Malaysia Airlines Plane: What Has Happened?

The missing Malaysia Airlines flight may be proving so hard to find because it could have vanished in an aviation "black spot", an expert has told Sky News.

Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer said it was "disturbing" that there had been no distress call from flight MH370's cockpit and that the plane's emergency locator transmitters had not sent any signals.

He said: "These are very sophisticated equipment that should have been working under any condition - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you can not communicate for some reason.

"Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots, so perhaps at that time there was no data transmission between the aircraft and the airline."

Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens early on Saturday about one hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

When it last made contact, the Malaysia Airlines jet was at cruising altitude, 11km (35,000 feet) above sea level, largely considered the safest part of a flight.

Wreckage of Air France flight 447 is discovered after the crash

While there is still no confirmation that the Boeing 777-200 crashed, aviation experts have put forward possible causes of its disappearance including a terrorist attack, extreme turbulence, human error or even suicide.

The failure of the pilots to send a distress signal has given rise to speculation there was a sudden catastrophe - possibly caused by a mechanical failure or an explosion.

Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell has told Sky News that despite flying becoming safer over the years, mistakes are still made.

"We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made," he said.

Investigations into Air France flight 447 that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people, eventually concluded that both technical and human error were to blame for the disaster.

Authorities have extended the search area for the plane

Closer to the area where MH370 vanished, Adam Air flight 574 with 102 people on board disappeared in January 2007, also at its cruise phase, during a domestic flight in Indonesia.

Authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

The lack of wreckage from MH370 also suggests a high-altitude disaster which spread debris across an area too wide to be easily detected.

Aviation experts say the size of the debris field will be one of the first indicators of what happened.

A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up upon impact with the water.

A large, widespread field would signal the plane probably broke apart at a high elevation, perhaps because of a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

Authorities are now searching a 100-nautical mile area

But sudden, accidental structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft.

This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

Authorities have not ruled out terrorism or hijacking, though, with suspicions over two of the passengers found to be travelling on stolen passports.

"There are two categories of people who use these (stolen passports) - criminals and terrorists," Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, there was substantial wreckage despite it being a mid-air explosion, and claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster.

The Lockerbie bombing killed 270 people, including 11 on the ground

But no-one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find.

It took two years to find the main wreckage of the Air France plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people.

An Indonesian navy ship detected metal on the ocean floor a week after the Adam Air flight disappeared in 2007.

It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders, and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

An Indonesian fisherman holds up part of the Adam Air aircraft

The Malaysian jet could have made a U-turn shortly before it vanished, officials say, adding one more level of uncertainty to the effort to find it.

It is thought the plane could be hundreds of miles from where it was last detected, and the search has been widened in the hope of finding the plane.

Just about every major jet to disappear in the modern era has eventually been found. The rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 owned by the Peruvian Faucett Airlines ditched into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel on its way to Miami.

The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

More mysterious was the disappearance of another Boeing 727 being used to transport diesel fuel to diamond mines in Africa.

The owners had numerous financial problems and the plane took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

One theory, never proven, is that it was stolen so the owner could collect insurance.

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Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Search Widened

What Has Happened To Malaysia Airlines Plane?

Updated: 7:50am UK, Tuesday 11 March 2014

The missing Malaysia Airlines flight may be proving so hard to find because it could have vanished in an aviation "black spot", an expert has told Sky News.

Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer said it was "disturbing" that there had been no distress call from flight MH370's cockpit and that the plane's emergency locator transmitters had not sent any signals.

He said: "These are very sophisticated equipment that should have been working under any condition - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you can not communicate for some reason.

"Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots, so perhaps at that time there was no data transmission between the aircraft and the airline."

Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens early on Saturday about one hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

When it last made contact, the Malaysia Airlines jet was at cruising altitude, 11km (35,000 feet) above sea level, largely considered the safest part of a flight.

While there is still no confirmation that the Boeing 777-200 crashed, aviation experts have put forward possible causes of its disappearance including a terrorist attack, extreme turbulence, human error or even suicide.

The failure of the pilots to send a distress signal has given rise to speculation there was a sudden catastrophe - possibly caused by a mechanical failure or an explosion.

Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell has told Sky News that despite flying becoming safer over the years, mistakes are still made.

"We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made," he said.

Investigations into Air France flight 447 that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people, eventually concluded that both technical and human error were to blame for the disaster.

Closer to the area where MH370 vanished, Adam Air flight 574 with 102 people on board disappeared in January 2007, also at its cruise phase, during a domestic flight in Indonesia.

Authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

The lack of wreckage from MH370 also suggests a high-altitude disaster which spread debris across an area too wide to be easily detected.

Aviation experts say the size of the debris field will be one of the first indicators of what happened.

A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up upon impact with the water.

A large, widespread field would signal the plane probably broke apart at a high elevation, perhaps because of a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

But sudden, accidental structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft.

This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

Authorities have not ruled out terrorism or hijacking, though, with suspicions over two of the passengers found to be travelling on stolen passports.

"There are two categories of people who use these (stolen passports) - criminals and terrorists," Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, there was substantial wreckage despite it being a mid-air explosion, and claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster.

But no-one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find.

It took two years to find the main wreckage of the Air France plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people.

An Indonesian navy ship detected metal on the ocean floor a week after the Adam Air flight disappeared in 2007.

It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders, and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

The Malaysian jet could have made a U-turn shortly before it vanished, officials say, adding one more level of uncertainty to the effort to find it.

It is thought the plane could be hundreds of miles from where it was last detected, and the search has been widened in the hope of finding the plane.

Just about every major jet to disappear in the modern era has eventually been found. The rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 owned by the Peruvian Faucett Airlines ditched into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel on its way to Miami.

The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

More mysterious was the disappearance of another Boeing 727 being used to transport diesel fuel to diamond mines in Africa.

The owners had numerous financial problems and the plane took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

One theory, never proven, is that it was stolen so the owner could collect insurance.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Malaysia Airlines Plane: What Happened?

A "very sudden and very violent" event is likely to be responsible for the loss of the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, according to aviation experts.

The aircraft was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when air traffic control lost contact some two hours into the flight.

No distress calls were sent from the aircraft, leading experts to assume that whatever happened to the plane occurred quickly and left the pilots little time to respond.

"Either you had a catastrophic event that tore the airplane apart, or you had a criminal act," said Scott Hamilton, the managing director of aviation consultancy Leeham Co.

"It was so quick and they didn't radio."

The plane is suspected to have suffered a sudden break-up, or a failure which caused a steep dive. Some experts say an act of terrorism may also be responsible.

William Waldock, who teaches accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona, said the absence of a distress call "suggests something very sudden and very violent happened".

One of the first indicators of what exactly occurred on Flight MH370 will be the size of the debris field.

An information message at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang

If it is large and spread out over tens of miles, then the plane likely broke apart at a high elevation. That could signal a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

If it is a smaller field, the plane probably fell from 35,000 feet intact, breaking up upon contact with the water.

Captain John M Cox, the CEO of Safety Operating Systems, said whatever took place occurred very quickly.

"We know the airplane is down. Beyond that, we don't know a whole lot," he said.

Airplane crashes typically occur during take-off and the climb away from an airport, or while coming in for a landing.

Only 9% of fatal accidents happen when a plane is at cruising altitude, according to a statistical summary of commercial jet airplane accidents done by Boeing.

Aviation expert David Learmount told Sky News the Boeing 777-222 had an "absolutely superb" safety record.

"Aviation safety now is quite extraordinarily good. It's far better than it was 20-30 years ago - I mean massively better," he said.

"That's why things like this are so surprising. They just should not happen any longer."

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Malaysia Plane's 'Four Suspect' Passengers

Officials are investigating the identity of four passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane - but have not determined if the plane was downed in a terror attack.

Malaysia's defence and transport minister Hishamuddin Hussein told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur: "All the four names are with me."

He confirmed Malaysian investigators have met counterparts from the FBI, and said the operation is focusing on "the entire passenger manifest".

It emerged on Saturday that two people boarded the Boeing 777-200 using stolen European passports.

"On the issue of the passports, I'm in touch with the international intelligence agencies," he said.

