Questions about AirAsia QZ 8501

When I first heard this news I thought it was just too much of a coincidence for THREE Malaysian planes to be brought down within one year. Then the connection with the weather and pilot error (the ‘coffin corner’) was made to me.

See also: Comments on the AirAsia crash

I got to thinking – is the rational, purely physical explanation incompatible with other explantions – such as a plane being hacked and brought down.

What better way to do this than to make a plane stall in high turbulanc? I don’t know if the Airbus can be hijacked in this way – but as always there are questions that need to be answered.

In my mind there is really no such thing as ‘co-incidence’ - really all that means is that there are causal connections that are not evident to the rational mind. The usual explanation is, rather than remaining open-minded and living with the question, is to go into immediate denial.

We all know about this!

So here are some of the strange revelations and unanswered questions when it comes to QZ 8501. In the meantime, it seems that, like MH370, it has sunk into the sea and who knows if the black box will ever be recovered.

Mysterious Chinese blogger sparks online frenzy after 'predicting' that 'black hand' was going to bring down AirAsia jet THIRTEEN days before one vanished 

• Blogger warned on Dec 15 that 'AirAsia would be targeted by black hand'
• Refers to a shadowy group he claims also sabotaged MH17 and MH370
• Peppered internet with 39 posts which have been viewed by 650k users 
• Some speculate that he could be Chinese intelligence official or a hacker 
• Sceptics say posts were likely edited after AirAsia 8051 went missing 

Daily Mail,

29 October, 2014

A mysterious Chinese blogger has provoked a storm of speculation online over claims he predicted the disappearance of an AirAsia flight thirteen days before one vanished.

In a series of posts which have gone viral, the man appears to warn that the airline would be targeted by a shadowy group he calls the 'Black Hand' which he claims brought down Malaysian Airlines flights MH17 and MH370 earlier this year.

An AirAsia flight went missing yesterday with 162 people on board after losing contact en route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore in the third crisis for a Malaysian carrier this year.

Since its disappearance, social media users have reacted with astonishment at the apparent prediction, while others claim the posts were probably just edited afterwards to make it look authentic.

A Chinese blogger has provoked a storm of speculation online over claims he predicted the disappearance of an AirAsia flight two weeks before one of its Airbus A320s (like the one above) vanished yesterday

The apparent predictions have gone viral on social media and discussion forums such as Reddit (above), with some users expressing astonishment at the forewarning and others claiming it could be a hoax

In one comment on December 15, which has been loosely translated by a Reddit member, the blogger apparently warns: 'Black hand has hijacked and shot down MH370 and MH17.

'This has pretty much killed the sixth largest airline: Malaysian airline.

'Now the black hand are targeting AirAsia to ruin this airline cause (sic) it too belong to Malaysia.

'Given how powerful the black hand are I suggest that all Chinese thinking about travelling to avoid AirAisa, so that you don't disappear like those on MH370.'

Black Hand is a term believed to be a metaphor for a covert organisation or a number of underground groups.

One Reddit user suggests the translation should read 'International big black hand' which they say is more of a reference to a 'despicable international bully'.

No Chinese nationals were on Flight 8501 when it disappeared.

The blogger reportedly peppered social media with a total of 39 posts on the subject which have been viewed by more than 650,000 people.

Vice President: Indonesia will continue search despite bad...

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Mystery: The flight went missing from radar at 6.18am local time - six minutes after last communication with air traffic control - while travelling from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board. Search planes spotted objects and two oily patches in the search area on Monday afternoon

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An Indonesia Navy search and rescue crew looks for AirAsia QZ 8501 on a Maritime Patrol Navy Aircraft above Bangka-Belitung Islands in the Java Sea

When asked how he could make such a prediction - with one user calling him a 'conspiracy nut' - he reportedly replied: 'All you civilians get away (from the airline).

'You can still hide, all those that see the post can still save themselves.'

Other reports suggested the blogger repeated his warning on December 16 and 17, adding: 'This is a major event in human life, we have to pay attention.'

Despite facing continued accusations of being 'crazy', he relays a further message to 'be suspicious of the US,' writes one Reddit user who says he got a friend to translate the posts.

The blogger later claims to have persuaded some people to follow his warning.

