Richard Quest: Malaysia Airlines jet was 'at safest point' in flight

(CNN) -- As mystery surrounds the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370, which was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early Saturday, CNN's aviation expert Richard Quest said the airliner would have been at the safest point in the flight.

"It was two hours into the flight -- this would have been classed as the 'cruise portion of the flight,'" he said. "You break down the flight into taxi, take-off, climb out and then cruise.

"So in that particular point of the flight, this is the safest part, nothing is supposed to go wrong. The aircraft is at altitude on auto-pilot, the pilots are making minor corrections and changes for height as the plane burns off fuel -- the plane will be going higher and higher -- so this is extremely serious that something happened at this point in the flight."

Quest, who coincidentally had been working on a story with the carrier recently, said the aircraft -- a Boeing 777-200 -- would have been around 11 years old, powered by two British-made Rolls-Royce Trent engines.

"So it's not a particularly old aircraft. Malaysia has 15 777-200s in its fleet; it's an extremely experienced operator of this type of aircraft. It's a very reputable airline with a very good safety record."

It takes three or four minutes for an airliner to fall out of the sky when it is at cruising altitude, Quest said. He added, "we don't know and won't know for some time whether the plane broke up in the air or entered the water in one piece."

Once that is discovered, investigators can analyze if a crash was due to mechanical or structural failure, a fire, or terrorism, he noted.

Back-up power

Greg Feith, a former investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States, suggested the pilots should have been able to report in, even if power on the aircraft had failed.

"The airplane by certification has to have battery back-up power -- they still have to be able to utilize certain flight instruments and communication tools to complete the flight safely.

"So you could lose all the generators, you could have both engines out, but the battery back-up -- which will only work for a certain time -- is intended for emergency situations."

Feith also pointed to the possibility of an issue with the pressurization of the aircraft.

"If you have a high-altitude pressurization problem, catastrophic decompression, the time of useful consciousness (the time a pilot can operate with an insufficient oxygen supply) in the 30,000-40,000-feet range is a matter of seconds."

Asked whether it was likely the airliner could have made an emergency landing, Quest said it was possible but unlikely.

"You're not talking about a Cessna here. You're talking about a long-haul, wide-bodied aircraft and that puts it into a completely different league."

Search for aircraft

But with speculation mounting over whether Flight MH 370, which was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, went down on land -- perhaps in Vietnam -- or in the South China Sea, one aviation expert says it's essential to find the plane as soon as possible in case there are survivors.

"Given the modern communications and the truly modern equipped (Boeing) 777, it's highly unlikely this plane would have landed somewhere not contactable," Mary Schiavo, the former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, told CNN. "Depending on how the plane has gone down, there could be many survivors in need of aid.

"That plane has many different ways to locate it: Automatic beacons that tell you where it is; there are several ways to contact it both with radios and GPS, as well as computer communications within the cockpit.

"But the lack of communication suggests that something most unfortunate has happened -- though that does not suggest there are not any persons that need to be rescued and secured."

Schiavo warned that if for some reason the transmitters on the airliner are not operating, then the search will obviously become far more complex and time-consuming.

"If they are not working then sadly there are similarities with the Air France plane, which was traveling from Brazil to Paris, France and was lost in the ocean. That was very difficult to locate because of the depth of the ocean," she said.

Air France Flight 447 -- an Airbus A330-203 -- plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board. It took four searches over the course of nearly two years to locate the bulk of the wreckage and the majority of the bodies in a mountain range deep under the ocean.

The incident report detailed how the pilots failed to respond effectively to problems with the plane's speed sensors or to correct its trajectory when things first started to go wrong.

Aviation expert Jim Tilmon said the Boeing 777-200 was as sophisticated an aircraft as they come with an excellent safety record.

"The only fatality has been from the Asiana crash in San Francisco (last year)," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "There's been one other 777 that had some problems but no-one was hurt. This is really a shock in lots of ways."

