West Brom Sack Anelka After 'Quenelle' Storm

West Brom say they have terminated Nicolas Anelka's contract for gross misconduct, following his ban for performing the controversial 'quenelle' gesture during a match.

In a statement on their website, the club said their decision was the result the player's conduct while celebrating a goal against West Ham on December 28 and his remarks posted on social media.

"The club considers the conduct of Nicolas Anelka on December 28, coupled with his purported termination on social media this evening, to be gross misconduct," it said.

"As a result the club has tonight written to Nicola Anelka giving him 14 days' notice of termination as required under his contract."

The 35-year-old, whose deal at the Premier League side was due to expire in the summer, had earlier announced he would leave the club over its response to his five-match ban and £80,000 fine from the FA.

He wrote on his Twitter account that he had decided to "put an end" to his contract, saying the club had proposed "certain conditions that I cannot accept".

The Frenchman's tweets on Friday evening

In three posts written in French on Twitter, the player said: "Following talks between the club and me, propositions were made to me in order to reintegrate me into the squad under certain conditions that I cannot accept.

"Wishing to retain my integrity, I have therefore taken the decision to free myself and put an end to the contract linking me with West Bromwich Albion to 2014, with immediate effect."

West Brom previously issued a statement in response, indicating Anelka's words had taken them by surprise.

It said: "The club has received nothing formally regarding the termination of Nicolas Anelka's contract from either him or his advisers.

"The club regards the release of such a statement on social media as highly unprofessional and will make a further statement when appropriate."

It was claimed the quenelle was anti-Semetic, but Anelka says the gesture was merely anti-establishment and made in support of his friend Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, a French comedian who has been convicted seven times of anti-Semitic crimes.

A Football Association commission found it was abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper, and that it included a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or religion or belief.

It accepted there was no intent by Anelka to be anti-Semitic, but banned him for five matches and fined him £80,000. He was subsequently suspended by West Brom.

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Malaysian Jet Search: 'We Never Give Up'

Missing Plane: 13 Things You Need To Know

Updated: 7:33am UK, Thursday 13 March 2014

As the search for Flight MH370 continues, we answer 13 questions about the disappearance and what could have happened.

When did the plane disappear?

Flight MH370 vanished from radars early on Saturday local time, an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. When it last made contact, the jet was cruising at 35,000 feet over the South China Sea.

There are reports that the plane tried to turn around, but this would give rise to the question why didn't the pilot communicate this decision to air traffic control? Meanwhile, at an undisclosed time a relative reportedly managed to call one of the passengers. Investigators have repeatedly tried to call the same number without success.

Who was on board?

The plane's manifest contained 12 crew members from Malaysia and 227 passengers from 14 different countries.

There were 153 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans, two each from Iran (both travelling on fake passports), New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada, and one each from Russia, Taiwan and The Netherlands.

Among the passengers was a 19-strong group of prominent artists returning from an exhibition in Malaysia. Five children - aged two to four - were on board. The oldest person on the plane was 79.

What are the main theories?

Mechanical error remains the most likely explanation. Poor conditions and strong turbulence always have to be considered, but weather conditions were good in this instance. Four areas of investigation are focused on the possibility of human involvement: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems or personal problems with passengers or crew.

Could there have been a mechanical error?

Inquiries into Air France Flight 447 that dived into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 en route from Brazil to Paris, killing 228 people, blamed both technical and human error.

However, in the event of engine failure, a plane such as the Boeing 777-200 could glide for 80-90 miles (128-145km), giving the pilot time to issue a distress signal. The descent would also have been traced by radars. The lack of any Mayday call makes an explosion a possibility.

Could the plane have broken up in the air?

The apparent lack of wreckage from MH370 does point to a high-altitude disaster. In such an event the debris would be spread far and wide, making it difficult to find.

A smaller debris field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up on impact with the water. In the event of a sudden loss of pressure due to a window blowing out the crew would dive the plane in order to lose altitude - but this would not cause the plane to disintegrate.

How about the plane's safety record?

Sudden, accidental, structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft. This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

One of the missing plane's wingtips was clipped in an incident while taxiing in 2012, but it was repaired and certified as safe.

Could it have been a terrorist attack or hijacking?

In the event of a hijacker trying to enter the cockpit, a pilot can send a secret distress code - something that wasn't done on Flight MH370.

The profiles of all 239 passengers are being checked against databases worldwide, but the terrorism theory was weakened on Tuesday when Malaysian police confirmed it had identified the two passengers who were travelling on fake passports. Both were said to be seeking asylum in Europe.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster - but no one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Human error?

The 53-year-old pilot was experienced, having amassed more than 18,000 flying hours since being employed by the airline in 1981.

However, in Indonesia in 2007, Adam Air Flight 574 disappeared with 102 passengers during a domestic flight, where the authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

Former naval pilot Dr Simon Mitchell told Sky News: "We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made."

Why was there no distress signal?

One explanation is that the plane fell into a communications black spot. Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer explained: "These are very sophisticated (items of) equipment that should have been working under any conditions - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you cannot communicate for some reason. Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots."

Where is the search taking place?

A number of aircraft and ships have been taking part in the search in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia. Search teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, New Zealand and the US are assisting.

Officials said on Tuesday that the search was being conducted on both sides of Vietnam's Ca Mau peninsula. The search area has been expanded from 50 nautical miles from where the plane disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles (115 miles; 185km).

This expansion was a result of a new report from the Malaysian military, which said it tracked the plane in the Strait of Malacca - a long distance from where it last made contact - in the hours following its disappearance.

Why has no wreckage been found?

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find. It took two years to find the main wreckage of Air France Flight 447 in 2009.

In 2007, in the case of the Adam Air flight, it was a week before an Indonesian naval vessel detected metal on the ocean floor. It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

If the plane had crashed on land, chances are the wreckage would have been found by now. At sea, much of the plane would have sunk, but some debris should remain on the surface. But the longer the search takes the harder it becomes as the wind and tide spread any debris further from the initial crash zone.

Could the flight data recorder provide answers?

As well as wreckage, search teams are looking for the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) - though these do not always work if a plane hits water. However, attached to the plane's "black box" is a device known as a pinger. This can emit radio signals deep underwater for up to 30 days - or 40 days in warm water.

Has a plane ever simply vanished?

Since the start of the jet age in the 1950s, nearly every major aircraft that disappeared was found - eventually - and the rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 plunged into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel. The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

Another Boeing 727 transporting diesel to diamond mines in Africa took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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'Deliberate Action' Diverted Missing Plane

Was Flight MH370's Transponder Turned Off?

Updated: 12:57am UK, Friday 14 March 2014

The transponder on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet is likely to have been deliberately turned off by one of the crew, aircraft experts have told Sky News.

A massive search effort, using military warships and planes to scour a massive expanse of water, has failed to find any sign of the plane since it vanished on Saturday.

Theories about its mysterious disappearance include a structural fault causing explosive decompression, a terrorist attack or pilot suicide.

The transponder - a crucial device that identifies the plane, its position and altitude - stopped working just 40 minutes into Saturday's flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Radar systems engineer Daniel Holland believes it was intentionally disabled.

"The evidence points that way," he said.

"The pilots have never made a 7500 - the international code for 'my plane is hijacked'; it is the pure lack of transponder information (that is suspicious).

"For myself, you would look at the communications panel just behind the throttle quadrant on the Boeing 777 to either switch it off there, or even just removing the fuses."

Mark Weiss, a former commercial pilot now working as an aviation consultant, said he agreed that someone in the cockpit had probably disabled the transponder.

"I don't believe it was an explosive decompression," said Mr Weiss.

