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Michelle Obama rules out running for elected office

In her first speech since Donald Trump took office, she spoke about what life’s been like outside the White House.

Michelle Obama Delivers Final Speech At The White House Ricky Fitchett / PA Images Ricky Fitchett / PA Images / PA Images

FORMER FIRST LADY Michelle Obama has ruled out running for elected office.

In the course of her husband’s presidency, Michelle became popular with voters, particularly for voters who viewed the line-up of 2016 election candidates as poor.

But speaking at the American Institute of Architects 2017 conference this week, Obama put to bed rumours of her potential bid for public office.

“It’s all well and good until you start running – then the knives come out,” she said.

As I’ve said, I wouldn’t ask my children to do this again, because when you run for high office, it’s not just you. It’s your whole family.

Instead, she said she’s trying to make the most of her causes – ranging from girls’ education to childhood obesity.

“You don’t have to be first lady to influence,” she told the audience.

The appearance also marked Michelle Obama’s first public appearances since leaving the White House, and she spoke about what life’s been like since.

“[Our dogs] Bo and Sunny had never heard a doorbell in their life,” she joked, going on to note the difficulties of ensuring that her two daughters would have a “normal” childhood.

“Friends are surprised I answer the door now,” she said, adding that her daughters Sasha and Malia can actually open their windows now, something they could never do at the White House.

Obama described her family’s newfound civilian life as a relief; “It’s good not to have the weight of your world on your shoulders,” she said.

2012 Democratic National Convention DPA / PA Images DPA / PA Images / PA Images

And what’s Barack been up to?

Having largely remained silent since Donald Trump succeeded him as US president in January, Barack Obama made his first public appearance this Monday in his adopted hometown of Chicago.

The former president participated in a discussion with students from Chicago schools on community organising and civic engagement at the University of Chicago.

It was in Chicago that Barack made his farewell speech a few days before leaving the White House, where he was moved to tears while paying tribute to Michelle.

With reporting from © – AFP 2017

Read: The White House correspondents’ dinner went ahead without Trump (but he still got roasted)

Read: 100 days in, how many of President Trump’s campaign promises have been kept?

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103 Comments
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    Mute John
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:52 AM

    “Because there is no mobile phone coverage while flying in an airplane” is the redacted version of this article.

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    Mute eye_c_u__
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:13 PM

    Would have thought its the roaming charges myself

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:36 PM

    Wifi on aircraft are part of the onboard entertainment system, so if turned off mobile phones cannot work. Usualy these days aircraft Wifi communicates through communication satelites however as above if the signal is switched off then signal cannot be received or transmitted.
    Likewise if the aircraft is at the bottom of Indian Ocean there can be no wifi communication

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    Mute John
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:32 PM

    @Chris. Wifi is a network bridging technology (IEEE 802.11) and has nothing to do with mobile communications (gsm, 3g, 4g)

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    Mute Hound of Cooley
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:33 PM

    Decompression caused loss of oxygen in cabin, plane dived to lower altitude too late – all on board died… plane continued to fly on auto-pilot until out of fuel… the gist of what happened to this flight.

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    Mute eye_c_u__
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:56 PM

    Possible hound. Very very possible.

    However, hole in that theory that’s not accounting for why acars and the transponder were both shut down before the last radio transmission where everything sounded dandy.

    That’s the sinister thing. Things were in motion at that stage and co pilot was relaxed on radio

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:32 PM

    Are you saying John that the aircraft entertainment network is not used for Wifi connection.

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    Mute Alan Rossiter
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:18 PM

    Except that does not explain the deliberate switching off of the transponder etc.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:31 PM

    eye_c_u__ I think they are now saying it was shut off AFTER they last voice contact.

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    Mute eye_c_u__
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:20 PM

    Will of that’s the case then it changes things completely that might add to mystery but take away a sinister plot.

    I think they are giving out to much info that’s unconfirmed. They are under pressure from people thinking they are hiding something but that’s not how you run an investigation by pandering and releasing unconfirmed information. Of course families and media want info but it should be conducted right or not at all

    I’d like to think that something went very wrong very fast and cabin pressure went and plane flew on with people already dead as opposed to doing it on purpose.

