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) |