The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the longest civil aircraft disappearance in modern history, has unearthed more questions than answers, as the mystery surrounding the fate of the missing jetliner continues to intensify with each passing day.
Thursday, March 20
03:16 GMT:
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says satellite imagery has found objects possibly related to the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Two objects have been spotted in the Indian Ocean, Abbott told the Australian parliament.
“The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult...and it may be they do not relate to the aircraft,” he said.
Two objects have been spotted in the Indian Ocean, Abbott told the Australian parliament.
“The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult...and it may be they do not relate to the aircraft,” he said.
02:48 GMT:
Day 13 of the search for MH370 has opened in the southern Indian Ocean. Five merchant ships are searching in conjunction with surveillance aircraft from Australia, the United States, and New Zealand.
“To date, neither the ships nor the aircraft have reported sighting anything in connection to the aircraft,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.
Wednesday, March 19
16:31 GMT:
The FBI is analyzing flight simulator data from the home files of the pilot after the Malaysian government sought its help retrieving electronic files deleted last month. The official told AP of the investigation on conditions of anonymity while confirming that the FBI has already been given the data. Files with records of simulations undertaken using the program were deleted by the pilot on February 3, according to Malaysia's defense minister.
15:48 GMT:
The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has cast a light on developmental satellite technologies which could prevent such an incident from happening again in the future.
European and North American teams are already working on developing systems which will provide for more accurate plotting of location and flight paths. These would use satellite-based sensors rather than radars to pick up signals containing automated location and velocity data sent every second from aircraft, Reuters reports.
14:49 GMT:
Authorities in the Maldives are now investigating reports that islanders saw a "low-flying jumbo jet" on the day missing Malaysia Air flight 370 disappeared. The investigation was instigated by a report on the Haveeru news website that several locals had spotted a large plane flying over the remote southern island of Kuda Huvadhoo on March 8. Airport authorities in the small island ocean – located in the Indian Ocean – said there was so far no “credible” information to back up the claim. The islands' National Defence Force said that no trace of Flight MH370 had been picked up on radar.
13:30 GMT:
Missing Flight 370 provided a rare ecumenical moment in religiously diverse Malaysia, as Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Taoists came together for an interfaith ceremony in the courtyard of a shopping mall in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday night. Such interfaith ceremonies have been held before, but representatives from the predominant-Muslim community did not attend, as bigotry towards religious minorities has often been on full display.
10:45 GMT:
Malaysian investigators are trying to restore files deleted last month from the home flight simulator of Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the experienced pilot at the helm of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
Files containing records of the simulations carried out on the program were deleted on February 3, Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu told said at a news conference, AP reports.
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein the news conference that the pilot, Capt. Shah, is considered innocent until proven guilty. He said members of Zaharie’s family are cooperating in the investigation.
10:00 GMT:
The missing Malaysia Airlines plane flew into the southern Indian Ocean, said a source close to the investigation, Reuters reported.
"The working assumption is that it went south, and furthermore that it went to the southern end of that corridor," said the source, adding that a search area has now stretched from the west of Indonesia to the Indian Ocean, west of Australia.
03:41 GMT:
German insurance company Allianz began making payment claims once the plane had been missing for ten days, Reuters reported.
01:26 GMT:
Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 changed direction at least 12 minutes before its co-pilot signed off, sources told NBC News.
Tuesday, March 18
19:03 GMT:
A search of computers belonging to MH370’s pilot and co-pilot did not yield any suspicious material, CNN reported citing anonymous US officials.
18:05 GMT:
By now, MH370’s “black box” would have lost a third of its 30-day battery life by now, ABC News reported.
17:32 GMT:
US officials in Kuala Lumpur are working closely with the Malaysian government in the search mission, according to White House spokesman Jay Carney.
“They are in a truly agonizing situation. We remain fully committed to assisting the Malaysians and working with our other international partners … I can assure you we are in a close, collaborative relationship,” he said.
16:25 GMT:
Indonesia has suspended any flight of search planes over its territory, BBC reported.
15:48 GMT:
Profiles by Reuters and the New York Times of the pilot and co-pilot on MH370 show the pair as unlikely conspirators in any possible plan to down the plane.
“The captain and co-pilot of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 are now at the centre of a baffling paradox: as circumstantial evidence mounts that at least one of them may have been involved in the plane’s disappearance on March 8, accounts of their lives portray them as sociable, well-balanced and happy,”Reuters wrote.