But after December 17, there was no more activity on his account.

Since the disappearance of Flight 8051, many have reacted with astonishment at the apparent prediction, with speculation rife that he was a Chinese intelligence official or a hacker who had obtained information from the group allegedly responsible.

Indonesia mobilises multinational force to seek missing plane

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Inconsolable: Family members of passengers on board missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 cry at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport as they wait for news of the search and rescue operation

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Family members of people on Air Asia flight QZ8501 pray together at Juanda International Airport

Reddit user lolrus_bukkit wrote: There is an ongoing conspiracy in Chinese forums that this guy is in Chinese intelligence or a hacker that got sensitive information trying to save as many people he could without making a big scene (guess he failed the second part).'

Aviation mysteries like this often spark conspiracy theories as happened when MH370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean in March last year, with explanations ranging from the airliner being shot down to being abducted by aliens.

Sceptics also argue that the original posts may have been edited with information about the AirAsia flight after it vanished to make it appear like a prediction.

The Chinese version of the Epoch Times suggested the blogger called himself the 'Landlord' although some forum users claim this was a mistranslation. 

Dozens of planes and ships searching Indonesian waters for a missing AirAsia plane focused Monday on a patch of oil for possible clues as a senior official warned the aircraft was likely 'at the bottom of the sea'.

Australia, Singapore and Malaysia joined the Indonesia-led search as anguished relatives awaited news of their loved ones more than a day after Flight QZ8501 disappeared. 

Indonesian Air Force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto told AFP the search was now concentrated on an oil patch spotted off Belitung island, across from Kalimantan on Borneo island.

'We are making sure whether it was avtur (aviation fuel) from the AirAsia plane or from a vessel because that location is a shipping line,' he said.

As the second day's search ended at dusk, National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said an Indonesian corvette was on its way to collect an oil sample, with an announcement expected tomorrow.

Read more:

• AirAsia Flight QZ8501: Mysterious Chinese Man Predicted Disappearance Two Weeks Ago
• Someone in China warned of a AirAisa disaster 13 days before QZ8501 disappeared. : conspiracy
  
  

One of the first questions is why in God’s name would Malaysia have attracted this? What have they done?

The following two articles offer some clues.

We all know the lengths that the United States will go/is going to take revenge - (just think of the name Vladimir Putin). Once again Isarel seems to pop up in the equation.

Bush Convicted of War Crimes in Absentia

Foreign Policy Journal,

12 May. 2012

Kuala Lumpur — It’s official; George W Bush is a war criminal.

In what is the first ever conviction of its kind anywhere in the world, the former US President and seven key members of his administration were yesterday (Fri) found guilty of war crimes.

Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo were tried in absentia in Malaysia.

The trial held in Kuala Lumpur heard harrowing witness accounts from victims of torture who suffered at the hands of US soldiers and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They included testimony from British man Moazzam Begg, an ex-Guantanamo detainee and Iraqi woman Jameelah Abbas Hameedi who was tortured in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

At the end of the week-long hearing, the five-panel tribunal unanimously delivered guilty verdicts against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their key legal advisors who were all convicted as war criminals for torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

Full transcripts of the charges, witness statements and other relevant material will now be sent to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council.

The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission is also asking that the names of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Yoo, Bybee, Addington and Haynes be entered and included in the Commission’s Register of War Criminals for public record.

The tribunal is the initiative of Malaysia’s retired Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who staunchly opposed the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

He sat through the entire hearing as it took personal statements and testimonies of three witnesses namely Abbas Abid, Moazzam Begg and Jameelah Hameedi. The tribunal also heard two other Statutory Declarations of Iraqi citizen Ali Shalal and Rahul Ahmed, another British citizen.

After the guilty verdict reached by five senior judges was delivered, Mahathir Mohamad said: “Powerful countries are getting away with murder.”

War crimes expert and lawyer Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law in America, was part of the prosecution team.

After the case he said: “This is the first conviction of these people anywhere in the world.”

While the hearing is regarded by some as being purely symbolic, human rights activist Boyle said he was hopeful that Bush and Co could soon find themselves facing similar trials elsewhere in the world.

“We tried three times to get Bush in Canada but were thwarted by the Canadian Government, then we scared Bush out of going to Switzerland. The Spanish attempt failed because of the government there and the same happened in Germany.”

