Planes disappearance deliberate: Malaysian leader tells reporters The missing Malaysian jetliner was deliberately diverted and continued flying for more than six hours after losing contact with the ground, meaning it could have gone as far northwest as Kazakhstan or into the Indian Oceans southern reaches, Malaysias leader said Saturday. Related Stories Malaysia says jets disappearance deliberate AFP Malaysia flight disappearance looking more like a sinister act Christian Science Monitor Foul Play on Flight 370, Malaysias Leader Says The Wall Street Journal Lost airliner was diverted deliberately: Malaysian PM Reuters Malaysia widens search for missing plane Associated Press Prime Minister Najib Razaks statement confirmed days of mounting speculation that the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 to Beijing more than a week ago was not accidental. It refocused the investigation into the flights crew and passengers, and underlined the massive task for searchers who already have been scouring vast areas of ocean. Clearly the search for MH370 has entered a new phase, Najib said at a televised news conference. Najib stressed that investigators were looking into all possibilities as to why the Boeing 777 deviated so drastically from its original flight path, saying authorities could not confirm whether it was a hijacking. Earlier Saturday, a Malaysian official said the plane had been hijacked, though he added that no motive had been established and no demands had been made known. In view of this latest development, the Malaysian authorities have refocused their investigation into the crew and passengers on board, Najib told reporters, reading from a written statement but not taking any questions. Police on Saturday went to the Kuala Lumpur homes of both the pilot and co-pilot of the missing plane, according to a guard and several local reporters. Authorities have said they will investigate the pilots as part of their probe, but have released no information about how they are progressing. Malaysia Prime Minister: Deliberate Act … Play video Malaysia Prime Minister: 'Deliberate Act' Used … Experts have previously said that whoever disabled the planes communication systems and then flew the jet must have had a high degree of technical knowledge and flying experience. One possibility they have raised was that one of the pilots wanted to commit suicide. The plane was carrying 239 people when it departed for an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing at 12:40 a.m. on March 8. Its communications with civilian air controllers were severed at about 1:20 a.m., and the jet went missing — heralding one of the most puzzling mysteries in modern aviation history. China, where the bulk of the passengers were from, expressed irritation over what it described as Malaysias foot-dragging in releasing information about the search. Investigators now have a high degree of certainty that one of the planes communications systems — the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System — was disabled before the aircraft reached the east coast of Malaysia, Najib said. Shortly afterward, someone on board switched off the aircrafts transponder, which communicates with civilian air traffic controllers. Najib confirmed that Malaysian air force defense radar picked up traces of the plane turning back westward, crossing over Peninsular Malaysia into the northern stretches of the Strait of Malacca. Authorities previously had said this radar data could not be verified. View gallery Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives … Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Mosq … These movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane, Najib said. Although the aircraft was flying virtually blind to air traffic controllers at this point, onboard equipment continued to send pings to satellites. The prime minister said the last confirmed signal between the plane and a satellite came at 8:11 a.m. — 7 hours and 31 minutes after takeoff. This was more than five hours later than the previous time given by Malaysian authorities as the possible last contact. Airline officials have said the plane had enough fuel to fly for up to about eight hours. The investigations team is making further calculations which will indicate how far the aircraft may have flown after this last point of contact, Najib said. View gallery A man walks out of a room reserved for relatives of … A man walks out of a room reserved for relatives of Chinese passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airli … He said authorities had determined that the planes last communication with a satellite was in one of two possible corridors — a northern one from northern Thailand through to the border of the Central Asian countries Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and a southern one from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean. The northern route might have taken the plane through China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan — which hosts U.S. military bases — and Central Asia, and it is unclear how it might have gone undetected. The region is also home to extremist Islamist groups, unstable governments and remote, sparsely populated areas. Flying south would put the plane over the Indian Ocean, with an average depth of 3,890 meters (12,762 feet) and thousands of kilometers (miles) from the nearest land mass. Najib said search efforts in the South China Sea, where the plane first lost contact, had ended. Two-thirds of the planes 227 passengers were Chinese, and Chinas government has been under pressure to give relatives firm news of the aircrafts fate. Search for Jet Expands Amid Signs It Flew On Play video Search for Jet Expands Amid Signs It Flew On In a stinging commentary on Saturday, the Chinese governments Xinhua News Agency accused Malaysia of dragging its feet in releasing information. Information released by the Malaysian leader is painfully belated, the commentary said. It said delays had resulted in wasted efforts and strained the nerves of relatives. Given todays technology, the delay smacks of either dereliction of duty or reluctance to share information in a full and timely manner, Xinhua said. That would be intolerable. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China had urged Malaysia to release more details about the new search area. Malaysia has faced accusations that it isnt sharing all its information or suspicions about the planes final movements, which have been the subject of constant media leaks both in Malaysia and the United States. Najib said that he understood the need for families to receive information, but that his government wanted to release only fully corroborated reports. He said that from Day One, the country had been sharing information with international investigators, even when it meant placing national security concerns second to the search, a likely reference to Malaysias release of military radar data. U.S., British and Malaysian air safety investigators have been on the ground in Malaysia to assist with the investigation. Missing Malaysian Plane Search Moves West Play video Missing Malaysian Plane Search Moves West In the Chinese capital, relatives of passengers who have anxiously awaited news at a hotel near Beijings airport said they felt deceived at not being told earlier about the planes last signal. We are going through a roller coaster, and we feel helpless and powerless, said a woman, who declined to give her name. At least one of the people waiting at the hotel saw a glimmer of hope in word that the planes disappearance was a deliberate act, rather than a crash. Its very good, said a woman, who gave only her surname, Wen. Malaysian police have already said they are looking at the psychological state, family life and connections of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27. Both have been described as respectable, community-minded men. Zaharie joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981 and had more than 18,000 hours of experience. His Facebook page showed an aviation enthusiast who flew remote-controlled aircraft, posting pictures of his collection, which included a lightweight twin-engine helicopter and an amphibious aircraft. Fariq was contemplating marriage after having just graduated to the cockpit of a Boeing 777. He has drawn scrutiny after the revelation that in 2011, he and another pilot invited two women aboard their aircraft to sit in the cockpit for a flight from Phuket, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur. Fourteen countries are involved in the search, which is using 43 ships and 58 aircraft. A U.S. P-8A Poseidon, the most advanced long-range anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft in the world, was to arrive over the weekend and sweep parts of the Indian Ocean. It has a nine-member crew and has advanced surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, the U.S. Defense Department said in
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 14:35:35 +0000
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