15:13 GMT:
MH370 may have been picked up on a Thai military radar, according to recent reports. Thailand's military admitted on Tuesday that a plane was detected moments after communications from the aircraft cut out. However, no information was shared with Malaysia as it hadn't – until this point – asked for it. Thai air force spokesman Air Vice Marshal Montol Suchookorn described a flight tracked in the Strait of Malacca, according to AP. However, they do not yet know if it is the same plane – MH370 – whose twisting flight path took it to the same place.
11:42 GMT:
Residents of the Maldive Islands reported witnessing a “low flying jumbo jet” just hours after the plane disappeared, The Telegraph reported.
10:15 GMT:
In a press briefing that included little new information on missing flight MH370, Malaysian authorities said search efforts continue. They defended their handling of search operations, as some missing passengers’ relatives have threatened to hunger strike for more information.
“We are doing all that we can to ensure that we are giving sufficient assistance, information and care to all the family members in Beijing,” said Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, chief executive of Malaysia Airlines.
Malaysian government officials asked the countries assisting in the search, including China and the US, to recheck their radars for any more information.
“The only one out in the open is Malaysia,” acting transport minister Hishamuddin Hussein told reporters Tuesday, suggesting Malaysia has been the most transparent in the search.
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| Malaysian Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya (AFP Photo / Manan Vatsyayana) |
08:48 GMT:
Relatives of Chinese passengers on missing flight MH370 are threatening a hunger strike for lack of information from Malaysian authorities, AFP reported.
"Hunger strike protest, Respect life, Return my relative, Don't want become victim of politics, Tell the truth,” read a paper sign made by one passenger’s relative as she spoke to reporters in Beijing.
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| Chinese relatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 leave after a meeting with airline officials at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 17, 2014. (AFP Photo / Mark Ralston) |
07:28 GMT:
China authorities say they have found no evidence of deliberate diversion of the plane, the Guardian reported.
“Extensive checks on all Chinese passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane had found no evidence they were involved in the deliberate diversion of the plane, the Chinese ambassador in Kuala Lumpur said on Tuesday.”
07:28 GMT:
China authorities say they have found no evidence of deliberate diversion of the plane, the Guardian reported.
“Extensive checks on all Chinese passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane had found no evidence they were involved in the deliberate diversion of the plane, the Chinese ambassador in Kuala Lumpur said on Tuesday.”
07:21 GMT:
Scammers are using the prolonged search for missing flight MH370 to trick some using videos with titles like “Malaysian Airlines missing flight MH370 found in Sea -- 50 people alive saved,”CNET reported. Once one clicks on a video, they are asked to complete a survey, giving scammers personal social media permissions.
06:45 GMT:
It will likely take weeks to search a 600,000 square kilometer area off the southwestern coast of Australia for MH370, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority announced.
“This search will be difficult. The sheer size of the search area poses a huge challenge. The search area is more than 600,000 square kilometres,” said the agency’s head, John Young.
04:05 GMT:
China has started a search and rescue operation in a northern region of its own territory, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang said early Tuesday, according to Xinhua.
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| A performer poses in front of messages expressing prayers and well-wishes for passengers onboard missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 17, 2014. (AFP Photo / Manan Vatsyayana) |
Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 changed course on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing via the cockpit’s computerized Flight Management System, not by manual control, American officials suggested to the New York Times.
The officials said Monday that only seven or eight keystrokes would have been sufficient to change the Boeing 777’s flight path, though it was not clear whether the system was reprogrammed before or after takeoff.
Regardless, the theory supports the belief of investigators – first voiced by Malaysian officials – that the flight was deliberately diverted.
Malaysian officials have also retracted their theory that the plane’s communication operations known as Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, was deliberately shut off before the plane vanished.
They now believe ACARS was still functioning when the plane’s co-pilot spoke the last words heard from MH370 by ground control.
ACARS lost function around the same time oral radio contact was cut off and as the airplane’s transponder halted, the Times reported.
Investigators are combing over radar tapes from MH370’s departure given they believe the recordings would show that after the plane changed its path, it went through several pre-ordained “waypoints,” or markers in the sky. That would implicate that a knowledgeable pilot was controlling MH370 as it went through those points, as passing through them without a computer is not likely.
03:25 GMT:
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim stated that he was 'disgusted' by speculation over the fate of the missing plane. It has been suggested that the captain, who he is distantly related to, had a political motive to sabotage the aircraft. He slammed attempts to smear the pilot, stating that the situation was "above politics".
"Is it a crime for anyone to be a member of Keadilan? To me it is an attempt to deflect the government's incompetence," Anwar told AFP.