"In the US a few years ago we had a Southwest Airlines plane that had an explosive decompression and still maintained the basic structural integrity of the aircraft."

Disabling of the transponder might lend weight to the theory that one of the pilots sabotaged the flight.

However, it is also possible it was turned off for other reasons - for example if it was giving out faulty data.

Malaysia Airlines has opened an investigation into the conduct of one of the pilots, Fariq Abdul Hamid, after pictures emerged of himself with two women he allowed into the cockpit during a flight two years ago.

However, it has said it has "no reason to believe" the pilots had anything to do with the disappearance.

At a news conference on Thursday, Malaysia's transport minister, Hishammudin Hussein, denied reports the homes of crew members had been searched by police.

The plane was last heard from when the pilot responded to a message confirming it was moving from Malaysian to Vietnamese air traffic control.

The pilot replied "Okay, received, goodnight", but Vietnamese officials have said they never heard from flight MH370. 

Not all aviation experts agree that foul play is likely to be to blame for the disappearance.

Dr Colin Brown, director of engineering at Institution of Mechanical Engineers, told Sky he still believes the plane was ripped apart by "explosive decompression".

However, he admitted that the lack of any wreckage or 'black box' signal was hard to make sense of.

"This thing is 300 tons of metal with 239 people on board - I cannot understand how you can hide something that size."

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Was Missing Plane's Transponder Turned Off?

The transponder on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet is likely to have been deliberately turned off by one of the crew, aircraft experts have told Sky News.

A massive search effort, using military warships and planes to scour a massive expanse of water, has failed to find any sign of the plane since it vanished on Saturday.

Theories about its mysterious disappearance include a structural fault causing explosive decompression, a terrorist attack or pilot suicide.

The transponder - a crucial device that identifies the plane, its position and altitude - stopped working just 40 minutes into Saturday's flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The transponder is constantly 'pinged' for data by air traffic radar

Radar systems engineer Daniel Holland believes it was intentionally disabled.

"The evidence points that way," he said.

"The pilots have never made a 7500 - the international code for 'my plane is hijacked'; it is the pure lack of transponder information (that is suspicious).

"For myself, you would look at the communications panel just behind the throttle quadrant on the Boeing 777 to either switch it off there, or even just removing the fuses."

A US Sea Hawk helicopter prepares to join the search

Mark Weiss, a former commercial pilot now working as an aviation consultant, said he agreed that someone in the cockpit had probably disabled the transponder.

"I don't believe it was an explosive decompression," said Mr Weiss.

"In the US a few years ago we had a Southwest Airlines plane that had an explosive decompression and still maintained the basic structural integrity of the aircraft."

Disabling of the transponder might lend weight to the theory that one of the pilots sabotaged the flight.

One pilot apparently allowed two women to fly with him in the cockpit

However, it is also possible it was turned off for other reasons - for example if it was giving out faulty data.

Malaysia Airlines has opened an investigation into the conduct of one of the pilots, Fariq Abdul Hamid, after pictures emerged of himself with two women he allowed into the cockpit during a flight two years ago.

However, it has said it has "no reason to believe" the pilots had anything to do with the disappearance.

The search is taking in a massive area of ocean but no trace has been found

At a news conference on Thursday, Malaysia's transport minister, Hishammudin Hussein, denied reports the homes of crew members had been searched by police.

The plane was last heard from when the pilot responded to a message confirming it was moving from Malaysian to Vietnamese air traffic control.

The pilot replied "Okay, received, goodnight", but Vietnamese officials have said they never heard from flight MH370. 

Not all aviation experts agree that foul play is likely to be to blame for the disappearance.

Dr Colin Brown, director of engineering at Institution of Mechanical Engineers, told Sky he still believes the plane was ripped apart by "explosive decompression".

However, he admitted that the lack of any wreckage or 'black box' signal was hard to make sense of.

"This thing is 300 tons of metal with 239 people on board - I cannot understand how you can hide something that size."

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Photo Shows Oscar Pistorius Drenched In Blood

Reeva Forgotten In Pistorius Courtroom Drama

Updated: 6:45am UK, Friday 14 March 2014

By Emma Hurd, Sky correspondent

The photographs were flashed up for just a few seconds, but the sudden glimpse of Reeva Steenkamp's body was enough to prompt gasps in the courtroom.

Even after all of the evidence about the manner of her death, the actual sight of her bloodied corpse - shown by mistake by the prosecution - was shocking for everyone in the court, but devastating for Reeva's friends and relatives.  

Several were in tears as they rushed to leave. It was a careless error, but one which underlined just how traumatic murder trials are for the loved ones of the victim. 

For two weeks now, a small group of Ms Steenkamp's friends and family has sat quietly in the courtroom, listening to all of the distressing details emerge.

They have no special status in the court and are awarded no special treatment, beyond the places set aside for them on a bench in the public gallery alongside the relatives of Oscar Pistorius. 

From there, they watch the sparring of the prosecution and defence lawyers who refer to Reeva as "the deceased".

The 29-year-old model and law graduate who was shot dead by Pistorius - whether intentionally, or after he had mistaken her for intruder - is both at the centre of this trial but also, somehow, forgotten. 

The focus is on the drama of the witnesses being questioned and cross-examined, and the athlete's reactions in court.

We are getting a sense, through the evidence, of Pistorius' life and character, while Reeva Steenkamp - at least in the trial - has become simply the girlfriend he killed. 

Those who knew her best must be desperate to talk about who she was and how much she mattered to them.

But what matters to the court is that on February 14,  2013 she died after being hit by three of the four bullets fired by the athlete through a toilet door. 

This murder trial is far from unique in being harrowing for the friends and relatives. Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt recalls sitting through trials in the UK where relatives of the victims screamed out in court during evidence.

He points out that the British system does give loved ones a voice in the form of "victim impact statements", but only before sentencing. 

Attending the whole trial is still a choice many make, Brunt says, "because they need to hear what happened, and face the accused".

On the first day of this trial, Reeva's grieving mother, June, arrived in court after saying she just wanted to look Oscar Pistorius in the eyes and show him the pain he had caused. She has not returned.

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Missing Plane 'Flown Towards Andaman Islands'

Missing Malaysia Jet 'One Of Great Mysteries'

Updated: 3:07pm UK, Thursday 13 March 2014

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent in Kuala Lumpur

The oceanographer who helped search for the Titanic and co-led the successful recovery of a doomed Air France plane has told Sky News the case of the missing Malaysian plane is "absolutely perplexing".

David Gallo, one of the world's most accomplished scientists in his field helped locate the black box data recorders of Air France flight 447 in the South Atlantic in 2011, two years after the plane crashed.

On the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines passenger jet, he said: "This has rapidly become one of the great mysteries of all time in terms of loss of an aeroplane or ship at sea."

Responding to criticism of the Malaysian authorities, Mr Gallo said he believed they were doing all they could in the face of "an unprecedented task".

Mr Gallo told Sky News: "From the outset it's easy to criticise the people in charge.

"I feel strongly that we need to lend some confidence to the Minister of Transportation in Malaysia because that position is a horrible place to be right now.

"He's got the whole world watching, he's got governmental agencies on his back, he's got the families.

"It's a horrible thing what the families, loved-ones and and friends are going through right now day after day.

"When he says he's going to make every effort to get this solved and leave no stone unturned I believe him."

The Air France flight came down in mid-Atlantic in 2009, without sending out a distress signal and killing all 228 people aboard, after a combination of aircraft technical failure and pilot error.

It took five days to find any wreckage but two years to find the black box recorders.

Mr Gallo said: "In the case of Air France 477 we had a very dedicated team.

