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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370101 posts

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew that left Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, en route to Beijing. The plane never arrived at its destination. An international search effort was conducted along several potential routes, but neither the plane, nor any debris from the plane has been found.

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7 Aug, 2015

Families protest at Malaysian embassy

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Relatives of MH370 passengers scuffle with police along the sidewalk during a protest outside the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing. Relative:

I can’t trust them. This is not the first time they get the wrong news … Why? You tell me why?

Another protester:

These findings are fake. This is a conspiracy. Everything is fake.

6 Aug, 2015

Window debris found

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A Malaysian team combing the beach on La Reunion finds a plane window and other debris. Malaysia’s Transport Minister cannot confirm it is from MH370:

I can only ascertain that it’s plane debris.

5 Aug, 2015

Debris confirmed from MH370

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French investigators confirm the airplane part found on Reunion is a piece of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, saying there are “very strong presumptions” that the part belonged to Flight 370, though additional checks would be carried out. He also said that “technical documentation” provided by Malaysia Airlines enabled experts to establish “common technical characteristics” between the debris and the flaperons on Flight 370. Malaysian PM Razak:

Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Réunion Island is indeed from MH370.

31 Jul, 2015

Beachcombers sift scrap

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Beachcomber MH370Beach cleaners scouring the sands are handing their finds over to local police. Beach cleaner:

We are searching all the time now. I hope to find something that will say definitely it’s from the plane so that the families can have some relief from their mourning.

Part number from Boeing777

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A Malaysian official says a part number (657 BB) on a piece of aircraft wing found in the Indian Ocean confirms the object is from a Boeing 777.

From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me…This could be the convincing evidence that MH370 went down in the Indian Ocean.

The recovered object will be flown to a testing site in France near the city of Toulouse for analysis by aviation authorities and could reach there by Saturday.

29 Jul, 2015

Debris found

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A crew cleaning the beach near Saint-Andre, La Reunion, an island in the western Indian Ocean, finds a flaperon, a wing part of an aircraft. Thinking it might be from MH370 they alert police. Investigators will try to determine whether the debris is from MH370. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Truss:

In the event that the wreckage is identified as being from MH 370 on La Reunion Island, it would be consistent with other analysis and modelling that the resting place of the aircraft is in the southern Indian Ocean.

23 Jul, 2015

Suitcase found

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The crew cleaning the beach near Saint-Andre, La Reunion, reports to the police that they found a damaged suitcase two-and-a-half meters from the airplane debris. They do not know whether there is any connection between the two.

We set aside all the garbage we had gathered on the beach during the day and today we thought that old suitcase could be related. It could have been thrown into the sea from the beach.

Authorities say that the plane debris and suitcase will be sent to a special lab in Toulouse, France who will examine the evidence.

10 Mar, 2015

Towelette found

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towelletteAn unwrapped moist towelette with the Malaysia Airlines logo on it is found by a strolling couple on a beach in West Australia. It is being tested to see if it is the first piece of evidence from MH370.

It is unlikely, however, that such a common item with no unique identifier could be conclusively linked with MH370.

13 Oct, 2014

Widow turns down 64k

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After taking legal advice, the widow of Paul Weeks, who was a passenger on the flight, rejects Malaysia Airlines compensation offer of $64,000. She tells Perth Now that the offer had a condition that she complete a detailed questionnaire. Voice 370, the group Weeks helped to establish:

We are left asking ‘is any life worth so little No sum of money, no matter how great, can compensate the families for our losses. No amount of money can ever take the pain away. True justice cannot be measured by money. Malaysia Airlines cannot undo this tragedy. However, a fair and adequate compensation for all would reflect the magnitude of the effect this tragedy has had on our lives and should be commensurate to this being the worst air tragedy the industry has ever seen.

9 Oct, 2014

Official report: plane ‘spiraled’ into sea

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The first official report on the disappearance of MH370 is released by the Australian Transportation Safety Board (ATSB). The report concludes concludes that the Boeing 777’s right-hand engine was likely to have failed first, followed by the left engine, causing the plane to spiral into the ocean. For purposes of the report, the investigators assumed that the plane was flying on auto pilot at around 35,000ft and at a speed of more than 460mph.

