BIB 1)  That's the first thing I wondered.  Airspace is heavily monitored isn't it?  Surely someone must have detected an unauthorised plane SOMEWHERE in the skies!!

BIB 2)  Turkey just shot one out of their skies YESTERDAY for that very thing!

Malaysia Airlines has told the families of those on board the missing plane that relatives must assume MH370 has been lost.

The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is holding a news conference on the latest developments.

He said satellite data showed the plane was last recorded to be in the middle of the southern Indian Ocean.

"It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."

Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean, says Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

• Passengers' relatives called to emergency meeting with Malaysia Airlines.
• Familieswill be taken from Beijing to Australia, Sky sources say.
• Two objects are spotted in the southern Indian Ocean search area by an Australian Orion plane today.
• One was a grey or green circular object and the other is orange and rectangular.
• HMAS Success is heading to the area and could locate and recover them in the coming hours.
• A Chinese plane sighted several "suspicious white and square" objects today including two-large ones.

Found this article interesting [ from Associated Press and quoted in the Telegraph]. Its about rogue pilots who suffer in-flight mental breakdowns. 

http://www.syracuse.com/news/i...ealth_a_concern.html

Recent incidents mentioned in the article:

Could it be the young co - pilot had previous disciplinary issues, in addition to the reported one - inviting women into the cockpit and smoking etc? Maybe he was in trouble and flipped? Also note his father is a high ranking civil servant so maybe the government initially tried to cover up for him. Its interesting he was the one speaking to ground control before the plane vanished, not the other more experienced pilot?

 

 

I really feel for the relatives - the majority of whom don't speak English receive a text message in English from Malaysian Airways telling them that their relatives are dead and the plane is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean somewhere  

Crass insensitivity 

Apparently where the plane ended up would be the very best place on the planet to get to without being detected.

Inmarsat have had further input from other aircraft as to where they were and what they were doing, which has enabled Inmarsat to plot where the Malaysian plane ended up.

Terribly sad    Giving tragic news to relatives by text beggars belief.

Relatives had to be helped away after watching the news conference

Malaysia Airlines stressed they did not only inform relatives by text message but informed them "via all channels".

TV pictures showed distressed families being helped away amid chaotic scenes in the Lido Hotel in Beijing.

Paramedics treated some people who were overcome by grief.

it must have been awful for the relatives waiting all this time.

Maybe it's a cultural thing but - I'm so surprised at some of the reactions of the relatives. I can understand them being upset, grief stricken etc. but ...................why all the extreme anger and who is it directed against? It's obviously a tragic accident and sadly accidents do happen.

I know people do react differently but it seems there is universal anger.

I agree Soozy... surely they must have known this was coming... they've had over 2 weeks to prepare for this news. . I know everyone probably had a smidgeon of hope but the hysteria of some seemed a tad ott ...

Re the anger, apart form feeling helpless and grief stricken being probably partly to blame, maybe all the conspiracy theorists didn't help matters giving hope where none was there . .sometimes I think people [journo's/so called experts/etc] should just shut up until the truth is known.. and I also think the journalists should have been kept well away from the families too, and specifically been nowhere near them when the official announcement was made.. 

tho I do think the text advice was a tad harsh but in this IT day and age and not knowing if all families were in the vicinity it guaranteed all got advised about the near 100% probability the plane was lost at the same time.. it is the modern day equivalent of a telegram I suppose ...

I blame the jounro's and conspiracy theorists for that...

So many theories had been thrown around it's no wonder the families were holding on to all sorts of hope.  I think they are so angry because from the very beginning they felt like the authorities were hiding information and maybe had some thought in the back of their minds that it was going to end with them getting their loved ones back.....no matter how small the chance.

Doesn't help when the Malaysian Authorities do this.

Fears of a cover-up over the fate of flight MH370 grew yesterday after claims that a photo of two passengers was tampered with.

Images of two men who boarded the Malaysian Airlines jet with stolen passports appear to show them having the same set of legs.

CCTV footage stills released by officials three days after the Boeing 777-200 vanished from the skies shows the pair with identical green trousers and brown shoes. 