    After all if your a suicidal person intent on dying why not just nose dive to sea anyway why go to the middle of nowhere one of the most remote locations on planet.

    At least with pacific or Atlantic its somewhat mapped by shipping lanes and sub’s but no one goes down that far south in that ocean sad really

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    Mute Shane McDonnell
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:28 PM

    What would you say happened eye? Honest answer

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    Mute michael fives
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    Mar 20th 2014, 2:22 AM

    Similar to what happened to Payne Stewart’s plane

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    Mute Peter Bohane
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    Mar 22nd 2014, 8:38 PM

    your theory is somewhat likely.. although they couldnt lose oxygen in the cabin, they would have lost air pressure.. not the same thing..
    The oxygen levels at 35,000 ft are the same as at sea level, but the air pressure is far less which is why it is very hard to breath there. The oxygen masks would have dropped automatically but the oxygen masks only provide oxygen for a limited time as the pilot should have brought the aircraft down to a safe height where everyone could breath. If the pilot did not bring the plane down to that level before all the masks ran out of oxygen then everyone would have passed out. This has happened before, when all the crew and passengers ran out of oxygen and passed out leaving the plane flying on its own (Helios Airways Flight 522).. but this plane crashed on land.
    Anyway.. they would all have just died instantly unless it was explosive decompression, which it is looking like it wasnt as the plane changed its course..

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:40 PM

    Let’s be clear about some garbage being spread about by the media and conspiracy theorist over the past week.

    1. NO! Your mobile phone doesn’t work on a plane. Cell phones work by bouncing their signal off land-based cell towers on the ground. There are no cell towers in the sea! What’s more, mobile phones can’t reach those cell towers at high altitude, like a plane. The reason why you are asked to turn off your mobile on board a plane is because it doesn’t help clarity of communications and interference if 200 phones are trying to locate the nearest cell tower they are never going to connect with!

    2. But my mother’s uncle’s friend of a friend was on one of the 911 planes and he/she phoned home. Possibly, but a lot of the 911 phone myth has come out of people not realising several things: they were internal US flights over US land, flying at dangerously low altitude, and some US airlines were experimenting with inflight phone services using satellite comm. You swiped your cedit card and used the built in handset in the cabin close to your seat.

    3. Mobile phones will kick in and start to pick up a land-based tower as an aircraft comes in close to the ground (usually below 2000 feet). It’s why when you are on a plane coming in to land you hear everyone’s phone starting to beep (if left on and not in Flight Mode). The devices are all starting to pick up the cell towers in range. Putting your phone in flight mode tells it to quit looking for an external signal!

    4. Yes, a mobile phone left on in flight will still look for a tower. It’s like when you leave your house, your mobile will still try and look for a wi-fi network close by (if wifi is enabled) and use battery power looking for one.

    5. Yes, it’s possible investigators were trying to use satellite readings to hone in on devices used on MH370 giving off network search signals. It’s why they can use satellite recordings to very roughly plot a device (phone or aircraft). It can’t identify the device nor can it give any kind of exact location.

    6. No. You can’t use a mobile phone that can’t pick up a signal in flight to take over a plane’s Flight Management System. Even if the mobile could pick up a signal, you still couldn’t hack the system. FMS software was designed pre windows and it’s not like a PC connected to the internet.

    7. No. The aircraft didn’t fly to Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, even Pakistan. Don’t mind the rubbish you read from media reports and their nice sexy and colourful charts. Most are proposing ranges based on extremes, and probably info gleaned from Wikipaedia. Flight MH370 was carrying only fuel for Beijing, plus a little more for ETOPS safety requirements – about 7.5 hours at most 6 hrs flight time + emergency and reserves, about another 70 mins. It used almost 2 hours (1hr 45mins) after it crossed into the Malacca Strait. North – it would have done well to even get as far as New Deli in India. South – the open Indian Ocean. The range of an aircraft is influenced by many things. You can’t just take a compass and draw a circle to see how far a jet gets based on fuel allowance. A jet will get further on fuel if it constanstaly flies at 39,000 feet than it will at 25,000 feet. The range of a jet is influenced by weight, weather, tail and head winds, turbulence, altitude, changes in direction and how hard the engines are working. A plane does not fly (like a crow) in straight lines and compass arcs!

