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MH370: Malaysian PM confirms Réunion debris is from missing flight

“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 has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris ... is indeed MH370,” Najib Razak said on Wednesday.

Razak said he hoped the positive identification of the two-metre fragment, which was found last week on the French island of Réunion, would “lift the fog of uncertainty” for grieving relatives.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/05/mh370-french-prosecutor-reunion-debris-missing-flight


Latest statement from the Malaysian PM (24 March 2014)

This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path.

Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.

Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking; I know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time.

----

A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 239 people has lost contact with air traffic control and was still missing two hours after it was supposed to have landed in Beijing, the airline said Saturday morning.

The airline told NBC News that a search-and-rescue mission was under way but said it had no further information.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-flight-carrying-239-n47516

Edit:

 

[lexi]

Should have landed over 2 and a half hours ago. This is not going to end well I fear.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

It's 2.5 hours late, I'm not optimistic.

 

[catmincer]

That's shit. I really hope they find it.

 

[Ra\/en]

This probably won't end well...

 

[slider]

Fuck. Hoping for the best outcome we can hope for. Fuck.

 

[789shadow]

RIP passengers.

 

[criesofthepast]

Ugh. Worst nightmare. Two babies on board too.

I get on a plane in a month for first time in 5 years so not what I need to hear. Gotta re-fill my Xanax.

 

[cdkee]

Ugh. Worst nightmare. Two babies on board too.

I get on a plane in a month for first time in 5 years so not what I need to hear. Gotta re-fill my Xanax.

Don't worry, you are safer in a plane than in a car, statistically.

 

[ganon]

Ugh, what a nightmare, still hoping for the best.

 

[xbhaskarx]

That plane is in the ocean. RIP passengers.

Is that actual information from a news source somewhere, or are you just speculating and phrasing it as if it's a confirmed fact?

 

[kurahador]

Oh man, my brother frequently travel there for work...thank god he wasn't on that flight.

 

[James Woods]

They're most likely dead.

 

[DrBo42]

Is that actual information from a news source somewhere, or are you just speculating and phrasing it as if it's a confirmed fact?

Speculation. Where else could it be?

 

[terrisus]

Ugh. Worst nightmare. Two babies on board too.

I get on a plane in a month for first time in 5 years so not what I need to hear. Gotta re-fill my Xanax.

Don't worry, you are safer in a plane than in a car, statistically.

Seriously.

People hear stuff like this and get all panicked, but take some time and read up on all the car crashes caused by completely external sources (either failure of the car, or another person on the road), and it's clear you're in far more danger driving to the airport than you are on the plane.


I mean, obviously hopefully the people on this plane are fine, and people dying in car crashes doesn't make things alright - but, in terms of assessing which means of travel are the safest anyway.

 

[Stitch]

I thought these things have like all kinds of tracking devices. Shouldn't they know exactly where it is right now?

Well or maybe they got sucked into a space-time vortex and are now fighting dinos

 

[789shadow]

Is that actual information from a news source somewhere, or are you just speculating and phrasing it as if it's a confirmed fact?

Oh, sorry.

 

[Deap92x]

that's scary yo

 

[lexi]

Well or maybe they got sucked into a space-time vortex and are now fighting dinos

There was a twilight zone episode about this.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

I can only hope for the best. :-/

 

[hirokazu]

Shouldn't they have initiated search and rescue earlier, when the plan also fails to establish contact with other flight control operators along it's flight path?

I mean, it's not a mission to Mars where there may be some period of expected radio silence or something.

They just sat in their offices and are like "Maybe it'll land in Beijing some time, let's give it some two hours in case it's running late!" before doing anything?

 

[Tekniqs]

shit...chances of this turning out well is pretty slim =(

 

[javac]

My sympathies and thoughts are with all the families and friends of the people on board the plane. I hope it turns out well.

 

[B.K.]

I know it doesn't happen often, but this would be my luck if I ever went on a plane.

There was a twilight zone episode about this.

Yep. Odyssey of Flight 33.

 

[DurielBlack]

According to a pilot on CNN that route is mostly overland.

 

[Haklong]

Yeah, I just read this. This is one of my nightmares. My wife loves to travel and we go on trip multiple times a year. I know I'm safer on a plane than a car but the idea of a plane crash/accident is so much scarier. I just hope it turns out well for the passengers and their families.

 

[Konka]

 

[Squirrel Killer]

They just sat in their offices and are like "Maybe it'll land in Beijing some time, let's give it some two hours in case it's running late!" before doing anything?

I'm sure that's exactly what they did/

And the reporters that are going to mis-state some small fact in the upcoming coverage of this incident are lazy jerks-offs and that the masses of Redit and Twitter are clearly better.

And let's start in on the investigators who don't explain everything by mid-morning tomorrow. What the hell good are they?

 

[ZeroGravity]

Don't worry, you are safer in a plane than in a car, statistically.

Said everyone who's ever died in a plane crash.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Terrifying

 

[lexi]

The 777 has not had a good year. This will be its worst ever accident, assuming the worst happens.

 

[criesofthepast]

Seriously.

People hear stuff like this and get all panicked, but take some time and read up on all the car crashes caused by completely external sources (either failure of the car, or another person on the road), and it's clear you're in far more danger driving to the airport than you are on the plane.


