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[Juicy Bob]

I just keep thinking about those poor innocent people on that plane.

They were minding their own business, looking forward to their holidays or whatever they were doing. And then, all of a sudden, everyone and everything that they loved was taken from them.

I just hope they all died instantly, although I know that's unlikely.

 

[Sayter]

You see them, send them a beep, they respond with their beep, their beep identifies them.
If they don't respond, it's an issue and it goes from there to other stuff.

I'm not sure what I can talk about since I worked on some stuff related to stuff like this, so... Yeah.
Someone else that knows more can go in-depth.
Beeps and boops.

That sounds like a squawk. A airplane contacts the closet air traffic controller and the controller tells them to enter a number into their transponder as a form of identification, or squawk.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transponder_(aeronautics)

 

[Dreams-Visions]

If the missile came from in front of the plane the pilots could have seen it visually. That's the only way.

The real answer is no. That missile would have been moving upwards of 2,500 MPH. 4-5x the speed the plan was flying at. Unless they have the eyes of hawks and were expressly looking for it, they wouldn't have seen it coming and even if they had, there was no reaction available that would have allowed them to evade.

A missile of that type goes from the ground to detonating on or near the plane in just 10-15 seconds.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Fox News seemed to be running with the idea that americans were on board as fact but I haven't seen any confirmation yet? What's the deal here?

 

[Rockyrock]

Fox News seemed to be running with the idea that americans were on board as fact but I haven't seen any confirmation yet? What's the deal here?

I don't think its been confirmed nor denied yet.

Last I heard there was 40 something still unidentified, but idk if the story has been updated since then.

 

[Spineker]

My condolences to the people of the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia and everywhere else effected by this atrocity.

 

[mikeyw85]

I think this will affect the way airline companies will handle flying over turbulent zones like this in the future. Even though the chance of this happening was very unlikely and could hardly be described as a risk, this will stay in peoples mind for a long time.

Damn, still can't fathom what happened.

Yeah, true. It shouldn't take something like this for them to rethink procedures though.

 

[Kinan]

Looks like emergency workers found the second black box. Somewhat stupid to announce that, insurgents will not lets them transport it away to the Ukrainian-controller territory...


It is of very limited use though, it will just confirm that that was no accident on board or something, which is already clear.

For (sad) laughs - this is how russian tv thinks Putin was flying yesterday from Warsaw to Moscow. (Warsaw was the point where the MH17 and Putin's plane were close to each other.)

And there will be russians that will believe it. A lot of them...

 

[Opus Angelorum]

My cousin is stuck in Kuala Lumpur at the minute, his flight to the UK was due to take off an hour after the plane went down. Needless to say the atmosphere at the airport was intense.

 

[Midnight Phoenix]

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/17/world/europe/ukraine-malaysia-airlines-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Was it posted already?

 

[KingofGourds]

For (sad) laughs - this is how russian tv thinks Putin was flying yesterday from Warsaw to Moscow.

"As the c̶r̶o̶w̶ Putin flies"

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Looks like emergency workers found the second black box. Somewhat stupid to announce that, insurgents will not lets them transport it away to the Ukrainian-controller territory...


It is of very limited use though, it will just confirm that that was no accident on board or something, which is already clear.

For (sad) laughs - this is how russian tv thinks Putin was flying yesterday from Warsaw to Moscow. (Warsaw was the point where the MH17 and Putin's plane were close to each other.)

And there will be russians that will believe it. A lot of them...

 

[Midnight Phoenix]

So thats how Russia makes air routes.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Pro-Russian separatist's online boasts about shooting down plane

A deleted social media post by a separatist militia leader has led to accusations that pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine are to blame for the Malaysia Airlines crash that has left at least 295 people dead.

Igor Girkin, who also goes by the nom de guerre Strelkov, is reported to have claimed that his forces shot down a plane in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine at 5.50pm (GMT+4), shortly before reports emerged the passenger jet was missing.

“We have issued warnings not to fly in our airspace. We have video confirming. The bird fell on a waste heap. Residential areas were not hit. Civilians were not injured,” he is reported to have said.

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum

Donetsk commander Strelkov, longtime Russian agent, claimed credit today for shooting plane he thought was Ukrainian
9:18 AM - 17 Jul 2014

“The plane has just been taken down somewhere around Torez,” he stated on VKontakte, Russia’s version of Facebook. “We did warn you: do not fly in our skies.”

An official statement from the Ukrainian government said: “The airplane was shot down by the Russian Buk missile system as the liner was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters.”

Girkin’s original post has now been deleted from VKontakte and his subsequent posts appear to deny that the pro-Russian forces within Ukraine have the available weaponry to take down a jet at 10,000m (33,000ft).

