MH370: First week of searching produces no tangible clues

Welcome to our continuing coverage of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane almost a week after it disappeared over the South China Sea with 239 people on board.

Here’s a summary of the latest developments:   

• The US has suggested that the search has been extended to the Indian Ocean after the Pentagon said it was sending a destroyer to the area. The White House said that an unspecified “possible piece of information, or pieces of information, has led to the possibility that a new search area may be opened up over the Indian Ocean”.

• Unnamed US officials continue to be quoted insisting that flight 370 sent out automatic status transmissions for hours after the plane lost contact with ground control. The Malaysian authorities say such claims are inaccurate.

• The Wall Street Journal has issued a clarification to point out that its claim that the plane may have flown on for hours is based on a different signals system from the plane’s Rolls-Royce engines. In a correction to its original story it said: “An earlier version of this article incorrectly said investigators based their suspicions on signals from monitoring systems embedded in the plane’s Rolls-Royce PLC engines and described that process.”

• Vietnam has “downgraded but not stopped” its search effort for the plane. A Vietnamese spokesman, Lt Col Nguyen Ngoc Son, said the status of the hunt had been switched from “emergency to regular”.

The Malaysian authorities now appear to have a more open mind to reports that the plane sent out signals hours after it lost contact with air traffic control. In yesterday’s press conference they tersely dismissed such reports as “inaccurate”. But now the ministry of transport has tempered that stance.

In its latest statement it said:

Regarding overnight reports in the US media, quoting unnamed US officials:

The investigation team is following all leads that may help locate the missing aircraft. We continue to work closely with the US team, whose officials have been on the ground in Kuala Lumpur to help with the investigation since Sunday.

As is standard procedure, the investigation team will not publicly release information until it has been properly verified and corroborated.

The statement also confirmed that the Indian air force was participating in the search, and that Vietnam was still involved.

And the ministry released a statement from the Chinese embassy confirming that satellite images from Sunday of possible ”debris” from the plane were released in error. No trace of the plane was found at the site. The embassy said:

The publication of the satellite image is an accident – a personal behaviour to put it on the website of SASTIND. The government neither authorised nor endorsed the behaviour which is now under investigation. The image is not been confirmed as connected with the plane.

In its statements Malaysia’s transport ministry also insisted the government had nothing to do with “bomohs” or shamans at Kuala Lumpur airport who have prompted much interest on social media. The bomohs have been performing rituals at the airport to help find the plane.

Reuters has an intriguing new story which might explain why the search is currently focusing on the Indian Ocean. It says radar suggests the plane was deliberately flown west after losing contact with air traffic control. Under an exclusive tag, it says:

Military radar-tracking evidence suggests a Malaysia Airlines jetliner missing for nearly a week was deliberately flown across the Malay peninsula towards the Andaman Islands, sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters.

Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints – indicating it was being flown by someone with aviation training – when it was last plotted on military radar off the country’s north-west coast.

The last plot on the military radar’s tracking suggested the plane was flying towards India’s Andaman Islands, a chain of isles between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, they said.

Waypoints are geographic locations, worked out by calculating longitude and latitude, that help pilots navigate along established air corridors.

A third source familiar with the investigation said inquiries were focusing increasingly on the theory that someone who knew how to fly a plane deliberately diverted the flight, with 239 people on board, hundreds of miles off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

“What we can say is we are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards,” said that source, a senior Malaysian police official.

All three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media and due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

Officials at Malaysia’s ministry of transport, the official point of contact for information on the investigation, did not return calls seeking comment.

Malaysian police have previously said they are investigating whether any passengers or crew had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure.

The comments by the three sources are the first clear indication that foul play is the main focus of official suspicions in the Boeing 777’s disappearance.

As a result of the new evidence, the sources said, multinational search efforts were being stepped up in the Andaman Sea and also the Indian Ocean …

The fact that the aircraft – if it was MH370 – had lost contact with air traffic control and was invisible to civilian radar suggested someone on board had turned its communication systems off, the first two sources said.

They also gave new details on the direction in which the unidentified aircraft was heading – following aviation corridors identified on maps used by pilots as N571 and P628. These routes are taken by commercial planes flying from south-east Asia to the Middle East or Europe and can be found in public documents issued by regional aviation authorities.

In a far more detailed description of the military radar plotting than has been publicly revealed, the first two sources said the last confirmed position of MH370 was at 35,000 feet about 90 miles (144km) off the east coast of Malaysia, heading towards Vietnam, near a navigational waypoint called Igari. The time was 1.21am.

