Beijing-bound MAS plane carrying 239 people missing as of 20 mins ago.

reply to post by OpinionatedB


Thanks, I have always lurked and only jump in If I can offer something.

:-)

Latest update from Interpol on the passport situation:

INTERPOL confirms at least two stolen passports used by passengers on missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370 were registered in its databases

INTERPOL examining additional suspect passports


LYON, France ‒ INTERPOL can confirm that at least two passports – Austrian and Italian – recorded in its Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database were used by passengers on board missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370.

The Austrian and Italian passports were added to INTERPOL’s SLTD database after their theft in Thailand in 2012 and 2013 respectively. INTERPOL is also conducting checks on all other passports used to board flight MH 370 which may have been reported stolen.

No checks of the stolen Austrian and Italian passports were made by any country between the time they were entered into INTERPOL’s database and the departure of flight MH 370. At this time, INTERPOL is therefore unable to determine on how many other occasions these passports were used to board flights or cross borders.

INTERPOL is currently in contact with its National Central Bureaus in the involved countries to determine the true identities of the passengers who used these stolen passports to board the missing Malaysia Airways flight.

“Whilst it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in INTERPOL's databases,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble

“What is important at the moment is to find out what caused Malaysian Airways flight 370 to go missing, and in this regard INTERPOL is making all needed resources available to help relevant authorities in Malaysia and elsewhere find out what happened. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with the families, loved ones and friends of the 239 passengers and crew on board,” said Mr Noble.

“This is a situation we had hoped never to see. For years INTERPOL has asked why should countries wait for a tragedy to put prudent security measures in place at borders and boarding gates,” said Secretary General Noble.

“Now, we have a real case where the world is speculating whether the stolen passport holders were terrorists, while INTERPOL is asking why only a handful of countries worldwide are taking care to make sure that persons possessing stolen passports are not boarding international flights,” added the INTERPOL Chief, pointing to the predicted increase in international travel reaching 1.5 billion passengers by 2017.

Last year passengers were able to board planes more than a billion times without having their passports screened against INTERPOL's databases. As far back as 2002 following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, INTERPOL created its SLTD database to help countries secure their borders and protect their citizens from terrorists and other dangerous criminals known to use fraudulent travel documents.

Since then INTERPOL's database has grown from a few thousand passports and searches to more than 40 million entries and more than 800 million searches per year, averaging 60,000 hits. The US searches this database annually more 250 million times; the UK more than 120 million times and the UAE more than 50 million times.

Unfortunately, few member countries systematically search INTERPOL's databases to determine whether a passenger is using a stolen or lost travel document to board a plane.

“If Malaysia Airways and all airlines worldwide were able to check the passport details of prospective passengers against INTERPOL's database, then we would not have to speculate whether stolen passports were used by terrorists to board MH 370. We would know that stolen passports were not used by any of the passengers to board that flight,” said Secretary General Noble.

“For the sake of innocent passengers who go through invasive security measures prior to boarding flights in order to get to their destination safely, I sincerely hope that governments and airlines worldwide will learn from the tragedy of missing flight MH 370 and begin to screen all passengers’ passports prior to allowing them to board flights. Doing so will indeed take us a step closer to ensuring safer travel,” concluded the head of INTERPOL.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Really, thanks!

I was always under the assumption that if suspected this would be protocol whether acknowledged as fact or not!

Peace!

The only thing I keep thinking when i here about this is that they crushed on the the Lost island because the governments want to find that island.

reply to post by civpop


Check your PMs (envelope in upper right).

Bigburgh

Who else could benefit. Asian Mafia running sweat shops and now want a cut...you know once bangcock gets a hold of you.

edit on 8-3-2014 by Bigburgh because: (no reason given)

edit on 8-3-2014 by Bigburgh because: (no reason given)

LOL

reply to post by CharlieSpeirs


They will launch if they go off course too far, set the transponder to 7500, or go into certain areas without radio contact.

OpinionatedB

DazDaKing
reply to post by DazDaKing

 

On another note - can someone please update me in a brief manner in regards to what's happening with these 'stolen passports'?

I've fallen out of the loop with the last 1/3 of this thread and I am seeing a multitude of links and different points being made about these passports.

