MH370: Likely piece of doomed plane found

CNN reported yesterday that a piece of wreckage apparently from a Boeing 777 -- like the missing MH370 airliner -- was found washed ashore over the weekend on the coast of Mozambique, a U.S. official told CNN on Wednesday.

The plane part, measuring 35 inches by 22 inches, found on a sandbar was discovered by an American tourist, Blaine Gibson, and a local fisherman.

It's reported that the debris is on its way to Malaysia for further examination. The wreckage is a piece of horizontal stabilizer skin according to the U.S. official.

The horizontal stabilizer is the part of the aircraft's tail that is horizontal as the plane flies.

Input from a second aviation source is that there was no record of any Boeing 777 missing other than Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. The disappearance of MH370 remains one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

Mozambique is about 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) west of Reunion Island, with the large island of Madagascar between them.

About three weeks after the disappearance, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced live over TV that the flight ended in the Indian Ocean based on confirmation from British investigators from its Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), though the search continues to this day.

The mystery of what happened to the plane remains unsolved. The search has turned up some aircraft debris, but also some false leads.

It took more than a month for French investigators to confirm that debris found on Reunion Island in July was from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.


Related posts:
- Missing MH370 - Two objects found in Indian Ocean
- Missing MH370 - Two weeks and a day
- Book on Flight MH370


Image source: CNN

MH370: Wing of a plane found on Reunion Island

The Star reported today that Malaysia has sent a team to Reunion Island off the east coast of Africa to determine whether washed-up debris may be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean last year.

The Boeing 777 carrying 239 passengers and crew from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, disappeared on 8 March last year. Most of the passengers were Chinese. So far no trace of the plane has been found.

MH370 vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. Investigators believe it was flown thousands of kilometers off course before crashing. Its disappearance has become one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.

Search efforts led by Australia have focused on a broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean.


Debris that is probably from a plane has washed up on Reunion Island off the east coast of Africa, sparking questions whether it is from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

It was reported that a mysterious piece of plane debris washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion on Wednesday, prompting some speculation it could be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.



The two-metre-long piece of wreckage, which seemed to be part of a wing, was found by people cleaning up a beach.

“It was covered in shells, so one would say it had been in the water a long time,” said one witness.

French air transport officials have already opened a probe to investigate where the wreckage could have come from.

Xavier Tytelman, an expert in aviation security, said it could not be ruled out that the wreckage belonged to MH370, which vanished without trace in March last year.

Tytelman noted that local media photos showed “incredible similarities between a #B777 flaperon and the debris found,” refering to a Boeing 777 -- the type of plane that disappeared.

He also noted a reference on the wreckage: BB670.

“This code is not a plane’s registration number, nor serial number. However... it’s clear that this reference would allow a quick identification. In a few days, we will have a definitive answer,” Tytelman said.

Boeing said in a statement it remained “committed to supporting the MH370 investigation and the search for the airplane”.
Source: The Star..Mysterious plane wreckage sparks MH370 speculation


However, it's too early to speculate origin of debris, says MAS

PETALING JAYA: The public has been asked not to speculate on the origins of a piece of plane debris found on Reunion Island off the east coast Africa.

"With regards to the reports of the discovery of an aircraft flaperon at Reunion Island, Malaysia Airlines is working with the relevant authorities to confirm the matter," said the airline in a brief press statement Thursday.

"At the moment, it would be too premature for the airline to speculate the origin of the flaperon," it said.


You can read more about the mystery of MH370 here.


Update: 31/7/2015
- MH370: Debris confirmed to be from Boeing 777
- MH370: Then I saw the 'weird thing' on shore, says debris finder
- Australia plays down MH370 luggage link

Book on Flight MH370

A book closer home..

It's been just over a month since Flight MH370 mysteriously vanished with 239 people on board, on March 8, less than an hour en route to Beijing from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), but a book has already been written on the mystery of Flight MH370.

The book, listed on the UK Book Depository website, as Flight MH370, The Truth is written by fiction writer and journalist Nigel Cawthorne. It's in paperback form with 288 pages and slated for release on May 15. The book was spotted at the current London Book Fair and news of it is making its rounds on social networks.

Source: TheRakyatPost


The latest update is that the hunt for more black box "pings" from missing Malaysian airliner MH370 was narrowing Thursday to a specific patch of remote ocean after two more signals were detected.

The head of the Australian-led search, Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), Angus Houston raised hopes Wednesday that wreckage will be found within days even as the black box batteries start to expire.

Experts believe the signals to be consistent with the specification and description of a flight data recorder.

