Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

(14-04-2014 18:37 )babelover48 Wrote:  bet it#s dark and cold down there

It's not winter yet, although news reports say it's one of the stormiest places on Earth all the year round.

(14-04-2014 10:23 )Glenn Miller Wrote:  an oil slick has been found today, only a few miles from where the last signals were heard, so that could turn out to be a new lead

I don't see how that could be aviation fuel from MH370. Seeing as how the plane flew on until it's fuel was exhausted, by definition there wouldn't be any fuel left to form an oil slick.

(14-04-2014 20:37 )way out west Wrote:  

(14-04-2014 10:23 )Glenn Miller Wrote:  an oil slick has been found today, only a few miles from where the last signals were heard, so that could turn out to be a new lead

I don't see how that could be aviation fuel from MH370. Seeing as how the plane flew on until it's fuel was exhausted, by definition there wouldn't be any fuel left to form an oil slick.

There would still be plenty of oil, hydraulic fluid etc on board. There would also be residue from the fuel tanks.

(12-04-2014 13:19 )tony confederate Wrote:  "A crew member of flight MH370 made a desperate call from his mobile phone as the plane was flying low near Penang, the morning it went missing. The latest breakthrough in the ongoing investigation traced the call to co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid's phone. It is understood that the aircraft was flying at an altitude low enough for the nearest telecommunications tower to pick up his phone's signal. His call ended abruptly, but not before contact was established with a telecommunications sub-station."

CNN are following up on this story:

"The phone of the co-pilot of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was on and made contact with a cell tower in Malaysia about the time the plane disappeared from radar, a U.S. official told CNN on Monday.

However, the U.S. official -- who cited information shared by Malaysian investigators -- said there was no evidence the co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, had tried to make a call.

The official said that a cell-phone tower in Penang -- about 250 miles from where the flight's transponder last sent a signal -- detected the co-pilot's phone searching for service around the time the plane vanished from radar.

The details do appear to reaffirm suggestions based on radar and satellite data that the plane was off course and was probably flying low enough to obtain a signal from a cell tower, the official said."

If things continue the way they are, with nothing being found, I can't help wondering if the Inmarsat data will get looked at again with a view to questioning if it's definitely right to be ruling out the northern route.

Is it possible that now the pings have stopped sending their signals?

The robotic submersible sent down to have a look yesterday had to be brought back up early because it exceeded its operating limits of 4500 metres.
Yet another layer of difficulty, although one positive outcome could be to accelerate the development of submarine technology for the future.

(15-04-2014 06:29 )babelover48 Wrote:  Is it possible that now the pings have stopped sending their signals?

That's what the searchers have decided. They were holding off sending a submarine in whilst there was still a chance of hearing signals, but they said yesterday that they aren't expecting to hear anymore signals now.

(15-04-2014 13:26 )circles_o_o_o Wrote:  Yet another layer of difficulty

Too true. I can't help thinking that someone didn't want this plane found and with all the difficulty involved in finding it he might still succeed.

I'll bet they find the plane on the seabed, with no one on board. We will never know what happened to them.