Malaysia Airlines loses contact with passenger jet

[Locutus]

(CNN) -- A passenger flight carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing is missing and would likely have run out of fuel, Malaysia Airlines said Saturday.

"At the moment we have no idea where this aircraft is right now," Malaysia Airlines Vice President of Operations Control Fuad Sharuji said on CNN's "AC360."

Subang Air Traffic Control lost contact with Flight MH370 at about 2:40 a.m. local time (1:40 p.m. ET Friday), Sharuji said.

"We tried to call this aircraft through various means," he said.

The Boeing 777-200 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m. and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m., a 2,300-mile (3,700 kilometer) trip. It was carrying 227 passengers, two of them infants, and 12 crew members, the airline said.

At the time of its disappearance, the plane was carrying about 7.5 hours of fuel, Sharuji said.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft," the statement said. The public can call +603 7884 1234 for further information.

Efforts to contact the plane were fruitless.

The airline said in a statement that its representatives were contacting the relatives of those aboard. "Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support," it said.

"We're closely monitoring reports on Malaysia flight MH370," Boeing said in a tweet. "Our thoughts are with everyone on board."

"It doesn't sound very good," retired American Airlines Capt. Jim Tilmon told CNN's "AC360." He noted that the route is mostly overland, which means that there would be plenty of antennae, radar and radios to contact the plane.

"I've been trying to come up with every scenario that I could just to explain this away, but I haven't been very successful."

He said the plane is "about as sophisticated as any commercial airplane could possibly be," with an excellent safety record.

There is one recent blemish: An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 carrying 291 passengers struck a seawall at San Francisco International Airport in July 2013, killing three people and wounding dozens more.

Malaysia Airlines operates in Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and on the route between Europe and Australasia.

The airline's roots date back to 1937, when it operated passenger and cargo flights in Malaysia.

In April 1942, it was incorporated as Malaysia Airways Limited; it later became Malaysia Airlines.

The airline has its headquarters and registered office at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Malaysia, and its main airline hub is at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, according to its website.

[Locutus]

Here we go again!   This time a triple-7 with 239 aboard!

[Palehorse]

Here we go again!   This time a triple-7 with 239 aboard!

That is exactly what I thought when I first read the report of this yesterday afternoon. (I was at work).

And the second thought that came to me was, "I wonder if this is another case of an ill-trained crew?"

The fact they have not found it yet makes this worrisome. .   

[Palehorse]

That 9 mile oil slick in the gulf of Thailand sounds like they went underwater. . . No distress call, nothing. This one could be a true mystery. . .

[Locutus]

Yeah no real good clues here whatsoever. 

[Palehorse]

Yeah no real good clues here whatsoever.

I thought aircraft contained some type of EPIRB unit, and if so why are they having such a hard time riding this aircraft?

[Palehorse]

So the oil slick was from a cargo ship and not an aircraft. Red herring.

All that various "crap" they've spotted and thought was debris was in fact debris; just not from this or any other aircraft.

If the aircraft had suffered a mid air catastrophic failure, one would expect a debris field. If it had suffered a mid air explosion or catastrophic cabin depressurization due to a breach of the cabin, one would expect a debris field.

If it had a suicidal pilot, or pilots, and flew straight into the sea, maybe there wouldn't be a debris field; but as we saw with air France, not always.

Still. One has to wonder why the hell the emergency location beacon isn't active or being picked up???? 

[Mr442]

Aliens, yep aliens did it.  Them thar alien martian men swooped right down and picked that plane right plum from the sky.  Everyone of them thar passengers is a gittin probed right now, just like my buddy Bubba had done to him.

[Palehorse]

Aliens, yep aliens did it.  Them thar alien martian men swooped right down and picked that plane right plum from the sky.  Everyone of them thar passengers is a gittin probed right now, just like my buddy Bubba had done to him.

Naw. They're floaters. We all float down here Georgie!

http://www.youtube.com/v/OPdDdC4go6c

[Palehorse]

With an average depth of 45 m and maximum depth of 80 m, one would think it would be fairly easy to locate it had it actually gone down in the Gulf of Thailand. . . 

[Palehorse]

I'm thinking it may have gone down in the south China Sea, closer toward Hong Kong and just north, northwest of the Paracel  Island chain. . . They've spotted "debris" out that way and if it turns out to be from this aircraft it could have gone down in several hundred feet of water; depending on just how close it was to Hong Kong. . .

[Palehorse]

So, just heard this aircraft does indeed have the "black box" model standard, that includes a "pinger" when it gets wet. These are audible pings that are detectable at depths up to 30,000 feet. And they are designed to continuously "ping" for a minimum of 30 days; but can last much, much longer than that under certain conditions.

It also includes emergency location signals that are designed to allow location on land as well.

So, why in the world are they not receiving these signals?

[Palehorse]

So one has to wonder; is it possible for a hijacker to shut off the transponder and GPS locator systems on a 777, and fly the jet to an undisclosed landing strip??

This could explain the reported turn back just before loss of locational data. Of course, so can a lot of other scenarios. . .

[Locutus]

Indeed a mystery. 

[Locutus]

If you remember, even Egypt Air, which one of the pilots placed into a nose down attitude and crashed it nose first into the ocean left a debris field.