MH370’s Pilots Behaved As They Should in an Emergency, Not as Sinister Killers
New information shows the aircrew was trying to bring the Boeing 777 to safety, not commit mass murder as the Malaysian government implied.
Have the Malaysians finally stopped trashing the pilots?
After 16 days of trying to give their own spin to the few facts available about the pilots of Flight MH370, the authorities in Kuala Lumpur have changed the narrative in a significant way.
First came the statement by officials Sunday that the Boeing 777’s change of course was programmed into its computers after, and not before, the last voice message from the cockpit was received. Now a later development, first reported by CNN, indicates that after the course change the airplane descended to 12,000 feet.
The sourcing of these statements remains obscure, but the fact that they were made public suggests an acknowledgement that the timeline no longer supports the implied complicity of the pilots in some kind of criminal act. On the contrary, a picture is emerging of the pilots not only struggling to save the 777 but going through precisely the steps they should in an emergency….
First, change to a heading that would take them to the nearest available runway in Vietnam and Malaysia able to handle the airplane;
Second, precipitate fall in altitude from the cruise height of 36,000 feet that would be consistent with the pilots responding to the effects of either a loss of cabin pressure or the consequences of smoke or toxic fumes in the cabin—in those circumstances it would be essential to get down to below 10,000 feet. In the case of cabin pressure, it would be done to stabilize the cabin atmosphere and in the case of smoke, it would be urgent to get on the ground as fast as possible.
Let us recall the original picture carefully assembled by a series of statements by the Malaysian authorities:
It began with assertions that the two systems the airplane depended on to maintain its contact with the ground—the transponder that received and transmitted its position and the system called ACARS that sent bursts of data every 30 minutes about its vital functions—had been switched off.
A picture is emerging of the pilots not only struggling to save the 777 but going through precisely the steps they should in an emergency. Suggesting that there was something sinister about disabling the ACARS made no sense. It was not a surveillance device that could betray intrusion or malpractice on the flight deck. Disabling the transponder, on the other hand, would be consistent with deliberately wanting to render the 777 untraceable, but it would not have made it invisible to the radar coverage of the area, civilian and military.
Something more than semantics was involved in the way the Malaysians set up this picture—“switched off” unambiguously implies direct action, “disabled”—another term used—is more of a weasel word that can leave you wondering whether the action was accidental or by design.
Then came stories about the 777 taking a bizarre and erratic course—beginning with a sudden ascent to 45,000 feet and then a rapid descent—no matter that because the 777 was still heavy with fuel it would have struggled to reach even 38,000 feet and that at 45,000 feet, well outside its safe flight envelope, it would have been uncontrollable. All of this was part of planting the idea that such a bizarre trajectory was designed to evade radar—as if the 777 had suddenly gained the agility of a fighter rather than an airliner weighing 330 tons. Even a rapid descent has been painted, absurdly, as a “low and quiet” run under the radar.
Then there were the more personal inferences. The captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, was an active supporter of the Malaysian political opposition. True. So you make a convincing political statement on behalf of more liberal causes by disappearing an airplane full of people? Sinister, right? ...
'Have you no shame?' Enraged families of MH370 passengers protest in China Published time: March 25, 2014 04:37 Get short URL
Hundreds of people have gathered outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing to protest what they call two weeks of “lies and misleading information” from the Malaysian authorities after flight MH370 disappeared two weeks ago.
This is an immense unfortunate tragedy. When the folks closely related to the bereaved have recovered from their grief and despair, hopefully they would also begin to appreciate the efforts that have been expended by every party - including those representing Malaysia - in searching for MH370.
Had the Malaysian Government announced from day one or two that there was little reason for hope, it would not have lessened the outrage too. We would have then be castigated for giving up too easily and too fast, and for not trying harder and longer. It's a no-win situation.
Hundreds of people have gathered outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing to protest what they call two weeks of “lies and misleading information” from the Malaysian authorities after flight MH370 disappeared two weeks ago.