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| Students stand next to a giant mural featuring missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 displayed on the grounds of their school in Manila's financial district of Makati on March 18, 2014, created as part of solidarity action by concerned artists for the passengers and crew of the missing plane. (AFP Photo / Ted Aljibe) |
Monday, March 17
10:15 GMT:
UK newspaper The Independent reported that Malaysian investigators had requested permission from the Pakistani government to follow up on a theory that the missing passenger jet had landed close to the border with Afghanistan.
The Pakistani government says it has no record of the craft entering its airspace, but has told the Malaysian investigators it is ready to share all available information. In addition, The Kazakh Civil Aviation Committee has said that although the Malaysian Airlines plane could have reached Kazakhstan, their radars would have picked it up.
Meanwhile, Indonesia and Australia said Monday they would divide between them a large section of the south-eastern Indian Ocean in the plane search. Indonesia will examine equatorial waters while Australia will focus farther south, according to the New York Times.
07:11 GMT:
The Malaysian government’s ministry of transport has issued a statement about the search operation, saying police started investigating all passengers and crew, as well as ground staff, on March 8, the day flight MH370 disappeared. The ministry added that police have twice visited the homes of the pilot and co-pilot. Police have also met with their family members.
The statement added that French investigators have joined the search operation.
“The officials will share their expertise and knowledge based on their experience from the search for Air France Flight 447,” the statement reads.
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| AFP Photo / Hoang Dinh Nam |
04:32 GMT:
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has asked Australia to take the lead in search efforts of southern regions, according to AAP.
“He asked that Australia take responsibility for the search in the southern vector, which the Malaysian authorities now think was one possible flight path for this ill-fated aircraft,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.
03:55 GMT:
Investigators believe the plane may have dropped to a dangerously low altitude of 5,000 feet, evading radars in a technique known as “terrain masking,” Fairfax Media reported.
03:05 GMT:
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he has not seen information that indicates MH370 has been detected near western Australia.
“All of our agencies that could possibly help in this area are scouring their data to see if there’s anything that they can add to the understanding of this mystery,” said Abbott.
Investigators have narrowed the flight’s possible paths to Central Asia to the north or south towards the Indian Ocean.
Sunday, March 16
19:24 GMT:
Malaysian investigative authorities are conducting thorough background checks of the pilots, the crew and all the ground staff in efforts to establish the potential whereabouts of the plane through possible motives for steering it off-course, according to the country's police chief. Sources told Reuters that personal, political and religious backgrounds of both pilots and the other crew members were being examined.
12:30 GMT:
Britain is deploying a senior team from its Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) to assist in the search for missing MAS flight MH370.
The British High Commission said in a statement that the team comprised an advisor at engine maker Rolls Royce and two AAIB senior investigators.
"The AAIB offered its assistance to the Malaysian authorities as the investigation body for the country of manufacture of the engines.”
10:00 GMT:
Malaysian Airlines said the plane's pilot and co-pilot did not request to fly together, dismissing speculations of a pre-planned hijack attempt by the two.
“Yesterday, officers from the Royal Malaysia Police visited the home of the pilot. They spoke to family members of the pilot and experts are examining the pilot’s flight simulator. The police also visited the home of the co-pilot. According to Malaysia Airlines, the pilot and co-pilot did not ask to fly together on MH370,” the airline said in a statement.
It noted that “Malaysian authorities are refocusing their investigation on all crew and passengers on board MH370, as well as all ground staff handling the aircraft.”
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| Royal Malaysian Air Force Navigator captain, Izam Fareq Hassan marks locations on a map onboard a Malaysian Air Force CN235 aircraft during a search and rescue (SAR) operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane over the Strait of Malacca on March 14, 2014. (AFP Photo / Mohd Rasfan) |
09:30 GMT:
Malaysia Airlines released a statement recognizing the search and rescue operation has “entered a new phase.” Noting that the number of countries involved in the search and rescue operation has increased from 14 to 25, the airline said that the complex, multinational effort is now facing “new challenges of co-ordination and diplomacy.”
“In the last 24 hours, the Prime Minister has spoken to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the President of Turkmenistan, the President of Kazakhstan and the Prime Minister of India,” the airline said in a statement.
“Yesterday the Foreign Ministry of Malaysia briefed representatives from countries along the northern and southern corridors.”
Saturday, March 15
22:00 GMT:
The Malaysian government said police searched the homes of both of the plane's pilots on Saturday, but did not say whether it was the first time officers had done so since the flight went missing more than a week ago with 239 people aboard, AP reports.
