I had fairly well concluded that the most likely cause was a fire disrupting the electrical and control systems, when CNN now say the sharp left turn was pre-programmed 12 minutes before sign off from Malaysian Air Traffic control, which was followed fairly quickly by that left turn.
CNN claim to have this from an US official, from data sent back before the reporting systems went off. It is hard to know what to make of it: obviously there are large economic interests that much prefer blame to lie with the pilots rather than the aircraft. But if it is true then the move was not a response to an emergency. (CNN went on to say the pilot could have programmed in the course change as a contingency in case of an emergency. That made no sense to me at all – does it to anyone else?)
I still find it extremely unlikely that the plane landed or crashed on land I cannot believe it could evade military detection as it flew over a highly militarized region. Somewhere there is debris on the ocean. There have been previous pilot suicides that took the plane with them; but the long detour first seems very strange and I do not believe is precedented. However if the CNN information on pre-programming is correct, and given it was the co-pilot who signed off to air traffic control, it is hard to look beyond the pilots as those responsible for whatever did happen. In fact, on consideration, the most improbable thing is that information CNN are reporting from the US official.
How is this being reported domestically in China?
@Q
In a statement, Jean-Marc Peillex “protests against the upcoming broadcast of the Monte Bianco reality television program on the second channel of Italian state television and said that he had refused filming permission at the summit of Mont Blanc located French territory of the municipality of Saint-Gervais. ”
http://www.lemessager.fr/faucigny/saint-gervais-le-maire-menace-d-un-proces-une-ia933b937n151035
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Bianco
Monte Bianco is very nice to fly over (I’ve made several passes over the massif in a small general aviation plane) but walking up there is fraught, as VW sized chunks are always randomly bouncing down the couloirs.
For alpinists the Chamonix valley in general, including Mt. Blanc, averages 0.5 death/day over the long-term.
Hosting a reality TV race to get to the summit just seems like enforced candidature for the Darwin Awards
This next just released pdf on aircraft safety/security isn’t quite as interesting as the above link
http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/roadmaps/docs/2015_move_008_implementing_decision_clarification_aviation_security_measures_en.pdf
I don’t know if this group was involved in the find that also involved Tim Akers or not:
http://www.theweek.co.uk/mh370/57641/mh370-sonar-experts-jumped-out-of-chairs-on-seeing-new-images
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_for_HMAS_Sydney_and_German_auxiliary_cruiser_Kormoran
Why yes, they are:
http://www.wassoc.com/geophysical-services/search-recovery
This firm has a proven track record.
Perhaps it is worth stating that the leader of this search in no way resembles Santa Claus or any of his known elves.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/hmassydney/031308.htm
Here is the image of the “rocks” or “debris field”, discussed by Williamson and Associates’ Robert McCallum:
http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/us-firm-warns-atsb-may-have-mistaken-mh370-debris-for-rocks-in-their-deep-ocean-search/story-e6frfq80-1227577059156
Turmoil in the Maldives, involving celebrity lawyers:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11954181/How-Cherie-Blairs-law-firm-lobbied-Britain-on-behalf-of-the-Maldives-government.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-maldives-politics-idUSKCN0SL1JN20151027
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21676974-political-turmoil-erupts-maldives-after-arrest-vice-president-vice-president
Intriguing.
The claim of Chinese bases is baseless, the Maldives’ foreign ministry claimed.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/28/us-china-maldives-idUSKCN0Q20IU20150728
And yet, Ahmed Adeeb was arrested upon landing at the international airport in the Maldives, upon his return from a business trip to China, and now stands accused of an assassination attempt on President Abdulla Yameen.
“Talk of mechanical malfunction turned to conspiracy”, The Economist article states.
Does this sound familiar? Whatever happened in the Maldives with the mystery plane that islanders claim to have seen?
The fate of MH370 needs to be considered in light of this development. String of pearls, or string of lies?
It’s a silk route, China claims.
http://chinadailymail.com/2014/09/17/china-wants-a-military-base-on-maldives-in-indian-ocean/
Do you suppose it could be a trade route for impossible fresh mangosteen at all times of the year?
Sounds like Sunshine Island (Fredrick Forsyth’s 4th novella in the Deceiver).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/maldives/11912692/Amal-Clooney-wins-UN-support-after-it-finds-former-Maldives-president-rights-violated.html
“Mrs Clooney warned civil society was “under threat” on the island. “Today all opposition leaders are imprisoned or facing charges. Civil society is under threat and now the Maldives is shifting away from the US and forming new partnerships with China and Saudi Arabia,” the barrister told a room full of reporters at her chambers in London.