A large number of objects were spotted on the surface on Wednesday, JACC said, "but only a small number were able to be recovered. "None of the recovered items were believed to be associated with MH370."

"I don't think that time is very far away," he said.

Up to 10 military aircraft, four civil planes and 13 ships would take part in the search on Thursday, JACC said.

Houston: "I believe we are searching in the right area but we need to visually identify the aircraft before we can confirm with certainty that this is the final resting place of MH370."

Houston, however, again urged caution for the sake of the families of those aboard the flight, which mysteriously vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, and said the search for more signals would go on.

Read more on The Star: MH370 search: Hunt for black box zeroes in on final resting place


From The Star, Some questions on the missing aircraft answered by experts:

Q: Are the ‘pings’ from MH370?

That remains to be determined, but Australia’s search chief said one of the country’s naval ships had twice detected signals “consistent” with aircraft black boxes, the strongest indication yet that the hunt for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was on the right trail.

Q: If they are from MH370, what happens next?

If the pings are confirmed, authorities would deploy a submersible device to scan the seabed for debris. If found, the difficult task of reaching and recovering the black box in ocean depths ranging from 4,000m-5,000m would begin.

Seafloor-mapping and recovery is “a very intense and time-consuming process”, said Anthony Brickhouse, an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the United States.

But lessons were learnt during the two-year search for the data recorders from the 2009 crash of Air France flight 447, which contributed greatly to today’s body of knowledge, he said.

Q: If the pings are not from MH370, might the plane never be found?

If the pings are confirmed not to be from MH370, the search is back to square one, raising the daunting spectre of an open-ended surface search for floating debris or painstaking seafloor-mapping. But Air France showed that success is still possible.

Q: Did MH370 become a ‘ghost plane’?

This idea gained traction after Malaysia announced on March 15 – a week after MH370’s disappearance – that the plane apparently flew for nearly seven hours after vanishing from radar.

“Ghost planes” – in which the crew is incapacitated, leaving the plane to fly on aimlessly – have occurred before.

In 2005, a Greek Helios Airways plane with 121 aboard flew for hours after a sudden lack of oxygen incapacitated the cockpit crew.

It crashed, killing all aboard.

Some believe MH370’s pilots diverted the plane due to such an event – possibly attempting to return to Kuala Lumpur airport – but were subsequently incapacitated, leaving the plane to fly on autopilot.

The shutting off of communications systems may have been an attempt to stem a fire cause by faulty electrical circuits.

Q: What aviation changes might arise from MH370?

The aviation industry has a history of learning from disasters and implementing safeguards, making air travel one of the world’s safest modes of transport.

However, unless MH370’s black box or some wreckage can be recovered, that learning process cannot begin.

But MH370 has already sparked new discussion of implementing real-time satellite tracking of airliners to stop them going missing, and possibly reassessing the pilot’s ability to turn off communications systems. — AFP


This case of the missing jet has baffled aviation experts and frustrated the families of those on board, two-thirds of whom were Chinese. Whatever the outcome, families of passengers just want to know what actually happened and see evidence of whatever conclusion. Let's hope it will be soon..


Related articles:
Missing MH370 - Two objects found in Indian Ocean
Missing MH370 - Two weeks and a day
Flight MH370 confirmed lost - in the Indian Ocean

Flight MH370 confirmed lost - in the Indian Ocean

Malaysia Airlines has issued a text message to the families deeply regretting that MH370 has been lost and none of of the 239 passengers and crew on board survived.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced live over TV that the flight ended in the Indian Ocean based on confirmation from British investigators from its Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

The text message to the families read:

"Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia's Prime Minister, we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean."

Source

Where the MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean was based on new analysis by UK investigators and the British satellite firm Inmarsat. Inmarsat used new techniques to detect the plane's course.



The PM's announcement..



The search for the plane is ongoing.

Deepest condolences to the families.


Related articles:
Missing MH370 - the 9th day
Missing MH370 - Two weeks and a day
The MH370 crash timeline

Image source: The Star

Missing MH370 - Two weeks and a day

Yes, it's been two weeks and a day since a Boeing 777-200ER MAS flight MH370 disappeared with 239 people on board. Updates today via videos..

Malaysia acting Transport Minister, Hishamuddin Hussein, at the latest daily press briefing informing that Chinese satellite captures image of floating object. Plane search widens on new images of 'debris'.


Air Asia CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has taken to Twitter to praise the efforts of acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in handling the search for the missing MH370 plane.