Investigators believe that one of the plane's communications systems — the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS — was partially disabled before the plane reached the east coast of Malaysia. It is then believed someone on board switched off the aircraft's transponder, which communicates with civilian air traffic controllers. In line with the previous US analysis, investigators are looking into the possibility the pilots might have played a role in the jetliners disappearance.
15:47 GMT:
16:00 GMT: US law enforcement and intelligence officials are focusing on the possibility that one of the two pilots on board may have been responsible for the disappearance of flight MH370 after new information revealed the plane performed "tactical evasion maneuvers" after it disappeared from radar, two senior law enforcement officials told ABC News.
US authorities believe only a person with extensive flight or engineering experience could have executed the maneuvers. They also say suspicious behavior indicates the aircraft’s pilot was attempting to evade radar detection at one point.
The US analysis corresponds with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak statement earlier today that"these movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane.”
10:00 GMT:
10:00 GMT: The last satellite transmission from missing flight MH370 has been traced to the Indian Ocean off Australia – far from where the search and rescue operations have taken place – a person familiar with the analysis told Bloomberg.
A path from Malaysia to the ocean off Australia would entail a 3,000 mile journey, just around the maximum distance the 777-200 could have traveled with its fuel load.
A path from Malaysia to the ocean off Australia would entail a 3,000 mile journey, just around the maximum distance the 777-200 could have traveled with its fuel load.
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| A Malaysia Airlines employee writes a message expressing prayers and well-wishes for passengers onboard missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 14, 2014. (AFP Photo / Manan Vatsyayana) |
Flight 370 may have flown beyond its last known position about 1,000 miles west of Perth, and that location may not be an indication of where the plane ended up, the individual said on condition of anonymity.
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| Pakistani Christians pose for a photograph while holding candles during a vigil for the passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Islamabad (AFP Photo / Aamir Qureshi)
09:00 GMT:
09:00 GMT: Malaysian Airlines released the following statement following comments earlier today by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak that flight MH370 most likely had its communications “deliberately disabled”:
“Further to the statement by the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak earlier today into the ongoing search for Flight MH370, Malaysia Airlines has shared all available information with the relevant authorities since the moment we learned that the aircraft had disappeared, in the early hours of Saturday 8th March. This includes the very first indications that MH370 may have remained airborne for several hours after contact was lost, which the prime minister referred to today.
This is truly an unprecedented situation for Malaysia Airlines and for the entire aviation industry. There has never been a case in which information gleaned from satellite signals alone could potentially be used to identify the location of a missing commercial airliner. Given the nature of the situation and its extreme sensitivity, it was critical that the raw satellite signals were verified and analyzed by the relevant authorities so that their significance could be properly understood. This naturally took some time, during which we were unable to publicly confirm their existence.
We were well aware of the ongoing media speculation during this period, and its effect on the families of those on board. Their anguish and distress increases with each passing day, with each fresh rumor, and with each false or misleading media report. Our absolute priority at all times has been to support the authorities leading the multinational search for MH370, so that we can finally provide the answers which the families and the wider community are waiting for. We remain absolutely committed to sharing confirmed information with family members and the wider public in a fully open and transparent manner. However, given the nature of the situation, the importance of validating new information before it is released into the public domain is paramount.
Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of the 227 passengers and our 12 Malaysia Airlines colleagues and friends on board flight MH370. They will remain at the center of every action we take as a company, as they have been since MH370 first disappeared.”
07:00 GMT:
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said there is a possibility flight MH370 had its communications “deliberately disabled” before it went missing, though there is no evidence pointing towards a hijacking.
“There is a high degree of certainty” that the communications systems of flight MH370 were disabled by someone on board the plane, Razak said. Citing evidence from satellite images and radar tracking, Razak said the actions taken before the plane’s disappearance were "consistent with the deliberate action of someone on the plane," he said.
"Despite media reports the plane was hijacked, I wish to be very clear, we are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH370 to deviate," Razak said.
The investigation into the planes disappearance has entered a “new phase,” said Prime Minister Razak, adding that the search for wreckage in the South China Sea had come to an end.
Friday, March 14
18:00 GMT:
Inmarsat plc, the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, issued the following statement regarding Malaysia Airlines flight MH370:
“Routine, automated signals were registered on the Inmarsat network from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 during its flight from Kuala Lumpur.
This information was provided to our partner SITA, which in turn has shared it with Malaysia Airlines.
For further information, please contact Malaysia Airlines.”
Source: RT http://on.rt.com/ad6vkd
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