Plane with 239 people on board crashes in Southern Indian Ocean

[Tender Branson]

What the heck ?

First, the airport video-footage apparently showed that the 2 guys with the stolen passports were "Asian-looking".

Now, the guy from the investigation says they look like footballer Mario Balotelli:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2014/mar/10/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-search-continues-live-updates

Well, remember the racial confusion over the early pics of the Tsarnaev brothers?  People bring their own assumptions into things like this, and that colors what they see.

Yeah, sure.

But in 2014, we could assume that airports had HD-surveillance cams installed, where you can identify every pimple on a person's face ...

Or at least tell if the person looks like a Thai or like a Mario Balotelli ...

[NewYorkExpress]

http://malaysiandigest.com/news/492499-amid-missing-plane-crisis-islamic-groups-want-muslim-rules-on-mas-flights.html

An Islamic Group is pressing for "Muslim Rules" on Malaysian Airlines flights... Do we have a motive here?

[anvi]

What amazes me is that it's been three days and they haven't even found any wreckage yet.  I know the waters out there are deep, but no signs at all? 

[Tender Branson]

What amazes me is that it's been three days and they haven't even found any wreckage yet.  I know the waters out there are deep, but no signs at all? 

Yeah, I've always thought this area is one of the most busiest in the world, with oil tankers and all other kind of ships passing through to Singapore and from there to China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc.

So, it's strange that no ship reported plane debris.

Except the plane crashed in the jungle ...

Doesn't NASA have high-resolution satellites that could help spot plane debris ?

[Simfan34]

http://malaysiandigest.com/news/492499-amid-missing-plane-crisis-islamic-groups-want-muslim-rules-on-mas-flights.html

An Islamic Group is pressing for "Muslim Rules" on Malaysian Airlines flights... Do we have a motive here?

It might have actually been AirAsia, but I distinctly recall some Muslims got offended because the airline's uniforms were "not in line with Malay and Islamic culture" and then Richard Branson dressed up in drag... wait, no, it was AirAsia. But I know they serve alcohol in the lounges.

EDIT: Oh boo hoo, they look great.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

http://m.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-fake-passport-holders-were-iranian--report-20140311-hvh9k.html

Seems that the two men that stole passports we're not terrorists.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Firstly, anyone who has ever travelled from Asia-Pacific to Europe without paying an exorbitant price knows that you have some very weird routings.  I've been recommended flights to Europe via Shanghai/Beijing/Amsterdam ...

While it's not sensible to rule terrorism out, it seems very unusual to actually risk travelling on stolen passports. It strikes me more as some kind of illegal immigration deal.

The fact that the search area is being expanded and changed quite significantly, suggests the idea that the plane changed course might have some validity.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Why would the plans change course, are they referring to the plane after the pilots knew they were in danger?

[Simfan34]

http://m.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-fake-passport-holders-were-iranian--report-20140311-hvh9k.html

Seems that the two men that stole passports we're not terrorists.

Iranian? Surely that raises the probability, not lowers it?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

http://m.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-fake-passport-holders-were-iranian--report-20140311-hvh9k.html

Seems that the two men that stole passports we're not terrorists.

Iranian? Surely that raises the probability, not lowers it?

Not really... it certainly suggests back-channel immigration to me more than terror

[Tender Branson]

New development:

The 2 with the stolen passports could have been simple asylum seekers who wanted to go to Germany and Denmark.

The 19-year old Iranian wanted to travel to Frankfurt, where his mother lives to visit her.

[Tender Branson]

So, we have a 19-year old Iranian - checking in with a stolen passport on which his birth date is 1984 (so 29/30 years old) - while the actual guy who is safe in Austria is 60 years old:

http://www.krone.at/Oesterreich/Phantom-Passagier_auf_Flug_MH370_hatte_seinen_Pass-Im_Krone-Gespraech-Story-396497

[Tender Branson]

Helpful AFP graphic:



What if the jet went down over some jungle in Northern Malaysia, Southern Thailand or in Cambodia ?

[Tender Branson]

I have looked through NASA's high-definition satellite image of the region from the day of the crash, but didn't find much clues:

http://lance-modis.eosdis.nasa.gov/imagery/subsets/?subset=Indochina2.2014068.terra.250m.jpg

Maybe you have more luck ...

Or maybe the resolution is still not good enough to spot plane debris, oil, etc.

[President Tyrion]

For the record, Kuala Lumpur may have rather irregular and expensive flights into Europe, so it is perfectly reasonable that Beijing would be a layover point. Singapore might have been more convenient, but it might have been more expensive. Who knows? There are lots of answers to this. It's not particularly easy to fly from point A to point B in Asia is my point, anyway.

[anvi]

From what I'm hearing on the media, 1.) there is no debris in the waters; 2.) the plane may have been changing course abruptly but there was no required radio communication; 3.) the plane dropped off radar abruptly with no transponder info and no other instrument indication; 4.) despite the significant boat traffic in those waters, there are no eyewitness accounts of anything; 5.) since then, multiple countries have been involved in a search effort examining all available evidence and have come up with nothing.  I mean seriously, what the hell??  The plane didn't vaporize, and it wasn't beamed out of the present time by a Star Trek vessel three centuries in the future.  A massive aircraft like this can just suddenly disappear suddenly without a trace?  Unless someone knows something that is not being released to the public, this is, beyond the tragedy involved, very seriously odd.

[Tender Branson]

According to the latest developments, the plane made a u-turn in North Malaysia just into the Gulf of Thailand and then went towards the Strait of Malakka for ANOTHER HOUR or so, WITHOUT tracking systems on ... WTF ?

[Tender Branson]

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[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

At this point I'm beginning to wonder if Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in addition to being code shared as China Southern Airlines flight 748 might not also have another code share as Oceanic Airlines flight 815.

[DemPGH]

If it strayed off course it's odd that it dropped off radar and that there was no communication from any person on board, evidently. Wonder if something happened to render everyone unconscious? I mean it's starting to sound like science fiction.

[NewYorkExpress]

At this point I'm beginning to wonder if Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in addition to being code shared as China Southern Airlines flight 748 might not also have another code share as Oceanic Airlines flight 815.

Is that LOST reference supposed to be joke, or are we supposed to be looking for a smoke monster?

[DINGO Joe]

What the heck ?

First, the airport video-footage apparently showed that the 2 guys with the stolen passports were "Asian-looking".

Now, the guy from the investigation says they look like footballer Mario Balotelli:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2014/mar/10/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-search-continues-live-updates

Well, remember the racial confusion over the early pics of the Tsarnaev brothers?  People bring their own assumptions into things like this, and that colors what they see.

Mario Balotelli



Guy who looks like Mario Balotelli

[Simfan34]

The quote was that "like Balotelli, a person's nationality may not be what their appearance might suggest," not that the guy looked like Balotelli. Substandard Buzz-feed-esque modern journalism at work.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Aliens. It's gotta be.

[Simfan34]

I give it 1:12 odds it was the Russians trying to distract everyone.