Two days ago, there was some commotion at the press conference, a mother of a passenger was seen wailing at the press conference. She denies mistreatment. Watch video of the interview with her for what she has to say.



Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Sunday there was "increasing hope" of finding missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, after a plane spotted unidentified debris including a wooden pallet in the Indian Ocean search site.


The long, largely fruitless search for the aircraft has been especially agonising for the relatives of the 227 passengers - two thirds of whom were Chinese - and 12 crew.

China has dispatched seven ships to the hunt for the plane, adding to British and Australian naval assets involved.

The latest Chinese satellite images showed an object measuring 22.5m by 13m (74 by 43 feet).

Abbott said it was "consistent" with one of the objects identified in the Australian satellite images, but it was not clear if they were believed to be the same. - AFP (The Star)

Snapshots of MH370 passengers and crew

Missing MH370 - Two objects found in Indian Ocean

13th day Missing MH370..

Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak received a call from Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, about “two possible objects” identified in the southern Indian Ocean based on satellite information.

The two objects, the larger of which was measured at 24 metres (79 feet), are found floating in the Indian Ocean according to Australian officials. The larger piece could be the tail section of an aircraft suspected to be the missing MAS flight MH370 according to officials. However, they cautioned that the images may not be from the plane. There can be other debris out there, from ships, for example. The images of the objects were captured by satellite and were being assessed by the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation.

An Australian air force Orion had already been diverted to look into the objects with three more surveillance planes to follow.

Australian, US and New Zealand long-range surveillance planes have been scouring a vast tract of the southern Indian Ocean since Tuesday, with the search focused on an area of 305,000 sq km (122,000 square miles), some 2,600km southeast of Perth.

Experts say it can take up to 48 hours to confirm if debris belongs to plane.  It takes four hours for an aircraft flying out out base in Perth to reach location.

However, Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, warned against drawing any premature conclusions.

"We must keep in mind the task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370," he said.


Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 disappeared, with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, about an hour after leaving the KL International Airport at 12.41 am on March 8.

It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day.

According to satellite data, the plane made a turnaround but veered off towards the Indian Ocean.

How big is a Boeing 777-200ER actually, the one used on MAS flight MH370? The basic dimensions according to Boeing's website are as follows:

Wing span - 60.9m
Overall length - 63.7m
Tail height - 18.5m
Fuselage diameter - 6.19m

According to published data, each wing measures to about 27.4m long, after adjusting for the width of the fuselage.

The battery in the black box typically runs for 30 days.


Sources - The Star:
Missing MH370: Two objects spotted, says Australian PM
Missing MH370: Largest "object" could be aircraft tail, says report
Missing MH370: Dimensions of Boeing 777

Image source: The Star

Missing MH370 - the 9th day

Malaysia has made it into the 10 Aviation Mysteries when a MAS flight MH370 vanished in the morning of Saturday, March 8, hardly an hour after take-off from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The jetliner, a Boeing 777-200ER, with 239 on board took off at 12:41am scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6:30am. The plane has yet to arrive. There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board that Boeing 777 jet reputed to have a formidable safety record.

Source: The Star
Many countries are involved in the search for the missing MH370 which began at the South China Sea near Vietnam where the plane was reported missing at the border of Malaysia and Vietnam airspace. With new information about the plane making a flight turnaround, search efforts have been expanded to include the Straits of Malacca and the seas beyond the Andaman Sea. 22 countries are now involved in the search with a count of 43 ships and 58 aircraft scouring the seas in this ninth day since the plane disappeared.

One week after the disappearance, Prime Minister, Najib Razak, with new information gave a press conference. He said evidence pointed to a deliberate diversion of the flight and that it was no accident that MH370 went off radar. You can hear his speech below.


More inputs todate has pointed to the pilots who are now the focus of the probe. Investigators are also wondering whether there was a struggle on board as available data shows a sudden ascent to 45,000 feet and a dive to 23,000 feet before it went back up to 35,000 feet.

Reuters has this final picture of the missing Boeing 777-200ER jet taken in February above Polish airspace.

Source: DailyMail

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has decided to retire its MH370 and MH371 flight codes on the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing-Kuala Lumpur route.

In their place, MH318 would be used for the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing journey while MH319 would replace the Beijing-Kuala Lumpur route beginning Friday.

“As a mark of respect to the passengers and crew of MH370 on March 8, 2014, the MH370 and MH371 flight codes will be retired from the Malaysia Airlines’ Kuala Lumpur-Beijing-Kuala Lumpur route,” the Malaysian national airlines announced on its website.

MAS flies twice daily to Beijing.