Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Day 17: Fate of MH370 unfurled

Malaysiakini, March 25, 2014


The confirmation

10.05pm; March 24, 2014: The premier announces that the evidence suggests that MH370 likely ended in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Background:
  • The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
     
  • Its whereabouts remains a mystery as 26 countries race to locate the missing plane, believed to be either in the northern corridor, anywhere between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, or in the southern corridor covering Indonesia and to the south of the India Ocean.
     
  • This comes after the authorities determined that the plane intentionally made a turn-back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers.

Our heart goes to the passengers and crew of MH370 and their families.  Innalillahhi wainna ilaihirojiuun. Al-Fathihah.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

MH370 - Day 8: The route taken

After a week and some clues, the knowns and unknowns of MH370

Lifted whole from Yahoo Malaysia. Mar 16, 2014
What we know:
* It isn't in the South China Sea. The search has been called off there despite various discoveries from debris, oil slick to seismic events.
* Its systems were deliberately switched off separately just before it vanished
* It did not enter Vietnam air space
* It had 7.5 hours of fuel left when it vanished
* It didn't crash when it disappeared
* It changed flight path and altitude
* The plane crossed the Malay peninsula at the border with Thailand and was considered as friendly, and therefore not challenged.
* Its last contact from the plane's systems was at 8.11am on Saturday, nearly seven hours after it vanished from radar screens
* There were two Iranians travelling on Italian and Austrian passports stolen from Thailand over the past two years.
* One man had a Chinese passport with the same number as a Chinese man who never left his Fujian province in China.
* Interpol says there are a few passengers with suspect passports
* There were Chinese calligraphers, government servants, holidaying couples, two infants and 20 Freescale electronics plant officials and workers on board the plane.
* It was a code-share fight with China Southern Airlines. The two men travelling on stolen passports had tickets bought together from a travel agent in Pattaya, Thailand, a day before the flight.
* The plane's disappearance has brought attention to rings specialising in stealing and selling stolen passports out of Thailand.
* The pilot is 53-years-old with more than 18,000 hours flying time and has built a B777 flight simulator at home. His house was raided today.
* The co-pilot is 27-years-old with 2,700 hours flying time and who has apparently taken female passengers to the cockpit while flying.
What we don't know:
* The current location of Flight MH370. It disappeared somewhere north of the Strait of Malacca after its last ping at 8.11am, March 8, 2014.
* The condition of all its 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
* The person or persons flying MH370 after it vanished from radar screens.
* The person who switched off the plane's communication links at 1.07am and transponders at 1.21am last Saturday.
* The motive for its disappearance. It still remains a matter for conjecture.
* Whether it is north or south of the Strait of Malacca. The search and rescue mission is now focused on a northern corridor extending from Thailand to Kazakhstan/Turkmenistan and the southern corridor extending from Indonesia to the south of the Indian Ocean.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

What will be, will be

Two things are on the mind right now, primarily the fate of MH370 after the five day disappearance.  The other is the N25 Kajang by-election.  Somehow the lyrics from the song Que Sera Sera kept creeping up.

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother 
What will I be
Will I be rich
Will I be pretty

And this is what she said to me
Que Sera Sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future is not ours to see
What will be, will be.....

That much I can remember and it may not even be in the right sequence.

There are Allah's secrets that we may never know.  We may seek and we may plan but it is His plan that will finally prevail.  And to Him we are to pray and ask for guidance.

Ya Allah, may the fate of those on MH370 be the best that can be and fairness prevail in the PRK Kajang 2014, InsyaAllah.