Which would also make them probably not very bright, but explain why they had been using EU passports. :confused:

Yes both passports were stolen in Phuket and both tickets purchased in Pattaya.
A lot of passports are stolen in Thailand and there is an "underground" business selling them. Tourists gladly hand over their passports for renting something or even a guided tour ... and oops, lost.
While the two passports have been reported stolen at different times, they could very well have been purchased at the same time.

My guess is that your bad feeling is not going to get any better

The latest is that some airliner spotted a debris field SE of HCM City just off shore...

Al Jeezera was reporting that reports of debris off the Vietnam coast were false. Where did you get your information?

Anyone else a little concerned how this will impact our profession if it turns out to be terrorism? Even a catastrophic mechanical on the 777 could impact public's travel decisions.

MSNBC reporting that the search area has widened to included mainland Malaysia. Anyone else reporting that?

I'm not worried about it at all. American's are incredibly myopic. In fact, I'd argue that even though it's all over the news feeds, most Americans probably couldn't care less. It happened in a part of the world most don't even realize exists on an airline they've never heard of.

I don't know if it was brought up earlier, but the US Government said our satellites did not pick up any explosions in the region. So, unless terrorists managed to unscrew every bolt on the wings, it is highly unlikely it was a bomb. What else could cause a mid-air disintegration? If there was a catastrophic powerplant and electrical failure and trimmed in cruise flight, how likely is a 180 degree turn before completely losing control?

That just means they didn't see anything. It doesn't mean they would have for certain seen something if it had happened.

A high-resolution satellite would be able to see exactly what happened...if it was looking right at the airplane. Those satellites are in high-demand and probably focused on the middle east or somebody's military facilities, not open ocean.

The satellites best suited to that sort of thing would be the ones designed to detect strategic missile launches...they constantly cover large areas and look for thermal blooms (ballistic missiles but out a lot of heat on launch). I would think if the airplanes' fuel atomized and ignited in the air then such a satellite could have spotted it. But a small HE charge causing structural failure would not be enough to show up unless a lot fuel burned all at once.

Is that so? :rolleyes: