Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-370 goes missing

fanne · Post by **fanne** » 14 Mar 2014 19:43

Bangalore hosts some odd planes now n then!!

dinakar · Post by **dinakar** » 14 Mar 2014 19:47

Suraj wrote: Are the concentric rings around individual A&N islands the range of their civilian radars ?

No it is just control zone of the tower, like CTR Port Blair means that area will be controlled by Port blair tower and the aircrafts need to talk with Port Blair tower

nawabs · Post by **nawabs** » 14 Mar 2014 19:50

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/1 ... 63322.html

Air Marshal Vinod Patni, a retired Indian air force officer and a defense expert, said radar facilities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands area don't work around the clock, either. "These are generally switched on and off as and when required. A radar may be kept on for 24 hours on certain days. I won't say that the Indian radars are highly sophisticated in the region," he said.

Patni also said there are gaps in the coverage areas, including within the area being searched for the missing plane. He couldn't give an exact location for specific gaps, but said pilots are well aware of them.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2014 19:53

Kalaikunda has facility to host foreign AFS for exercises. Singapore F16 have visited among others. I have a photo of a long lineup of sukhois ready to taxi out of flightline for a night hunt. the home squadrons at kalaikunda and hashimara(near bagdogra) are likely Mig27 and a few transports.

another pic dated Sept29, 2011

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 14 Mar 2014 19:56

Is there a chance these Military radar markers are errors? There has been so much erroneous info released.

It would have to cross A&N by that trace. And India would certainly have picked it up. Also BoB is filled with Indian fishing vessels, thousands upon thousands from the East coast and A & N. I find it hard to believe no one saw a thing. The signals end after 4 hours so for sure it could not have gotten very far. Esp. flying low. Sounds about the range it would have with the fuel on board.

All this indicates the need for India to boost its surveillance and monitoring of territory so no one else can elbow in under ‘doctrine of necessity’, etc.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2014 19:59

from ATC map it looks like anything south of northern tip of AN is chennai regional ATC and north is kolkata.

so the plane was headed into chennai zone if it maintained heading but would sneak into kolkata zone over coco islands if it cleverly turned in over myanmar

ldev · Post by **ldev** » 14 Mar 2014 20:00

Kolkatta to Port Blair was scheduled for 2 hours 10 minutes by Indian Airlines when I flew. Chennai to Port Blair is about the same. Kalaikunda is at least 30 minutes north of Kolkatta. One cannot have a quick reaction air defence of A&N from the Indian mainland from such distances. Its high time that fighters are based at Port Blair and Car Nicobar and the radars upgraded for 24X7 operations.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2014 20:04

war and adversity has a habit of seeking out those least prepared for it.

member_28352 · Post by **member_28352** » 14 Mar 2014 20:08

If God forbidding a jdam is headed this way GOI will necessarily have to declare emergency. India now has a bone in finding the goddamned plane and soon.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 14 Mar 2014 20:18

This has the stamp of our local Babucracy all over it. We have radar but don’t run it 24x7.

Forget military radar. India doesn’t even have Doppler weather radar coverage of Kerala or A&N! The lower West coast is similarly exposed. Yet there is a radar in Patna & Lucknow. WTH. Sometimes one must shake ones head over the decision making powers of our Babu’s.

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 14 Mar 2014 20:31

^^
Somebody wants to know what kind of Radars we have At A&N. They would also like to know when are these assets used. Our babus are simply denying this opportunities. Zimple

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 14 Mar 2014 20:35

So this is turning into a major H&D tamasha. Beijing's 10 satellites and their directors are heading to Gobi Happy Valley R&R station.

Now Beijing's Seismic Academicians are also up for the firing squad, unless their "sea-floor event" pans out and soon. Surely a "sea-floor event" can be triangulated accurately to the source?

Back to the "ping" pong. Think about it: Pings showed flight heading distinctly. Then they FIGURED OUT how to turn it off??? As in... let's try flipping this one - oh no! it flushed the first-class pakistan! How about this one? NOO!! that opened the crew escape hatch!"

These are the same ppl who planned and executed everything else to such fine detail?

So the "stop ping" was as pre-planned as everything else. Plot the radius from the "ping-stop" location. I bet eastern SL is well within remaining fuel range.

Also, look carefully on SITA coverage map: the Stop Ping location is just around the apex of the triangle, south of which there is no SITA coverage. Peaceful flight into SL.

But hope for the passengers and crew is fading fast. It takes a substantial logistics operation to feed 239 souls including babies for a week. Most are not hardy enough to survive on rice and pol sambol masi sambol. Hard to hide that logistics operation in a remote jungle, isn't it? So either they are dead, or they are dying and going to be used as hostages in Step 16.

