Missing Malaysian Airlines jet ‘flew off course for an hour at low altitude’

[FarCenter]

The missing Malaysia Airlines jet flew for an hour off its flight course and at a lower altitude after mysteriously disappearing from civil aviation radar screens in the early hours of Saturday, two senior Malaysian military sources revealed last night.

The surprise disclosure would in part explain the decision by Malaysia two days ago to expand the search area by 100 nautical miles to cover the Strait of Malacca, several hundred kilometres west of the original flight path of flight MH370.

The development comes as international efforts to find the missing Boeing 777 jet enter a fifth fruitless day and hopes of finding the 227 passengers and 12 crew alive fade.

A senior military source told Reuters last night that the Beijing-bound plane was last detected over the Strait of Malacca - one of the world's busiest shipping lanes - at 2.40am, some 550 kilometres west of the original flight path. "It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Strait of Malacca," the military official said. Malaysia Airlines previously said the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished from air traffic control screens at 1.30am, having taken off at 12.41am.

Malaysia's Berita Harian newspaper also quoted air force chief Rodzali Daud yesterday as saying the plane was last detected by military radar at 2.40am on Saturday, near the island of Pulau Perak at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca and at a height of about 29,500 feet.

The latest revelation has raised further questions about the Malaysian government and its national carrier's handling of the situation.

Since the aircraft's disappearance, planes and ships have been deployed to the South China Sea roughly midway between Kota Bharu, on Malaysia's east coast, and the southern tip of Vietnam, along its planned flight path."

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1446676/missing-malaysian-plane-flew-course-hour-low-altitude

If the Malaysian military has known for two days that the plane disappeared in the Straits of Malacca, why have they permitted the useless searching in the Gulf of Thailand?

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. Could you imagine if these pilots put it successfully in the water, a la Sully, and help never came?

Unlikely scenario, to be sure, but why two days until somebody bothers to mention that they had this airliner on radar on the other damn side of the peninsula?

[upaloopa]

4. Could have been a rapid decompression and loss of oxygen

so that no one was in control afterward.
There was a plane like that a year or two ago. I think it was a private jet with a VIP on board.

[petronius]

12. There was the crash that killed Payne Stewart (golfer) in 1999

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_South_Dakota_Learjet_crash

But I think you're right that there was another one more recently, where the plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic near Florida...

[Warpy]

3. The military not talking to the aeronautical agency?

We get a lot of that sort of bullshit here, too.

[Bjorn Against]

5. If I am not mistaken is it not the case that radar can not detect planes at low altitude?

If this is indeed the case then I would think it may be possible that the pilot may have been intentionally avoiding radar. I have no idea what the motive would be, but if someone wanted to make the plane disappear then it would seem flying at an altitude low enough that it can not be detected by radar would be the way to do it.

[longship]

7. Not low altitude, see post #6. nt

[Bjorn Against]

9. Interesting, I am sure 29,000 feet is high enough to be detected by radar.

If it was at 35,000 feet earlier however that would indicate a descent was taking place so I still think it seems possible that the descent may have continued until they fell off radar. I don't have a lot of evidence to support this theory, but right now there does not seem to be evidence to support any theory so I am just throwing out my best guess.

[longship]

11. Well, speculations with so few facts is not very productive.

But one can look at possibilities and eliminate others. But this report seems to not be verified. All cite the same single report from one guy.

So we don't even yet know what reports are factual. But if they have indeed moved the search in part to off the west coast of Malaya, that could be considered a form of verification.

This is a messy affair. And people are jumping to confusions. There's even conspiracy theories going full strength. I wonder what the alien guy is saying.

I'll call him up and see what he says...



Yup! Just as I thought.

[Bjorn Against]

13. Right now all we have is speculation

Don't insult me by talking about aliens, I never suggested anything about aliens or any specific conspiracy theory. I am merely given a theory as to what may have happened, no different than the people who suggest it may have crashed.

[longship]

14. My alien comment was poking some fun at the inevitable conspiracies, not you.

I thought I worded it so that it wouldn't be misinterpreted as an insult directed at you.

My apologies if you misunderstood.

[Bjorn Against]

15. No big deal, I get it

I have not seen the conspiracy theories yet, but I have no doubt that they are out there. I did not mean to invoke a conspiracy theory, but I could see how someone could twist what I said to make a really far out conspiracy.

[Texasgal]

16. This whole story is a bit intriguing.

None of us know what happened yet. Speculation is part of discussing it.

And no, I do not believe it was aliens, JFTR. I do think it's a bit of a weird mystery however.

[longship]

6. Not "low altitude". 29,500 ft is not low.

It is lower than MH137's earlier cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, however. But nobody would call that low.

Also, only one source. I'd like to see this report verified.

I'd take it with a grain of rice, if I were you.

[rocktivity]

8. And as of last night, they were heading toward the South China Sea

off the southern tip of Viet Nam!




rocktivity

[Gravitycollapse]

10. 29,500 feet is not low altitude. That is potentially cruising altitude.