Possible MH-370 debris found on Reunion Island?

Conspiracy or not, one thing is certainly striking about the whole MH-370 incident. The ineptitude of the SE Asian air traffic control system should serve as a stark reminder that you are not as safe as you think you are when flying in this region of the world. The fact that the regional air traffic control system (not just in Malaysia) as well as MAS themselves couldn't even predict what OCEAN/SEA MH-370 disappeared into should raise more than a few eyebrows!! This is even more telling when you look back at the mass confusion and erroneous information which was given out by countless government entities in the days/weeks following the disappearance.

"The search should be in the S. China Sea....no wait, the search should be in the Andaman Sea....no wait...let's look over by Indonesia....ummm, wait....maybe it's over here by Australia...crap, we give up, we have no idea where our Boeing 777 with 277 souls on board is!"

If it wasn't such a tragic event there would be ample opportunity to employ all manner of barbs about the Keystone Cops leading the charge. Now, even 18 months later, no one knows for certain where MH-370 is, and as the world now looks upon one single piece of a wing flap washed ashore on some distant island we should be ever mindful of the disgraceful manner in which this whole tragedy began. We as a people should not allow any of these 'clowns' to jump in, grab the limelight and attempt to redeem themselves at this late stage.

That is all.

a reply to: Shamrock6

It narrows down a search area, but doesn't actually find the aircraft. The currents are pretty wild in that area so it's still going to be a bitch to find.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Where does monitoring/tracking and responsibility for that end?

This was a bizarre scenario, involving a plane which had all the commonly accepted industry standard kit on board, and was operated by an airline with access to pretty much the same as any other, in any other country.

They did track the location of the plane, to within a reasonable area under their direct control. The plane didn't remain in that area. Do we expect every inch of the planet to be covered by tracking for each and every nation monitoring each and every plane?

And when there is damage to those core systems on the plane, are nations then supposed to use psychic powers to establish the location of that plane?

While I absolutely agree that the companies involved handled this whole thing inadequately (specifically the handling of information by the Airline and their dealing with the family and friends of the victims) there are limits to what we can reasonably expect to know, especially when the equipment we would normally use seems to be damaged to such a degree it's no longer functioning.

The investigators went above and beyond to try to locate that plane, they managed to track down unexpected information relating to the maintenance of the engines, something never at all intended to offer any tracking or beacon capability, in order to work out the location.

This was an extraordinary event, with extraordinary circumstances, and you just cannot plan or predict for every possible scenario.

Zaphod,

You have made several observations, and I'm going to paraphrase here, about the unlikely coincidence of satellites looking in the direction of MH-370. I agree with your observation. However, when it became clear the Malaysian authorities as well as the other regional air traffic entities had no idea where MH-370 was in the days/weeks following the disappearance one would think there would have been increased satellite based observational attention paid to this region in search of debris fields. Perhaps there was, no one really knows for sure. Yes, the Indian Ocean is a tall order no doubt, but it still seems hard to accept a crashed 777 not leaving a pretty significant debris field signature which would be observable by orbital platforms. Certainly in an 18 month time frame.

In the case of Air France 447 debris was located the next day (by spotter aircraft)

Having personally worked in the Malaysian aviation sector for several years it comes as no surprise to me that Malaysian officials had no clue as to the whereabouts of MH-370, and it probably comes as no surprise to anyone else familiar with aviation in this region. Consequently, I find it a little surprising the world seemingly relied on local authorities for as long as they did and weren't able to pick up debris signatures through other more sophisticated means.

Just a thought.

a reply to: Rocker2013

See my post above; I have more than a little experience with aviation in this region. My expectations aren't absolute, in fact quite the contrary. From day one following this incident I was astounded the world seemingly left the leadership of this matter in the hands of the Malaysian government. Yes, they needed to be involved, but as leaders in the search they only diminished the likelihood of finding something quickly through their haphazard handling of the matter.

My point above was really more directed at this notion.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

There may have been, but without a basic area to start, you're talking about a massive area and a relatively small aircraft to find. With AF447 they at least knew the general location of the aircraft.