"I am hoping the same is true in this case, so that once we can begin an undersea search in earnest that that search happens fairly quick."

But of the Malaysian case he said: "Around every corner you find some fact, then three mysteries appear."

Mr Gallo believed the best hope still came from the area beneath the set flight path of the plane to the east of the Malay peninsula.

History showed most lost planes are eventually found close to where they should have been.

And if it is found east of the peninsula in the South China Sea, the chances of discovering what brought it down are far greater, he said.

The waters are not very deep and in places are shallower than the plane is long, making the recovery of the black box data more likely.

The Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca to the west of the peninsula are extremely deep.

Mr Gallo said: "I like to use the idea we are looking for the bits of needle in a pile of hay. Ideally that pile of hay would be very small.

"So you begin by having to know the place on the ocean where the plane, if it did, impact. Where the X marks the spot.

"The way to get to that is by having the last known position, but then by finding bits of floating wreckage that are on the sea being moved around by currents, waves, and winds, and then you can backtrack those using very sophisticated models to find out where they came from, best guess, and then around there you design your search pattern.

"It's all detective work. All step-by-step very methodical, and very slow, but very precise."

He added: "You have to have several ingredients to guarantee success. You have got to have the right people on the job, the right team.

"You need to have the best instruments available - robots, sonar submarines, ships. You need to have a game plan.

"It's almost like a symphony orchestra. You need to have not just the musicians and musical instruments, but you also need to have the conductor with his music.

"When that baton comes down that team needs to play as one.

"This is tortuous for the families. The only way to know what happened, there are no witnesses, is to find those two black boxes, and hopefully the information will be there."

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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No Missing Plane Wreckage At 'Debris Site'

Missing Plane: 13 Things You Need To Know

Updated: 7:33am UK, Thursday 13 March 2014

As the search for Flight MH370 continues, we answer 13 questions about the disappearance and what could have happened.

When did the plane disappear?

Flight MH370 vanished from radars early on Saturday local time, an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. When it last made contact, the jet was cruising at 35,000 feet over the South China Sea.

There are reports that the plane tried to turn around, but this would give rise to the question why didn't the pilot communicate this decision to air traffic control? Meanwhile, at an undisclosed time a relative reportedly managed to call one of the passengers. Investigators have repeatedly tried to call the same number without success.

Who was on board?

The plane's manifest contained 12 crew members from Malaysia and 227 passengers from 14 different countries.

There were 153 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans, two each from Iran (both travelling on fake passports), New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada, and one each from Russia, Taiwan and The Netherlands.

Among the passengers was a 19-strong group of prominent artists returning from an exhibition in Malaysia. Five children - aged two to four - were on board. The oldest person on the plane was 79.

What are the main theories?

Mechanical error remains the most likely explanation. Poor conditions and strong turbulence always have to be considered, but weather conditions were good in this instance. Four areas of investigation are focused on the possibility of human involvement: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems or personal problems with passengers or crew.

Could there have been a mechanical error?

Inquiries into Air France Flight 447 that dived into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 en route from Brazil to Paris, killing 228 people, blamed both technical and human error.

However, in the event of engine failure, a plane such as the Boeing 777-200 could glide for 80-90 miles (128-145km), giving the pilot time to issue a distress signal. The descent would also have been traced by radars. The lack of any Mayday call makes an explosion a possibility.

Could the plane have broken up in the air?

The apparent lack of wreckage from MH370 does point to a high-altitude disaster. In such an event the debris would be spread far and wide, making it difficult to find.

A smaller debris field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up on impact with the water. In the event of a sudden loss of pressure due to a window blowing out the crew would dive the plane in order to lose altitude - but this would not cause the plane to disintegrate.

How about the plane's safety record?

Sudden, accidental, structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft. This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

One of the missing plane's wingtips was clipped in an incident while taxiing in 2012, but it was repaired and certified as safe.

Could it have been a terrorist attack or hijacking?

In the event of a hijacker trying to enter the cockpit, a pilot can send a secret distress code - something that wasn't done on Flight MH370.

The profiles of all 239 passengers are being checked against databases worldwide, but the terrorism theory was weakened on Tuesday when Malaysian police confirmed it had identified the two passengers who were travelling on fake passports. Both were said to be seeking asylum in Europe.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster - but no one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Human error?

The 53-year-old pilot was experienced, having amassed more than 18,000 flying hours since being employed by the airline in 1981.

However, in Indonesia in 2007, Adam Air Flight 574 disappeared with 102 passengers during a domestic flight, where the authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

Former naval pilot Dr Simon Mitchell told Sky News: "We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made."

Why was there no distress signal?

One explanation is that the plane fell into a communications black spot. Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer explained: "These are very sophisticated (items of) equipment that should have been working under any conditions - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you cannot communicate for some reason. Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots."

Where is the search taking place?

A number of aircraft and ships have been taking part in the search in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia. Search teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, New Zealand and the US are assisting.

Officials said on Tuesday that the search was being conducted on both sides of Vietnam's Ca Mau peninsula. The search area has been expanded from 50 nautical miles from where the plane disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles (115 miles; 185km).

This expansion was a result of a new report from the Malaysian military, which said it tracked the plane in the Strait of Malacca - a long distance from where it last made contact - in the hours following its disappearance.

Why has no wreckage been found?

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find. It took two years to find the main wreckage of Air France Flight 447 in 2009.

In 2007, in the case of the Adam Air flight, it was a week before an Indonesian naval vessel detected metal on the ocean floor. It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

If the plane had crashed on land, chances are the wreckage would have been found by now. At sea, much of the plane would have sunk, but some debris should remain on the surface. But the longer the search takes the harder it becomes as the wind and tide spread any debris further from the initial crash zone.

Could the flight data recorder provide answers?

As well as wreckage, search teams are looking for the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) - though these do not always work if a plane hits water. However, attached to the plane's "black box" is a device known as a pinger. This can emit radio signals deep underwater for up to 30 days - or 40 days in warm water.

Has a plane ever simply vanished?

Since the start of the jet age in the 1950s, nearly every major aircraft that disappeared was found - eventually - and the rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 plunged into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel. The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

Another Boeing 727 transporting diesel to diamond mines in Africa took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Flights Delayed And Cancelled Amid Thick Fog

Cancellations And Delays At Airports

Updated: 8:29am UK, Thursday 13 March 2014

A number of flights have been cancelled at London City Airport and there have been delays at Southampton Airport as thick fog envelopes parts of the UK.

London City Airport

Arrivals

LX 484  SWISS (BSL) Basel, Switzerland/Mulhouse  7:00 AM  Cancelled

LX 484  SWISS (BSL) Basel, Switzerland/Mulhouse  7:00 AM  Cancelled

VG 5070  Cityjet (RTM) Rotterdam  7:05 AM  Cancelled

AF 5070  Air France (RTM) Rotterdam  7:05 AM  Cancelled

KL 2471  KLM (RTM) Rotterdam  7:05 AM  Cancelled

T3 3270  Eastern Airways (DUS) Dusseldorf  7:05 AM  Cancelled

BA 3270  British Airways (DUS) Dusseldorf  7:05 AM  Cancelled

LX 442  SWISS (GVA) Geneva  7:20 AM  Cancelled

LX 442  SWISS (GVA) Geneva  7:20 AM  Cancelled

CJ 8450   BA CityFlyer  (AMS) Amsterdam  7:20 AM  Cancelled

BA 8450  British Airways (AMS) Amsterdam  7:20 AM  Cancelled

CL 926  Lufthansa CityLine  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:30 AM  Cancelled

LH 926   Lufthansa  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:30 AM  Cancelled

