A satellite was able to pick up a ‘ping’ from the plane until 08:11 local time, more than seven hours after it lost radar contact, although it was unable to give a precise location. Mr Razak went on to say that based on this new data, investigators ‘have determined the plane’s last communication with a satellite was in one of two possible corridors – north from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan through to northern Thailand, and south from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean. If as suspected the plane was diverted into the Indian Ocean, the task of the search teams becomes more difficult, as there are hundreds of uninhabited islands and the water reaches depths of around 23,000ft. Countries in the plane’s potential flightpath have now joined a huge effort to locate the missing passengers, but China described the revelation as ‘painfully belated’. And FBI investigators say the disappearance of MH370 may have been ‘an act of piracy’ and that the possibility that its hundreds of passengers are being held at an unknown location has not been ruled out. Meanwhile, leading aviation lawyer James Healy–Pratt, who is helping relatives, said Malaysian Airlines had declined to buy Boeing’s Airplane Health Management system, which monitors systems in real time and could have alerted it to any potential problems, rather than having to recover a black box. ‘If the transponder was manually disabled then one can only hope that the black boxes were not also manually disabled,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, the truth will never be known.’ The revelations about Zaharie’s political affiliations are highly sensitive in a country where political dirty tricks are widespread. One of the investigation sources said: ‘We are looking into the theory that Zaharie’s political beliefs may be a factor. There are huge sensitivities surrounding this but we cannot afford not to pursue any angle brought to our attention.’ Separately, a police source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘I can confirm our investigations include the political and religious leanings of both pilots.’ Zaharie joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981. He became a captain about ten years later and has clocked up 18,360 hours of flying experience. Additional reporting: Ian Gallagher I GOUGED HIJACKERS EYE AND SAVED 398 - BY BA PILOT WHO RESCUED HIS PLANE 14 YEARS AGO By CAPTAIN BILL HAGAN A British Airways pilot who tackled a maniac on his packed jet reveals how the threat of hijack can spring from anywhere – and tells how the fate of Flight MH370 has brought details of his horrific encounter flooding back to him... Cockpit fight: Bill Hagan tackled a crazed student trying to crash a BA flight +11 Cockpit fight: Bill Hagan tackled a crazed student trying to crash a BA flight I was asleep in my bunk when I was jolted awake by the sudden lurching of the plane, British Airways flight BA 2069 from Gatwick to Kenya. I knew there was something seriously wrong but I thought maybe the aircraft had been damaged. It was only when I heard my co-pilot shouting for help and opened the door that I saw there was an intruder. He looked like a terrorist. I knew we were all in grave danger as he had seized the controls and we were plummeting at full speed towards the ground. If I had considered it necessary to kill him to save everyone else on board, I would have. My wife and two of my children were on the flight, as were singer Bryan Ferry and five members of the Goldsmith family. I didn’t speak – I just punched the man hard and managed to pull his body back just enough to make the plane pitch up from its dive. The week before I had been speaking to my young son about how to survive a shark attack, by sticking your finger in its eye, and that gave me the inspiration to do that to the intruder. After I had gouged his eye he came away from the controls to fight me, allowing the co-pilot to stabilise the aircraft. I shouted loudly for help and three male passengers rushed to my aid. They grabbed the hijacker – who I later learned was a 27-year-old mentally ill Kenyan student called Paul Kefa Mukonyi – and dragged him to the back of the plane and tied him up. If he had been at the controls for just a few extra seconds we could all have died. The plane stalled three times, nearly went upside down and was plummeting to the ground. While I was still catching my breath I made an announcement to reassure the 398 passengers on board that it was over. I forgot about any rule book and just said: ‘A bad man has tried to kill us all, but everything is fine now.’ The plight of the Malaysia Airlines flight has brought the horror of that day, December 29, 2000, flooding back to me. If there was an explosion, debris would have been spotted by now. I believe this must have been a deliberate and planned act. Pilots are encouraged to secure the safest outcome, which may well mean you comply with the demands of the hijackers. On long-haul flights a pilot will notify air traffic control of the aircraft’s exact location every 30 minutes. I would be asking the Malaysian authorities to check the voice of whoever made the last call from the plane to see if it was the pilot. I just hope there are answers soon, for the families who are facing this awful wait. Read more: dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2581817/Doomed-airliner-pilot-political-fanatic-Hours-taking-control-flight-MH370-attended-trial-jailed-opposition-leader-sodomite.html#ixzz2w6sZzK6n Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 07:50:52 +0000
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