 

[Falk]

Thank God that after 61 pages this finally gets reposted before the mid-point!

 

[Pandemic]

Absolute tragedy...

 

[Lucius86]

This is way too close for comfort.

I've just flown from Amsterdam to Jakarta for my holiday in Bali, and we have likely taken the same flight path just a few days before this incident. I'm now on holiday in Bali with my girlfriend worrying about my flight home.

Given slightly different circumstances (we were considering a connecting flight to Kuala Lumpa instead of Jakarta) this could have been me and my gf on board. Makes me feel a bit sick thinking about it.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

This is way too close for comfort.

I've just flown from Amsterdam to Jakarta for my holiday in Bali, and we have likely taken the same flight path just a few days before this incident. I'm now on holiday in Bali with my girlfriend worrying about my flight home.

Given slightly different circumstances (we were considering a connecting flight to Kuala Lumpa instead of Jakarta) this could have been me and my gf on board. Makes me feel a bit sick thinking about it.

You can't think like that man. I know what you mean though, this is crazy.

 

[takriel]

This is way too close for comfort.

I've just flown from Amsterdam to Jakarta for my holiday in Bali, and we have likely taken the same flight path just a few days before this incident. I'm now on holiday in Bali with my girlfriend worrying about my flight home.

Given slightly different circumstances (we were considering a connecting flight to Kuala Lumpa instead of Jakarta) this could have been me and my gf on board. Makes me feel a bit sick thinking about it.

Try not to think about it. There's nothing to gain from it. Try to enjoy your holiday with your gf.

 

[Blablurn]

So strange what happened. Still cant believe it.

 

[Beaniedude]

Well this just sucks.

 

[warthog]

This is way too close for comfort.

I've just flown from Amsterdam to Jakarta for my holiday in Bali, and we have likely taken the same flight path just a few days before this incident. I'm now on holiday in Bali with my girlfriend worrying about my flight home.

Given slightly different circumstances (we were considering a connecting flight to Kuala Lumpa instead of Jakarta) this could have been me and my gf on board. Makes me feel a bit sick thinking about it.

In other circumstances many of these people would also be enjoying their vacation right this moment. But now we just have families and friends grieving and bickering parties blaming each other. It's sad and cruel how their lives got ended.

 

[Vastag]

Ways like what?

A transponder.

 

[BunnyBear]

We're living at delicAte times so much conflict..

Really? It seems to me we're at one of the quietest periods of conflict in human history. That's easy for me to say sitting in peaceful Australia, but still.

 

[GasProblem]

173 Dutch instead of 154...

It's just weird knowing it happened to a plane leaving from Schiphol.

 

[Nemme]

173 Dutch instead of 154...

It's just weird knowing it happened to a plane leaving from Schiphol.

Also updated:

44 Malaysian
27 Australian
12 Indonesian
9 UK
4 Germans
4 Belgians
1 New Zealand

And 23 unknown

 

[Lucius86]

You can't think like that man. I know what you mean though, this is crazy.

Try not to think about it. There's nothing to gain from it. Try to enjoy your holiday with your gf.

That's the logical way to think, but alas emotions dictate otherwise. You are both right of course.

We will be contacting my flight operator to ensure the return flight paths steer clear of Ukraine and Russian airspace.

Whole situation is just disgusting.

 

[Karkador]

I saw some pictures earlier today of some of the wreckage (and people picking through it...and some bodies). How did the plane and the bodies appear to be relatively intact in some of these shots? I was under the impression that everything basically disintegrated in a crash, especially coming down from 10km/30,000ft, and if there's a bunch of fuel in the jet that explodes.

I mean, honestly, I'd rather not think about it. Plane crashes are horrifying.

 

[Spineker]

The media are giving Malaysian Airlines reps a grilling at the press conference because of 2 separate incidents in 6 months. I don't think that's very fair. The mystery surrounding MH370 is still very raw but to blame them for this is just madness.

 

[BunnyBear]

This is the problem with Australia in general.

Its like they are far enough away from everybody else, that the media can report things for 'australians'. All the international news gets pushed to the middle of the newspaper where nobody reads it, and all the international news on TV is all on SBS. Then you have the local news on Channel 7, 9 and 10 that report on house burglaries or petrol prices or fad weight loss methods.

Look at the BBC, they generally push news thats relevant to the world as a whole not just for brits, thats left for the tabloids to fill.

Why is this hard to understand? It's all about proximity. It's one of the first thing taught in journalism schooling. People are going to engage more with a news-piece that affects them on an everyday level more than an international event that, while shocking or tragic, has little bearing on their lives.

That's why pieces about electricity prices or domestic politics is going to make headlines over and above the conflict in the Gaza strip or the Russian/Ukrainian fracas.

It's not hard to understand.

 

[takriel]

That's the logical way to think, but alas emotions dictate otherwise. You are both right of course.

We will be contacting my flight operator to ensure the return flight paths steer clear of Ukraine and Russian airspace.

Whole situation is just disgusting.

Well you'd think that this won't happen again so soon over Ukraine grounds. They'll want to steer clear from shit like that unless they want another media fiasco...

 

[spekkeh]

The media are giving Malaysian Airlines reps a grilling at the press conference because of 2 separate incidents in 6 months. I don't think that's very fair. The mystery surrounding MH370 is still very raw but to blame them for this is just madness.

They were awfully slow with reacting in both cases though. It was midnight in Malaysia I think, but still.

 

[BunnyBear]

They were awfully slow with reacting in both cases though. It was midnight in Malaysia I think, but still.

How were they slow reacting this morning? It happened 17 hours ago.

 

[Tugatrix]

Just woke up, any news since yesterday?

 

[Carn82]

 

[CoolOff]

Also updated:

44 Malaysian
27 Australian
12 Indonesian
9 UK
4 Germans
4 Belgians
1 New Zealand

And 23 unknown

So either someone is incredibly slow with identifying Americans, or those first numbers were bullshit.

 

[CassSept]

Really? It seems to me we're at one of the quietest periods of conflict in human history. That's easy for me to say sitting in peaceful Australia, but still.

It kinda feels like it's been heating up over the last couple of years. We will see where it goes, but ultimately I don't see it ending neatly. I doubt it ends in WW III, but the hell do I know about history.

Hell, it's all very relative. I'd probably say '00s were quieter than '90s for the most part but that's my European bias showing as '90s had Yugoslavia.

Edit:

So either someone is incredibly slow with identifying Americans, or those first numbers were bullshit.

Misinformation, always happens around disasters like these. But you can bet some deranged conspracy theorists will use it as proof that the whole thing was staged, a false flag operation or whatever.

 

[Tugatrix]

Don't they have a flight manifest?

 

[Dilly]

It kinda feels like it's been heating up over the last couple of years. We will see where it goes, but ultimately I don't see it ending neatly. I doubt it ends in WW III, but the hell do I know about history.

Hell, it's all very relative. I'd probably say '00s were quieter than '90s for the most part but that's my European bias showing as '90s had Yugoslavia.

Social media and the resulting increased media coverage skews perception.

 

[Cloudy]

What is stopping the Ukrainian government from taking a hard line against these guys now? If they really did this, I can't imagine any international sympathy and Russia will be hard pressed to intervene

 

[Martian]

What is stopping the Ukrainian government from taking a hard line against these guys now? If they really did this, I can't imagine any international sympathy and Russia will be hard pressed to intervene

Dont think they have enough hardware, as they would have done it sooner if they did

 

[Dhuie]

Australians waiting for Obama to come out hard on this.


Reports that the pro russians have the first black box and they'll be conducting the investigation. WTF

 

[Cloudy]

There is going to be INTENSE pressure on Obama and other leaders to arm them now even if it pisses Russia off

 

[Tugatrix]

Australians waiting for Obama to come out hard on this.


Reports that the pro russians have the first black box and they'll be conducting the investigation. WTF

They will end up destroying the box, they don't have the equipment and knowledge to open one and read the data.

 

[Kinan]

What is stopping the Ukrainian government from taking a hard line against these guys now? If they really did this, I can't imagine any international sympathy and Russia will be hard pressed to intervene

Russia did enough already by pumping heavy weaponry like there is no tomorrow over the border during the last week. Unless we get high tech weaponry from US, any significant advances will bring a lot of casualties due to the fact that terrorists are using city quarters as a cover. And we still cannot close the border completely, since our guys there are being shot at from both sides of the border with MRLs. And the border is basically an open field with nowhere to hide.

Broken plane in the middle of the insurgents controlled area marks the MH17 crash site.

 

[Boom Boom Pow]

Australians waiting for Obama to come out hard on this.


Reports that the pro russians have the first black box and they'll be conducting the investigation. WTF

wait why would australia wait for Obama?

 

[Sinfamy]

Can Russia lose veto power now please?

 

[kess]

Australians waiting for Obama to come out hard on this.


Reports that the pro russians have the first black box and they'll be conducting the investigation. WTF

What a massive fuck-you to Malaysia.

 

[petran79]

What is stopping the Ukrainian government from taking a hard line against these guys now? If they really did this, I can't imagine any international sympathy and Russia will be hard pressed to intervene

Be careful what you wish for.
They're neo-nazis

 

[Spineker]

wait why would australia wait for Obama?

They're members of the UN security council. They must want to know for certain they have U.S support before they implement their motion to conduct a UN specific investigation.