<p>If it was terrorists, what could be their target between Malaysia and Beijing? I don’t know what it’s like in international travel but we make great detours in domestic air travel to get a lower fare.</p>
<p>Why are they announcing the plane could have disintegrated? I’d think that was the least likely scenario. And why take down a plane like this unless you were after specific passengers? Wonder who was on this plane. I’d think the most likely scenario given the lack of debris anywhere would the entire plane went into the water. </p>
<p>They are claiming that they now know who one of the passengers with the stolen passport was. He was not Malaysian, but that’s all they’re saying about him.</p>
<p>Why blow up a what seems a randomly targeted plane in the middle of nowhere and not make any announcements about taking responsibility? Some analysts say it was possible for terrorists to make a “dry run” - practice their technique before doing something on a larger scale. </p>
<p>If it was terrorists planning to blow up the plane, why would they purchase connecting flights to Europe?</p>
<p>Perhaps they needed to pick up supplies in China and didn’t want to be scrutinized.
How stable are bomb making materials when combined?
Perhaps it went off ahead of schedule.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/03/10/in-thailand-watch-your-passport-2/”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/03/10/in-thailand-watch-your-passport-2/</a></p>
<p>Alright, Ucb. Let me rephrase my comment to make you happy. </p>
<p>Thailand has one of the most robust markets in stolen passports in the world.</p>
<p>Geez.</p>
<p>It turns out the oil slicks were analyzed and found to be associated with cargo ships, not jet fuel, and the purported sighting of a door and tail debris is untrue. Now they’ve got nothing. Wow. <a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/”>Days later, no sign of missing Malaysia Airlines plane - CNN;
<p>Wow. I took for granted that the oil slicks were from the plane. The idea that they really have NO trace is really something. What a nightmare.</p>
<p>Re: strange itineraries. To create confusion? Cover their tracks? This is just my speculation. </p>
<p>How does a plane disappear? Is it possible it actually flew and landed somewhere else or have I watched too much 24 or CSI? I don’t see how a plane could disintegrate, which would have to mean a bomb, and no one see anything.</p>
<p>Now they are saying that an Iranian man bought the tickets for the stolen passport holders and that the oil slicks do not belong to the plane. If the plane did change course, it could be farther out in the ocean. </p>
<p>It often takes 5+ days to locate where the plane may have went down and much much longer to locate the black box.
Hitting water, is not any less impactful than hitting land.</p>
<p>Aviation Security Expert said on ABC News that the black box’s beacon has enough power to emit a signal for 30 days. In a large underwater search area time becomes critical.</p>
<p>I also think it is odd that 5 passengers who were scheduled to board did not. They checked their bags and the bags were taken off the plane when they did not show. I think the plane is in the ocean somewhere and that it was either purposely taken out of the air by some missile or someone on the plane managed to take it down. I just don’t see mechanical failure. Sure the authorities know more than they are telling us right now.</p>
<p>Could it have landed on a homemade runway somewhere…? Far-fetched, but grasping at straws here.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This might not be that unusual. In Malaysia, there is an exit immigration check, so if the line is long there, a passenger may be delayed there and miss boarding the flight, particularly if s/he came to Kuala Lumpur on a delayed flight in order to connect to the flight to Beijing. Meanwhile, his/her checked baggage might have been loaded while s/he was in the exit immigration line, and then unloaded when s/he did not show up in time to board (or some of those passengers may not have had checked baggage).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If they believe that it is a criminal act (as opposed to an accident), they may be keeping quiet about it in order to avoid tipping off any suspects whom they are trying to find and arrest.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s what I could not figure out. If it was terrorism but no one claimed it, how could it be of value to the terrorists? Dry run seems to make sense. </p>
<p>Actually, no one I can recall took responsibility for 9/11 either, so no one taking responsibility is consistent with that.</p>
<p>That’s true HImom.</p>