It sure sounds like a sudden catastrophic islamic event. There is a muslim separatist movement in China. That COULD be a factor if this turns out to be what it sounds like.
Not sure about the Muslims in China, but lest we forget, one of Al Qaida’s early plots was aimed at bringing down airliners over the Pacific:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bojinka_plot
Did a cursory check of the weather along the route of flight; didn’t see any thunderstorms over the South China Sea or the mainland; doesn’t look like this will be an Air France scenario, where heavy weather—coupled with poor decision-making by a junior pilot—led to the loss of an Airbus and everyone on board.
I notice that it is a flight to Peking, and also, there was that mass stabbing by an unnamed (but apparently Islamic seperatist) group in China recently.
anyone here suspicious that it may be a ground to air related attack?