NH 6235  ANA  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:30 AM  Cancelled

US 5890   US Airways  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:30 AM  Cancelled

CJ 8731  BA CityFlyer  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:35 AM  Cancelled

BA 8731  British Airways  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:35 AM  Cancelled

AB 5089  airberlin  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:35 AM  Cancelled

CL 926  Lufthansa CityLine  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:30 AM  Cancelled

LH 926   Lufthansa  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:30 AM  Cancelled

US 5890   US Airways  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:30 AM  Cancelled

CJ 8731  BA CityFlyer  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:35 AM  Cancelled

BA 8731   British Airways  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:35 AM  Cancelled

AB 5089   airberlin  (FRA) Frankfurt  7:35 AM  Cancelled

LX 450  SWISS  (ZRH) Zurich  8:05 AM  Cancelled

LX 450   SWISS  (ZRH) Zurich  8:05 AM  Cancelled

CJ 3291  BA CityFlyer  (ABZ) Aberdeen  8:20 AM  Cancelled

BA 3291   British Airways  (ABZ) Aberdeen  8:20 AM  Cancelled

Departures

LX 451  SWISS  (ZRH) Zurich  7:30 AM  Cancelled

LX 451   SWISS  (ZRH) Zurich  7:30 AM  Cancelled

VG 5071  Cityjet  (RTM) Rotterdam  7:35 AM  Cancelled

AF 5071   Air France  (RTM) Rotterdam  7:35 AM  Cancelled

KL 2470   KLM  (RTM) Rotterdam  7:35 AM  Cancelled

LX 443  SWISS  (GVA) Geneva  7:50 AM  Cancelled

LX 443   SWISS  (GVA) Geneva  7:50 AM  Cancelled

UA 7751   United Airlines  (GVA) Geneva  7:50 AM  Cancelled

CJ 8732  BA CityFlyer  (FRA) Frankfurt  8:05 AM  Cancelled

BA 8732   British Airways  (FRA) Frankfurt  8:05 AM  Cancelled

AB 5088   airberlin  (FRA) Frankfurt  8:05 AM  Cancelled

LX 485  SWISS  (BSL) Basel, Switzerland/Mulhouse  8:35 AM  Cancelled

LX 485   SWISS  (BSL) Basel, Switzerland/Mulhouse  8:35 AM  Cancelled

Southampton Airport

Arrivals

BE616  Guernsey 07:50 Delayed

AF6455  Guernsey 07:50 Delayed

T34700  Leeds 07:50 Delayed

BE228  Jersey 07:55 Delayed

SI234  Guernsey 08:00 Delayed

SI642  Jersey 08:05 Delayed

BE760  Edinburgh 08:10 Delayed

BE881  Glasgow 08:15 Delayed

GR501 Alderney 09:05  Delayed

BE862 Manchester 09:55 Cancelled

EY7884 Manchester 09:55 Cancelled

BE383 Dublin 10:00  Delayed

BE1012 Amsterdam 10:20 Delayed

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pistorius In Court For Day Nine Of Trial

Pistorius Trial Focuses On Police

Updated: 4:40am UK, Thursday 13 March 2014

By Emma Hurd, Sky Correspondent

As attention shifts to forensic evidence in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius, the performance of the South African police is under scrutiny, with allegations that officers made serious mistakes.

The athlete's lawyers have produced photos which appear to show that the crime scene was not properly preserved and even marked with a footprint from an officer's shoe. 

If the defence can prove their assertion that the police "contaminated and tampered with" the scene, it will damage the prosecution's assertion that Pistorius murdered Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius' legal team is expected to chip away further at the credibility of the prosecution case when the trial restarts at 7.30am on Thursday.

The focus has been on the toilet door, through which Pistorius fired the four bullets which killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, later claiming to have mistaken her for an intruder.

The actual door was brought into the court as Colonel Johannes Vermeulen, a police forensic analyst, said he had examined the damage caused when the athlete bashed through it with a cricket bat to reach his girlfriend after the shooting. 

He demonstrated the swinging of the bat against the door and said he concluded that Pistorius was on his stumps - not wearing his prosthetic legs - both when he fired his gun and when he smashed the door down.

But the athlete claims he had rushed to put on his false legs before he broke down the door after realising that Reeva could be behind it.

The defence was quick to try to show that the height of the marks could be consistent with Oscar Pistorius's version of events. 

:: A special Sky News highlights programme will be broadcast every weekday at 9.30pm.

Then things became more uncomfortable for Colonel Vermeulen, as he was forced to admit that he had not done any tests on the door to establish if the athlete had first tried to kick it down with his prosthetics, even though the police knew that was Pistorius' account. 

The forensic analyst had also not examined wooden splinters from the door - claiming not to had access to them - but a police photo clearly showed them next to the door when Colonel Vermeulen first examined.

More damaging still was another photo produced by defence advocate Barry Roux, showing a footprint - apparently from a police officer's shoe - on the door that was meant to have been so carefully preserved. 

Other photos were shown by the defence documenting further marks that had appeared on the door in the time it was in the custody of the police.

Colonel Vermeulen was unable to explain any of them.

The performance of the police in the case was the subject of controversy early on in the investigation when it emerged that the lead detective, Hilton Botha, did not follow procedures and was facing charges of manslaughter.

Detective Botha was swiftly replaced.

It was clear that the allegations of police "bungling" would play a part in the trial but we now know that the defence has amassed evidence to back up those claims. 

Further police witnesses might clarify the apparent errors, but it does not bode well for the prosecution - or the reputation of the South African Police Service - that the first representative from the force had such a tough time in the witness box.

:: Watch day nine of the trial from 7.30am on Sky News live on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Flight MH370: 13 Things You Need To Know

As the search for Flight MH370 continues, we answer 13 questions about the disappearance and what could have happened.

When did the plane disappear?

Flight MH370 vanished from radars early on Saturday, an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. When it last made contact, the jet was cruising at 35,000 feet over the South China Sea. There are reports that the plane tried to turn around but this would give rise to the question: why didn't the pilot communicate this decision to air traffic control? Meanwhile, at an undisclosed time a relative reportedly managed to call one of the passengers. Investigators have repeatedly tried to call the same number without success.

:: Sky News will be showing a 12-minute special report on the story so far of the missing flight MH370 at 2.30pm.

Who was on board?

The plane's manifest contained 12 crew from Malaysia and 227 passengers from 14 different countries: 153 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans, two each from Iran (both travelling on fake passports), New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada, and 1 each from Russia, Taiwan and Netherlands. Among the passengers was a 19-strong group of prominent artists returning from an exhibition in Malaysia. It is also known that five children - aged two to four - were on board. The oldest person on the plane was 79.

The route the plane took

What are the main theories?

Mechanical error remains the most likely explanation. Poor conditions and strong turbulence always have to be considered, but weather conditions were good in this instance. Four areas of investigation are focused on the possibility of human involvement: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems or personal problems with passengers or crew.

Could there have been a mechanical error?

Inquiries into Air France flight 447 that dived into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 en route from Brazil to Paris, killing 228 people, blamed both technical and human error. However, in the event of engine failure, a plane such as the Boeing 777-200 could glide for 80-90 miles (128-145km), giving the pilot time to issue a distress signal. The descent would also have been traced by radars. The lack of any Mayday makes an explosion a possibility.

Could the plane have broken up in the air?

The apparent lack of wreckage from MH370 does point to a high-altitude disaster. In such an event the debris would be spread far and wide, making it difficult to find. A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up on impact with the water. In the event of a sudden loss of pressure due to a window blowing out the crew would dive the plane in order to lose altitude - but this would not cause the plane to disintegrate.