Malaysian Airlines’ issued an official statement, confirming that “beyond any reasonable doubt” flight MH370 has been lost and that none of the 239 people on board have survived on Monday night. Following the announcement, several hundred family members of the flight’s passengers gathered in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing to decry what they see as the Malaysian government’s mishandling of the tragedy.
A small group of grief-stricken family members attempted to storm the embassy building, but were repelled by police. The rest of the protesters stood outside the gates waving banners amid cries of "Are you coming out?" "Have you no shame?" "Murderers!”
And the China government must also stop responding in kneejerk way simply to pacify the emotional outburts of their citizens, no matter how painful their suffering is.
We have no way of knowing what exactly happened yet. But if MH370 simply plunged into the deep ocean on 8 March, which is now increasingly looking like the likely scenario, with all due respect, no matter what the response was and how it was executed, it would not have made much of a difference.
So Arv18, please stop posting your highly provocative articles.
If it s lies then the whole international community is involved....I think with the info at hand pm najib did the right thing.....we need closure to the lives.....if there are survivors it ll be a bonus....ppl naturally dun wanna except loss....especially with a 1 child policy.
‘Malaysian government the real executioners’ FMT Staff | March 25, 2014
Family members lash out at the Malaysian government for making an announcement without proper evidence and vowed to take action.
MH370PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian government is the “real executioners” of our loved ones, said relatives of those on board of the crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Australian-based newspaper Sydney Morning Herald also quoted the family members lashing out at Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for making an announcement “without any direct evidence”.
“From March 8, when they announced that MH370 lost contact to today, 18 days have passed during which the Malaysian government and military constantly tried to delay, deceive the passengers’ families and cheat the whole world.
“This shameless behaviour not only fooled and hurt the families of the 154 passengers but also misguided and delayed rescue actions, wasting a large quantity of human resources and materials and lost valuable time for the rescue effort.
“If the 153 Chinese passengers did lose their lives, Malaysia Airlines, the Malaysian government and military are the real executioners who killed them. We the families of those on board submit our strongest protest against them,” said the family member, via a statement in Beijing.
The family members also said that they would take every possible means to pursue the unforgivable crimes and responsibility of the Malaysian government, Malaysia Airlines and the military.
Najib Tun RazakYesterday night, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that MH370 flight had crashed in the southern part of the Indian Ocean.
“Based on UK’s new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.
“This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” Najib was reported saying.
Even before Najib made the announcement, Malaysia Airlines had sent a text message in English to the family members in regards to the latest development, leaving them confused.
However, Malaysia Airlines defended the decision to send the text messages, saying all efforts were made to contact all families to inform them in person beforehand.
“I’ve been waiting half a month, and they just give us one sentence?” one woman was reported saying.
China was said to have reacted with disbelief and scepticism over the Najib’s announcement and demanded further details on how investigators reached their conclusion that flight MH370 had crashed in the Indian Ocean.
MH370 went missing mysteriously an hour on its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, carrying 239 passengers and crew members. Most of the passengers were form China.
China demands satellite data on MH370 March 25, 2014
The Chinese government also urged Malaysia not to stop effort to locate the crashed jetliners.
MH 370 China SateliteBEIJING: China has demanded Malaysia to provide satellite data which led to its judgement that flight MH370 ended in the Indian Ocean, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng said here on Monday night.
“We demand the Malaysian side to make clear the specific basis on which they come to this judgement,” Xie said during an urgent meeting with Malaysian Ambassador Iskandar Sarudin in Beijing.
He demanded the Malaysian side to provide all information and evidence related to the analysis of satellite data.
Xie urged Malaysia to continue all the relevant work including search and rescue for the missing plane, which carried 239 people.
Xie emphasised that the search and rescue work must not stop at the moment.