Boyle then referenced the Nuremberg Charter which was used as the format for the tribunal when asked about the credibility of the initiative in Malaysia. He quoted: “Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit war crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any person in execution of such a plan.”

The US is subject to customary international law and to the Principles of the Nuremberg Charter said Boyle who also believes the week-long trial was “almost certainly” being monitored closely by both Pentagon and White House officials.

Professor Gurdial Singh Nijar, who headed the prosecution said: “The tribunal was very careful to adhere scrupulously to the regulations drawn up by the Nuremberg courts and the International Criminal Courts”.

He added that he was optimistic the tribunal would be followed up elsewhere in the world where “countries have a duty to try war criminals” and he cited the case of the former Chilean dictator Augustine Pinochet who was arrested in Britain to be extradited to Spain on charges of war crimes.

“Pinochet was only eight years out of his presidency when that happened.”

The Pinochet case was the first time that several European judges applied the principle of universal jurisdiction, declaring themselves competent to judge crimes committed by former heads of state, despite local amnesty laws.

Throughout the week the tribunal was packed with legal experts and law students as witnesses gave testimony and then cross examination by the defence led by lawyer Jason Kay Kit Leon.

 The court heard how

• Abbas Abid, a 48-year-old engineer from Fallujah in Iraq had his fingernails removed by pliers.
• Ali Shalal was attached with bare electrical wires and electrocuted and hung from a wall.
• Moazzam Begg was beaten, hooded and put in solitary confinement.
• Jameelah was stripped and humiliated, and was used as a human shield whilst being transported by helicopter.

The witnesses also detailed how they have residual injuries till today.

Moazzam Begg, now working as a director for the London-based human rights group Cageprisoners said he was delighted with the verdict, but added: “When people talk about Nuremberg you have to remember those tried were all prosecuted after the war.

“Right now Guantanamo is still open, people are still being held there and are still being tortured there.”

In response to questions about the difference between the Bush and Obama Administrations, he added: “If President Bush was the President of extra-judicial torture then US President Barak Obama is the President of extra judicial killing through drone strikes. Our work has only just begun.”

The prosecution case rested on proving how the decision-makers at the highest level President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld, aided and abetted by the lawyers and the other commanders and CIA officials – all acted in concert. Torture was systematically applied and became an accepted norm.

According to the prosecution, the testimony of all the witnesses exposed a sustained perpetration of brutal, barbaric, cruel and dehumanising course of conduct against them.

These acts of crimes were applied cumulatively to inflict the worst possible pain and suffering, said lawyers.

The president of the tribunal Tan Sri Dato Lamin bin Haji Mohd Yunus Lamin, found that the prosecution had established beyond a “reasonable doubt that the accused persons, former President George Bush and his co-conspirators engaged in a web of instructions, memos, directives, legal advice and action that established a common plan and purpose, joint enterprise and/or conspiracy to commit the crimes of Torture and War Crimes, including and not limited to a common plan and purpose to commit the following crimes in relation to the “War on Terror” and the wars launched by the U.S. and others in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

President Lamin told a packed courtroom: “As a tribunal of conscience, the Tribunal is fully aware that its verdict is merely declaratory in nature. The tribunal has no power of enforcement, no power to impose any custodial sentence on any one or more of the 8 convicted persons. What we can do, under Article 31 of Chapter VI of Part 2 of the Charter is to recommend to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission to submit this finding of conviction by the Tribunal, together with a record of these proceedings, to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council.

“The Tribunal also recommends to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission that the names of all the 8 convicted persons be entered and included in the Commission’s Register of War Criminals and be publicised accordingly.

“The Tribunal recommends to the War Crimes Commission to give the widest international publicity to this conviction and grant of reparations, as these are universal crimes for which there is a responsibility upon nations to institute prosecutions if any of these Accused persons may enter their jurisdictions”.

From back in 2003 a very independent-minded PM Mahathir made a call to Muslims

Malaysian PM urges Muslims to unite against 'Jewish domination'

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday told a summit of Islamic leaders that "Jews rule the world by proxy" and the world's 1.3 billion Muslims should unite, using nonviolent means for a "final victory."