Am I right in assuming that two passengers who were registered onto the flight and boarded were actually at home all a long and had their passports stolen a while back? Am I also right in assuming MSM has played off the passports as insignificant considering millions are lost and used each year in Asia?!?

What sort of absurdness is that? This is obviously a huge security breach and also a cause of concern regarding the potential of the plane being hijacked.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Peace

edit on 9-3-2014 by DazDaKing because: (no reason given)

There were a total of 4 stolen passports being used on the flight, two of which were used during the purchase of tickets together... I believe they were used to skirt Chinese authorities from the looks of it, because they were used they weren't subject to an additional inspection by the Chinese authorities.

and yes, according to counter-terrorist officials they may not be significant, because on any flight of that size out of Asia you are going to have a few stolen passports being used.

I don't think this is being overlooked, but nor is it being made center stage either.

Care to post a link to that "counterterrorism assessment" on the passports? "A flight of that size" happens multiple times per day to China. So there's possibly dozens of people entering China with stolen passports? Want to stick with that story?

Bilk22

roadgravel
If it is in China it would mean it landed at some secret airport, right. No controllers or airport staff to speak of the plane landing.

How freely do people speak in China these days?

Without a transponder signal, the plane still shows up as a radar image. There should be a trace of an unknown plane in/leaving the area. I suppose they could land and quickly hide it in a hanger from the snooping eyes of the US intelligence system and everyone else.

I really believe more is known by intelligence but they are not saying anything at this point. Call it politics, terror data collection or whatever.

Search for missing Malaysia Airlines jet turns up 'suspicious objects'

roadgravel

Bilk22

roadgravel
If it is in China it would mean it landed at some secret airport, right. No controllers or airport staff to speak of the plane landing.

How freely do people speak in China these days?

Without a transponder signal, the plane still shows up as a radar image. There should be a trace of an unknown plane in/leaving the area. I suppose they could land and quickly hide it in a hanger from the snooping eyes of the US intelligence system and everyone else.

I really believe more is known by intelligence but they are not saying anything at this point. Call it politics, terror data collection or whatever.

Double post

roadgravel

Bilk22

roadgravel
If it is in China it would mean it landed at some secret airport, right. No controllers or airport staff to speak of the plane landing.

How freely do people speak in China these days?

Without a transponder signal, the plane still shows up as a radar image. There should be a trace of an unknown plane in/leaving the area. I suppose they could land and quickly hide it in a hanger from the snooping eyes of the US intelligence system and everyone else.

I really believe more is known by intelligence but they are not saying anything at this point. Call it politics, terror data collection or whatever.

I think the plane was hijacked to China and the west doesn't want to admit that as of yet for some reason. Or someone doesn't want that to be the known story. The plane landed in a different destination that originally intended.

(tin foil hat conspiracy theory)

This plane was Hijacked,
the passengers will or have been executed,
And a very large Nuclear device will be loaded on board
then flown over the US an detonated creating a catastrophic
EMP over two thirds of the countries main electrical infrastructure.

game over, take over begins

The aircraft underwent an A check two weeks ago without any issues.

reply to post by Bilk22


That may well be true if it went to a military air field. It wouldn't surprise me but I still think it is a long shot.

When the Air France flight went down, it was in a remote pocket of the ocean.
It took respondents a few days to get there. It would be hard to compare it to this scenario.

Some kind of debris should be found today.

So remote was the place the (Air France) airliner went down, in equatorial waters between Brazil and Africa, that it was five days before debris and the first bodies were recovered.

is it cabin door or plane window?

looks like cabin door?

reply to post by civpop

Last year passengers were able to board planes more than a billion times without having their passports screened against INTERPOL's databases.

This is a warm fuzzy.

new info:

Breaking news:

Debris spotted

online.wsj.com... 2702304732804579427991198487418.html

The fragments were believed to be a composite inner door and a piece of the tail, Vietnam's ministry of information and communication said in a posting on its website. They were located about 50 miles south-southwest of Tho Chu island.

MRuss
new info:

Breaking news:

Debris spotted

online.wsj.com... 2702304732804579427991198487418.html

The fragments were believed to be a composite inner door and a piece of the tail, Vietnam's ministry of information and communication said in a posting on its website. They were located about 50 miles south-southwest of Tho Chu island.

edit on 9-3-2014 by MRuss because: (no reason given)

A post is being set up on Tho Chu Island