MH370 fake passport passengers 'looked like Mario Balotelli'

Thai police and Interpol have questioned the proprietors of a travel agency in the resort town of Pattaya that sold one-way tickets to two men now known to have been travelling on flight MH370 using stolen passports.

With no confirmation that the Boeing 777 en route to Beijing with 239 people on board had crashed, hundreds of distraught relatives waited anxiously for any news.

There has been no indication that the two men had anything to do with the tragedy, but the use of stolen passports fueled speculation of foul play, terrorism or a hijacking gone wrong. Malaysia has shared their details with Chinese and American intelligence agencies.

Malaysia’s police chief was quoted by local media as saying that one of the men had been identified.

Civil aviation Chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman declined to confirm this, but said they were of “non-Asian” appearance, adding that authorities were looking at the possibility the men were connected to a stolen passport syndicate.

Asked by a reporter what they looked like “roughly,” he said: “Do you know of a footballer by the name of (Mario) Balotelli? He is an Italian. Do you know how he looks like?”

A reporter then asked, “Is he black?” and the aviation chief replied, “Yes.”

As relatives of the 239 people on the flight grappled with fading hope, attention focused on how two passengers managed to board the aircraft using stolen passports. Interpol confirmed it knew about the stolen passports but said no authorities checked its vast databases on stolen documents before the jet departed.

Warning that “only a handful of countries” routinely make such checks, Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble chided authorities for “waiting for a tragedy to put prudent security measures in place at borders and boarding gates.”

The two stolen passports, one belonging to Austrian Christian Kozel and the other to Luigi Maraldi of Italy, were entered into Interpol’s database after they were stolen in Thailand in 2012 and last year, the police body said.

Electronic booking records show that one-way tickets with those names were issued Thursday from a travel agency in the beach resort of Pattaya in eastern Thailand.

Thai police Col. Supachai Phuykaeokam said those reservations were placed with the agency by a second travel agency in Pattaya, which told police it had received the bookings from a China Southern Airlines office in Bangkok.

The owners of the second Pattaya travel agency refused to talk to reporters. Thai police and Interpol officers went in to question the owners.

A telephone operator on a China-based KLM hotline confirmed Sunday that passengers named Maraldi and Kozel had been booked on one-way tickets on the same KLM flight, flying from Beijing to Amsterdam on Saturday. Maraldi was to fly on to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Kozel to Frankfurt, Germany.

Missing Malaysia Airlines plane 'may have turned back'

Radar signals show that a Malaysia Airlines plane missing for more than 24 hours may have turned back, Malaysian officials have said.

Rescue teams looking for the plane have now widened their search area.

Investigators are also checking CCTV footage of two passengers who are believed to have boarded the plane using stolen passports.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared south of Vietnam with 239 people on board.

Air and sea rescue teams have been searching an area of the South China Sea south of Vietnam for more than 30 hours, but there have been no definite sightings of wreckage.

Late on Sunday, the Vietnamese authorities said a navy aircraft had spotted "an object" suspected of belonging to the missing plane, but officials said it was too dark to be certain.

The object is thought to be near a potential oil slick that was spotted on Saturday, but again officials have urged that this may be nothing to do with flight MH370.

Malaysia's civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur that the search area had been expanded to include the west coast of Malaysia.

Five passengers booked on the flight did not board, he added. Their luggage was consequently removed.

There are now 40 ships and 34 aircraft from nine different nationalities taking part in the search. But no signal has been received from the plane's emergency locator transmitter, Malaysian aviation authorities say.

Air force chief Rodzali Daud said the investigation was now focusing on a recording of radar signals that showed there was a "possibility" the aircraft had turned back from its flight path.

Fake passports

The BBC has confirmed that a man falsely using an Italian passport and a man falsely using an Austrian passport purchased tickets at the same time, and were both booked on the same onward flight from Beijing to Europe on Saturday.

Both had purchased their tickets from China Southern Airlines, which shared the flight with Malaysia Airlines, and they had consecutive ticket numbers.