    8. A secret Island? Believe me, every Chinese, US and Indian Satellite has been trained on every tiny island for the past week. They know the runways, and can see the squirrells running across them. If the plane was there, they’d know by know!

    9. Yes. Some passenger phones did appear to connect and get a ringing tone without being answered. This is normal for providers rather than leaving the caller with a dead tone. It does not mean one cell phone has bounced off ground towers and found the other cell phone!

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    Mute Dagnet Taggart
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:48 PM

    Well written Mick…But dont expect 95% of people here to read and try to understand it.There MUST be a sexy conspircy theory to disasters rather than let boring facts and reality get in the way.

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:20 PM

    I’m with you, Dagnet! You can only do your best. If people want to see believe the moon is made out of cheese, I can’t stop them. Some of the media coverage of this tragedy has been atrocious. If there is a lack of credible info and data, you go find it as a journalist. You don’t start inventing facts

    I appreciate that journalists are frustrated that the news story is not moving at the pace they would like – but that’s the time you turn on the human angle – and those providing credible information – and focus on that, rather than trying to invent next week’s news.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:30 PM

    A lot of speculation here Mike, for instance modern aircraft communication technology is now much more advanced than was the case during 9/11. Satelites play a huge part in allowing mobile phone signals to be received and transmitted from aircraft if the onboard system is switched on.
    My son flying from Australia before last Christmas was able to communicate with us via Skype throughout his flight.

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    Mute Kevin Penrose
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:43 PM

    Thanks Mick, now I have a better understanding of what may have happened instead of watching all the tripe that was thrown at us from the TV reports. Well explained.

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:51 PM

    So long as the airline provide in-flight communication through the SATCOM box on the plane, Chris. It can be done, but as Malaysia Airlines didn’t even use the full subscription capacity of ACARS on this flight, I’m thinking SAT communication, at best, was not available to most passengers on the plane. Again, it’s something Malaysia Airlines are not providing info on, and perhaps journalists are not even asking those questions at press conferences.

    The press conferences are often focussed on local media outlets, who seem to ask rambling wishy-washy questions that don’t challenge the officials (and I think it is in the nature of some local media outlets not to overstep the cultural mark). The international media question time is considerably restricted and stage-managed to only two or three questions.

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    Mute John
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:59 PM

    @Chris? Speculation? Micks reply is based on solid facts and is very well written. Another explanation to the ringing phones. When you switch off your mobile phone a trigger is sent to your service provider which updates their database that this phone is ‘offline’ resulting in your phone been diverted to voicemail for any following calls until you turn back on the phone.
    I would imagine that the reason for the phones appearing to be ringing is that these are passengers who did not switch off their phone for the flight, These phones would have eventually lost coverage as the aircraft climbed to cruise but the network they were last connected to (Kuala Lumper) still thinks their active, when a call is made to one of these phones it will be routed to their last known Visiting Location register (VLR) and the network will try to connect the call (this is why a ringing tone will sound to the person making the call)
    @Chris. Yes some airlines do provide internet connectivity through satellite and allow connection through wifi and some such as Emirates do have mobile connectivity onboard which is also patched through satellite and the signal to the passengers mobile is possible through an onboard micro or pico cell, it has been stated that Malaysian air don’t offer these services and even so they can be easily switched off from the cockpit.

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    Mute Emma O Carroll
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:19 PM

    Thanks l now have a better understand of how all this Techo works. This all makes sense.

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:28 PM

    John, my comment about speculation followed the comment about the 9/11 aircraft not being so advanced in mobile communication. There is also the other point concerning lack of phone communication with aircraft over the ocean vs aircraft over land where mobile connection is available.
    We are led to assume that the Malaysian aircraft was out of range for phone communication and this is still probably the case if the aircraft went down in the ocean.