The Boeing 777-200 has an excellent safety record

The plane's safety record?

Sudden, accidental, structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft. This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet. One of the missing plane's wingtips was clipped in an incident while taxiing in 2012 but it was repaired and certified as safe.

Could it have been a terrorist attack or hijacking?

In the event of a hijacker trying to enter the cockpit, a pilot can send a secret distress code - something that wasn't done on Flight MH370. The profiles of all 239 passengers are being checked against databases worldwide but the terrorism theory was weakened on Tuesday when Malaysian police confirmed it had identified the two passengers who were travelling on fake passports. Both were said to be seeking asylum in Europe. In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster - but no one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

The two men who boarded the plane with fake passports

Human error?

The 53-year-old pilot was very experienced, having amassed more than 18,000 flying hours since being employed by the airline in 1981. However, in Indonesia in 2007, Adam Air flight 574 disappeared with 102 passengers during a domestic flight, where the authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment. Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell told Sky News: "We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made."

Why was there no distress signal?

One explanation is that the plane fell into a communications black spot. Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer explained: "These are very sophisticated (items of) equipment that should have been working under any conditions - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet. There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you cannot communicate for some reason. Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots."

The search area on either side of the Ca Mau peninsula

Where is the search taking place?

Nine aircraft and 24 ships are currently taking part in the search in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia. Search teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, New Zealand and the US are assisting. Officials said on Tuesday that the search was being conducted on both sides of Vietnam's Ca Mau peninsula. The search area has been expanded from 50 nautical miles from where the plane disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles (115 miles; 185km). This expansion was a result of a new report from the Malaysian military, who say they tracked the plane in the Strait of Malacca - a long distance from where it last made contact - in the hours following its disappearance.

Why has no wreckage been found?

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find. It took two years to find the main wreckage of Air France flight 447 in 2009.  In 2007, in the case of the Adam Air flight, it was a week before an Indonesian naval vessel detected metal on the ocean floor. It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders and seven months for the recorder to be recovered. If the plane had crashed on land, chances are the wreckage would have been found by now. At sea, much of the plane would have sunk, but some debris should remain on the surface. Worryingly, the longer the search takes the harder it becomes as the wind and tide spread any debris further from the initial crash zone.

Search teams are looking for the 'black box'

Could the 'black box' provide answers?

As well as wreckage, search teams are looking for the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) - though these do not always work if a plane hits water. However, attached to the plane's black box is a device known as a pinger. This can emit radio signals deep under water for up to 30 days - or 40 days in warm water.

Has a plane ever simply vanished?

Since the start of the jet age in the 1950s, nearly every major aircraft that disappeared was found - eventually - and the rare exceptions did not involve passengers. In September 1990, a Boeing 727 plunged into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel. The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered. Another Boeing 727 transporting diesel to diamond mines in Africa took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malaysia Airlines Investigates Missing Co-Pilot

Missing Plane: 13 Things You Need To Know

Updated: 10:52pm UK, Tuesday 11 March 2014

As the search for Flight MH370 continues, we answer 13 questions about the disappearance and what could have happened.

When did the plane disappear?

Flight MH370 vanished from radars early on Saturday, an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. When it last made contact, the jet was cruising at 35,000 feet over the South China Sea. There are reports that the plane tried to turn around but this would give rise to the question: why didn't the pilot communicate this decision to air traffic control? Meanwhile, at an undisclosed time a relative reportedly managed to call one of the passengers. Investigators have repeatedly tried to call the same number without success.

:: Sky News will be showing a 12-minute special report on the story so far of the missing flight MH370 at 2.30pm.

Who was on board?

The plane's manifest contained 12 crew from Malaysia and 227 passengers from 14 different countries: 153 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans, two each from Iran (both travelling on fake passports), New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada, and 1 each from Russia, Taiwan and Netherlands. Among the passengers was a 19-strong group of prominent artists returning from an exhibition in Malaysia. It is also known that five children - aged two to four - were on board. The oldest person on the plane was 79.

What are the main theories?

Mechanical error remains the most likely explanation. Poor conditions and strong turbulence always have to be considered, but weather conditions were good in this instance. Four areas of investigation are focused on the possibility of human involvement: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems or personal problems with passengers or crew.

Could there have been a mechanical error?

Inquiries into Air France flight 447 that dived into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 en route from Brazil to Paris, killing 228 people, blamed both technical and human error. However, in the event of engine failure, a plane such as the Boeing 777-200 could glide for 80-90 miles (128-145km), giving the pilot time to issue a distress signal. The descent would also have been traced by radars. The lack of any Mayday makes an explosion a possibility.

Could the plane have broken up in the air?

The apparent lack of wreckage from MH370 does point to a high-altitude disaster. In such an event the debris would be spread far and wide, making it difficult to find. A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up on impact with the water. In the event of a sudden loss of pressure due to a window blowing out the crew would dive the plane in order to lose altitude - but this would not cause the plane to disintegrate.

The plane's safety record?

Sudden, accidental, structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft. This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet. One of the missing plane's wingtips was clipped in an incident while taxiing in 2012 but it was repaired and certified as safe.

Could it have been a terrorist attack or hijacking?

In the event of a hijacker trying to enter the cockpit, a pilot can send a secret distress code - something that wasn't done on Flight MH370. The profiles of all 239 passengers are being checked against databases worldwide but the terrorism theory was weakened on Tuesday when Malaysian police confirmed it had identified the two passengers who were travelling on fake passports. Both were said to be seeking asylum in Europe. In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster - but no one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Human error?

The 53-year-old pilot was very experienced, having amassed more than 18,000 flying hours since being employed by the airline in 1981. However, in Indonesia in 2007, Adam Air flight 574 disappeared with 102 passengers during a domestic flight, where the authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment. Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell told Sky News: "We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made."

Why was there no distress signal?

One explanation is that the plane fell into a communications black spot. Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer explained: "These are very sophisticated (items of) equipment that should have been working under any conditions - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet. There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you cannot communicate for some reason. Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots."

Where is the search taking place?

Nine aircraft and 24 ships are currently taking part in the search in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia. Search teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, New Zealand and the US are assisting. Officials said on Tuesday that the search was being conducted on both sides of Vietnam's Ca Mau peninsula. The search area has been expanded from 50 nautical miles from where the plane disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles (115 miles; 185km). This expansion was a result of a new report from the Malaysian military, who say they tracked the plane in the Strait of Malacca - a long distance from where it last made contact - in the hours following its disappearance.

Why has no wreckage been found?

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find. It took two years to find the main wreckage of Air France flight 447 in 2009.  In 2007, in the case of the Adam Air flight, it was a week before an Indonesian naval vessel detected metal on the ocean floor. It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders and seven months for the recorder to be recovered. If the plane had crashed on land, chances are the wreckage would have been found by now. At sea, much of the plane would have sunk, but some debris should remain on the surface. Worryingly, the longer the search takes the harder it becomes as the wind and tide spread any debris further from the initial crash zone.

Could the 'black box' provide answers?

As well as wreckage, search teams are looking for the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) - though these do not always work if a plane hits water. However, attached to the plane's black box is a device known as a pinger. This can emit radio signals deep under water for up to 30 days - or 40 days in warm water.

Has a plane ever simply vanished?

Since the start of the jet age in the 1950s, nearly every major aircraft that disappeared was found - eventually - and the rare exceptions did not involve passengers. In September 1990, a Boeing 727 plunged into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel. The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered. Another Boeing 727 transporting diesel to diamond mines in Africa took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malaysia Airlines Mystery: China Steps Up Search

What Has Happened To Malaysia Airlines Plane?