I mean, obviously hopefully the people on this plane are fine, and people dying in car crashes doesn't make things alright - but, in terms of assessing which means of travel are the safest anyway.

Don't worry, you are safer in a plane than in a car, statistically.

I know the stats. While irrational people still fear it. Nothing facts can change.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

My heart skipped a beat when I saw this pop up. Really hope everything turns out okay.

 

[Konka]

Said everyone who's ever died in a plane crash.

Is a ridiculous comment to make.

In the last five years, the death risk for passengers in the United States has been one in 45 million flights, according to Arnold Barnett, a professor of statistics at M.I.T. In other words, flying has become so reliable that a traveler could fly every day for an average of 123,000 years before being in a fatal crash, he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/b...-globally-since-1945.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

[Twilight Gap]

Seriously.

People hear stuff like this and get all panicked, but take some time and read up on all the car crashes caused by completely external sources (either failure of the car, or another person on the road), and it's clear you're in far more danger driving to the airport than you are on the plane.


I mean, obviously hopefully the people on this plane are fine, and people dying in car crashes doesn't make things alright - but, in terms of assessing which means of travel are the safest anyway.

It's not about which is the "safest". Car crashes are over quickly and there are several ways to escape and get help during them. On a troubled or doomed flight, there's no second option. There's just several minutes (which feel like forever) of torment of the impending crash. Violent turbulence invokes that same feeling.

I'd die a thousand deaths by car over once in a plane. Can't think of a more terrifying way to go.

 

[Slayer-33]

It's not about which is the "safest". Car crashes are over quickly and there are several ways to escape and get help during them. On a troubled or doomed flight, there's no second option. There's just several minutes (which feel like forever) of torment of the impending crash.

I'd die a thousand deaths by car over once in a plane. Can't think of a more terrifying way to go.

True

If there is ANY sort of serious accident on a plane that causes it to crash you are most likely 100% dead.

Not the case in a car

 

[MThanded]

This is sad. Plane is very late at this point. I had a hard time fathoming how it could be anywhere but downed somewhere.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

In the last five years, the death risk for passengers in the United States has been one in 45 million flights, according to Arnold Barnett, a professor of statistics at M.I.T. In other words, flying has become so reliable that a traveler could fly every day for an average of 123,000 years before being in a fatal crash, he said.

That puts a serious crimp in my plans for my 125,000th class reunion.

 

[Usobuko]

Seriously.

People hear stuff like this and get all panicked, but take some time and read up on all the car crashes caused by completely external sources (either failure of the car, or another person on the road), and it's clear you're in far more danger driving to the airport than you are on the plane.

The reasoning to this is very simple because with car you're in control but not with the airplane. People mostly fear what they don't understand or aren't in control of.

 

[Slayer-33]

Also there's a shit ton more cars out there than airplanes, 24/7 on the road with a shit ton of others

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Guys we all know people fear flying more then driving because they most likely drive every day and hardly ever fly. It's a fear no matter what the statistic because people aren't used to being thousands of feet in the air.

Either way it shouldn't be the point of this thread really. There are lost people.

 

[Twilight Gap]

The reasoning to this is very simple because with Car you're in control but not with the airplane.

I have a friend who brings his own steering wheel on flights and pretends that he's flying a starfighter. Seems to be a healthy coping mechanism, though it probably works best with flight medication.

 

[Velcro Fly]

The reasoning to this is very simple because with car you're in control but not with the airplane. People mostly fear what they don't understand or aren't in control of.

Being in control in a car is also a fallacy because of the thousand other cars you pass that you aren't in control of.

 

[Konka]

True

If there is ANY sort of serious accident on a plane that causes it to crash you are most likely 100% dead.

Not the case in a car

Do you tell yourself that to make yourself feel better? You're far more likely to die in a car than a plane, you're more likely to get into several car crashes then to die in a plane.

 

[Ballistik]

It's not about which is the "safest". Car crashes are over quickly and there are several ways to escape and get help during them. On a troubled or doomed flight, there's no second option. There's just several minutes (which feel like forever) of torment of the impending crash.

I'd die a thousand deaths by car over once in a plane. Can't think of a more terrifying way to go.

Basically this. In a car you're attached to the ground. You feel you are in control and there's more options at your disposal.

In a plane, it's all about being helpless and hopeless. You just await your fate and there's absolutely nothing you can do to escape once you know the plane is malfunctioning.

Maybe less likely to happen, but DEFINITELY more terrifying.

 

[ZeroGravity]

Is a ridiculous comment to make.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/b...-globally-since-1945.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Everything is a statistic until it actually relates to you.

 

[DrForester]

Is that actual information from a news source somewhere, or are you just speculating and phrasing it as if it's a confirmed fact?

Speculation. Where else could it be?

Well, I guess it could have gone down in the mountains.

Anyone have a map with the flights normal route?

 

[terrisus]

The reasoning to this is very simple because with car you're in control but not with the airplane. People mostly fear what they don't understand or aren't in control of.

Yeah, you're in control - until your breaks or steering locks up, or a drunk driver swerves into you.

 

[Usobuko]

Being in control in a car is also a fallacy because of the thousand other cars you pass that you aren't in control of.

Well, to them, some degree of control. I should have word it better.

 

[Pandemic]

I doubt it's a glitch with the tracking system.. The plane was supposed to land a few hours ago...

My hope is now that they've made a moderately safe landing and not a heavy one.