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    Mute Paddy O'Brien
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:12 PM

    Get a job

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    Mute PicassoRepublic
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    Mar 19th 2014, 4:05 PM

    Mick,

    The only thing I would add to you very detailed analysis is if some handsets were left ‘on’ during the flight and dependant on several important factors (location within aircraft, home network or roaming etc) then even at 500KM/ph, given the correct circumstances (altitude of aircraft, speed, network frequency & area of single node dominance) then the authorities may discover some devices sporadically connected to the terrestrial network (or attempting to connect) as it crossed the Malay Peninsula.

    However this will only prove what is already known – that the flight headed west/north west/south west.

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    Mute Stephen McGrath
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:38 PM

    Well said mate

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    Mute TIPM (Mick Rooney)
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    Mar 19th 2014, 8:32 PM

    You’re spot on Picasso. I would add while a mobile is on, it’s pinging, but still hard to get a fix on it at 560-580mph. It’s also another hinderence to a mobile fixing on a land tower, even at 2000 feet. By the time the mobile has had a chance to bounce the signal off it, it’s already gone out of range.

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    Mute Jay Coleman
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:51 AM

    Damn right..what gives you the right to block mobiles on public transport?

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    Mute Cpm
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:53 AM

    I obviously don’t have the right, but I wanted to do it regardless.

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    Mute Animal
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:02 PM

    How come nobody is talking about black boxes on board.. Can they not just trace them… This thing will never be found. Sure it took two years to find the Air France plane… Just shows how vulnerable air travel is. Safety me bollix.

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    Mute Cpm
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:05 PM

    If it’s underwater the signal may not be strong enough to penetrate the suirface

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    Mute Emilio
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:22 PM

    Where to start… It took them 2 years because during the first 2 months they sent a crew with the wrong sonars. Then once the black box signal died out, they kept sending the wrong sonars once again. Eventually they hired the right people who found it in 2 days.

    Then we found out what happened with that flight.

    But for 2 years we didn’t know and we had thousands of planes in the air with the same issue and could have gone down any time.

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    Mute John
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:30 PM

    Complete Bolllix, they found wreckage from the Air France flight from within 2 days and the first bodies on the 3rd day, they also had automated messages detailing problems with AF447 , very little comparisons to this missing aircraft

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    Mute eye_c_u__
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:53 PM

    Your right john. They found the tail fin after few days and it still took two years.

    Mh370 will not be found. Unfortunately it will become a conspiracy theorists dream. When in reality it was just simply flown south Indian ocean where it crashed.

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    Mute Rob Cunningham
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:06 PM

    I’m sure Emilio meant it took 2 years to find the black box which it did, and not the wreckage.

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    Mute Emilio
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:02 PM

    Of course I did, not to mention we were talking about the black boxes… But reading comprehension is absolutely crap around here sometimes, so it is really pointless to even bring it up.

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    Mute Daniel Murray
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:03 PM

    Why is this question even being asked? Of course they couldn’t make calls. Phone signal is dodgey on a train never mind on a plane cruising at 35,000 ft at around 560mph!

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello.
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:21 PM

    The question is being asked so that you can answer it. Not everybody knew what you know, but we do now. Life is a never-ending learning process.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:36 PM

    Daniel, I doubt that the speed of the phone is important to a signal travelling at the speed of light.

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    Mute Daniel Murray
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    Mar 20th 2014, 8:56 AM

    I can assure you it is a factor.

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    Mute Andrew Hickey
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:01 PM

    Article from a pilot about this flight. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03/mh370-electrical-fire/

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    Mute eye_c_u__
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:17 PM

    Negative good buddy. They were turned off before the last radio message. Had systems started going down they would know and call out a mayday. But nope they called in to say good night.

    Been other way round I’d say the investigators would think that. But no. Can’t have happened that way

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    Mute Teri S Carrandsuch
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:17 PM

    This is the most sensible thing I’ve read since this began. Interesting!

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:48 PM

    This is speculation, hower ddn’t the Co-pilot sign off “Alright, goodnight “. Hardly someone in distress…..

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    Mute Kate
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:50 PM

    Agreed….with all the crazy theories out there, this sounds the most plausible! I feel so much for the families involved in all this…everyday a new piece of information released, then over analysed and blown out of perspective!

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    Mute Andrew Hickey
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:19 PM

    Chris.

    Isn’t it all speculation? Point out the obvious why don’t ya. I’m not a pilot, most people don’t know how pilots think. This just gives an insight into how a pilot sees what happened.