USA Today,

16 October, 2003,

His speech at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit, which he was hosting, drew criticism from Jewish leaders, who warned it could spark more violence against Jews.

Mahathir — known for his outspoken, anti-Western rhetoric — criticized what he described as Jewish domination of the world and Muslim nations' inability to adequately respond to it.

Excerpts from speech

Excerpts from Malaysian prime minister's speech at Islamic leaders' summit:

"Our only reaction is to become more and more angry. Angry people cannot think properly. And so we find some of our people acting irrationally. They launch their own attacks, killing just about everybody including fellow Muslims to vent their anger and frustration."

"There is a feeling of hopelessness among the Muslim countries and their people. They feel they can do nothing right. They believe that things can only get worse."

"But is it true that we should do and can do nothing for ourselves? Is it true that 1.3 billion people can exert no power to save themselves from the humiliation and oppression inflicted on them by a much smaller enemy? Is there no other way than to ask our young people to blow themselves up and kill people and invite the massacre of more of our own people?"

"We are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them."

"The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy," Mahathir said, opening the meeting of Islamic leaders from 57 nations. "They get others to fight and die for them."

...

Malaysia, a democratic nation which has a large non-Muslim population and does not enforce strict Islamic law, has long been a critic of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and of U.S. policy in the Middle East, including the war in Iraq and Washington's strong backing of the Jewish state.

Mahathir, 77, who is retiring on Oct. 31, has used almost every international podium to lambaste the West for two decades, winning a reputation as an outspoken champion of Third World causes.

"For well over half a century we have fought over Palestine. What have we achieved? Nothing. We are worse off than before," he said. "If we had paused to think, then we could have devised a plan, a strategy that can win us final victory."

The prime minister, who has turned his country into the world's 17th-ranked trading nation during his 22 years in power, said Jews "invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy" to avoid persecution and gain control of the most powerful countries.

Mahathir added that "1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews," but he suggested using political and economic tactics instead of violence.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled expressed disappointment in the remarks but said he wasn't surprised.

"It is not new that in such forums there is always an attempt to reach the lowest common denominator, which is Israel bashing," he said in Jerusalem. "But obviously we'd like to see more moderate and responsible kind of declarations coming out of such summits."

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said Mahathir has used anti-Israel statements in the past to prove he's tough on the West. But, he said, Thursday's speech was still worrisome.

"What is profoundly shocking and worrying is the venue of the speech, the audience and coming in the time we're living in," Cooper said during a visit to Jerusalem. "Mahathir's speech today is an absolute invitation for more hate crimes and terrorism against Jews. That's serious."

U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia Marie Huhtala declined to comment on Mahathir's speech. Washington was angered over a speech he made in February, as host of the Non-Aligned Movement of 117 countries, in which he described the looming war against Iraq as racist.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he supported Mahathir's analysis, which also included steps for how Muslim nations can develop economically and socially.

"It is great to hear Prime Minister Mahathir speak so eloquently on the problems of the ummah (Muslim world) and ways to remedy them," Karzai said. "His speech was an eye-opener to a lot of us and that is what the Islamic world should do."

The summit is the first since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks reshaped global politics and comes at a time when many Muslims — even U.S. allies — feel the war on terrorism has become a war against them.

"It is well known that the Islamic community is being targeted today more than at any other time before in its creed, culture and social and political orientation," said Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who hosted the U.S. headquarters in the Iraq war.

The status of Iraq also proved a divisive issue. Malaysia resisted inviting the U.S.-picked Iraqi Governing Council, describing it as a puppet of American occupation. But Arab countries that have recognized the interim body prevailed and council representatives were attending the summit.

Leaders attending the summit included Jordan's King Abullah, Syrian President Bashar Assad, Morocco's King Mohammed VI, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo are attending as special observers because of their large Muslim minorities.

Just ONE day before the accident, as his country was being lashed by terrrible storms

Obama Enjoys a Spot of Golf With Malaysian Leader

Vie

And one more factor...

AirAsia confirms order of 55 Airbus A330Neos for $15bn

Yahoo,

15 December, 2013,

Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia X confirmed Monday its order of 55 long-haul A330neo passenger planes from Airbus at a list price of $15 billion, in what is the biggest single order for the line of aircraft.

