Missing Airliner (2 Viewers)

[Combat]

It's hard to believe, but apparently over ten years after 9/11 and with requirements like taking our shoes and belts off at airports, two people got on an international flight with stolen passports. Something that could easily have been checked. Apparently the airline was not required to check the Interpol database that reported them as stolen. And did not check on its own. One of these passports was reported stolen over a year ago in 2012! Even if that turns out to be unrelated to whatever happened, that needs to be fixed. If these people did have something to do with the plane going down, it's all the more tragic since it was entirely avoidable.

 

[jazzeum]

I'm not sure security is as rigorous overseas as here in the US, at least not consistently and not everywhere.

Brad

 

[gk5717]

You would think if this is a terrorist incident the people involved would have done something to promote their cause so to speak.
Gary

 

[Combat]

You would think if this is a terrorist incident the people involved would have done something to promote their cause so to speak.
Gary

No distress call means that whatever happened was very quick. The plane either blew up in the air or was taken over and crashed into the ocean. The plane that went down in Lockerbie many years ago had a bomb in the luggage compartment. It was supposed to go off over the ocean. If it's a terrorist act, I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case here.

 

[theBaron]

You would think if this is a terrorist incident the people involved would have done something to promote their cause so to speak.
Gary

I heard a news item late yesterday afternoon that there had been a claim of responsibility, but it hadn't been verified and didn't seem to be valid.

It certainly does seem to be something catastrophic, that is, so quick that there was no time for any signal, and a deliberate explosion seems the likeliest explanation.

 

[theBaron]

Well, it seems that investigators are moving away from a terrorist explanation, according to the updates I hear in each newscast. Apparent the aircraft diverted from its course and was flying lower than the assigned altitude, before it disappeared.

 

[thebritfarmer]

I don't think security is a vigorous as it is in the US. We need a passport to get into the US but I have heard US citizens don't need one to come into Canada. You don't even need a passport if you are flying within Canada, I just use my drivers licence.

 

[Combat]

Well, it seems that investigators are moving away from a terrorist explanation, according to the updates I hear in each newscast. Apparent the aircraft diverted from its course and was flying lower than the assigned altitude, before it disappeared.

That's a real head scratcher. If the plane didn't fall out of the sky, there should have been a distress call. The transponder was also turned off. That's not something the pilot would do. So either the cockpit was taken over or there was some complete loss of the electronics. Maybe a fire in the cockpit.

 

[Combat]

So now they say the wreckage may be more or less exactly where they lost contact. No change in direction. Although I saw some expert claim the longest pieces on the satellite image don't appear to correspond to the plane. Very strange. And the Chinese may have withheld the images for days. Imagine if by some small chance anyone survived the crash. They would have been out there for days.

 

[theBaron]

Yep, a real mystery, with a lot of unanswered questions. Why was there no distress signal? Were there any cell phone contacts from any of the passengers? Why has no debris been spotted, whether at sea or on land? Granted, there is a lot of ocean and land surface area to cover, much of it remote.

I think the only thing that seems accurate to say is that something happened so quickly as to prevent signals from going out.

 

[Panzer ace]

and now they are saying it flew for 4-5 hours after it lost radio contact. Where in the heck is this plane?

 

[Sentaapua]

and now they are saying it flew for 4-5 hours after it lost radio contact. Where in the heck is this plane?

If these pings from the 777`s ACARS system are legit, seems that at least 2000 miles southwest from where it`s last transponder info was sent...

 

[theBaron]

And another puzzling detail that's been released, is that the transponder was switched off and on more than once, before it finally went silent. These kind of details tend to suggest something other than the scenario of a quick and catastrophic end.

 

[Combat]

A terrorist doesn't make much sense. If the plan is to crash the plane in the ocean, there is no need to turn the transponder off. Maybe they intended to pull off a 9/11 or land and hold the passengers hostage. Instead they get lost over the ocean, run out off gas or crash because they are inexperienced pilots. Alternatively, maybe one of the pilots went nuts. There doesn't seem to be any plausible mechanical scenario for losing radio contact and turning off the transponders but continuing to fly (and not return to the airport). My understanding is that you can't fly a 777 without power. And if you have power, the radios and transponders would continue to function.

 

[waynepoo]

Who knows, maybe some time in the future when we make first contact with aliens they will give the plane and passengers back as well as Lord Lucan.
Wayne.

 

[Panzer ace]

And yet this story now falls to the second page of the news. Amazing.

 

[jazzeum]

And yet this story now falls to the second page of the news. Amazing.

In the overall scheme of things, this story has received more coverage than warranted in comparison with what's happening in the Ukraine, which is more significant.

 

[marco55]

In the overall scheme of things, this story has received more coverage than warranted in comparison with what's happening in the Ukraine, which is more significant.

Tell that to their families.^&confuse
Mark

 

[BLReed]

In the overall scheme of things, this story has received more coverage than warranted in comparison with what's happening in the Ukraine, which is more significant.

You got that right. Spot on. Probably because the missing airplane isn't an embarrassment to the United States,
whereas the situation in the Ukraine is a devastating embarrassment to the United States.

 

[jazzeum]

Tell that to their families.^&confuse
Mark

That's really not the point, as you well know. The question is the inordinate amount of attention this story has received compared to other stories of potentially greater impact to the world.