REPORT: China Has Satellite Images Of What May Be The Missing Plane

[brooklynite]

Source: Business INsider

Chinese officials may have satellite images of debris that could be from the Malaysia Airlines 777 jet that's been missing for five days.

From CNN Senior Producer Vaughn Sterling:

CNN BREAKING: China satellite images show 3 suspected floating objects sized 13x18, 14x19 and 24 x22 (units are meters)

— Vaughn Sterling (@vplus) March 12, 2014
These are the images CNN is showing, apparently of the three objects:




Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/reported-chinese-satellite-images-2014-3

---

Images are from the Chinese Space Agency: (website: www.sastind.gov.cn) their weblink is currently down.

[JimDandy]

1. Link?

[countryjake]

2. CNN is saying that China wouldn't risk the embarrassment...

of releasing faulty or questionable information.

The three large objects are "immense", floating. Comparable to the size of Flight 370.

[eggplant]

3. Well, clearly two of the images are wrong. ;-)

[Cali_Democrat]

4. Even if the debris is not from flight 370

Why should they be embarrassed?

They saw debris and it could be from that plane...if it's not then it's not.

No harm in checking it out.

CNN is stupid.

[countryjake]

9. They said that more than a half hour ago...

and they were all sitting there debating whether or not this breaking news should be taken seriously. I think that it was Richard Quest who mentioned the frustration that China had publicly expressed yesterday, about the Malaysian government's mishandling of the search, so they would be especially careful not to further confuse things by releasing faulty info.

[jsr]

5. +1

[Berlin Expat]

6. Yeah, those

sizes (13x18, 14x19 and 24 x22 meters) are pretty big objects, whatever they happen to be. That's 43x59, 46x62 and 79x72 feet, respectively.

Certainly worth investigating pronto.

[jtuck004]

7. The story says they are in the S. China Sea, not too far off the flight path. n/t

[hibbing]

8. where are our satellites?

I find this story so strange. Where are all of our brazillon dollar spy satellites to find this plane? Or do we not want to reveal all the stuff we can see with them?

Peace

[alfredo]

10. To show our images would do two things. First it would confirm we have satellites over China,

and next it would show how good they are. It's OK for others to suspect, but it isn't OK to confirm their suspicions. That's how they think.

[cosmicone]

11. They can always photoshop the images and make them blurry

To not help when you can in searching the plane is criminal in my book.

[countryjake]

14. Google "International Charter on Space and Major Disasters"

There has to be an international consensus that everyone's satellite data needs to be made available.

The Chinese Meteorological org. requested that the charter be activated earlier this week.

[alfredo]

17. The third option is that the Chinese found it first.

[840high]

18. ...^ that

[countryjake]

12. China had already stated that they were "redeploying" their own...

weather satellites in order to aid in the search; I think I read that article on Sunday in the South China Morning Post.

There would need to be some sort of "treaty release" for us to stick into Malaysia's business of conducting this search for the missing Flight 370. During the previous hour on CNN, the guys who broke this news of the Chinese satellite images actually said that someone was probably negotiating that "treaty release" between China and Malaysia, as they spoke.

[LiberalEsto]

13. Those satellites are busy spying on us nt

[awoke_in_2003]

21. DUzy alert.

[csziggy]

15. Close to where the oil rig worker sighting of something burning and going down?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024651224

Link to map of location in this post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4651419

[Helen Borg]

16. What if there were survivors? ...

They had this info last Sunday. WTF?

[olddad56]

19. I think the chance of survivors is pretty slim by now.

[countryjake]

22. It's satellite data...analyzing images from satellites would be time-consuming...

to put it mildly, and if it was done manually, it's actually surprising that they've done it so quickly. The pics were recorded by a satellite on Sunday morning, they were not discovered by a human being on Sunday morning.

[jtuck004]

20. I wonder if that's some old house or boat. The pieces seem awfully large for a plane, and planes,

generally speaking, don't float for a week. Or a day.

[DCBob]

23. some guy on CNN just said its not likely the plane since large parts like that would have sunk.

That seems to be a sensible comment... why would a large chunk of plane which is mostly metal float?

[countryjake]

24. At this point, I'm almost hoping it's not the plane...

I keep imagining that the pilot was able to pull a "Scully" landing, and there possibly were survivors out there, but it's been so many days now, not much chance that they'd still be alive. A "titanic" disaster.

I feel so badly for the families of this missing jet, mixing minuscule hopes with grief is agonizing.

[jakeXT]

25. There are also life rafts and evacuation slides

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuation_slide

[DCBob]

26. Those items dont look big enough to be the size of the objects spotted.

[Recursion]

28. Depending on its shape, metal floats just fine

eg,

[davidpdx]

27. I hope they find the plane soon to give closure to the families

It is sad that they have had to wait for so long to find out where the plane went down.

[countryjake]

29. Now Malaysia says no debris or missing jet found at that location.

Malaysia: No debris at spot shown on China images

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/Report-Chinese-site-may-show-777-plane-debris-images-249951611.html

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's civil aviation chief says no signs of the missing Malaysian jetliner have been found at a location where Chinese satellite images have shown what might be plane debris.

Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman says planes searched the location Thursday. "There is nothing. We went there, there is nothing," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Vietnamese officials previously said the area had already been "searched thoroughly" in recent days.

The hunt for the Boeing 777 has been punctuated by false leads since it disappeared with 239 people aboard just hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early Saturday.

The plane was heading east over the South China Sea when it disappeared, but authorities believe it may have turned back and headed into the upper reaches of the Malacca Strait or beyond.

They appear to be going with the other theory that it continued flying, turning back toward Malaysia. This is turning into a war of questionable leads. The loved ones of the passengers from Flight 370 must be worse than heartbroken by now, this is wrenching and cruel.

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. China lost plane images 'a mistake'

Chinese satellite images that were said to show debris from a missing Malaysian airliner were released by mistake, Malaysia's transport minister says.

Hishammuddin Hussein also denied a US report that the plane might have flown for hours after contact was lost with the Boeing 777.
...
Mr Hussein told reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport that the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur had said Beijing's satellite images were released by mistake and "did not show any debris from MH370".
...
Mr Hussein also denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that the plane had sent engine data to the ground for more than four hours after it lost contact with air traffic control.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26559627