A relative of a passenger on the flight waits for news in Beijing

"At the same time our own intelligence has been activated, and of course, the counter-terrorism units...from all the relevant countries have been informed."

Asked whether he believes the plane was hijacked, he would only say: "We are looking at all possibilities."

Flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers and crew, was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it vanished around two hours into the flight.

The two oil slicks seen off Vietnam

The plane disappeared from radar at 1.30am (5.30pm UK time) on Friday, about 85 miles (135km) north of the Malaysian city of Kuala Terengganu.

A huge search involving 22 aircraft and 40 ships is continuing in the vast waters of the Gulf of Thailand, between Vietnam and Malaysia.

It has concentrated around the Vietnamese island resort of Phu Quoc after Vietnamese air force jets spotted two huge oil slicks in the area.

The parallel slicks - both between 10 miles (16km) and 12 miles (19km) long and 500 metres apart - were consistent with the kind of spills caused by fuel from a crashed airliner, a Vietnamese government statement said.

A photo of the missing plane - seen taking off in Paris in 2011

The search has now widened to Malacca, on the west coast of Malaysia, after radar data indicated the plane may have turned back from its scheduled route to Beijing before disappearing.

US federal safety officials have said a team of experts are heading to Asia to help in the investigation.

The team includes accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, as well as technical experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing.

Earlier today, Malaysia's Civil Aviation chief Azaharudin Abdul Rahman said so far search teams have not found any debris from the plane.

"So far there is no report of any sightings," he said. "We have extended our area of operations which includes the west side of Malaysia."

The jet is reported to have crashed in the ocean off southern Vietnam

Mr Rahman said no other aircraft in the Malaysia Airlines fleet would be grounded and indicated there were "no abnormalities" in the data received from the flight.

Two-thirds of the jet's passengers were from China. The rest were from elsewhere in Asia, North America and Europe.

The plane's disappearance is especially mysterious because it apparently happened when the plane was at cruising altitude, not during the more dangerous phases of take-off or landing.

Officials say they are examining CCTV footage of passengers boarding the plane after it emerged two passengers had been travelling on stolen passports.

The airline listed one of the passengers on the plane as a 37-year-old Italian called Luigi Maraldi.

Family members have complained of a lack of information

However, Mr Maraldi has contacted his parents to say he was not on the airliner.

He had his passport stolen in Thailand several months ago, leaving questions over who used his passport to board the plane and whether that has anything to do with the airliner's disappearance.

Another passenger was using a passport belonging to Austrian citizen Christan Kozel. He is listed as one of the passengers although he has been confirmed as safe and well by authorities.

His passport was stolen in Thailand two years ago.

Relatives are still waiting anxiously at Beijing airport for news of people on board the plane.

Distraught relatives and friends wait at Beijing International Airport

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Clare's Law Rolled Out To Expose Abusers

By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent

New measures to protect victims of domestic abuse come into effect today.

Clare's Law, which enables people to check the police records of partners, has been launched across England and Wales after being piloted by four police forces.

The father of murder victim Clare Wood, whose name has been given to the scheme, has welcomed its introduction, describing it as "a bittersweet moment".

Clare's killer George Appleton

Michael Brown discovered five years ago that his daughter had been raped and strangled at her Salford home by ex-boyfriend George Appleton, who set fire to her body before going on the run. He was found hanged several days later.

Appleton, who Clare met on Facebook, had a history of violence against women, including knife-point kidnapping.

Mr Brown told Sky News: "When you lose a family member in these circumstances it is always with you. To realise that the last moments of your daughter's life were kicking and screaming in a room in Salford sticks with you."

The 70-year-old said Clare's Law was "not a panacea for domestic violence" but added: "If it can help others - just one - I and all the other campaigners will have succeeded. 

"This is just another piece of armour plate for people to put on when they are in trouble."

The launch coincides with International Women's Day and also marks the introduction of Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs), which are designed to provide support for victims in the immediate aftermath of violent incidents.

Michael Brown has fought for a new law to help women like his daughter

DVPOs can last for up to 28 days, during which time a perpetrator can be prevented from having contact with the victim.

