Malaysia Airline Flight MH17 Crashes, 298 Passengers & Crew Dead, Including 23 Americans (Update: Missile Shoots Down Plane)

Malaysia Airline Fight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was traveling at an altitude of 33,000 feet when contact was lost. As reported at Sky News, the plane was said to be  brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile.  The plane crash killing all 298 passengers and crew on board, including children. It is reported that there were 23 Americans listed on the flight manifest; however, there is yet to be confirmation. The victims abord Malaysia Flight MH 17 include nine Britons, the victims included 154 Dutch, 45 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos and one Canadian.

As pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government traded charges about who was behind the surface-to-air missile that downed a Malaysia Airlines jet with 298 aboard Thursday, Ukraine’s separatist rebels on Friday said they have found “most” of the plane’s recording devices.

The Boeing 777 bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot down Thursday afternoon at cruising altitude about 35 miles from the border, according to Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister.

Malaysia Airlines originally said there were 280 passengers and a crew of 15 aboard the flight, though it later upped the number of passengers to 283 to account for three infants.

The flight path of Malaysia Arline Flight MH17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down and crashed in Ukraine can be seen at the Business Insider. Read the continual updates from The Guardian of the terrible events.

CNN – VIDEO

CNN – VIDEO

UPDATE I: U.S. official: Missile shot down Malaysia Airlines plane.

A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed in a rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, spurring swift accusations from Ukrainian officials that “terrorists” shot down the aircraft.

The United States has concluded a missile shot down the plane, but hasn’t pinpointed who was responsible, a senior U.S. official told CNN’s Barbara Starr.

The Boeing 777 with 298 people aboard fell from the sky near the town of Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, officials said. A top Ukrainian official said the plane, which was on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was flying at about 10,000 meters (nearly 33,000 feet) when the missile hit.

Investigators Now Say that MH370 Co-Pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid Tried to Make a Mobile Phone Call After the Plane Turned West and Flew Over Malaysia But Was Abruptly Cut Off

As the mystery of what happened to missing Malaysia Flight MH370 continues, we learn this rather important piece of information …

It is being reported at the UK Daily Mail, that  Fariq Abdul Hamid, the co-pilot of flight MH370 tried to make a call from his mobile phone after the plane had turned right and vanished from radar. The call was made as the aircraft flew low over the west coast of Malaysia; however, was ‘was abruptly cut off’. Was this a desperation call from the co-pilot?

The co-pilot of missing flight MH370 made a call from his mobile phone while the aircraft flew low over the west coast of Malaysia, it was revealed today as the U.S. denied reports the plane landed at a military base on the remote island of Diego Garcia.

Investigators have learned that the call was made from Fariq Abdul Hamid’s mobile phone as the Boeing 777 flew low near the island of Penang, on the north of Malaysia’s west coast.

The New Straits Times reported the aircraft, with 239 people on board, was flying low enough for the nearest telecommunications tower to pick up Fariq’s signal.

The call ended abrupty, however it has been learned that contact was definitely established with a telecommunications sub-station in Penang state.

New Straits Times -  Call traced to co-pilot’s phone.

A CREW member of Malaysia Airlines 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 criminal investigation traced the source of the call to co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid’s phone.

The New Straits Times has learnt that investigators are poring over this discovery as they try to piece together what had happened moments before the Boeing 777-22ER twinjet went off the radar, some 200 nautical miles (320km) northwest of Penang on March 8.

“The telco’s (telecommunications company’s) tower established the call that he was trying to make. On why the call was cut off, it was likely because the aircraft was fast moving away from the tower and had not come under the coverage of the next one,” the sources said.

New Straits Times – Timeline: The Hunt for MH370.

Chinese Search Ship Discovers Pulse Signal (Ping) in Indian Ocean … Could it Be the Black Box of Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

Could this finally be the break that searchers needed to find Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

A Chinese patrol ship, Haixun 01, searching for the missing Malaysian passenger jet MH370 has detected a pulse signal or ping with a frequency of 37.5kHz per second in southern Indian Ocean waters Saturday. This is the similar frequency to that of the pinging emitted by a planes black box. The black box detector deployed by the Haixun 01 picked up the signal at around 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude. However, it is yet to be verified whether this new discovery is related to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Also on Saturday, a Chinese air force plane searching for missing Malaysian passenger jet MH370 spotted a number of white floating objects in the search area.

CNN:

In what may turn out to be a major breakthrough in the month long search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, a Chinese patrol ship searching the southern Indian Ocean discovered Saturday the pulse signal used by so-called black boxes, state news agency Xinhua reported.

But the pulse signal has not been confirmed, China’s Maritime Search and Rescue Center reported, according to China Communications News, which is the Ministry of Transport’s official newspaper.