Very sad, any way you look at it. Hope the Chinese Sea Floor Event was it, at least that was a swift ending.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 Mar 2014 20:35

Hate to say it but told you so almost on the day I started the thread.

MH-370 was headed to India.
Its Paki gift to new govt.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 14 Mar 2014 20:39

Theo_Fidel wrote:It would have to cross A&N by that trace. And India would certainly have picked it up.

I am guessing that the plane made a right turn at that last recorded point to head due North East, cross over the Burmese land mass into China. Otherwise AN would have picked it up.

saip · Post by **saip** » 14 Mar 2014 20:39

But the Chinese 'sea floor event' happened 70 miles south east of the last known position and 1 1/2 hours later. Are they saying the plane suddenly slowed down to a crawl and traveled at 50 mph before crashing?

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 14 Mar 2014 20:40

Singha wrote:war and adversity has a habit of seeking out those least prepared for it.

Especially when your guns are trained to look the other direction. Ask the French or the Turks.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 14 Mar 2014 20:41

saip wrote:But the Chinese 'sea floor event' happened 70 miles south east of the last known position and 1 1/2 hours later. Are they saying the plane suddenly slowed down to a crawl and traveled at 50 mph before crashing?

Misinformation, my friend, misinformation by the Chinese.

saip · Post by **saip** » 14 Mar 2014 20:47

I think the Chinese are playing a dirty game. It simply went north through Burma and now it is in China. It could have even reached Ulaan Bataar.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 14 Mar 2014 20:50

It is my assumption that the plane made an effort to hide in the international air traffic by following those waypoints. It would have hopped between such waypoints and within general air- traffic to evade suspicion as much as possible. It would have made attempt to get as close to it's target as possible by masking it's presence. Any attempt to dash head long towards target cutting through open ocean and outside of air traffic corridor would make you stand out like a sore thumb.

If the above be the case, then the radius of it's target would be lower to accommodate the hopping around rather than fly straight. Remember, the original flight path to Beijing was pretty much straight line.

Ramana may well have the last laugh!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Mar 2014 20:56

So what was the target and who shot it down?

saip · Post by **saip** » 14 Mar 2014 21:00

It is like they had clear run for Indian targets if that is their aim but failed. Like in foot ball you had clear sight of the goal and no one to defend it but kicked the ball over the bar. OK, may be the passengers who were sleeping all this while suddenly woke up and charged the cockpit and the plane crashed between Andamans and the Indian Coast. But why hijack a plane that is going to China with lots of Chinese (which would surely piss off the Chinese) instead of hijacking a plane that goes to Madras or HYD?

Rajiv Lather · Post by **Rajiv Lather** » 14 Mar 2014 21:02

The plane has not been shot down, the threat to Chinese passengers still exists. Hence the satellite pic and seismic event drama. The Chinese have no option but to play along. This is why we see the bossy bully aping Malaysians in statements and denials.

member_28502 · Post by **member_28502** » 14 Mar 2014 21:02

What if the pilots were disabled and one of the control surfaces damaged and set of altered course to change the direction of flight and decompression followed?

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 14 Mar 2014 21:03

Singha wrote:So what was the target and who shot it down?

TWIW

The target was Vizag -Arihant. "Tackled to go down (not shot)" by the forces in A&N and no claims or allegations because the perpetrator's name will be out. It is a op to create war like conditions between India and China. Period.

saip · Post by **saip** » 14 Mar 2014 21:09

The plane could have landed in Port Blair or Car Nicobar. PB being a civilian air port landing cant be kept secret and so the CN is the likely place as it is being a an airforce station the landing could be kept secret. Are they negotiating with the jihadis then?

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 14 Mar 2014 21:10

rsingh wrote:^^Somebody wants to know what kind of Radars we have At A&N. They would also like to know when are these assets used. Our babus are simply denying this opportunities. Zimple

I don’t think India plays these games when people’s lives are involved. It’s not in our nature or our Babu’s nature. Certainly not the silly games the Chinese Bureaucracy has been playing. If the Radar was turned on and the flight was seen India will reveal the information if it has a physical record.

komal · Post by **komal** » 14 Mar 2014 21:11

Looks like India may have avoided a major catastrophe as, for some reason, the plane failed to reach its intended target -- which may have been the nuclear plant at Kundankulam.

