US Suspects Missing Malaysian Flight Flew for Hours after Last Confirmed Location
The search for a missing Malaysian airliner Thursday centered on two key leads: newly divulged radar data suggesting the aircraft veered hundreds of miles off course and images from a Chinese satellite of possible debris.
The two leads point in completely opposite geographical directions, reflecting the confusing and contradictory nature of the investigation as it stretches into a fifth day.
Complicating matters, US investigators said they believe the plane stayed in the air for four hours after its last confirmed location, according to the Wall Street Journal.
If true, it would mean the plane could have flown on for hundreds of additional miles. US aviation officials based their conclusions on data automatically downloaded and sent as part of a routine maintenance program in the Boeing 777’s engines, the Journal said.
But after days of frustration, early attention focused on the possibility offered by the tiny, grainy images from a Chinese satellite. Many officials cautioned the lack of immediate confirmation that the unidentified pieces were part of the plane’s wreckage.
By Thursday afternoon Malaysia’s aviation chief said no debris was found at the site and Vietnam officials said the area had been “searched thoroughly” by forces from other countries in recent days.
Malaysian authorities say they have vessels on the way to check out the site, according to news outlets, but their efforts will be significantly complicated by the fact that the images were taken way back on Sunday, the day after the plane disappeared.
China’s civil aviation chief, Li Jiaxiang, told reporters Wednesday morning that there was no confirmation the floating objects came from the missing aircraft.
Chinese officials did not explain why the information was not posted to the agency’s Web site until Wednesday, nor did it explain the poor quality of images.
Additional clues about the Chinese satellite effort existed in the archived statements of the second Chinese organization, CRESDA, an obscure center within the government that is in charge of satellite imagery.
Out of the 239 passengers onboard, 154 were from China or Taiwan, and China has received much criticism from its public in recent years for not doing enough to protect its citizens abroad.
China, which has expressed mounting frustration with the Malaysia-led investigation, had announced Monday night on its Defense Ministry Web site that it had deployed a total of 10 satellites to help in the search, purging them of their original commands.
Meanwhile, the new radar information divulged by Malaysia prompted its officials to ask India to join the search on the theory that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 might have flown west toward the Indian Ocean after it vanished from civilian air-traffic control systems at 1:30 am Saturday en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia’s defense minister and acting transport minister, said 42 ships and 39 aircraft were scouring more than 35,000 square miles to the east and west of the Malay Peninsula for the aircraft.
Malaysia’s air force chief, Gen. Rodzali Daud, said Wednesday an “unidentified plot” was seen on military radar intermittently for about 45 minutes after the plane disappeared. He said the radar trail ended at a point over the sea 200 miles northwest of Penang, on Malaysia’s west coast.
“It’s a plot. An unidentified plot,” Rodzali said. “I’m not saying it’s MH370.”
Malaysia’s uncertainty about the data largely explains why the search for evidence has been so chaotic. Authorities here still don’t know whether the plane carrying 227 passengers and nine crew members crashed soon after 1:30 a.m. or went on a ghost flight across the country and perhaps beyond.
The final words heard by air-traffic controllers from the cockpit before the plane vanished were “All right, good night,” relatives of the passengers were told Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. The routine transmission shed no light on what happened to the Boeing 777.
Malaysia is hoping for US assistance in determining whether the radar plot is that of Flight 370. On Wednesday, Malaysia shared both its civilian and military data with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Source: Alahednews
