plane' as an excuse for economic control.

people like violent better which is why most of theories on this incident are around terrorism.
most people want world war, similar 9/11 scenario, anything related with violent.

peace

SBMcG

Splodge
At 10am AEST (10.13 as I type) nothing, nada, zilch, zip, zero.

Right? And the story (flight path, radar signature, details) changes every day!

Almost... Like... Someone... Is... Hiding... Something...

I'm starting to think the story about Boeing knowing exactly where it landed might be true.

They could be preparing an action to take it back (SEAL's, Delta, etc...) and want to throw off the people responsible by appearing to focus on a spot thousands of miles away.

reply to post by SBMcG


Yeah, I like how on CNN ... everything is "Breaking" news right now. Even if it's just repeating the same stuff from the last 24-28 hours - just saying it differently.

Another minor update from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) web-site, in their "Newsroom" section:

21 March 2014 - Planned aircraft departure times for MH370 search

It's only a one-page PDF, but since their site has been getting over-whelmed at times, I'll cut and paste the contents here:

21st March, 2014: 10.45am (AEDT)

Planned aircraft departure times for MH370 search

*All times are expressed in Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Please note all departure times
are approximate.

Five aircraft will be involved in today’s search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion departed for the search area at around 9.15am.

A civil Gulfstream jet and a second RAAF P3 Orion is due to depart for the search area at approximately 11am.

A third RAAF P3 Orion is due to depart for the search area at approximately 1pm.

The United States Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft is due to depart for the search area at approximately 4pm.

Due to the distance to and from the search area, the aircraft involved have an endurance of approximately 2 hours of search time.

One merchant vessel is currently in the search area. A second merchant vessel is due to arrive tonight.

Media Note: Updated search area charts are now available in AMSA’s media kit for this search. These can be accessed at the following link under Day 4 search area charts:

www.amsa.gov.au...

For those in North America, keep in mind that in Australia, it is already "tomorrow".

EnhancedInterrogator
reply to post by SBMcG

 

Yeah, I like how on CNN ... everything is "Breaking" news right now. Even if it's just repeating the same stuff from the last 24-28 hours - just saying it differently.

How about their new word of the day. Every time they say Zombie-plane I want to boot my TV across the room.

I can't imagine families of the passengers like hearing that term repeated over and over.

Here is the latest version of the map from Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) web-site, showing their "Day 4" search area - which seems to be getting smaller?

Link to original (in PDF format):
Day four search area (wide, handout)

Small version:


Clickable thumnail to larger version:

Sorry to go.off-topic, but Phage`s relative silence on this matter worries me, ( im sort of joking). I know he has commented on this thread already, but when he goes.quiet it worries me. I'm no phage groupie, but hes usually right about stuff.

reply to post by thedoctorswife

You don't have to deny being a Phage-groupie. We accept you for who you are.

Phage's silence, to me, indicates that he's already made up his mind - that there really is nothing concrete to comment-on (yet). Once something "concrete" happens, like finding some identifiable debris or somebody posts "proof" that the plane is in Pakistan - I am sure he'll be back!

reply to post by EnhancedInterrogator

ha, as an ATS vet i cant imagine Phage not being here. Yeah your right, hes hardcore, nothing concrete, sorry for the pun.

Jemaah Islamiyah

Though Jamah Islamiyah was formally organized in 1993, the group formed from a long established Indonesian militant movement called Darul Islam. The initial vision of the group was founded in 1978 in Malaysia by Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Bashir, both of whom fled to Malaysia to avoid arrest for subversive activities. Abroad, Sungkar and Bashir expanded their ambitions of creating an Islamic state within Indonesia. Their desire was to create an Islamic state encompassing Southeast Asia to include Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Thailand, and southern Philippines. In Malaysia Bashir expanded his network by galvanizing volunteers to join the fight in Afghanistan. He also sought funding from Saudi Arabia, connections which were helpful in the establishment of JI.

www.stanford.edu...

1995: JI tied to Al Qaeda linked Ramzi Yousuf's plan to bomb 11 American commercial airliners in Asia. Plot was foiled (0 killed).

www.stanford.edu...

This group was thinking about bombing American airliners in 1995, maybe they're focusing their attention more locally these days.

Read about a possible motive for the U.S to cause trouble between China and Malaysia with the missing plane.

An Economic Cooperation Summit hosted by China Business Council and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 4, 2013. Chinese president Xi and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib attended the forum and made speeches. More than 1000 representatives of politics and business attended the forum. The forum was aimed at guiding future cooperation and accelerating economic exchanges between the two countries. Furthering cooperation Mohd Ridzal Sheriff, Deputy Secretary General at Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry said: “This summit is being held to emphasize the friendship between the two countries and also represents a warm welcome to the visit of President Xi. Enterprises in Malaysia which have plans to do business with Chinese counterparts can make the best of this opportunity to enter into direct contact with Chinese companies.” Malaysian senator Xu Zigen pointed out that 2014 will be the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and China. The summit was held as part of the preparations for that anniversary, and to press forward with economic, educational and cultural exchanges.

english.people.com.cn...

The pilot of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane made a mystery phone call just minutes before flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur.

Investigators are urgently trying to work out who Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah spoke to in the cockpit before the plane took off on March 8, British tabloid The Sun reported on Thursday.

Heh, hopefully there's more valid sources than The Sun.

If this is correct, they sure still want blame/suspicion on the pilot!