Would Pakistan risk antagonizing their Chinese masters by hijacking a plane with so many Chinese on board? The 'non-state actors' and 'we are also victims' excuses will not play in Beijing. Perhaps, given the magnitude of the setback to India, China may have considered this acceptable losses.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 14 Mar 2014 21:13

None of these airports are likely to have any covered hangars large enough to house a B777-200, which is twice as big as the commercial jets that serve Port Blair . Anything of the sort would be visible by satellites, which would certainly have checked all nearby flat terrain and airfields.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 14 Mar 2014 21:14

you are all missing the obvious, has anyone checked mogambo's secret lair?

komal · Post by **komal** » 14 Mar 2014 21:17

saip wrote:It is like they had clear run for Indian targets if that is their aim but failed. Like in foot ball you had clear sight of the goal and no one to defend it but kicked the ball over the bar. OK, may be the passengers who were sleeping all this while suddenly woke up and charged the cockpit and the plane crashed between Andamans and the Indian Coast. But why hijack a plane that is going to China with lots of Chinese (which would surely piss off the Chinese) instead of hijacking a plane that goes to Madras or HYD?

Speculation on my part, but the disappearance of plane intended for Chennai or Hyderabad would most likely have triggered an instant alert along the Indian coastline whereas this disappearance caused little note in India

Altair · Post by **Altair** » 14 Mar 2014 21:18

EMP used to knockout electronics on board and then hijack it below radar coverage. A highly sophisticated plan but why?

saip · Post by **saip** » 14 Mar 2014 21:21

Lalmohan wrote:you are all missing the obvious, has anyone checked mogambo's secret lair?

Occam's Razor, anyone?

ldev · Post by **ldev** » 14 Mar 2014 21:21

Six Indian ships deployed in search for Malaysian jet

India's navy said Friday it has nearly doubled the number of ships and planes deployed to search the Andaman Sea for a missing Malaysian jet which disappeared with 239 people on board.
Naval authorities also said Malaysia had asked India to extend its search operations further west to the Bay of Bengal, which forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean.
The Indian navy said six ships and five aircraft were now scouring for any sign of the vanished plane in the Andaman Sea, which surrounds India's remote Andaman and Nicobar group of islands that lie far to the country's southeast.

Missing Malaysian jet: Search reaches Chennai coast in Bay of Bengal

The hunt for the Malaysia Airlines aircraft, which mysteriously disappeared seven days ago, has just come closer to the Indian mainland. Acting on a fresh request by Malaysia, India has expanded the search for the missing Boeing 777-200 from the ongoing operations in south Andaman Sea to the Bay of Bengal along the Chennai coast.

The "new search area" of 9,000 square km, the western boundary of which is around 260 nautical miles from Chennai, means India will now also deploy additional warships and aircraft from the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) at Visakhapatnam.

"We got the new request from the Malaysian authorities on Friday. With the aircraft (which was carrying 239 people) yet to be located, the search area is being expanded in concentric circles," said a defence ministry official.

If the aircraft is found west of A&N, then it overflew Port Blair/Car Nicobar without anybody being aware of it, radar and radar operators being fast asleep.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 Mar 2014 21:24

Singha wrote:So what was the target and who shot it down?

Vizag and it ran out of fuel.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 14 Mar 2014 21:26

ldev wrote:If the aircraft is found west of A&N, then it overflew Port Blair/Car Nicobar without anybody being aware of it, radar and radar operators being fast asleep.

There is a chance still that these traces are incorrect. If the last two are spurious the aircraft is somewhere in the Southern IOR. Much more plausible IMHO as there is very little boat activity and monitoring in this area.

Here is Rohit Vats map of the radar coverage again for reference. There is a gap between A & N and East coast.

Rajiv Lather · Post by **Rajiv Lather** » 14 Mar 2014 21:31

If it ran out of fuel, why the "seafloor event" and the eventual loss of face for the Chinese ?

saip · Post by **saip** » 14 Mar 2014 21:32

What is the reason for using ships as this is no longer a search and rescue operation but rather a search and recover operation. Ships are slow and they can not cover that much area as opposed to aircraft. Unless they are trying to listen to the pings from the black box.

Rajiv Lather · Post by **Rajiv Lather** » 14 Mar 2014 21:33

I'll repeat, until we have positive id of crash site and debris; the threat is very much alive...

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 14 Mar 2014 21:34

saip wrote:I think the Chinese are playing a dirty game. It simply went north through Burma and now it is in China. It could have even reached Ulaan Bataar.

Check out the Chinese airport in Mengzi, Honghe. It is in Yunnan Province where Kunming City is located. That's where the recent massacre happened which was blamed on the uighurs. Also, this province butts up to Burma. It is in direct line between the last known turning point in the Andaman Sea, over Burma and into Yunnan.

This is a military airport with the usual gun encampments and Gen III aircraft. What is also interesting is that the airport is away from the city and has a huge hangar. Connect the dots.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 14 Mar 2014 21:36

Rajiv Lather wrote:If it ran out of fuel, why the "seafloor event" and the eventual loss of face for the Chinese ?

Throwing everyone off the scent from other possibilities. Such as flying into Chinese air space, landing in a military airfield and parking in a hangar away from the prying eyes of spy satellites.