How can we the Public Help find MH370

Around the world people are stunned after Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur carrying 239 people vanished just 50 minutes into the flight over the Gulf of Thailand. Millions of people think of the crew and passengers in their prayers thinking that’s the only thing they can do; but wait, there’s something else that we can do. Thanks to the advancement of technology and the vast ever expanding reach of the internet Digital Globe Inc. on Monday announced a crowdsourcing platform that will allow anyone to help look for the missing Boeing 777 by combing through satellite images for clues of its whereabouts.

According to IBTimes “The Longmont, Colo., company said two of its commercial satellites have already collected images comprising roughly 1,988 square miles at the confluence of the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, where the Beijing-bound aircraft mysteriously went missing on Saturday. The company is continuing to update the images to reflect new information about the search area provided by the Malaysian government.” 

Internet users can help in the search by visiting www.Tomnod.com, DigitalGlobe’s crowdsourcing arm, where volunteers can search through images and tag objects of interest. Users can tag objects using special icons that indicate possible rafts, oil slicks or pieces of airplane wreckage. The campaign has been deployed via DigitalGlobe’s emergency management service, FirstLook, and already has attracted a huge amount of interest. The service was down periodically on Tuesday as DigitalGlobe worked to handle what it called “an unprecedented level of Web traffic and interest in supporting the search.”

 The service is currently back up as people around the world contribute to the search of MH370. Stay tuned to www.itechnoblog.com for updates on the situation and don’t forget to post your comments and views below. This is Brandan Shamsher for iTechnoblog  hoping for the best.

Malaysia Airline looses a plane carrying 239 Passengers

AFP reports that a Malaysia Airlines flight headed from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing went missing this afternoon, having lost contact with air traffic control. The Boeing 777-200 is said to be carrying 239 passengers. According to the airline, Flight MH370 left Malaysia shortly after midnight local time, only to disappear a few hours later. It was meant to land in China at 6:30 Saturday morning local time.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft," said the airline in a prepared statement on Facebook. An image provided by FlightAware shows the craft last tracked in southern Asia:

Update 1: Malaysia Airlines issued a new statement online saying it is in the process of alerting the families and next-of-kin of the passengers aboard the lost flight.

Update 2: Malaysia Airlines vice president of operations control Fuad Sharuji appeared on CNN's AC360 earlier this evening to state, "At the moment we have no idea where this aircraft is right now." Chinese state television reports that there haven't been any reports of any aircraft crashing into Chinese waters. Meanwhile, state news agency Xinhua reported that radar contact was lost while the flight was in Vietnamese airspace.

Update 3: Malaysia Airlines has issued  a statement saying that rumours of the plane landing in China "ARE FALSE" the plane "IS STILL MISSING."

Regular updates will be provided about the fate of the aircraft and we all pray for the safety of the 239 passengers.

Developing... And updating Live

• Source AFP (Yahoo News)
• Image Credit Simon_sees (Flickr)