Maldives residents saw 'low-flying jumbo jet' on March 8: report

The Straits Times ^ | 03-19-2014 | PETALING JAYA

[lavaroise]

Madagascar? Plenty of Pakistanies supporting Bin Laden down there as well as Russian tupolev pilot mercs.

[spudville]

Diego Garcia is a U.S. Navy base ( British owned ) I helped enlarge the airfield in the late 70’s. I assume it is still a Naval airbase and as such I think we’d know if it over flew or landed there.

[ncalburt]

fascinating photo and ocean shelf.

[wtd]

What I find interesting is it appears this Image and

• subsequent denial

  and clear statement by India have interesting coincidence in timing...

• Missing Malaysian flight did not pass over Indian airspace: Kolkata ATC

[newfreep]

Yes, I knew it was Mulva...but Maldives was close enough for a Seinfeld mention.

[FreeReign]

Islam in the Maldives

"Islam is the state religion of Maldives, and adherence to it is legally required of citizens by a revision of the constitution in 2008: Article 9, Section D states that a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives"

I think the plane is in the Maldives.

[SunkenCiv]

IMHO, if it flew low over the Maldives, it was about to ditch. The 7000+ mile range for that model of plane is not a figure that will work at low altitude.

Thanks ReaganÜberAlles.

[Fred Nerks]

International airport on the island of Male, Maldives.

[BelleAl]

no place to hide an airplane near there! I would think refueling and moving on.

[Candor7]

If the B777 was sited in the Maldives, chances are that the AC landed in Pakistan, having flown around the radar zones of India straight into Pakistan with a pre-determined flight clearance.

The question is , when will it reappear and for what purpose? If it were loaded with a nuclear device , it could be flown anywhere in the world and set off.

Any Western nation with an airforce should be on alert for an intercept, but Obazma? He likley would not place such an alert, simply beause it would work against the left in the mid term elections this November.

Things could get VERY dicey internationally, and soon.

[Fred Nerks]

So, who would benefit the most?

[Fred Nerks]

Yes, excellent place to refuel...

[Candor7]

The secret service of the government of Pakistan, who have diligently supported the jihad in Afghanistan. Because of the many dozens of successful drone strikes in Western Pakistans tribal areas, there is a necessity to bring retribution on President Obama and the United States.

So the next stage would be a suicide flight onto a US target, perhaps loaded with either a dirty bomb or a nuclear device.The B777 would squawk a false transponder signal , making it appear as a regular flight into say, Washington.

But everyone knows that the B777 crashed into the sea , don’t they? Perfect.

[Fred Nerks]

But everyone knows that the B777 crashed into the sea , don’t they? Perfect.

And meanwhile there's an imam who's given his permission, because if allah didn't wish it, he would stop it. Maybe something evil like this is what the west needs to show them once and for all that islam is a death-cult.

We can't live with this sword of Democles hanging over our heads for ever, the body count is in the hundreds of millions...

[SunkenCiv]

It’s just long enough to serve in a pinch, and the flight crew wouldn’t have to pick up trash after the landing, it would all be piled up in the front.

[Fred Nerks]

I'm thinking that if it was in the middle of the night, the folks in town would be asleep, and the sound of an aircraft landing might not be unusual. It just seems the perfect (sharia) destination for refueling, all allah's willing little helpers...wiki:

Islam is the state religion of Maldives, and adherence to it is legally required of citizens by a revision of the constitution in 2008: Article 9, Section D states that a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives. The islands converted from Buddhism in the 12th century, and the indigenous population is effectively all Muslim.

[American Constitutionalist]

Actually, the Boeing 777-ER model's max range is 7,700 NM, but could easily do 7,000, 7,250, or stretch it to 7,500NM, yet depends in the weight and load of the flight, how much fuel they took on, headwinds, and flight path.

[American Constitutionalist]

I would say either Pakistan or Iran would most likely use it against Israel before they would try it on the USA, or even Europe.
What eastern Europe country has ticked off the rag heads ?

[Foxnard]

Here’s my theory. Some of my comments related to the following article:

http://www.ibtimes.com/malaysia-airlines-flight-spotted-maldives-examining-latest-theory-mh370-1562221

1. Catastrophic event (shortly after 1:19) results: Pilot programs route to nearest airport (WSW direction, lowered altitude); either failure of communications systems or pilots cannot communicate due to environmental degradation; transponder and ACARS (reports every 30 minutes) fail.
2. Pilots lose consciousness, nearest airport is passed, autopilot maintains direction and low altitude / low speed.
3. 6:15 AM Maldive-time (9:15 AM Malaysian time) MH370 passes low and slow over Kuda Huvadhoo in the Maldives. My opinion is that the articles only quote one person, and I would question that account’s accuracy for the plane’s flight direction. He said North to South-East direction, but I would hold to a West-Southwest direction – the same as it flew from Malaysia. The unexpectedly ‘late’ time of passing this position, I would say is due to its low altitude and slow speed over the entire distance after passing the pilot’s desired airport. The Maldives discount the report, but other than not seeing it on radar (it was too low), I didn’t see why they discounted it. Multiple people were said to have seen the airplane.
4. I would suggest a search of the ocean in that same WSW direction from Kuda Havadhoo. I wouldn’t expect the fuel to last much after that last sighting.
5. After this long of a search, I think those running the search have institutionalized their theories, so this simple and logical theory doesn’t fit.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks AC.

There’s been a huge search using surface, air, and orbital methods, and nothing has turned up, despite the false alarms and some fakery. It’s difficult to put the plane in the Maldives at low altitude if it were running with autopilot all the way, unless it were about to crash into the Indian Ocean (iow, almost out of fuel). And if it were, the tip was from a couple days ago, and a narrower search has also failed to turn up any sign.