    RE your point regarding the “good night”… obviously given before anything untoward happened, if it it did at all, because no one seems to know, all we can do is …speculate

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    Mute Chris Kirk
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:36 PM

    Andrew, ifyou read the comment about a possible electrical fire in the cockpit you will understand what I was refering to.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:37 PM

    As I said above, I think they are now saying that the ACARS etc were turned off AFTER the good night call.

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    Mute Cpm
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:49 AM

    You can buy mobile phone jammers online for about €16. I bought one for my daily commute on the Luas but it was stopped by customs, unfortunately :(

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    Mute Emilio
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:54 AM

    Irresponsible and illegal, you could be jamming emergency channels too. I hope something happens to you if you get your hands on one of those jammers and when someone tries to ring for help to save your life, they can’t.

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    Mute Cpm
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:59 AM

    Good man Emillio, because life-threatening emergencies are a daily occurrence on the red line.

    Anyway it only works for a radius of about 10′ and just resets the signal momentarily, long enough tot disconnect the person next to me. Continue with your faux outrage though, please.

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    Mute Emilio
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:18 PM

    Nothing ‘faux’ about my outrage. There is a good reason why those devices are illegal and will be stopped by customs. I’m only sorry they didn’t do much else to you but make you waste your time and money, probably they cannot do anything else.

    And if you were referring to the green line, maybe, the red line and some of its regulars sure generate enough reason to worry about life threatening emergencies.

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    Mute Dagnet Taggart
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:51 PM

    Well you wasted 16 quid then.They are absolutely utter POS that wouldnt jam anything. For a proper cell jammer you are up into about 1600 euros onwards.

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    Mute Alan Kelleher
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:56 PM

    @cpm. I’m sure a good set of headphones or ear defenders would do the trick. Or alternatively you should take your anti psychotic medication more often

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    Mute Stephen Carrick
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:44 PM

    your comment made me laugh out loud to funny :)

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    Mute Cpm
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:53 PM

    “@cpm. I’m sure a good set of headphones or ear defenders would do the trick. Or alternatively you should take your anti psychotic medication more often”

    I have headphones. Quite good ones. I was more interested in doing it for the pleasure of inconveniencing people who annoy me.

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    Mute Cpm
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:57 PM

    “For a proper cell jammer you are up into about 1600 euros onwards.”

    As I already explained, they aren’t proper cell phone jammers, they have a range of about 10′ and work for a second or so.

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    Mute Emilio
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:10 PM

    Fundamentally, CPM, you are better off eating a lot of curry and farting in the bus, much more likely to have the desired effect for a wider range than 10 feet.

    But since I don’t think you have the brain capacity to properly wipe yourself, you probably already benefit from this ‘jammer’.

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    Mute Cpm
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:17 PM

    “Fundamentally, CPM, you are better off eating a lot of curry and farting in the bus, much more likely to have the desired effect for a wider range than 10 feet.
    But since I don’t think you have the brain capacity to properly wipe yourself, you probably already benefit from this ‘jammer’.”

    ‘Luas,’ Emilio, I said ‘Luas,’ not bus. Bless!

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    Mute Marilyn Maroney
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:48 PM

    What are they?? Never heard of it

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    Mute Marilyn Maroney
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:48 PM

    What are they?? Never heard of it

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:45 PM

    If they work on long distance trains I’d pay the €1,600. A short Luas journey is one thing, try and listen to these w*****s who ALWAYS talk very LOUD for 3 hours.

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    Mute Boleyn
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    Mar 19th 2014, 9:43 PM

    I purchased a jammer in Prague for €120 to install at the entrance to a shop to deter a group a lowlifes who were physically hassling customers

    Works absolutely perfectly to a range of I’d say 25 meters and you can enter in numbers that you don’t want to be blocked (ie your own).

    Super bit of kit.

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    Mute Lamb
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    Mar 20th 2014, 8:56 AM

    Truck drivers in the US used to use them. I think they interfered with barrier free tolling so thr drivers thought this was great. They would interfere with hospital equipment if Doctors were paged for emergencies sometimes the page wouldn’t go through because of passing trucks with jammers.

