MH370 assumed to have crashed with no survivors, says Malaysia Airlines - live updates
LIVE
- Najib Razak: new data showed flight ended in Indian Ocean
- Malaysia Airlines says MH370 is 'lost' without survivors
- Relatives called to an emergency briefing in Beijing
- British data confirms flight lost in remote ocean location
- Australian ship trying to recover objects
- 'White and square' objects detected separately by Chinese
- Interactive guide to the search in the Indian Ocean
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Full text of Najib Razak's statement
Here's Najib's statement in full:
This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided thesatellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path.Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking; I know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time.
There are grim reports on the scene in a Beijing hotel where relatives of the missing have been gathering for updates.
Najib's statement ended with a plea to media to respect the privacy of the relatives of the missing.
Najib said: “With deep sadness and regret, according to this new data, we must conclude flight MH370 ended in the Southern Indian Ocean."
UK experts told the Malaysia PM that satellite signals have shed more light on MH370 flight path.
They concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last location was in the South Indian Ocean, Najib Razak said.
'Lost beyond any reasonable doubt'
Malaysia Airlines has announced that the missing Boeing is assumed to have crashed with no survivors.
In a statement it said:
We deeply regret that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board have survived..we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.
Updated
Paramedics have been sent to the Beijing hotel where relatives are due to be briefed, according to Jonathan Samuels from Sky News Australia.
Senior Malaysian officials in charge of the search have been working with Prime Minister Najib Razak on his statement expected in the next 15 minutes.
They included acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
It is increasingly looking as if a major breakthrough has been made in the search.
The families of the missing passengers have been offered flights to Australia, according to Sky News.
Relatives of the 239 people missing on the plane have been called to an emergency briefing, according to reports.
PM to give statement
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is due to hold a press conference in an hour (1400 GMT) on new developments on the missing plane.
Updated
MH370's co-pilot was on his first Boeing 777 flight without a minder, Malaysia Airlines revealed at today's briefing.
AFP reports:
Co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid has come under intense scrutiny, along with Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, after Malaysian authorities said flight MH370's disappearance was due to "deliberate" action in the cockpit.However, nothing has yet emerged publicly to implicate the two men.The flag carrier said Fariq, 27, had come through his initial outings in the 777 model with no issues under a standard arrangement in which a First Officer's first five flights in a new model of plane are done under the watchful eye of a "check co-pilot"."The first five flights, the co-pilot normally flies with what we call the check co-pilot. He actually passed the first five flights. We do not see any problem with him," the airlines' chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told a daily press conference on the crisis.Ahmad Jauhari added that Zaharie, 53, was himself an experienced 777 examiner."You must realise that he (Fariq) is flying with an examiner. The captain is a 777 examiner," he added, referring to Zaharie.
Updated
'Everyone is quite hyped'
A crew member of the Australian plane that spotted the potential MH370 debris has been describing the crew's excitement at the possible breakthrough in the search.
"Everyone is quite hyped," said Flight Lieutenant Josh Williams, on board a Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion.
The flight has been successful in terms of what we were looking for today. We were looking for debris in the water and we sighted a number of objects on the surface and beneath the surface visually as we flew over the top if it.The first object was rectangular in shape and slightly below the ocean. The second object was circular, also slightly below the ocean. We came across a long cylindrical object that was possibly two meters long, 20 cm across.
The Guardian has a new interactive guide to the search for the plane in the Indian Ocean.
Updated
Vice Admiral Datuk Kamarul, the deputy head of Malaysia's navy, tweets a chart showing the relative positions of ships in and around the search area, including HMAS Success and the Chinese ice breaker Snow Dragon.
It is unclear how close HMAS Success is to recovering the mystery objects picked by an Australian search plane.
Hishammuddin said the objects could "received" by the ship "within the next few hours." Australian's prime minister Tony Abbott said: "We are hopeful that we can recover these objects soon."
But in its last Twitter update the Australian Maritime Safety Authority suggested the crew was still searching for the objects.
But this may just be an attempt to underline that the latest discovery has no confirmed connection with MH370.
Updated
Australia's prime minister has confirmed that the ship HMAS is trying to recover the two new objects spotted by search plane.
In a statement to parliament, Tony Abbott cautioned that the objects may turn out to be unrelated to the missing Malaysian Airlines plane. He said:
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has advised that objects have been located by a Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orion and I can advise the House that HMAS Success is on scene and is attempting to locate and recover these objects.The objects were spotted in the search area about 2500 kilometres southwest of Perth at about 2.45pm our time.The crew on board the Orion reported seeing two objects, the first a grey or green circular object and the second an orange rectangular object. These are separate to the objects reported earlier today by a Chinese search aircraft.I can advise the House that US Navy Poseidon, a second Royal Australian Air Force Orion and a Japanese Orion are also on route to or in the search area. Planes and ships continue to search the area for any sign of the missing aircraft.I caution again, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, that we don’t know whether any of these objects are from MH370. They could be flotsam. Nevertheless we are hopeful that we can recover these objects soon and that they will take us a step closer to resolving this tragic mystery.This is an extraordinary mystery. An absolutely baffling mystery. But as I’ve said before, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, let me reiterate to this House we owe it to the families of those on board, we owe it to the loved ones on board, we owe it to all the people who are concerned about the fate of this aircraft to do whatever we reasonably can to find anything that is out there, to test it and to see what we can learn about what so far is one of the great mysteries of our time.
Updated
Summary
Here's a summary of the main developments so far today:
- An Australian ship is trying to retrieve two objects spotted by search aircraft in the Southern Indian Ocean. HMAS Success, the only ship in the area, could retrieve the objects in the next few hours, or by tomorrow at the latest.
- The objects, one grey/green and circular, the other orange and rectangle, are separate from white rectangular objects detected by a Chinese search plane. Australia's prime minister Tony Abbot telephoned his Malaysian counterpart to report the discovery. It is not yet confirmed whether the objects were connected to MH370.
- A US search plane has failed to detect the objects sighted by a Chinese plane. They were located by China in an area outside the vicinity of objects detected by Australia last week from satellite images. China said the objects were "suspicious" and may not be related to MH370.
- Search aircraft also detected two orange objects and a white coloured drum in the area. They remain unidentified and not necessarily linked to MH370. Malaysia has confirmed that the plane's cargo included fruits, 200kg of lithium batteries considered as non-hazardous, and wooden pallets.
- France has sent Malaysia more images of objects its satellite's detected last Friday. The images of the objects, which were detected north of the current search area, have been sent to Australia which is leading the search in the Indian Ocean.
- Malaysian police have interviewed more than 100 people in the investigation into the missing plane. They include family members of the pilot and the co-pilot. The Malaysian authorities are considering releasing a transcript of the communication with the missing flight.
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