Speaking about Clare's Law, Home Secretary Theresa May said: "What we saw from the pilots was a real benefit for women who were able to go to the police where they had suspicions about the behaviour of their partner.

"As a result of that, they were able to make a decision about whether to stay with that partner or to leave."

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Malaysia Airlines Plane 'Loses Contact'

A Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 people on board has crashed into the sea after losing contact with air traffic control 12 hours ago, say reports.

The Boeing 777-200 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it vanished around two hours into the flight.

Vietnamese state media quoted a navy official as saying Flight MH370 crashed near Tho Chu island, off Vietnam's south coast, at around 2.40am local time.

All ships in the local area have been sent to the scene to look for survivors.

Distraught relatives and friends wait at Beijing International Airport

However, Malaysia's Transport Minister told reporters: "There is no information on any wreckage, but we are looking at all possibilities."

Journalist Leo Lewis, at Beijing airport, told Sky News families were waiting anxiously for news of their relatives.

He said there were "scenes of considerable distress" and "increasing irritation" because of a lack of information about their fate.

The plane left Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am local time and was due to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am local time.

The plane was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing

Malaysia Airlines said the flight was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members.

They were from 14 countries - 152 plus one baby from China, 38 from Malaysia, 12 from Indonesia, seven from Australia, three plus one baby from the US, three from France, two from New Zealand, two from Ukraine, two from Canada, one from Russia, one from Italy, one from Taiwan, one from Netherlands, and one from Austria.

The aircraft was piloted by Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old Malaysian with a total of 18,365 flying hours. He joined the company in 1981.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members," Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement.

Flight MH370 marked in red on Beijing airport's information board

The airline said it would provide "regular updates" on the situation and has set up the phone line +603 7884 1234 for concerned members of the public.

China's state news agency reported that the plane lost communication over Vietnam with air traffic control in the Ho Chi Minh area and that radar contact also was lost.

China has dispatched two maritime rescue ships to the South China Sea to help in the search and rescue work.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said: "This news has made us all very worried. We hope every one of the passengers is safe."

Malcolm Moore, the Daily Telegraph's Beijing Correspondent, told Sky News: "There has been some smog in Beijing this morning.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has voiced his "extreme" worries

"But I don't think visibility would have been a problem, and there were no major storms on the flight path when the plane disappeared."

Malaysia Airlines has 15 Boeing 777-200 jets in its fleet of about 100 planes.

If the plane is found to have crashed, the loss would mark the second fatal accident involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year, after an unblemished safety record since the jet entered service in 1995.

Last summer, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash landed in San Francisco, killing three passengers.

Boeing said it was aware of reports that the Malaysia Airlines plane has gone missing and was monitoring the situation, but had no further comment.

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Russia TV Presenter Quits On Air In Protest

A presenter for a Russian government-funded TV channel has resigned live on air, after accusing the station of "whitewashing the actions" of Vladimir Putin.

Liz Wahl, a US anchor for Russia Today America, told viewers during the broadcast: "I'm proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth and that is why after this newscast, I'm resigning."

Her grandparents fled to the US as refugees during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution to escape the Soviet Union.

Russia's President, Vladimir Putin

Moscow has been accused of invading Ukraine's Crimea region after months of pro-European protests there saw the nation's pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, ousted.

Russia denies this, claiming the troops operating there are "self-defence" forces who do not answer to Moscow.

In a statement on Ms Wahl's actions, Russia Today said: "When a journalist disagrees with the editorial position of his or her organisation, the usual course of action is to address those grievances with the editor, and, if they cannot be resolved, to quit like a professional.

"But when someone makes a big public show of a personal decision, it is nothing more than a self-promotional stunt.

Moscow says troops in Crimea are "self-defence" forces

"We wish Liz the best of luck on her chosen path."

Ms Wahl later tweeted: "I am grateful and humbled by the outpouring of support I have received."

Another host from the channel criticised the actions of pro-Russian forces earlier this week.

Abby Martin labelled the intervention "wrong" and said she was "strongly against" military involvement.

The channel responded by saying Ms Martin "does not possess a deep knowledge of reality of the situation in Crimea" and that she would be sent there to "make up her own mind from the epicentre of the story".

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