Since signing an agreement to purchase 50 of the new-generation A330s in July, AirAsia X has added five more planes to its order, the group said in a statement.

Airbus will begin delivering the fleet in 2018, AirAsia X said.

The Malaysian carrier is now Airbus's biggest customer for the A330 family of aircraft, having already ordered 91 of them to date.

"This latest deal with Airbus will enable AirAsia X to consolidate its growth rate in 2015-2017 before ramping up deliveries from 2018 onwards," said Tony Fernandes, co-founder and director of the company.

"The A330 has proven itself to be exactly the right aircraft for our business model, combining low operating costs, long-range flying capability and high levels of comfort."

The A330neo is an updated version of Airbus's wide-body medium-haul jet with fuel-saving engines.

AirAsia X is the long-haul and low-cost affiliate of AirAsia, which was a failing carrier in 2001 when Fernandes acquired it.

The former record industry executive quickly turned the airline around with his no-frills, low-fare formula.

Since then, it has recorded spectacular success and aggressive growth at the expense of national flag carrier Malaysia Airlines.

This seems to me from a conspiracy theory/esoterica website based in Belgium

MISSING AIRASIA FLIGHT - 

SURABAYA TO SINGAPORE

Aangirfan,

29 December, 2014,

Police General Unggung Cahyono (above) was, until September 2014, the boss of the police in Surabaya.

The Force Commander of the Military Sea Traffic for Surabaya is Col Budi Susanto (centre)

The Ari Cahyono and Chandra Susanto families were booked on flight QZ 8501, but missed the flight.

Two Families Escape Disaster By Missing Doomed AirAsia flight.



The US Deputy Chief of Mission Kristen F. Bauer, the US Consul General Joaquin F. Monserrate and the US Military Attaché were in Surabaya on October 7, 2014.



The AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes dumped 944,800 shares in Tune Insurance Holdings Bhd, the organization that provides travel insurance for AirAsia passengers, just days before the disappearance of Flight QZ8501.

On December 26, the Malaysian Insider reported that Fernandes, the founder of Tune Group Sdn Bhd which owns AirAsia, had sold a total of 944,800 shares in Tune Insurance Holdings Bhd, with 850,000 shares being dumped on December 22, and the other 94,800 being sold the day after.

The AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes Dumped Shares Days Before Flight Disappeared .

In the fortnight before AirAsia Flight QZ8501 went missing, a mysterious user of the Chinese social media network Weibo, in dozens of posts, warned Chinese nationals not to use AirAsia.

He warned: "Do not become another victim of MH370".

He reported that AirAsia was about to be targeted by 'powerful' forces which he referred to as the 'black hand'. 

Did Mysterious Chinese Blogger Predict Disappearance of AirAsia Flight....



AirAsia flight QZ8501 disappeared during a flight from Surabaya to Singapore.

It disappeared off ADS-B tracking just south of the small island of Belitung.

AirAsia is headquartered in Malaysia.

A reported passenger manifest shows a total of 26 passengers who were scheduled to be aboard but are listed as no-shows.

Huffington Post

There was no distress call.



A relative of someone on the plane reportedly received a message via Blackberry Messenger stating that the plane had landed safely on Belitung.

Indonesian Ministry of Transportation spokesman JA Barata said he would follow this up.

Kemenhub Cari Kepastian Info BBM Pesawat Mendarat di ... - Translate this page

Detik.com quoted National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Jakarta chief Sutrisno as saying that the agency’s radar did not detect the flight’s Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT).

Third Malaysia Plane Crash in 2014


The US military in Indonesia.

"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.

Did AirAsia flight QZ8501 Land at Belitung 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...

"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."

Did AirAsia flight QZ8501 Land at Belitung Island ....

Finally, within hours of the disappearance another AirAsia plane had to make an emergency landing - and then there was this - 

Las Vegas-bound Virgin Atlantic flight VS43 makes emergency landing at Gatwick - as it happened

Someone's hypothesis (from Twitter)

"You've been told over and over it's an aluminum problem the airlines are hiding. it's industry wide parts on the planes go bad and are replaced with cheaper unstable versions made of sub standard aluminum. if this recall went public, it would ground every airplane in the world and they would lose too much money so they deal with the plane crashes instead”