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    Mute John
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:54 AM

    Maybe because at 35,000 ft over an ocean there is no mobile coverage, zero. On 9/11 the calls on board were made from satellite phones. Next time you’re on a flight turn on your mobile and see, when you come into land you’ll notice the phone will start to pick up coverage around 2,000 ft down

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    Mute Horgay H
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:29 PM

    More lies.
    Mobile phones don’t work over 5,000 feet. Plain and simple. The article is distorting the facts.

    The powers that be have exposed themselves here by first stating that mobile phones don’t work over 5,000 feet in questions on the Malaysian flight and then backtracking fairly lively as that would be another nail in the coffin of the outlandish 9/11 explanation. Has anyone noticed how the article says that anyway calls on 9/11 were made from backseat phones(lol).

    We know military radar tracks flights under 5,000 ft so where is the plane? This transponder explanation is rubbish, just like it was for 9/11. Don’t believe the corporate mainstream media. It doesn’t matter if the planes transponder is off/nor working. It still would be tracked by military aircraft. The planes on 9/11 were all tracked by military radar even though the media will try to lead you to believe otherwise.

    Something is being covered up here, but what?

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    Mute Dagnet Taggart
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:50 PM

    The only time “military radar” tracks aircraft under 5k feet is when they are [1] expecting it [2] Have an AWAC aircraft in the skies with “look down ” radar to try and find aircraft terrain hugging [3] Doesnt respond to their Friend/foe radar and communication demands.Also known as IFF.
    So unless one of those countries just happened to have an Advanced Warning Attack Control aircraft up at that time looking for whatever hostile threat in that area,they were or are not looking for a civillian jet.
    So the theory of military looking for this will be gone too.

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    Mute eye_c_u__
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:01 PM

    Does it hurt to be stupid??

    Honest question.

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    Mute Emilio
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:08 PM

    It must be pretty painless, it only hurts towards the end, when the stupidity makes you walk off a cliff that you refuse to admit is real just because ‘main stream media said it is’.

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    Mute Horgay H
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:51 PM

    Re Dagnet.

    I suggest you go off and do some further research as your ‘expertise’ on this matter is lacking.

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    Mute Alan Seag
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:22 PM

    The pilots can to my knowledge cut the oxygen supplied throughout the plane from the cockpit. Perhaps this was performed to induce hypoxia among the passengers and crew, rendering them lifeless and incapable of using their mobiles or satellite phones. No one would notice this was happening – especially during a night flight when people would be sleeping anyway.

    I read the plane climbed to 45,000 feet. Whoever was in control of the flight perhaps ascended to this altitude to guarantee that all passengers/crew were incapacitated.

    Its very puzzling, everyday seems to raise more questions than answers.

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    Mute Dagnet Taggart
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:57 PM

    If they did that for over 10 mins well then you have a planeload of drooling vegtables flying off into the unknown.
    Oxygen deprivation at high altitudes will induce brain damage and death.Hence the release of oxygen masks if the cabin pressure drops below a certain setting.
    Not that oxygen will do much for you either.As no doubt it will be a traumatic situation of the plane in a dive you will hyper ventilate and pump your system with pure oxygen which has the effect of a narcotic.So you will be nicely stoned when the plane nose dives into the ground.

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:01 PM

    Two theories on the climb to 45,000 feet. 1. The pilot was attempting to take the aircraft to a higher altitude to quell the flames of an on-board fire, and starve it of oxygen. I don’t buy that – no pilot would risk that because he/she would kill passengers within minutes even with oxygen masks in the cabin. It’s also taking the aircraft several thousand feet above the structural limits prescribed by Boeing. 2. It was a brief and deliberate attempt to incapacitate and kill the passengers.

    Malaysia Airlines and its lead investigation team have not released any concrete data that the aircraft did climb to 45,000 feet, or drop to 23,000 feet, or 5000 feet as reported in the media. All that info is based on unnamed and unsubstantiated leaks from US investigators, clearly frustrated at the lack of data sharing and their direct involvement.

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    Mute eye_c_u__
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:59 PM

    I think this is a good and probable theory that oxegen was cut. But at 35k feet up does not need to go any higher to kill people anyway.

