Missing Malaysia airliner changed course Malaysias military says its radar detected the missing airliner alter direction and fly hundreds off km off course. Malaysias military believes a missing airliner turned and flew hundreds of kilometers to the west after it last made contact with air traffic control off the countrys east coast. Malaysias Berita Harian newspaper quoted air force Chief Rodzali Daud as saying military radar detected the plane near the island of Pulau Perak, at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca, flying about 1,000 metres lower than its previous altitude. A senior military officer, who has been briefed on investigations, told the Reuters news agency, “It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Strait of Malacca.” That change of direction and altitude would appear to rule out sudden catastrophic mechanical failure, as it would mean the plane flew around 500km, after its last contact with air traffic control. A non-military source familiar with the investigations said the report was one of several theories and was being checked. Malaysian authorities had previously said flight MH370 disappeared about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for the Chinese capital Beijing. At the time, it lost contact with civilian air traffic control, the plane was roughly midway between Malaysias east coast town of Kota Bharu and the southern tip of Vietnam, flying at 10,670 metres. On Monday, Malaysian authorities doubled the search radius to 185km around the point where Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappeared from radar over the South China Sea. “The biggest problem is just knowing where to look, especially at night,” Vo Van Tuan, a top Vietnamese military officer who is leading Vietnams search effort, told the AFP news agency. The total search sphere now includes land on the Malaysian peninsula itself, the waters off its west coast, and an area to the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Unlikely terror attack More than three days after the Boeing 777-200ER disappeared en route to Beijing, no trace of the plane or its 239 passengers and crew has been found in waters between Malaysia and Vietnam that have been scoured by more than 40 planes and ships from at least 10 nations. Police had earlier said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew on the plane had personal or psychological problems that might explain its disappearance, along with the possibility of a hijack. On Tuesday, Interpol said the disappearance of the plane was not likely to have been caused by a terrorist attack. The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it was not a terrorist incident, Ronald Noble, head of Interpol told reporters.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 15:54:31 +0000
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