The real owners had their passports stolen in Thailand in recent years.

The international police agency Interpol confirmed that at least two passports recorded as lost or stolen in its database were used by passengers on the flight - and that no checks of its database had been made for either passport between the time they were stolen and the departure of the flight.

"Whilst it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol databases," the agency's Secretary General Ronald Noble said in a statement.

He expressed frustration that few of Interpol's 190 member countries "systematically" search the database.

Malaysia's Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said international agencies including the FBI had joined the investigation and all angles were being examined.

"Our own intelligence has been activated and, of course, the counterterrorism units... from all the relevant countries have been informed," he said.

"The main thing here for me and for the families concerned is that we find the aircraft."

The passengers on the flight were of 14 different nationalities. Two-thirds were from China, while others were from elsewhere in Asia, North America and Europe.

The plane vanished from radar south of Vietnam at 17:30 GMT Friday (01:30 local time Saturday).

Malaysia Airlines had previously said it last had contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.

Distraught relatives and loved ones of those on board are being given assistance at both the arrival and departure airports.

Many have expressed anger at the lack of information.

"I can't understand the airline company. They should have contacted the families first thing," a middle-aged woman told AFP news agency at Beijing airport, after finding out her brother-in-law was on the flight.

Texas firm Freescale Semiconductor says 20 of its Malaysian and Chinese employees were on the flight, according to astatement on its website.

Malaysia's national carrier is one of Asia's largest, flying nearly 37,000 passengers daily to some 80 destinations worldwide.

Correspondents say the route between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing has become more and more popular as Malaysia and China increase trade.

Missing MAS flight: Authorities not ruling Uighur link out

There is speculation that militants from China's Uighur Muslim minority could be involved the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 airplane, as it occurred just one week after knife-wielding assailants killed at least 29 people at a train station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming.

A Malaysian official said authorities were not ruling out Uighur involvement in the jet's disappearance, noting that Uighurs were deported to China from Malaysia in 2011 and 2012 for carrying false passports.

"This is not being ruled out. We have sent back Uighurs who had false passports before. It is too early to say whether there is a link," the official said.

Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country that has courted close ties with Beijing in recent years, deported 11 Uighurs in 2011 it said were involved in a human smuggling syndicate.

The next year, it was condemned by US-based Human Rights Watch for deporting six Uighurs the rights group described as asylum seekers. Human Rights Watch said the six had been detained while trying to leave Malaysia on fake passports.

A source with ties to the Chinese leadership said there was no confirmed connection to Uighur militants, but described the timing as "very suspicious" coming so soon after the Kunming attack.

Li Jiheng, governor of Yunnan province where Kunming is located, told reporters on Sunday that there was currently no information to show that the knife attack and the missing flight were "necessarily connected".

Malaysia Airlines operations director, Hugh Dunleavy, told reporters in Beijing that they were aware of the reports of stolen passports.

"As far as we're aware, every one of the people onboard that aircraft had a visa to go to China," he said. "That doesn't mean they weren't false passports, but that means that it's probably lower down on the probability scale."

China has a reputation for being rigorous on visa approvals and checks at border entry points, but the pair's European passports may have enabled them to bypass visa scrutiny.

Under a recently-launched exemption programme, citizens of many Western nations are granted visa-free entry for 72 hours upon arrival in Beijing as long as they have an onward ticket.

The BBC reported that the men using the stolen passports had purchased tickets together and were flying on to Europe.

"People with fake passports present a huge problem for security," said Yang Shu, a security expert at China's Lanzhou University.

"I strongly believe that they had something to do with the plane going missing." - Reuters

Pray hard for them!!

Real Barbie Doll: Justin Jedlica's insane plastic surgeries vs. Valeria Lukanovia's 'Breatharian' lifestyle

Should the "Real Life Ken" and "Real Life Barbie" join forces?

Justin Jedlica once appeared on TLC's hit show "My Strange Addiction" due to his infatuation with looking plastic. According to RadarOnline, the 33-year-old artist is already up to an astounding 145 procedures. He's spent over $168,000 to enhance his doll-like features.

