by Scott Creighton
“AirAsia, which is headquartered in Malaysia, is one of the fastest growing low-cost carriers in Asia. It has never lost a plane before, according to the Associated Press.” Huffington Post
AirAsia flight QZ8501 has gone missing with 162 persons on board during a return trip from Surabaya to Singapore. It disappeared off ADS-B tracking somewhere in the Java Sea just south of a little island called Belitung.
As you can tell from this FlightRadar24 graphic, the plane dropped off the transponder fix suddenly from around 32,000 feet. That’s pretty remarkable.
Indonesia AirAsia #QZ8501 was flying at 32000 feet over Java Sea when ADS-B signal was lost http://t.co/Xqy2lDkRnJ—
Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014
According to another image from FlightRadar24, there were a total of three passenger planes on that same flight path: QZ8501, AWQ502 and UAE409. Both of the others landed on time. It is known that 502 was flying at a higher altitude, 38,000 feet and they may have been able to fly over the turbulence that 8501 supposedly encountered.
#QZ8501 was flying on FL320. Other aircraft in same area were flying on FL340-FL390. pic.twitter.com/h01k5LvHGJ
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014
Curiously, it has been reported that the pilot of Flight 8501 had just asked to climb to a higher altitude to get over the weather. CNN reports the plane disappeared at an altitude of 38,000 feet, the same as Flight 502.
The aircraft, flying from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, went missing as it flew at 38,000 feet over the Java Sea between the islands of Belitung and Borneo
Flight 8501 “was requesting deviation due to en route weather before communication with the aircraft was lost,” the airline said.
The flight’s captain asked permission to climb to a higher altitude, Murdjatmojo said, according to the national news agency. CNN
Did Flight 8501 climb from 32,000 to 38,000 feet and if so, why did this one plane disappear while the one right behind it flew on to it’s destination?
Here’s another curious aspect of it: no distress call.
A Twitter user posted a graphic showing the weather in the area at the time of the disappearance.
Unusual route and vigorous storm activity around @AirAsia #QZ8501 when it lost contact with 162 passengers on board. pic.twitter.com/yPxjX3fbLV
— Adil Najam (@AdilNajam) December 28, 2014
Sputnik News is reporting that a family member of one of the passengers received a text claiming the plane successfully landed at Belitung and that all passengers are alive and well. They claim the report comes from Detik News.
Indonesian Ministry of Transportation is currently verifying information claiming that the missing AirAsia aircraft has made an emergency landing in the eastern part of the Belitung island in the Java Sea, the ministry’s representative said Sunday…
According to Detik.com, a relative of a missing passenger received a text message from an unknown sender, stating that the plane made an emergency landing and all passengers were alive. Sputnik News
A quick check of Google Earth revealed there is indeed an airport with a large enough runway for a plane of this size to land. It’s H.A.S. Hanandjoeddin Airport just east of Tanjung Pandan.
The The Malaysian Insider, has reported AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed just off the coast of Belitung. No confirmation.
Of course, this begs the question “if it did land on this strip, why haven’t the family members been informed of this as of yet?”
Curiously, as in the cases of the previous missing or downed airliners, Flight 370 and Flight 17, there is a British/Australian/Dutch connection to this island.
“Belitung is a source of tin, clay, iron ore and silica sands. The Dutch mining company NV Billiton Maatschappij derives its name from the island’s name. Billiton merged with BHP in 2001 to form the largest diversified resources company, BHP Billiton.”
“The Australian BHP Billiton Limited and the British BHP Billiton Plc are separately listed with separate shareholder bodies, but they operate as one business with identical boards of directors and a single management structure. The headquarters of BHP Billiton Limited, and the global headquarters of the combined BHP Billiton Group, are located in Melbourne, Australia. BHP Billiton Plc is located in London, United Kingdom.[1] BHP Billiton also has corporate centres in Johannesburg, South Africa and Houston, USA, and offices in Perth, Santiago, Singapore, Shanghai and The Hague.”
In the case of Flight 370, the flight was probably shot down by accident in the South China Sea during a war-games operation featuring participants from many nations including Australia and the United States. The search was diverted from that area, an area a witness claimed to have seen a passenger plane on fire in the sky, by military reports from a base operating in Malaysia run by the Australians and the Brits. It was diverted off the coast of Australia so they could essentially run the wild goose chase. It’s important to note the general population of that area are wary of U.S. and British military involvement as it is and that accidental downing of a commercial airliner would certainly cause a great deal of backlash for our colonial project over there. Of course, the TPP is also something to consider.
In the case of Flight 17, the downing of that plane centered around the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. It also just happened to take place right in the middle of a shale gas field being developed by Royal Dutch Shell. They had invested some 10 billion dollars in securing the rights to destroy that ecosystem and the rebellion in the east threatened to scrub their plans.
Here we are now and it just so happens AirAsia flight QZ8501 may in fact have landed or been forced to land at an airstrip essentially controlled by the Brits, the Dutch and the Aussies.
That’s quite a coincidence if you ask me. I will continue to look into this as more information becomes available.