Updated: 6:49am UK, Wednesday 12 March 2014

The missing Malaysia Airlines flight may be proving so hard to find because it could have vanished in an aviation "black spot", an expert has told Sky News.

:: For the latest on this story click here

Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer said it was "disturbing" that there had been no distress call from flight MH370's cockpit and that the plane's emergency locator transmitters had not sent any signals.

He said: "These are very sophisticated equipment that should have been working under any condition - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you can not communicate for some reason.

"Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots, so perhaps at that time there was no data transmission between the aircraft and the airline."

Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens early on Saturday about one hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

When it last made contact, the Malaysia Airlines jet was at cruising altitude, 11km (35,000 feet) above sea level, largely considered the safest part of a flight.

While there is still no confirmation that the Boeing 777-200 crashed, aviation experts have put forward possible causes of its disappearance including a terrorist attack, extreme turbulence, human error or even suicide.

The failure of the pilots to send a distress signal has given rise to speculation there was a sudden catastrophe - possibly caused by a mechanical failure or an explosion.

Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell has told Sky News that despite flying becoming safer over the years, mistakes are still made.

"We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made," he said.

Investigations into Air France flight 447 that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people, eventually concluded that both technical and human error were to blame for the disaster.

Closer to the area where MH370 vanished, Adam Air flight 574 with 102 people on board disappeared in January 2007, also at its cruise phase, during a domestic flight in Indonesia.

Authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

The lack of wreckage from MH370 also suggests a high-altitude disaster which spread debris across an area too wide to be easily detected.

Aviation experts say the size of the debris field will be one of the first indicators of what happened.

A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up upon impact with the water.

A large, widespread field would signal the plane probably broke apart at a high elevation, perhaps because of a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

But sudden, accidental structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft.

This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

Authorities have not ruled out terrorism or hijacking, though, with suspicions over two of the passengers found to be travelling on stolen passports.

"There are two categories of people who use these (stolen passports) - criminals and terrorists," Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, there was substantial wreckage despite it being a mid-air explosion, and claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster.

But no-one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find.

It took two years to find the main wreckage of the Air France plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people.

An Indonesian navy ship detected metal on the ocean floor a week after the Adam Air flight disappeared in 2007.

It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders, and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

The Malaysian jet could have made a U-turn shortly before it vanished, officials say, adding one more level of uncertainty to the effort to find it.

It is thought the plane could be hundreds of miles from where it was last detected, and the search has been widened in the hope of finding the plane.

Just about every major jet to disappear in the modern era has eventually been found. The rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 owned by the Peruvian Faucett Airlines ditched into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel on its way to Miami.

The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

More mysterious was the disappearance of another Boeing 727 being used to transport diesel fuel to diamond mines in Africa.

The owners had numerous financial problems and the plane took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

One theory, never proven, is that it was stolen so the owner could collect insurance.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malaysia Airlines Plane: What Has Happened?

The missing Malaysia Airlines flight may be proving so hard to find because it could have vanished in an aviation "black spot", an expert has told Sky News.

Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer said it was "disturbing" that there had been no distress call from flight MH370's cockpit and that the plane's emergency locator transmitters had not sent any signals.

He said: "These are very sophisticated equipment that should have been working under any condition - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you can not communicate for some reason.

"Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots, so perhaps at that time there was no data transmission between the aircraft and the airline."

Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens early on Saturday about one hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

When it last made contact, the Malaysia Airlines jet was at cruising altitude, 11km (35,000 feet) above sea level, largely considered the safest part of a flight.

Wreckage of Air France flight 447 is discovered after the crash

While there is still no confirmation that the Boeing 777-200 crashed, aviation experts have put forward possible causes of its disappearance including a terrorist attack, extreme turbulence, human error or even suicide.

The failure of the pilots to send a distress signal has given rise to speculation there was a sudden catastrophe - possibly caused by a mechanical failure or an explosion.

Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell has told Sky News that despite flying becoming safer over the years, mistakes are still made.

"We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made," he said.

Investigations into Air France flight 447 that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people, eventually concluded that both technical and human error were to blame for the disaster.

Authorities have extended the search area for the plane

Closer to the area where MH370 vanished, Adam Air flight 574 with 102 people on board disappeared in January 2007, also at its cruise phase, during a domestic flight in Indonesia.

Authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

The lack of wreckage from MH370 also suggests a high-altitude disaster which spread debris across an area too wide to be easily detected.

Aviation experts say the size of the debris field will be one of the first indicators of what happened.

A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up upon impact with the water.

A large, widespread field would signal the plane probably broke apart at a high elevation, perhaps because of a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

Authorities are now searching a 100-nautical mile area

But sudden, accidental structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft.

This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

Authorities have not ruled out terrorism or hijacking, though, with suspicions over two of the passengers found to be travelling on stolen passports.

"There are two categories of people who use these (stolen passports) - criminals and terrorists," Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, there was substantial wreckage despite it being a mid-air explosion, and claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster.

The Lockerbie bombing killed 270 people, including 11 on the ground

But no-one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find.

It took two years to find the main wreckage of the Air France plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people.

An Indonesian navy ship detected metal on the ocean floor a week after the Adam Air flight disappeared in 2007.

It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders, and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

An Indonesian fisherman holds up part of the Adam Air aircraft

The Malaysian jet could have made a U-turn shortly before it vanished, officials say, adding one more level of uncertainty to the effort to find it.

It is thought the plane could be hundreds of miles from where it was last detected, and the search has been widened in the hope of finding the plane.

Just about every major jet to disappear in the modern era has eventually been found. The rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 owned by the Peruvian Faucett Airlines ditched into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel on its way to Miami.

The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

More mysterious was the disappearance of another Boeing 727 being used to transport diesel fuel to diamond mines in Africa.

The owners had numerous financial problems and the plane took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

One theory, never proven, is that it was stolen so the owner could collect insurance.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pistorius Murder Trial: Pathologist Gives Evidence

The pathologist who conducted a post-mortem examination on Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend is continuing to give his evidence at the athelete's murder trial.

Pistorius arrived at court earlier for a seventh day on trial for murdering Reeva Steenkamp last year on Valentine's Day.

The double-amputee Olympian, who denies the charge, faces another difficult day at North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria as Professor Gert Saayman resumed his testimony about the injuries Ms Steenkamp suffered when she was shot.

Pistorius vomited and retched in court as Prof Saayman gave graphic details of a post-mortem examination he carried out on the model during his first day of evidence.

A live broadcast of the trial has been cut - following a request from the prosecution on behalf of Prof Saayman - because his evidence is too "graphic".

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the move was needed to "respect the decency" of Ms Steenkamp and her family and friends.

However, Judge Matilda Masipa today ruled tweeting on the pathologist's testimony was allowed, which had been banned.

Prof Saayman told the court Ms Steenkamp was shot three times - in the head, hip and arm - and that she could have screamed after being shot in the head.

The court also heard her last meal was consumed about two hours before her death.

Cross-examined by defence barrister Barry Roux over the size and timing of her meal, Prof Saayman admitted he was not "an expert in this field" but his conclusions were based on scientific probability.

More follows...

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Missing Malaysia Jet Suspect 'Not Terrorist'

What Has Happened To Malaysia Airlines Plane?

Updated: 7:50am UK, Tuesday 11 March 2014

The missing Malaysia Airlines flight may be proving so hard to find because it could have vanished in an aviation "black spot", an expert has told Sky News.

Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer said it was "disturbing" that there had been no distress call from flight MH370's cockpit and that the plane's emergency locator transmitters had not sent any signals.

He said: "These are very sophisticated equipment that should have been working under any condition - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you can not communicate for some reason.

"Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots, so perhaps at that time there was no data transmission between the aircraft and the airline."

Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens early on Saturday about one hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

When it last made contact, the Malaysia Airlines jet was at cruising altitude, 11km (35,000 feet) above sea level, largely considered the safest part of a flight.

While there is still no confirmation that the Boeing 777-200 crashed, aviation experts have put forward possible causes of its disappearance including a terrorist attack, extreme turbulence, human error or even suicide.

The failure of the pilots to send a distress signal has given rise to speculation there was a sudden catastrophe - possibly caused by a mechanical failure or an explosion.

Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell has told Sky News that despite flying becoming safer over the years, mistakes are still made.

"We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made," he said.

Investigations into Air France flight 447 that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people, eventually concluded that both technical and human error were to blame for the disaster.

Closer to the area where MH370 vanished, Adam Air flight 574 with 102 people on board disappeared in January 2007, also at its cruise phase, during a domestic flight in Indonesia.

Authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

The lack of wreckage from MH370 also suggests a high-altitude disaster which spread debris across an area too wide to be easily detected.

Aviation experts say the size of the debris field will be one of the first indicators of what happened.

A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up upon impact with the water.

A large, widespread field would signal the plane probably broke apart at a high elevation, perhaps because of a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

But sudden, accidental structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft.

This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

Authorities have not ruled out terrorism or hijacking, though, with suspicions over two of the passengers found to be travelling on stolen passports.

"There are two categories of people who use these (stolen passports) - criminals and terrorists," Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, there was substantial wreckage despite it being a mid-air explosion, and claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster.

But no-one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find.

It took two years to find the main wreckage of the Air France plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people.

An Indonesian navy ship detected metal on the ocean floor a week after the Adam Air flight disappeared in 2007.

It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders, and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

The Malaysian jet could have made a U-turn shortly before it vanished, officials say, adding one more level of uncertainty to the effort to find it.

It is thought the plane could be hundreds of miles from where it was last detected, and the search has been widened in the hope of finding the plane.

Just about every major jet to disappear in the modern era has eventually been found. The rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 owned by the Peruvian Faucett Airlines ditched into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel on its way to Miami.

The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

More mysterious was the disappearance of another Boeing 727 being used to transport diesel fuel to diamond mines in Africa.

The owners had numerous financial problems and the plane took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

One theory, never proven, is that it was stolen so the owner could collect insurance.

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Missing Malaysia Plane: Families Want 'Truth'

Relatives of some of the 239 passengers on board a missing Malaysia Airlines plane have demanded officials tell "the truth" about what happened.

They are still waiting for news about their loved ones, more than two days after the Boeing 777-200 vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Most of the passengers were from China and Malaysia, with a handful from America, Australia, India, France, Indonesia, Ukraine and other countries.

Paul Weeks, seen with wife Danica and son Lincoln in 2010, was on the plane

A group of 50 Chinese families have signed a statement, demanding Malaysia Airlines "publicise the truth about the event" and urging the Chinese government to pay more attention to the case and help solve it.

They also want Beijing "to assign its officials to coordinate with the family members of the passengers of the missing flight and take unified action in negotiating with the Malaysian side".

Some relatives plan to travel to Kuala Lumpur to search for information but others do not want to travel.

Some relatives have been upset at the lack of information from the airline

Wang Aihua, the mother of Cheng Xudong, who was on the missing plane, said: "Of course I am not going to get a passport. What for? To go to Malaysia to do what? To stare at the sea?"

A Malaysia Airlines spokesman has said the families should "expect the worst" as a huge search operation involving seven countries continues in the Gulf of Thailand, between Vietnam and Malaysia.

Daniel Liau, a colleague of acclaimed Chinese calligrapher Meng Gaosheng, who was on the flight with 18 other artists, six family members and four staff, said: "I can only pray for a miracle."

Tearful families in Beijing have been told to expect the worst

"I feel very sad," he added. "Even though I knew them for a short time, they have become my friends."

For Australian grandparents Robert Lawton, 58, and his wife, Catherine, 54, the routine takeoff of flight MH370 was the beginning of another adventure.

"They mentioned in passing they were going on another big trip and they were really excited," one of their neighbours told ABC Australia.

A sand sculpture in India wishing for the well being of the passengers

Sharing their adventure was another Australian couple, Rodney and Mary Burrows.

Neighbour Don Stokes said the trip was to be the beginning of the "next step in their life."

Also on board were teenage sweethearts Hadrien Wattrelos, 17, and Zhao Yan, 18, students at a French school in Beijing who were returning from a two-week holiday with Hadrien's mother and younger sister.

A relative's picture of her stepbrother and his wife who were on the flight

Under Zhao's Facebook picture of her and Hadrien he had commented "Je t'aime" followed by a heart, and she had "liked" his comment.

While expecting the worst, colleagues of 50-year-old Indian passenger Chandrika Sharma remained optimistic.

"There must still be hope," said a colleague, before adding: "She was friendly and very loveable, very industrious and astute. We will miss her."

Some families have asked for more support from Beijing

For 24-year-old Firman Chandra Siregar from Indonesia, the flight was a new chapter. In Beijing, he was about to begin a new contract with an oil company.

Tearful relatives and neighbours gathered at his family's home, praying or watching news of the search operation, while at the same time realising there is little hope of him being found alive.

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'Turn Off Cameras' Say Pistorius Trial Lawyers

Pistorius Trial: Evidence Summary

Updated: 1:26pm UK, Friday 07 March 2014

A summary of the evidence heard in the first two days of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

Day Five

Prosecution witness Samantha Taylor, ex-girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius, broke down in court as she told how the athlete cheated on her with Reeva Steenkamp.

Miss Taylor also told the court how Pistorius once fired a gun out of the sunroof of a car after being stopped by police.

The star's ex-lover described how Pistorius would sometimes "scream at her" and often carried a gun with him.

The court was told how Pistorius once woke Ms Taylor fearing there was an intruder in the house and got up to investigate with his gun.

Security guard Pieter Baba described the moment he saw a distressed Pistorius carrying Reeva down the stairs.

The guard said that Pistorius assured him everything "is fine" after shots were reported. 

More evidence from Ms Taylor suggested that Pistorius once feared he was being followed and waved his gun at the suspect car until it drove off near his home.

Day Four

Prosecution witness Dr Johan Stipp told the court how he went to Oscar Pistorius' residence after hearing shots fired on the night Reeva Steenkamp was killed.

He said he saw Ms Steenkamp lying on her back and Pistorius by her side, frantically trying to resuscitate her.

It was clear Ms Steenkamp was mortally wounded, he said, and Pistorius was crying and praying that she'd survive. During his evidence, Pistorius broke down in the dock, sobbing as he held his head in his hands.

Earlier, Pistorius' defence team said it would have been "impossible" for neighbours to hear screams on the night Ms Steenkamp died.

Lawyer Barry Roux said neighbour Charl Peter Johnson's claim that he heard gunshots followed by a woman screaming was incorrect.

"You cannot hear it inside your house," he said. "At any distance, she was in a locked bathroom."

Mr Johnson also claimed to have heard five or six shots on the night of the killing. But Mr Roux pointed out that in his initial notes he wrote that he "did not count the number of shots fired".

Day Three

Mr Johnson's evidence continued, and he was repeatedly challenged by Mr Roux who at one point said: "You are saying all the evidence that your wife gave us yesterday."

Mr Johnson replied that it was not unusual for two people to use the same words when describing an incident.

He mentioned some notes that he'd taken after the shooting, which are on his laptop and iPad. He was asked to end his evidence for the day and come back the next day, so the defence team had the opportunity to view his notes.