Recently, Jedlica replaced his biceps with larger implants. He also had three shoulder implants to buff-up his deltoids. Such implants don't exist, so Jedlica actually designed them himself. He's now starting his own plastic surgery consultation business. Jedlica told the popular gossip webloid, "This is a very exciting time because not only am I creating new implants for myself, I am also in the process of finding the right distributor for my line of custom implants as there are limited options in the current marketplace which simply do not fit everyone. Additionally, the launch of my consultancy allows me share all that I have learned with others looking to have cosmetic and/or reconstructive procedures, but are confused or overwhelmed by the process."

And Jedlica doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon, especially since he's inspiring others to achieve their own ultimate "beauty" look:

"Over the years I've received so many emails and letters asking for advice that I am thrilled to have formalized a way to help those looking for guidance," he said.

As for his counterpart, Real Life Barbie Valeria Lukanovia...

She's following a totally different, "all natural" route.

As Mstars previously reported:

The infamous "living doll" is taking things to even greater extremes - and she's putting her health at risk.

Apparently, the ultra-thin Lukanovia has a new goal - to live off of air and light alone. No food.

"In recent weeks I have not been hungry at all," the International Business Times quotes Lukyanova. "I'm hoping it's the final stage before I can subsist on air and light alone."

This New Age (and rather dangerous) dietary trend is known as Breatharianism. People like Lukyanova do not drink or eat - such followers believe that they can exist solely on "cosmic micro-food." The term's derived from Inedia, Latin for "fasting."

Doesn't sound too healthy.

Lukyanova insists that she uses her viral fame and bizarre, Barbie-like looks to promote her "spiritual ideals." But do fans think she's merely starving herself to stay thin? (Get more info over at Jezebel.com).

The Herald Sun reports that at least one person has already died from malnutrition after practicing Breatharianism.

Whatever her intentions, Lukyanova has managed to snag another 15-minutes of viral fame. Maybe that's all she's looking for.

Perhaps the same goes for "Ken?"

Ultraman comic book banned in Malaysia!!

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Ridiculous news that I ever heard!!!

Malaysia has banned an Ultraman comic book because it uses the word "Allah" to describe the Japanese action hero.

The Home Ministry says the Malay-edition of "Ultraman, The Ultra Power" contains elements that can undermine public security and societal morals.

It says Ultraman is an idol for many Muslim children and equating the lead character, Ultraman King, with Allah will confuse them and shake their faith. It warns such irresponsible use of the word Allah can provoke Muslims and threaten public safety.

It said Friday that other Ultraman comic books were unaffected and that only this edition is banned.

The government says Allah, which is the Arabic word for God, is exclusive for Malay Muslims, who account for about 60 percent of Malaysia's 30 million people.

In my opinion, don't too sensitive with your religion. I don't think this will much affected the young mind set. Of course they know to differentiate god and Ultraman.  

Mourinho: Madrid players care more about their appearance

Dafabet the BEST CHOICE

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho says that several of his players at Real Madrid cared more about their public appearance than about winning trophies.

The Portuguese coach left Los Blancos for Stamford Bridge last summer after three years in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu and he was not impressed by the attitude shown by his squad during his time at the club.

"Lots of times at Real Madrid, the players would be queuing in front of the mirror before the game while the referee waited for them in the tunnel," Mourinho told Esquire.

"But that's how society is now. Young people care a lot about this: they are twenty something and I am 51 and if I want to work with kids I have to understand their world. 

Dafabet the BEST CHOICE

"I'm a manager since 2000 so I'm in my second generation of players. 

"What I feel is that, before, players were trying to make money during their career, be rich at the end of their career but, in this moment, the people who surround them try to make them rich before they start their career."

Mourinho won one La Liga title, the Copa del Rey and a Supercopa de Espana during his three years at Madrid.

Dafabet the BEST CHOICE