Xinhua said a detector deployed by the Haixun 01 patrol ship picked up the signal around 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude. “It is yet to be established whether it is related to the missing jet,” it said.

“It’s not the prime search area, but it’s not out of the question that this could possibly be from the black box,” said David Gallo, who is with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

UPDATE I: Washington Post – Chinese ship hears pulse, possibly from missing Malaysia Airlines flight’s black box.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, which has a reporter aboard the Haixun 01 ship, reported that a black box locator heard the signal Saturday at around 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude — broadly in the same area where the search effort has been concentrated in recent weeks, in the Indian Ocean around 1,000 miles northwest of the Australian city of Perth.

The signal was measured at a frequency of 37.5 kilohertz and was repeating at one-second intervals, Xinhua reported.

Anish Patel, president of Florida-based pinger manufacturer Dukane Seacom, told CNN that was the correct frequency for the two emergency location beacons that are built into the plane’s black box flight data recorder and its cockpit voice recorder. He added that it was not a frequency that “readily occurs in nature.”

New Zealand Military Plane Spots Possible Remains of Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Could they finally have found missing Malaysia Flight 370?

It might just be the break that searchers have been looking for, have they finally found the needle in the middle of the Indian ocean? A crew on board a New Zealand military plane has spotted several objects in the Indian Ocean west of Perth. The sightings would need confirmation by ship, which is not expected until Saturday, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

17: 15 pm: New Zealand military plane spots ‘objects’ in Indian Ocean

Crew on board a New Zealand military plane has spotted several objects in the Indian Ocean west of Perth, reports BBC. Surveillance ships will likely reach the area by Saturday.

15: 45 pm: Our priority is to get to the debris sighted by satellites: Hussein

Malaysia Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the focus right now is to reach the debris sighted by the satellites so that it can be identified if the debris sighted is of MH370 or not.

He also said that Malaysia will follow all possible ways to find the ‘black box’ of the missing plane.

Australian PM Tony Abbott Says Satellite Images May Show 2 Objects of Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Flight 370 (VIDEO) … Objects About 1,500 miles SW Off the Coast of Perth … Larger of the Two Objects Appears to be About 78 Feet Across

Breaking … Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is saying that satellite images may be showing wreckage of missing Malaysia Flight 370. Abbott said that authorities have spotted two objects in the Indian Ocean that are possibly related to the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Royal Australian Airforce Orion has been diverted to the area to attempt to locate the objects.  The Orion is expected to arrive in the area Thursday afternoon. It is hard to imagine that this is not very credible finding seeing that the Australian PM has made the announcement.

AMSA media conference is scheduled for 3.30pm (AEDT) … Mediaite has live stream of press conference.

Pic – BBC

Australia’s prime minister says objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have been spotted on satellite imagery.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament in Canberra on Thursday that a Royal Australian AirfForce Orion has been diverted to the area to attempt to locate the objects.

UPDATE I: ABC News: Missing Malaysian plane: Australia checking 2 objects in search for plane.

Australia’s prime minister says objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have been spotted on satellite imagery.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament in Canberra on Thursday that a Royal Australian Airforce Orion has been diverted to the area to attempt to locate the objects. The Orion is expected to arrive in the area Thursday afternoon. Three additional aircraft are expected to follow for a more intensive search.

VIDEO – Sydney Morning Herald

UPDATE II: CNN: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Australia says possible objects in Indian Ocean.

“New and credible information has come to light in relation to the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean,” Abbott said in the the Australian House of Representatives in Canberra. “The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search.

“Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified,” he said. “I can inform the House that a Royal Australian Air Force Orion has been diverted to attempt to locate the objects.”

Three other planes will carry out a “more intensive follow-up search,” he said.

Australian search teams have been at the forefront of the hunt for the missing plane in the remote southern Indian Ocean.

The announcement from Abbott raises hopes of finding parts of the plane after a search that is now in its 13th day. Previous reports of debris found in the sea have not turned out to be related.

Pic -Hat Tip Tamikosmom

UPDATE III: Sydney Morning Herald: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: PM Tony Abbott says satellite images could be wreckage of crashed plane.

“The Australian maritime safety authority has received information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search,” Mr Abbott said.

“Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified.”

“I should tell the House – and we must keep this in mind – the task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370,” Mr Abbott said.

“Nevertheless, I did want to update the House on this potentially important development.’’

UPDATE IV: ABC News: Search for Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Drastically Narrows.

British and American officials have narrowed the search down to two possible flight paths of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

For more updates, provide your comments and theories and to read others, go to Scared Monkeys Missing Persons Forum: Malaysia Airlines 777 Flight MH370 – Missing – March 7, 2014.