The military track suggests it then turned sharply westwards, heading towards a waypoint called Vampi, north-east of Indonesia’s Aceh province and a navigational point used for planes following route N571 to the Middle East.

From there, the plot indicates the plane flew towards a waypoint called Gival, south of the Thai island of Phuket, and was last plotted heading north-west towards another waypoint called Igrex, on route P628 that would take it over the Andaman Islands and which carriers use to fly towards Europe.

The time was then 2.15am. That is the same time given by the air force chief on Wednesday, who gave no information on that plane’s possible direction.

The sources said Malaysia was requesting raw radar data from its neighbours Thailand, Indonesia and India, which has a naval base in the Andaman Islands.

Malaysia’s defence and acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein has confirmed that the search has been extended into the Indian Ocean.

Speaking at a press conference he reiterated that the missing aircraft’s engines did not send out signals after it lost contact with air traffic control.

On the possible turn back, Hishammuddin repeated that this was still only a “possibility”. He said: “That has not changed.”

Hishammuddin again said the investigators could not rule out hijacking. All possibilities are being examined, he repeated.

This map shows the possible new flight path of the missing plane if Reuters sources are correct. 

Hishammuddin insisted conflicting information about the missing plane was coming from external speculation, not the Malaysian government.

Hishammuddin has not ruled out raiding homes of crew members of the missing plane. “If investigation requires searching the pilots’ homes, it will be done,” the acting transport minister said.

The press conference has come to an end. Once again the Malaysian authorities offered little new information about the search for the plane and no breakthrough.

But today the acting transport minister appeared more open minded to new theories, in particular the suggestion that the plane may have been heading for the Indian Ocean.

Here’s the full text of acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s opening remarks:

We are now entering the seventh day of the search for MH370. There are currently 57 ships and 48 aircraft in the search. Thirteen countries are now involved.

Our priority remains finding the plane. We are following all leads, and we continue to work closely with our international partners. We are grateful for the support of our friends and neighbours, who continue to assist us by sharing their data and their resources as we search for MH370. I speak for the Malaysian people when I say that our hearts are with the families and the friends of those on board the plane.

New information

There has been a lot of media speculation today after comments from unnamed US officials suggested the plane may have travelled for some time after losing contact.

As is standard procedure, the investigation team will not publicly release information until it has been properly verified and corroborated with the relevant authorities. Nor do we want to be drawn into specific remarks that unnamed officials have reportedly made to the media.

Since Sunday, we have worked closely with our international partners, including the US team, whose officials have been here on the ground in Kuala Lumpur.

Since Wednesday, the Malaysian investigating team have shared more detailed information, as it became available, for verification.

The international team are currently working on verifying that detailed information, but we have nothing to confirm at the moment.

Widening of the investigation

The aircraft is still missing, and the search area is expanding. Two days ago, the search area was widened to include the Andaman Sea.

Together with our international partners, we are now pushing further east into the South China Sea, and further into the Indian Ocean.

We want nothing more than to find the plane as quickly as possible. But the circumstances have forced us to widen our search.

A normal investigation becomes narrower with time, as new information focuses the search. But this is not a normal investigation. In this case, the information we have forces us to look further and further afield.

Engine data

Yesterday, we rejected a media report in which unnamed officials said that engine data showed the plane had kept flying for hours after last contact. We checked with Boeing and Rolls-Royce, who said the reports were not true. Today Rolls Royce released a statement saying, and I quote, ‘Rolls-Royce continues to provide its full support to the authorities and Malaysia Airlines. Rolls-Royce concurs with the statement made on Thursday 13 March by Malaysia’s transport minister regarding engine health monitoring data received from the aircraft.’

Oil slick

Yesterday authorities sighted two oil slicks in the South China Sea, 60 nautical miles south of the last point of contact with MH370.

The first slick was investigated and analysed and found to contain tiny traces of jet fuel. No debris was found in the vicinity. We do not believe the slick is linked to MH370.

Samples from the second slick were investigated and analysed and did not contain jet fuel.

Concluding remarks

The investigation team is following all leads that could help locate the missing aircraft. When we receive new information, and it has been verified, we act accordingly. Wherever there is a possibility, we have a duty to investigate it.

From the beginning of the crisis, we have worked hand-in-hand with all the relevant authorities, including international agencies, experts, and the aircraft manufacturers.

We have daily technical meetings with all the key players. We have followed the protocols set out by the International Civil Aviation Authority. We have been in regular contact with our neighbouring countries. And we have welcomed all international offers of assistance. We are committed to one aim: finding MH370.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/14/mh370-search-for-missing-plane-extends-to-the-indian-ocean-live-updates