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| Hopefully this is not as bad as it seems... |
A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew crashed in the South China Sea on Saturday, Vietnamese state media said, quoting a senior naval official.
The Boeing 777-200ER flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had been missing for hours when Vietnam's Tuoi Tre news quoted Admiral Ngo Van Phat as saying he had asked boats from an island off south Vietnam to rush to the crash site.
Malaysia Airlines had yet to confirm that the aircraft had crashed. It said earlier in the day that no distress signal had been given and cited early speculation that the plane may have landed in Nanming in southern China.
If the report that the plane crashed is confirmed, it would mark the US-built airliner's deadliest crash since entering service 19 years ago. The loss would mark the second fatal accident involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year and by far the worst since the jet entered service in 1995. An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER crash-landed in San Francisco in July 2013, killing three passengers and injuring more than 180.
Boeing said it was aware of reports that the Malaysia Airlines plane was missing and was monitoring the situation but had no further comment. The flight was operating as a China Southern Airlines codeshare.Update:
Oil slick spotted off Vietnam coastline.
Stolen passports used for two passengers...terrorism?
Appears to have been catastrophic...
Protein Wisdom: Darleen suspects something more…
Debka has what little other sites have…
« Breaking News »
DEBKAfile March 8, 2014, 8:36 PM (IST)
The Malayasian Airlines Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and a dozen Malaysian crew members en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, lost contact with air controllers Saturday, two hours after takeoff. Security authorities started suspecting terrorism when it was discovered that an Italian national listed on the manifest was not on the plane but in Thailand, and an Austrian citizen reported his passport was stolen in Thailand two years ago. The Vietnam air force reported oil slicks in the sea off southern Vietnam, but no sign of wreckage. An explosion in the luggage hold or a suicide bomber in the passenger section could have caused the plane to vanish in a sudden catastrophe before an emergency was signaled.
Interpol: No database check passport check pre-flight…
CNN: The two passengers who had stolen passports bought their ticket together…
Where is the plane? Limited wreckage spotted?
ABC: Absolutely baffling so few answers this long after being reported missing…
Protein Wisdom: What is the point of having passports if you don't check them…
Debka: World-wide probe to identify the two passengers traveling on false ids…
Oil slick not from missing plane?
Vast waters hide location of wreckage
CNN: The two passengers who had stolen passports bought their ticket together…
Where is the plane? Limited wreckage spotted?
ABC: Absolutely baffling so few answers this long after being reported missing…
Protein Wisdom: What is the point of having passports if you don't check them…
Debka: World-wide probe to identify the two passengers traveling on false ids…
Oil slick not from missing plane?
Vast waters hide location of wreckage
Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Rear Admiral Ngo Van Phat, political commissar of the Fifth Naval Region as saying that they detected the ill-fated airplane some 153 nautical miles (300 kilometers) from Tho Chu Island. The island is located 55 nautical miles (102 km) southwest of the famous resort island of Phu Quoc. - between Vietnam and Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteThey've spotted oil slicks, so it looks bad.
ReplyDelete