 

+6

 

 

Spot the similarity: The legs of these two men, named as 19-year-old Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad (left), and Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza, 29, (right), appear identical, leading to suspicions of tampering

Their feet and shadows are also in the same position, while their faces, T-shirts and bags are different.

The photo last night fuelled conspiracy theories over the fate of the aircraft, which disappeared with 239 passengers and crew more than a fortnight ago.

One Twitter user wrote: ‘They both have the same legs, edited or coincidence? And you guys believe our gov is not hiding anything.’

Malaysian police admitted the image of one man had been placed on top of the other when they were photocopied.

That's true Olly, but the Malaysian authorities have been so shambolic in processing and releasing the info they were given, and even gave out conflicting info. They bear a heavy responsibilty  

The days wasted searching the wrong areas could prove vital.

Families of passengers who lost their lives on the Malaysia Airlines plane have issued a scathing attack on Malaysia's government.

Their statement is also strongly critical of the airline and the country's military.

It reads: "During the past 18 days since March 8, when Malaysia Airlines announced that it had lost contact with MH370, Malaysia Airlines, the government of Malaysia, and the military forces of Malaysia have concealed, delayed and hidden the truth from the relatives and the people of the world.

"This despicable act aimed to fool the relatives of the 154 Chinese passengers has devastated us physically and mentally, while misleading and delaying the rescue operation, wasting a lot of manpower, material resources and leading to the loss of precious rescue time.

"If the 154 of our loved ones have lost their lives, then Malaysia Airlines, the government of Malaysia and the military are really the executors."

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/malay...2703796.html#mkWzcdo

The estranged wife of pilot Zaharie Ahmed Shah will be interrogated as investigators' suspicions mount that he may have hijacked flight MH370.

Found this interesting in The Telegraph 

14.31 AP has some information about why the Chinese relatives of passengers have been so critical about Malaysia's handling of the search:

Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based independent commentator, said such mistrust is part of life in China.

"Chinese citizens live in an environment where information is not transparent and they naturally assume that the authorities, whether Chinese or otherwise, are misinforming them," Zhang said, adding that people have "the default position of feeling cheated."

Some of the Chinese relatives may have an especially hard time dealing with the loss of loved ones because of China's one-child policy, which means an entire family generation, or even two, can be wiped out in a single incident, China expert Bo Zhiyue of the University of Singapore said.

The lack of a belief in an afterlife among many Chinese also makes it difficult to accept that their loved ones are gone.

"The belief is that once they die, that is it," Bo said.

I can relate to that.  

A plane has spotted "objects" in the new area of the Indian Ocean being searched for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Australian officials say.

The sightings would need confirmation by ship, which is not expected until tomorrow, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said.

Earlier it was announced the search would now focus on an area 1,100km (700 miles) north-east of the previous zone.

The Beijing-bound airliner disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

The identity of the objects - spotted by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion - were "to be established", Amsa said.

The images hold out the prospect of up-to-date information, as opposed to satellite images which are invariably days out of date by the time they are seen by investigators, our correspondent adds.

Experts say MH370 may not have flown as far south.

Headless chickens comes to mind...

OT a tiny bit but ......did anyone see the programme on Ch 5 last night about the guy who landed the plane after the pilot died? It was absolutely fascinating - of special interest to me I suppose as it happened just 5 or 6 minutes up the road at Humberside airport. My BiL lives directly opposite .................amazing it could have all ended so very differently. The passenger/guy who landed the plane was absolutely brilliant.

Hi Soozy

I didn't see programme last night but I remember seeing it on the news at the time. Amazing

Exactly moonie 

We know(we think we know) they are doing all they can but they had two hundred 'objects' to find now they have gone off at a tangent before they even found and looked at them

It does make you wonder exactly what is going on, doesn't it Aimee?

Yes, incredible isn't it? 

Totally

I'm not gonna believe anything that anyone says until it's truth! 

A thought to leave you with..........Anyone like me think there's more than meet's the eye (regards the Malaysians)?

 Yes, definitely. 

Nope.

Maybe I'm just too trusting. Accidents happen and even in the high tech world we live in - not everything is within our control.

I tend to agree. Accidents happen.

But what ARE the wrong areas? No-one really knows the right area for definite, so everywhere they've looked so far may be wrong.