Chinese maritime authorities said late Monday night China will send more vessels to the waters of the southern Indian Ocean to search and salvage wreckage of Malaysia Airline MH370. China has already sent some six vessels to the area where two Chinese IL-76 aircraft are scouring the rough seas for the missing plane that carried 154 Chinese passengers.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said yesterday hat new analysis of satellite data suggested that the missing plane “ended” in the southern Indian Ocean.
The plane went missing about one hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing on March 8.
During the meeting with Iskandar, Xie said China pays great attention to Malaysia”s announcement that the missing plane ended in the Indian Ocean.
“We have noticed that the Malaysian side said it will make further elaboration on related details,” Xie said.
He shouldn't' announced if it's all based on the analysis and satellite pictures. Yes it's true that it's right in the middle of ocean and there's not a SINGLE chance they could land but even if it really crash landed and all not able to survive, kindly furnish all the details like pictures of the crash site. You can't just announce something like this all based on analysis, even if it's 100% accurate! Analysis and FACT is different!!!!
IF TO BRING BACK 237 PASSENGERS AND CREW IS IMPOSSIBLE, LET US AT LEAST BRING BACK THE TRUTH!
The announcement made by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in a hastily convened press conference last night is heartbreaking.
The loss of MH 370 is not only the loss of Malaysian Airlines, but also the loss of Malaysia, and also all humankind.
If at this stage, it is seemed impossible to bring back 237 passengers and crew, we should at the very least be committed to bring back the truth. Why was the flight en route to Beijing ended up in the southern region of Indian Ocean? Hopefully through the effort of possible largest ever multi-nation search and rescue team, we will be able to bring answer and peace to the family and friends of the passengers and crew in the near future.
While the tragedy of MH 370 seems to be unalterable, we must do our best to avoid similar tragedy in the future.
It worries many when it was reported that a MAS plane had hit flying ducks about 10.45pm last Friday while landing at the Kathmandu airport in Nepal and yesterday a MAS A330-300 Airbus, bound for Incheon, South Korea, had to divert to Hong Kong today because of an "inoperative aircraft generator". All these incidents have made people ponder if the aircrafts of MAS are duly maintained.
Even though there is nothing conclusive to indicate that there were any errors or faults on the part of MAS for the tragedy of MH 370, it is imperative for MAS to take drastic and immediate action in order to restore public confidence.
Last but not least, let’s continue to pray for the wellbeing of the family of the passengers and crew while the search mission is ongoing.
Have we learned anything fr. this incident?or we simply ignore ,pretend and treat as if something of this nature will never happen to us or our families!
Kedutaan Malaysia di China diserang..!! Orang China menganggap pemimpin Malaysia sebagai "pembunuh" ekoran tragedi MH370. Rakyat China sedang berdemo didpn kedutaan Malaysia di China.
# Dgn rakyat sendiri boleh lah kau control media spin sampai hancing, dgn dunia pun ko nak perbodohkan memang silap besar lah Najib !!!
SEPANG, March 25 — Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said he will decide “later” if he should resign over criticism of the airline’s handling of the flight MH370 crisis.
MAS, whose plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board, is under heavy fire for its handling of the incident and alleged treatment of family members of the missing passengers and crew.
“Will I resign? (It is a) personal decision I will take later,” he said at a press conference here.
The MAS chief was asked by a reporter whether he would quit following yesterday’s announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that aircraft ended its flight “somewhere in the Indian Ocean.”
Ahmad Jauhari stressed that MAS did its best to inform the families of the missing passengers and crew “as quickly as possible” last night.
The airline earlier was condemned for its decision to use text messages to break the news to some of the relatives, after the short messaging service (SMS) texts it sent was shared by news outlets and across social media yesterday.
In a statement this morning, MAS clarified it sent text messages informing families of those on board flight MH370 that the plane was assumed lost, only to supplement personal notifications and phone calls.
Today, MAS explained that they had personally contacted and called the next of kin prior to PM Najib’s announcement last night
Ahmad Jauhari previously gave his assurance that the families will be the first to know of new discoveries on the fate of MH370 and the people on board.
