Guys This What we know and dont know about MH-370 upto 11th March 2014... Direct from CNN: In the early hours of Saturday, a Malaysian passenger jet with more than 200 people on board vanished in the skies over Southeast Asia. On Tuesday, investigators appeared to be no closer to explaining how a large plane could seemingly disappear into thin air. A large-scale search involving boats and planes from a range of countries continues at sea. Relatives of the people on board keep up their painful wait for news. Officials have warned them to prepare for the worst. And theories abound about what may have taken place. Until clearer information comes to light, heres a summary of what we know and what we dont know about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. THE FLIGHT PATH What we know: The Boeing 777-200 took off from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, at 12:41 a.m. Saturday (Friday afternoon ET). It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. the same day, after a roughly 2,700-mile (4,350-kilometer) journey. But around 1:30 a.m., air traffic controllers in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur, lost contact with the plane as it was flying over the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam. What we dont know: What happened next. The pilots did not indicate any problem to the tower, and no distress signal was issued. Malaysian military officials cite radar data as suggesting the plane might have changed course and turned back toward Kuala Lumpur before it vanished. But the pilots didnt tell air traffic control that they were doing so. And at this point, we dont know why the plane would have turned around. THE PASSENGERS What we know: There were 239 people on board: 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Five of the passengers were younger than 5 years old. Those on board included respected painters and calligraphers, as well as employees of an American semiconductor company. According to the airline, there were passengers of more than a dozen nationalities, spanning the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and North America. The most heavily represented were people from China or Taiwan at 154, and Malaysia at 38. There were three U.S. citizens on the plane. Five passengers ended up not boarding the aircraft. Their bags were removed and were not on board the jet when it disappeared, authorities said. What we dont know: Why two people who boarded the plane under the guise of an Italian and an Austrian citizen were using stolen passports, officials say. THE PASSPORT MYSTERY What we know: The tickets for the two people using the stolen Italian and Austrian passports were both bought Thursday in Thailand, according to ticketing records. Both tickets were one-way and had itineraries continuing on from Beijing to Amsterdam. One tickets final destination was Frankfurt, Germany; the others Copenhagen, Denmark. The original owners of the passports were not on the missing plane, authorities say. Both had their passports stolen in Thailand -- the Austrians was taken last year and the Italians in 2012. Interpol identified the men using the stolen passports as Pouria Nour Mohammadi, 18, and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, 29, both Iranians. Malaysian police believe Mohammadi was trying to emigrate to Germany using the stolen Austrian passport. The men entered Malaysia on February 28 using valid Iranian passports. What we dont know: Whether they have any connection to the planes disappearance. The stolen passports raised fears that foul play could be behind the planes disappearance. There are previous cases of illegal immigrants using fake passports to try to enter Western countries. And Southeast Asia is known to be a booming market for stolen passports. THE SECURITY SCREENING What we know: Interpol says the stolen passports were in its database. But no checks were made on them between the time they were entered into the database and the departure of the missing plane. Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said it was clearly of great concern that passengers were able to board an international flight with passports listed in the agencys database of stolen passports. What we dont know: Whether the passports had been used to travel previously. Because no checks were ever made on the stolen documents, Interpol says its unable to determine on how many other occasions these passports were used to board flights or cross borders. Malaysian authorities are investigating the security process that allowed the passengers to board the flight, but officials insist the airport that the plane departed from complies with international standards. THE CREW What we know: All the crew members on board the plane were Malaysian. The pilot of the missing plane is Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old with 18,365 flying hours. He joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981. The first officer, Fariq Ab Hamid, has 2,763 flying hours. Hamid, 27, started at the airline in 2007. He had been flying another jet and was transitioning to the Boeing 777-200 after having completed training in a flight simulator. What we dont know: What went on in the cockpit around the time the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers. The passenger jet was in what is considered the safest part of a flight, the cruise portion, when it disappeared. The weather conditions were reported to be good. Aviation experts say its particularly puzzling that the pilots didnt report any kind of problems before contact was lost. THE SEARCH What we know: Thirty-four planes, 40 ships and search crews from 10 countries are scouring a large area of the South China Sea near where the plane was last detected. Pieces of debris spotted in the area have so far turned out not to be from the plane. We have not found anything that appear to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft, Rahman, the of the Malaysian civil aviation department, said Monday. Similarly, oil from a slick discovered in the area was determined to be fuel oil typically used in cargo ships, not from the plane. #PrayForMH370
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:09:17 +0000
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