Missing Malaysia plane: Search begins in two air corridors 17 March 2014 Last updated at 12:27 Searches have started in two vast air corridors for missing flight MH370, Malaysias transport minister has said. Malaysia says the plane was intentionally diverted and could have flown on either a northern or southern arc from its last known position. Twenty-six countries have now been asked to help find the jet, which disappeared over a week ago with 239 people on board. The airline believes the co-pilot spoke the final words to ground controllers. Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya also said it is not clear whether the last words from the cockpit - All right, good night - came before or after one of the planes tracking devices was switched off. Officials previously said they did not know who said those words, but the airline says it now believes it was co- pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid. Meanwhile, investigators are looking at a northern arc stretching from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, and a southern arc from Indonesia to the Indian Ocean. Today, I can confirm that search and rescue operations in the northern and southern corridors have already begun, the Malaysian Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, told a press conference on Monday. Australia is taking charge of the southern area search for the missing Malaysian plane. Over the past two days, we have been recalibrating the search for MH370, said Mr Hussein. It remains a significant diplomatic, technical and logistical challenge. Malaysia is encouraged by the progress made during such a short period of time. Police have searched the homes of Captain Zaharie Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27. A flight simulator taken from the captains home was being reassembled and examined at police headquarters, officials said. Friends of both pilots - who investigators say did not ask to fly together - have expressed disbelief at the possibility of their involvement. Investigators are also looking at passengers, engineers and other ground staff who may have had contact with the aircraft before take- off. The plane left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 00:40 local time (16:40 GMT) on 8 March. It disappeared off air traffic controllers screens at 01:21, when it was over the South China Sea. The Malaysian transport minister responded to speculation that the Malaysian authorities had withheld information, saying they had been open throughout the investigation. For the families, I understand that every day prolongs the anguish, he said. I understand because Malaysia, too, is missing its sons and daughters. Our priority has always been to find the aircraft. We would not withhold any information that could help. But we also have a responsibility not to release information until it has been verified by the international investigations team. CCTV images show the pilot and co- pilot going through security checks at Kuala Lumpur airport Countries including Australia, China, Indonesia and Kazakhstan have started searching the two corridors Passers-by read cards dedicated to passengers and crew of the missing plane in Kuala Lumpur Two thirds of the passengers were from China and the countrys state media has been criticising the Malaysian operation. Countries including Australia, China, Indonesia and Kazakhstan have started searching the two air corridors. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told parliament on Monday that he agreed to take the lead scouring the southern Indian Ocean for the ill- fated aircraft. He said Australia and had offered more surveillance resources as well as the two P-3C Orion aircraft his country had already committed. Meanwhile three French officials involved in the search for Air France flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which crashed in 2009, have also arrived in Malaysia to offer their expertise.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 14:37:56 +0000
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