The controversy surrounding missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has prompted many Chinese tourists, who once saw Malaysia as an attractive holiday destination, to look elsewhere, travel agents said today.
Eleven Chinese travel agents told Reuters that bookings between China and Malaysia had fallen severely, and that many people have cancelled their trips, amid anger at the perceived lack of information provided by the Malaysian government to passengers' families.
"We used to have 30 to 40 customers a month for group tours to Malaysia. Now there is no one asking about this route or booking," a travel agent surnamed Chen told Reuters by telephone.
"Tourists don't even consider going there. Many also have a negative impression of the country now," said Chen with Comfort Travel, in the southern city of Guangzhou, which focuses heavily on South-East Asia tours.
MH370 The timing of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's announcement that MH370 fell into the Indian Ocean last night became a point of contention at the press briefing by Malaysian authorities today.
A reporter from China had questioned why Malaysia had made such a conclusion only last night although satellite data cited was available since March 12.
To this, the investigation team said there was no intended delay and that time was needed for further corroboration and analysis.
Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that satellite data alone is not conclusive as shown when the search was concentrated in the South China Sea.
"We received satellite data from China sighting (debris) in the South China Sea (and) redirected our search in areas we had already searched, and it was negative," he said, to illustrate his point.
Department of Civil Aviation director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman added the satellite data received on March 12 needed to be analysed as on its own, it was only a series of "handshakes" between the plane equipment and the satellite.
"As a result of the analysis by the United States team, together with Federal Aviation Administration, (the team) came up with the two corridors and this was announced in Mar 15.
"It took that long because it needed a lot of work to analyse the sixth handshake. Yesterday, there was refinement of the information on the sixth handshake and this is to be refined again," he said.
Remote chance of survival
The satellite in question is owned by Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company. The satellite is geostationary and sits above the Indian Ocean.
To another question, MAS CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said that given the available evidence, it is highly unlikely to find any survivors.
"The plane would have very little fuel by then and there are no land mass nearby. I suppose we can conclude it must have went down in the water.
"That is a very remote area. We are talking about (spending) 18 days (in the water)... For anyone to survive that long is extremely, extremely remote," he said.
However, Hishammuddin assured that search and rescue efforts are still underway.
"God willing, we will save (them) if they still can be saved," he said.
COMMENTS (34)
Anonymous_1395111695 It is really sad to see all these top civil servants, the security and military chiefs being torn to pieces by their own people. What has now happened is that the people have no qualms about critising these people who exhibited such incompetence and have begun to lose the fear they had of the authority. For far too long the Malaysians have been cowed with sedition, selective prosecution and persecution. It bodes well for the country when the citizens question the people they have elected and their civil servants without fear. Let us hope that this sad tragedy will bring about real transformation in governance of the country. The long suffering Malaysians need this. Najib are you ready to bring about this and earn yourself a respectable place in the history of Malaysia? Mar 26, 2014 at 0:24AM | Report
MestiNya . How come the 2 passport thieves or said criminals were not stopped or apprehended at the immigration control check point in the first place ..?? And now, these incompetent BNajis morons trying to impress or save what in the ever vast Indian Ocean after 18 days ...... Moby's DICK ?? Better still, why don't send in a fleet of SCumno approved flying carpet troopers to join in the search to impress the world further..? Mar 26, 2014 at 0:05AM | Report
Siang Malam When a loyal and dedicated officer like Mejar Zaidi is persecuted and prosecuted for voicing his concern about unfair election practices like the use of indelible ink... what can we say of an institution like RMAF? It's clear it has become a political apparatus of the ruling party UMNO and that's why we see all the shit displayed to the world media in the last 18 days...