    Also the masks that come down is that automatic or does crew have control over that?

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    Mute TIPM (Mick Rooney)
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    Mar 19th 2014, 8:13 PM

    Automatic once pressure drops on most passenger planes.

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    Mute Lamb
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    Mar 20th 2014, 5:58 AM

    I’m not sure how you’d know they cut the oxygen. Would they have cut the oxygen if there was a fire? If fire came into contact oxygen the results could be catastrophic.

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    Mute Megan Andersen
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    Apr 7th 2014, 3:01 AM

    I have read an article about the pilot. It states there, that he wanted to go to the next level in flying and airplane. He is very passionate when talking about flying an aircraft. As you can see in his house,he even have different types of aircraft toys etc. Well, I am a girl with simple conclusion of what really did happened in this flight….The pilot was very ready in fulfilling his big dream ever, explore a flight for real, whatever it takes even his death just to made it. At that point during the flight, he was out of his mind and only think of his main goal, he don’t mind the crew nor the passengers. He was only thinking of his passion, that’s why he flown over the maximum altitude, and flew the way he wanted. Just to fly an aircraft to the next level, for real. That’s why he make sure to end up into the huge deep wide INDIAN OCEAN, so no one would dare to find the plane. He wanted to make sure that, what he did will stay a big mystery in aviation history ever!!!. He is not committing suicide but he is only fulfilling his big dream ever, to make a memorable, unbelievable mystery in world aviation history. He even wrote a post that he was asking the public of who will go with him in his next journey. He is not a psycho but a man who has passion for what he love doing in his whole life. “Follow your passion” is a popular prescription for achieving career success and personal fulfillment; and early in a career, it’s easy to do. There is so much to learn and every encounter is so new that even routine duties can seem flush with opportunity. Nothing’s mundane. Passion’s flame is fresh.Often, the first step in making a change is acknowledging your desire and willingness to make a change happen, even if you are not sure what that change will look like in the end. This seems to be another story to be told “DIE FOR PASSION”….

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    Mute Megan Andersen
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    Apr 7th 2014, 3:16 AM

    an airplane rather…sorry for the error…

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    Mute Nigel Berney
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:10 PM

    Find my iphone???

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    Mute Damocles
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:10 PM

    Could be because they’re dead.

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    Mute Damocles
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:13 PM

    Or they were dead at the time. And still are, obviously.

    I know people like to think there’s something mysterious going on but they are in all likelihood dead.

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    Mute Emilio
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:19 PM

    Sudden cabin pressure loss would sure at least leave them unconscious… death wouldn’t take too long.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:38 PM

    Emilio, it’s surprising that no one mentioned that Greek flight where they all died for that reason. Also the golfer’s Lear Jet over the Pacific, I think.

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    Mute Dean Fenlon
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:14 PM

    Is it me or am I not the only one thinking and the programme Lost hearing about all this?

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello.
    Favourite Neal Ireland Hello.
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:22 PM

    It’s just you.

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    Mute Kardia Skepsi
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:53 AM

    Wouldn’t be hard to get the unique mobile IDs, I’m sure. Big brother tech is quite powerful these days.

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    Mute Neal Ireland
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    Mar 20th 2014, 5:20 AM

    On the Internet, everybody’s an expert.

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    Mute Nicky o Connor
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:14 PM

    Think i just seen it in dunsink been stripped down for scrap

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:46 PM

    Not funny.

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    Mute King Olaf
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:12 PM

    What makes them think that anyone would have used their phone in the first place.

    If it was a hijacking and it was done in the right way or if the pilot was the hijacker, then the passengers would have been none the wiser. They wouldn’t have questioned a change in course or anything.

    If they landed somewhere remote, there would have been no phone signal or their phones would have been confiscated by that stage.

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    Mute Patrick Linehan
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    Mar 19th 2014, 1:44 PM

    Has Malaysian airways or government confirmed exactly how much fuel was on board at take off? I ask as I believe it’s the captain or co-pilot who sign off on the fuel taken onboard.
    Just saying if it is foul play, the reason for its disappearance, and some one interfered with the tracking systems then how difficult would it be for the same person(s) to manipulate the fuel load?

