Asia-Pacific

Final contact from missing Malaysia jet on spotlight

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Malaysia’s transport minister says “all right, good night” were the last words uttered from the cockpit of the missing Malaysian passenger jet after someone on board had already begun disabling one of the jet’s automatic tracking systems.

Hishammuddin Hussein made the remarks on Sunday, adding that both the timing and informal nature of the phrase could raise suspicions of hijacking or sabotage.

The words were exchanged with air traffic controllers as the plane with 239 people aboard was leaving Malaysia’s airspace on a flight to Beijing on March 8.

On Saturday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the passenger plane was deliberately diverted and flown for hours after disappearance from radar.

Investigators believed “with a high degree of certainty” that systems relaying the location of Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER to air traffic control were manually switched off before the plane changed its course to the west over the sea in a fashion “consistent with deliberate action,” the Malaysian premier said at a press conference in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The plane’s transponder was manually shut off and its Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was also switched off, Najib said.

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