2 Tim 1:7 The stupid and short sighted policy of appointing people to positions in the public service and GLC's not on merit but merely because they are 'Malays' has been disastrous, and is an important link in the chain of events culminating in the disappearance of MH370. Now is the time for us ethnic Chinese and Indian citizens to break the fetters of the Apartheid which makes us 3rd class citizens by initiating a class action in the International Court of Justice. Mar 25, 2014 at 11:14PM | Report
Doc UMNO mah! This is type of goof ups is biasa for Malaysians. Internationally, people are not expose to UMNO stupidity. Mar 25, 2014 at 11:07PM | Report
Capo A grand scheme of kankungputras gone seriously wrong.This time, there is no way out for them except down into the remotest part of the indian ocean.No pings all pongs only.
Washington paper says MH370 saga shows Malaysia must be more open
Putrajaya's last-ditch pivot for openness in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has not impressed its partners - be it Beijing that demands more information on satellite data or Washington bemused with contradictions in the hunt for the lost passenger jet.
A strongly-worded editorial from Washington Post today put the entire saga of the plane's disappearance and Malaysia's handling of the search as an unfolding disaster that reflects the country's need for immediate change.
"It is entirely premature to say what happened to the airplane. But it is not too early for Malaysia’s leaders to draw lessons from their unsteady performance of recent weeks and commit themselves to transparency and openness.
"Their alternative is not working," said the editorial headlined "Malaysia’s airliner response exposes a ruling malaise".
The six-paragraph article written by the paper's editorial board sketched out what it felt was wrong about Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's announcement last night on the lost MAS plane's last position and the airline's statement on the matter.
Clueless politicians and rivalry make search for MH370 even harder, says ex-Najib aide With the world's eyes following every move it made in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Malaysian authorities could have done better in devising a comprehensive major emergency response mechanism, said an opinion piece published today in China's Global Times. The opinion piece written by Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow with the S....
The opinion piece written by Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, said that at times conflicting statements issued by various Malaysian authorities, ranging from transport to the military, had only caused confusion and further grief.
Oh was also a former political secretary to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
"This negative perception of Malaysian handling of the present incident may be caused by two features in Malaysia's political environment that are alien to most Chinese," Oh said in the piece titled "Malaysia’s political rivalries bedevil search for lost MH370 flight".
First, said Oh, Malaysia's public service system distinguished between civil servants who were career professionals and members of the administration, who were politicians.
Serving civil servants could not become the political heads of their departments, he said, adding that members of the administration were ministers, deputy ministers and political secretaries.
However, all served at the pleasure of the prime minister, who was, in turn, answerable to a democratically elected Parliament, Oh said.
"Such politicians obviously are often not professional or even well versed in the particular ministry they happen to head.
"And unlike China or the United States, Malaysia has not installed a 'spokesperson' system. The press conferences are chaired by the various politicians in person. When facing the onslaught of the international media, some politicians shine while others wane," Oh said in his Global Times piece.
The second factor, said Oh, was that on the surface, Malaysia practised a centralised political system in which the prime minister or ruling party president devised policies and subordinate departments executed them.
In reality, to make it to the top of the Malaysian political hierarchy, Oh said, politicians needed to have a group of influential supporters.
"These political supporters, in turn, grab more supporters, and the same pattern persists all the way down to the level of the average voters.
"In order to retain their support, high-level politicians have to dish out various types of political largesse, most prominent of which is a ministership. Once appointed a minister, the politician will typically develop his ministry into essentially a personal fiefdom.
"And since rivalry is rife among most politicians, inter-departmental cooperation or even just coordination is extremely difficult, even in the face of a major crisis."
Oh said this could explain why it took almost a week before a lead agency was appointed to coordinate the handling of the MH370 search efforts.
"Malaysian political reality dictates that some ministers will not accept being led by others, for fear of losing face.
"But paradoxically, as the resolution of the present incident may drag on and thus attract further criticism of weak leadership, understandably none of the ministers concerned is particularly keen to shoulder the lead." – March 24, 2014.
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
dinos
72 posts
Posted by dinos > 2014-03-25 11:04 | Report Abuse
better move to other stocks. need 2-3 yrs to overcome the losses