More debris has wanted ashore, including bottles that show being manufactured in Jakarta.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Linky? I suspect they will be able track a lot of debris by back tracing the currents

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Here's one of them.

news.sky.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

For me MH370 moved from a huge tragedy to needing to solve a mystery. Seeing the debris has brought me back to the sadness of this for the families and all the airline staff.

Hi ATS, been awhile since I visited ATS. When news of this flap washed ashore, decided to check what ATS members might be talking about.

As a Malaysian, this news is so unusual coincidence...coming right in the moment when the hated beleagured prime minister had launched a kind of purge on all those investigating his USD700M /MYR2.6B siphoning of public money into his personal bank account. He was about to be issued a so-called arrest warrant when the Attorney-General was unceremoniously relief of his position under the pretext that he had kidney problem and 3 months shy of his proper retirement age. And then, bang! This curious news.

Malaysian government is not capable of manufacturing this kind of conspiracy. Only with assistance from powerful and sophisticated players.

For info, Malaysia is involved in the TPPA trade agreement. There are rumbling in Malaysia against the Malaysian government from signing this. But alas, the hated prime minister is a weak, incompetent and sadist person with scandals the size of a beached whale, so an easy target for blackmail and manipulation.

So, again, this is a very unusual coincidence with respect to Malaysia. As far as the world is concerned, maybe ATS can enlightened us. What other birds can this one "stone" killed? China?

Thank you.

originally posted by: yeahsurexxx
If this is the one. Someone wanted this to be found right now.

The Q is:

What do we miss while looking at this?

I could be going out on a limb here, but... I think the passengers may already be dead!

It appears that the flaperon was discovered further up the beach about a month ago. The person didn't realise the significance of the part and didn't report it.

Sky News UK ran a piece to camera from the island on the flaperon being spotted earlier. The claim was that others have come forward to say that they had seen the same aircraft part a month ago in the surf. The claim was that it was spotted at a different location further up the beach. Possibly the claim is true? Possibly the people that have come forward just dismissed it at the time as a piece of old boat wreckage?

Another group of people told Sky News they saw what could have been the same debris a month ago, further up the beach, meaning it could have been floating around the Reunion coast for some time.

deo at following link.

Video: MH370 Debris Found 'A Month Ago'

Video link

I am in the deep water oilfield business. Many standards we have in place are based on NASA. The procedures pass equipment thru a field acceptance test. This is at 150% working pressure. Once ANY piece of pertinent equipment passes testing..... it is hard stamped with the work order data. This shows API acceptance. NDE maybe involved as well.

The customer thereafter owns the equipment.

This being said.... the flaperon/aileron should have pertinent data which could be retrieved within a couple keystrokes.

I can tell you within seconds, if failure existed whom it belonged to. This based on any retrievable part minus studs, bolts, nuts, consumables, etc.

This dog and pony show is ridiculous.

Cheers, RUF

a reply to: RufNUsd

The data plate on the flaperon appears to be missing? See following.

The data plate is located on the inboard end of the Flaperon on the outside as per Boeing engineering drawing. It is a metal plate that is bonded/sealed on and not riveted. From the pictures of the inboard end the data plate has fallen off. Everyone keeps talking about a serial number and the data plate would have that information, sorry that direct evidence is gone. Only other method would be to look at part numbers on details that are part of the flaperon assembly. Some metal fittings may have an ID if they don't have sealer on the faying surface covering it. In that case it would more likely be a supplier ID and not a Boeing ID. The composite panels that build the assembly would have supplier IDs as well and would give you the date of manufacture of the details. Its possible the supplier kept a log of which details went into the assembly and that would give you a MFG date of the flaperon assembly.

Professional Pilots Rumour Network post

if the currents had taken this piece of wreckage to where it was found, wouldn't there have been other significant debris found in the same area, around the same time? seems odd that only 1 piece would find it's way there alone.

a reply to: tommyjo

That's the drawback to using a bonding agent. Even under normal conditions it eventually debonds. Bouncing around in a corrosive environment, it probably lasted a week.

a reply to: RoScoLaz4

Depends on the size of the debris, if it hit an underwater object and a few dozen other factors. There may be more in the area that missed the island and is still out there.

a reply to: Zaphod58

thanks Zaphod, makes sense i was just 'thinking out loud'