Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Authorities defend text message to families revealing missing plane'

[alp227]

Source: ABC News Australia

Malaysia Airlines officials have defended the way they broke the news of flight MH370's fate to the families of the passengers and crew, saying their "sole and only motivation" was making sure they heard the news before the rest of the world.

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak announced overnight that new satellite data from UK company Inmarsat showed the Malaysia Airlines plane flew into the Indian Ocean.

Malaysia Airlines sent a text message to relatives ahead of Mr Najib's announcement, saying: "We have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived".

Airline CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya this afternoon fronted a press conference and said: "I stand before you today as a representative of Malaysia Airlines... but also as a parent, as a brother, and as a son."

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-25/malaysia-authorities-defend-method-of-notifying-families/5343946

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Sydney Morning Herald: Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: Tony Abbott says probe has moved into a recovery phase as Australia hands investigation back to Malaysia

BBC: Australia defence minister: Plane search 'massive logistical exercise'

The BBC and ABC stories refer to press conferences held within the past 2 hours.

ABC Australia's Stephen McDonell has written that reporters have made the MH370 story about themselves.

[SoapBox]

1. This thing is SO weird.

...the flight ended up in the South Indian Ocean, so "we" say.

Even though "we" don't have a scrap of physical evidence.



I still think something is weird about this whole thing.

[Fridays Child]

2. Did the plane have its own picocell?

If so, does the lack of cell phone calls from passengers indicate that they passed away long before the plane crashed?

Here's a snippet from a Guardian article about Inmarsat that explains what a picocell is:

"If the plane has its own "picocell" essentially a tiny mobile phone tower set up inside the plane then that can be linked to the satellite communications system and enable passengers to use their own mobile phones to make calls, which are routed through the satellite and back to earth."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/flight-mh370-inmarsat-aaib-analysis

[IronLionZion]

3. Texting is an important form of communication in that part of the world

and is fast and affordable and works even in very poor cell reception areas. Its not as culturally frivolous as it is in America.

[mackerel]

4. where is the Diego Garcia located?

[EX500rider]

5. About 2,500 miles NW of the last SAT comm from the plane. (where the fuel was gone)