This scenario resulted in the aircraft entering a descending, spiraling, low bank angle left-hand turn and the aircraft entering the water a relatively short distance after the last engine flame out.

6 Oct, 2014

New phase of search begins

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The GO Phoenix arrives in the southern Indian Ocean and starts its search for the missing flight. The ship, and two others which will arrive within the month, will conduct detailed sonar sweeps of the area in a search effort expected to take one year or more, according to the Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB).

6 Jul, 2014

New equipment coming

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Malayasia’s Defense Minister says that more equipment and resources are heading to search for MH370 in August, and will begin searching the deep end of the Indian Ocean off the Australian coast on August 4.  Hussein makes no estimates on time or cost of the new search.

26 Jun, 2014

Plane likely on autopilot

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The search for the missing flight moves further south in the Indian Ocean.  A report about the change in the search area states the crew may have been unresponsive due to a lack of oxygen, a state known as hypoxia. The report states the assumption was:

made for the purposes of defining a search area and there is no suggestion that the investigation authority will make similar assumptions.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss says:

It is highly, highly likely that the aircraft was on autopilot, otherwise it could not have followed the orderly path that has been identified through the satellite sightings

16 Jun, 2014

Funding Debate

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Malaysian and Australian officials debate over the funding bill for the jetliner search mission. Goverment lawmaker Joulani Johari says that the split will be 50-50. However, Australian representative Waren Truss says ‘I don’t want to give any indication as to where it’s likely to end up.” Australia’s bill will depend on when the plane is found and the amount of contributions from other countries. The countries involved in the search include the U.S., China, Japan, Britian, South Korea and New Zealand. Australia has a large responsibility in the mission because the jetliner was in its air space when it went off-course. Truss:

We’ve indicated our willingness to be a part of the funding arrangements…and we’re just talking about those things. The question of who should pay for what under the Chicago Convention was quite complex.

15 Jun, 2014

Book: ‘No accident’

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Veteran commercial pilot Ewan Wilson and journalist Geoff Taylor says the disappearance of jet MH370 is a conspiracy. Wilson and Taylor interviewed the flight’s relatives, other investigators and read the official documents before coming to this conclusion and say they have systematically ruled out malfunctions or freak accidents, saying there was no other reason for the flight’s change of route. They will release their findings in an upcoming book, Good Night Malaysian 370: The truth behind the loss of Flight 370.

For the first time we present a detailed analysis of the flight, the incredible route it took, and who we believe was in charge of the aircraft as it plunged into the Indian Ocean.The authors said that relatives of those on board were not being told the truth about the diversion…For the sake of the relatives of those on the flight the truth needs to be out there…What happened to MH370 was no accident. it was deliberate and it was calculated and it should never have been allowed to happen.

29 May, 2014

Australia ends ping area search

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Australian authorities call off the search in the triangular area of the Indian Ocean where acoustic pings, possibly from the flight’s black box recorder, were heard in April.  Michael Dean of the US Navy tells CNN that almost all authorities believe the pings there did not come from the plane’s recorders.  Later, a US Navy spokesman dismisses Dean’s comments, saying:

Mike Dean’s comments today were speculative and premature, as we continue to work with our partners to more thoroughly understand the data acquired by the towed pinger locator. As such, we would defer to the Australians, as the lead in the search effort, to make additional information known at the appropriate time.

24 Mar, 2014

Relatives receive text: passengers lost

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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib issues a statement saying that the flight crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean and everyone on board must be presumed dead. Family members not at Najib’s press conference receive a text message from the airline:

Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. [W]e must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.

The airline issues a subsequent statement defending its use of text messages and saying it has tremendous respect for the family members.

13 Mar, 2014

US: plane likely crashed in ocean

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The US Navy sends the USS Kidd, a destroyer, to the western portion of the Strait of Malacca; officials say they have “indications” that the plane may have crashed in that body of water. They say if the plane went down there, it was most likely crashed deliberately. This contradicts reports that says the plane continued flying for anywhere up to seven hours after contact with it was lost, and with officials’ beliefs that the plane flew eastward over the South China Sea.

Search involves over 110 air, sea vessels

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The search reaches its maximum point with 62 ships, 46 planes and 10 satellites being either deployed or redirected. The nations involved include Australia, China, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.