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    Mute TIPM (Mick Rooney)
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    Mar 19th 2014, 8:47 PM

    Yes, my understanding is that the pilots order/request the fuel depending on what they need, and that detail is recorded by the ground personnel loading it, and the airline also gets the data. You couldn’t take on 20,000 litres and record you only took on 15,000 litres. Malaysia Airlines have not released this data, to my knowledge, but you can be sure they know what the plane had in the tanks, down to the litre, when it took off.

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    Mute Joe Travers
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:48 PM

    That fact that no terrorist group have jumped all over this gives the impression that this was an air accident. You have the best aviation experts looking for this plane. So it was moving for quite some time before it came down, hence why they haven’t found it yet. Fire is the most plausible explanation as it would take hold in seconds. But with a fire wouldn’t they put out a distress call. And if the fire had damaged the systems before they could mayday then surely they would have had some clue like smoke. Would a fire sneak up on them so quickly as to knock out communications and acars before they knew what was happening. And if they turned for an alternative heading surely they would have conveyed that message to air traffic.

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    Mute jackass ireland
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:25 PM

    I’m commenting from a technical and practical standpoint. Whoever did this was not impulsive or callous. It was very calculated with a very high degree of technical input. You don’t pull off something like this without international cooperation and a decent amount of money. Someone switched off the tracking beacons. They probably flew too low for most radar. They could easily pack active jammers in luggage that would have covered the entire plane and each and every person could have been searched for mobile devices. In saying that, NASA can track any object in space over 4 inches and does. Someone knows where this plane is. It’s how they tell others that they know.

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    Mute Ger
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:09 PM

    Were there not satellite phones onboard tho does anyone know?

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Mar 19th 2014, 12:47 PM

    It’s not clear, but according to Malaysia Airline sat comm phones are available on some limited business class flights. Officials at Malaysia Airlines have dodged this issue when directly asked by journalists.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:41 PM

    Malaysia Airlines are doing nothing but dodging issues. I’m reminded of the Egyptian denial that their pilot committed suicide when the plane crashed out of NY shortly after 9/11.

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    Mute John McHugh
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    Mar 20th 2014, 3:08 AM

    I think there is a dark hand To this disappearance . How come u can trace a stolen mobile but u can’t find an aeroplane

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    Mute brian magee
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    Mar 19th 2014, 5:00 PM

    why would they use their mobiles?

    at what stage would they have realized that something was wrong? if it was the pilots then the passengers probably didn’t realise that they had turned off course, then just before they were due to land announce that their is a problem at the airport and they are being put in holding pattern. and also please dont use phones as it interferes with comms.

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    Mute Patrick Gormley
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:57 PM

    I think the answer will be found in the information on the pilots private simulator , also, the authorthies have refused to disclose what the freight manifest was. Was the plane carrying large amounts of gold , diamonds or currencies ?

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    Mute Frank Mc Carthy
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    Mar 19th 2014, 11:44 PM

    The Passengers did not use mobile phones because they would be too easy to track the signal by cell site analysis.. When Mossad and Obama’s Devil Government was writing the script for this false flag they omitted the use of Cell phone communications……….Expect something BIG to happen on 3/22/2014….(US Format) 322 Skull & Bones Satanist John Kerry.

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    Mute Neal Ireland
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    Mar 20th 2014, 5:22 AM

    No seriously though, what happened with the flight? All joking aside.

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    Mute jalilrizvi
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    Mar 20th 2014, 4:46 AM

    Find my iPhone might help!!

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    Mute Stiofán De Priondárgas
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    Mar 20th 2014, 5:23 AM

    Maybe they bought a joke telephone http://youtu.be/C8HM_6u-xvs

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    Mute Aidan Quinn
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    Mar 20th 2014, 1:03 AM

    The public haven’t being told the full story, it a fact that Boeing track/monitor their plane think about it good business practice like GM onstar in cars . So this lead me to believe that the US knows where this plane is right now , I’m saying Iran maybe Pakistan . The conclusion will be very simple

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    Mute Moe Ragel
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    Mar 20th 2014, 12:23 PM

    Roaming Charges.

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