The lawyer, working pro bono on the case, offered a stark warning of the country’s slide into extremism, noting: “On a per capita basis, Maldives has the highest rate of recruitment to Isil [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant].” “
@ Q
Diego Garcia
is about one hundred miles South of the Maldive Islands.
Terror fears as UN votes AGAINST ban on EXPLOSIVE batteries aboard passenger flights
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/615449/United-Nations-Ban-rechargeable-lithium-battery-passenger-flights-British-Airways-plane
The U.S.A. along with organisations representing airline pilots and aircraft manufacturers voted in favour of banning the lethal batteries.
Russia, Brazil, China and Spain also voted in favour of the ban – but a staggering nine countries including the UK voted against it.
I wonder why the UNITED KINGDOM would think it is a good idea to transport Lithium batteries on a passenger aircraft?
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/09/british-airways-plane-catches-fire-at-las-vegas-airport
“The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the incident, she added.
The plane aborted take-off shortly before the fire broke out. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the Boeing’s 777 left engine – manufactured by General Electric – burst into flames.”
Another GE engine “malfunction”
am I imagining it
or are R/R
engines going wrong at reduced levels compared to GE?
First Minister of SCOTLAND Nicola Sturgeon
has not ruled out a Prestwick Airport-style government rescue.
She said “nothing is off the table” after holding talks with the workforce and management at Tata’s SCOTTISH plants last week.
Prestwick Airport was bought by Scottish ministers for £1 in November 2013.
It is a semi-secret place.
It has subsequently lost millions of pounds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-34662092
AgustaWestland AW189
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AgustaWestland_AW189
“There was some controversy over the airports use in the CIA torture program, as planes had used the airport as a stop-over point.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Prestwick_Airport
As part of the privatisation of the United Kingdom’s search and rescue service,
Bristow Helicopters will base two AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters in a new hangar,
at Prestwick, replacing HMS Gannet by mid-2017.
Boeing 767-269ER goes up in smoke
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20151029-0
(As above) Seven taken to hospital after Pratt & Whitney engine catches fire
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/34670742
A plane’s engine caught on fire on the runway of an airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
All passengers were evacuated safely, although the BBC has confirmed seven were taken to the hospital.
The fire was extinguished quickly, said a spokesman for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The Dynamic Airways Boeing 767 was taxiing for takeoff to go to Venezuela when the left engine, which had been leaking fuel, caught fire.
Dynamic flies between Fort Lauderdale, New York, Venezuela and Guyana.
The seven patients are at Florida Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale and the hospital expects to receive up to 15 total passengers.
“The crew followed the emergency procedures, shut down the engine and evacuated the aircraft in order to assure safety to all on board,” the company said in a statement.
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20151029-0
activate the video,
quite impressive
Bureau d’Archives des Accidents d’Avions
Fire on a Boeing 767-269ER in Fort Lauderdale, U.S.A.
http://www.baaa-acro.com/2015/archives/ground-fire-of-a-boeing-767-269er-in-fort-lauderdale/
Quote
“The aircraft was taxiing to holding point runway 28R when the crew of an aircraft traveling behind it (Silver Saab 340) reported fuel was leaking from the plane, according to Federal Aviation Administration. The 767’s captain requested to return to stand but had to stop the aircraft as a fire erupted on the left engine. All 110 occupants were evacuated via slides, among them 21 were injured. The fire was extinguished but damages to the left side of the aircraft are heavy (engine, wing, bottom of fuselage and wing root). It is believed that the aircraft is written off.”
The Hallowe’en crash of the Sharm-el-Sheik to St-Petersburg flight which landed (in the sense of meeting terrain in the Sinai) 20+ minutes after takeoff could be geopolitics?
The Airbus A-321 had just taken off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34687139
The plane is operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia. Latest reports say it is carrying 217 passengers and seven crew.
Russian TV is showing archive pictures of the Airbus flagged as “Metrojet” registration EL-ETH, seems to have been registered in Ireland according to this 2012 ICAO docu.
http://www.icao.int/secretariat/legal/83bis/5097-E.pdf
TheGuardian shows the reg-number to be EI-ETJ from flightradar24
http://aviation-safety.net/index.php
1 May 2012 EI-ETJ Metrojet Kolavia rebranded as Metrojet