Pistorius' friend Kevin Lerena was then called, who described an incident in January last year in which Pistorius allegedly discharged a firearm by mistake while eating with friends in a restaurant.

He said the athlete then asked his friend Darren Fresco to take the blame.

The owner of the restaurant, Jason Loupis, and his wife Maria, later confirmed the incident after taking the stand.

Mrs Loupis said there was a child nearby when Pistorius' gun went off in the restaurant.

Day Two

The evidence of Ms Burger continued.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux said her evidence had been influenced by media coverage of the shooting, but she denied this.

Mr Roux said that evidence later in the trial would show that Ms Steenkamp would not have been able to scream after the final shot hit her in the head.

Ms Burger stood by her initial statement that she heard Ms Steenkamp after the final shot.

Another neighbour then took the stand for a short time, before Ms Burger's husband gave his evidence.

He told how he thought Pistorius and Ms Steenkamp were being held up in their house and said he looked at additional security measures for his own home the next day.

He backed up his wife's evidence, saying he heard screams after the final shot.

Day One

The first witness, university lecturer Michelle Burger, took the stand.

She says she woke on the night of the killing to the sound of gunshots and a woman screaming.

She described hearing "bloodcurdling screams" and four shots.

She is a key witness for the prosecution, as her evidence would appear to contradict Pistorius' claims that he thought he was shooting at an intruder.

The defence argued she is unreliable due to alleged discrepancies between her police statement and court testimony.

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Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Remains Mystery

Investigators say a yellow object seen floating in the sea is not a life raft from the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared with 239 people on board.

Rescue helicopters and boats were sent to an area 90 miles southwest of Tho Chu island, 250 miles off the coast of southern Vietnam, after the crew of a plane reported seeing the object.

Investigators remain "puzzled" about the "unprecedented" disappearance of flight MH370, which went missing between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.

Investigators say Vietnam has not confirmed a possible plane door sighting

Security services from around the world are investigating whether the plane was hijacked or destroyed in a terror attack.

Earlier reports of objects, including an aircraft door, spotted floating in the sea have not been confirmed, while a possible sighting of a section of the plane's tail has been ruled out.

The search, which involves teams from seven countries, has been widened after radar suggested the plane may have turned back before it vanished.

Paul Weeks, seen with wife Danica and son Lincoln in 2010, was on the plane

Tests are also being carried out on oil from two slicks in the South China Sea, which may finally provide answers for relatives of those on board.

At least two passengers boarded the flight using stolen passports and additional "suspect" documents are being investigated by Interpol.

The men using the false passports - one issued in Italy and the other in Austria - bought their tickets together and were due to fly to Europe after landing in Beijing.

Spotter planes and ships are involved in the search for the missing flight

Officials are discussing whether images of the mystery passengers should be made public as part of an appeal for information.

Initial investigations suggest the plane disintegrated at about 35,000ft, according to the Reuters news agency.

Had the plane plunged into the sea and broken up on impact, search teams would have expected to find a concentrated pattern of debris, a source involved in the probe said.

Investigators have told relatives to 'prepare for the worst'

Relatives of those on the flight are enduring an agonising wait for information and anger is growing in China about the lack of progress with the investigation.

Nearly two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese and if the loss of the plane is confirmed, it would be the country's second-worst air disaster.

In a scathing editorial, the Global Times newspaper, which has links to the Chinese Communist Party, said: "The Malaysian side cannot shirk its responsibilities. The initial response from Malaysia was not swift enough.

"There are loopholes in the work of Malaysia Airlines and security authorities."

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Malaysia Airlines Plane: What Happened?

A "very sudden and very violent" event is likely to be responsible for the loss of the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, according to aviation experts.

The aircraft was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when air traffic control lost contact some two hours into the flight.

No distress calls were sent from the aircraft, leading experts to assume that whatever happened to the plane occurred quickly and left the pilots little time to respond.

"Either you had a catastrophic event that tore the airplane apart, or you had a criminal act," said Scott Hamilton, the managing director of aviation consultancy Leeham Co.

"It was so quick and they didn't radio."

The plane is suspected to have suffered a sudden break-up, or a failure which caused a steep dive. Some experts say an act of terrorism may also be responsible.

William Waldock, who teaches accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona, said the absence of a distress call "suggests something very sudden and very violent happened".

One of the first indicators of what exactly occurred on Flight MH370 will be the size of the debris field.

An information message at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang

If it is large and spread out over tens of miles, then the plane likely broke apart at a high elevation. That could signal a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

If it is a smaller field, the plane probably fell from 35,000 feet intact, breaking up upon contact with the water.

Captain John M Cox, the CEO of Safety Operating Systems, said whatever took place occurred very quickly.

"We know the airplane is down. Beyond that, we don't know a whole lot," he said.

Airplane crashes typically occur during take-off and the climb away from an airport, or while coming in for a landing.

Only 9% of fatal accidents happen when a plane is at cruising altitude, according to a statistical summary of commercial jet airplane accidents done by Boeing.

Aviation expert David Learmount told Sky News the Boeing 777-222 had an "absolutely superb" safety record.

"Aviation safety now is quite extraordinarily good. It's far better than it was 20-30 years ago - I mean massively better," he said.

"That's why things like this are so surprising. They just should not happen any longer."

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£140m Pothole Repair Fund After Winter Storms

By Tadhg Enright, Sky Correspondent

An extra £140m is being made available by Westminster to help local councils repair roads which have been battered by this winter's severe weather.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "Having the right infrastructure in place to support businesses and hardworking people is a crucial part of our long-term economic plan.

"This extra money will help make a real difference to the millions of road users and local residents who rely on local roads, giving them safer and smoother journeys."

Some £36.5m of the cash will be ring-fenced for councils which experienced the worst of the flooding and it brings the total amount of emergency government funding for these authorities to £80m.

All councils in England can apply for a share of the other £103.5m in additional funding to cover the cost of repairs after the wettest winter on record.

This winter has been England's wettest on record

Some of the most serious flooding was experienced in the Surrey County Council area where at least £15m - half its annual budget - has already been spent on repairing battered roads since Christmas.

Repair teams have been working at weekends to patch roads where a combination of rainwater and groundwater has caused more erosion than an average winter.

John Furey, Cabinet Member for Transport, Highways and Environment with Surrey County Council, told Sky News: "It's double the problem for this year. The reason is that it's been a continuous flooding situation, not something that happened and then we could deal with it. 

"The biggest problem has been the inspection times. We haven't been able to get in and look and see how much has needed to be done. 

"Now we're doing it. We've started the recovery stage. Now we're looking at what needs to be done and looking at what government is going to put into this."

Repair teams have been working at weekends to patch up roads

Surrey County Council will have to apply for extra financial help from the Government and its allocation will depend on the length of affected roads in its jurisdiction.

It does not expect its allocation to cover all the money spent on repairs and other budgets will have to be trimmed.

The Government intends to release the money by the end of this coming week and it hopes that councils will have completed repairs in time for the summer holidays.

Delays will cost motorists money too, as experienced by the increase in those seeking repairs to their cars at Reigate Motor Company.

The fund will be used for for fixing potholes and other dangers

The garage's director Simon Youthed told Sky News that business was particularly brisk and that potholes were to blame.

"We always see damaged cars at this time of year, but certainly the floods have had their effect on the roads, certainly in this area," he said.

"It's predominantly cars going through potholes, usually at speed, that often the drivers don't see. 

"One of the road wheels tends to go down into the pothole with force ... (and) that can either damage the wheel itself, it can damage the tyre, it can damage the suspension springs."

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