Malaysian authorities say that the co-pilot spoke the final words from the cockpit, as 26 countries help with the search, divided into a northern and southern corridor - follow latest updates
5:57PM GMT 17 Mar 2014
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• Co-pilot spoke final words - "All right, good night"
• 30 million square mile search area
• Kazakhstan says it did not detect the plane over its airspace
• Authorities cannot confirm plane flew at 5,000ft
• Search widened to include 26 countries
• Plane may have landed before satellite signals sent
• Tracking signals cut before pilot's last radio message
• 9/11-style terror allegations resurface
• Profile of missing plane's pilots emerges
• MH370: How much do we really know?
• In pictures: The hunt for MH370
• 30 million square mile search area
• Kazakhstan says it did not detect the plane over its airspace
• Authorities cannot confirm plane flew at 5,000ft
• Search widened to include 26 countries
• Plane may have landed before satellite signals sent
• Tracking signals cut before pilot's last radio message
• 9/11-style terror allegations resurface
• Profile of missing plane's pilots emerges
• MH370: How much do we really know?
• In pictures: The hunt for MH370
Latest
17.51 The missing Flight MH370 lacks satisfactory facts and has sparked endless theories, but everyone is still obsessed. Michael Wolff of theGuardian says the story is the new anti-journalism:
Well, the plane is somewhere. Although there exists the eerie possibility that it will remain as if nowhere – forever lost.
Well, the plane is somewhere. Although there exists the eerie possibility that it will remain as if nowhere – forever lost.
And that’s just about the best situation that exists for journalism: “missing” stories trump all others for their intensity and stickiness, fueling the imagination of journalists and audiences alike.
Journalism exists to provide information. But what’s really compelling is alack of information – or what is more particularly being called “an absence of empirical data”.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson in The Telegraph writes the baffling story of a vanished airliner has focused the world’s attention like no other:
And on it goes. I have never known anything like it. Think of the agony of those poor relatives. They are not only enduring the disappearance of 239 passengers and crew aboard the Malaysian airliner. They must also put up with the continuing pain of not knowing.
... It is not just the biggest whodunnit we have ever seen. It is a whydunnit and indeed a whodunwhat. This is a world in which we thought that they could see everything: whether through CCTV or looking at your internet account or tracking your movements by the signal of your mobile phone. Now we learn that it is still a world so vast that an object as unmistakeable as a Boeing 777 – 200ft long, 200ft broad and six storeys high – can vanish into the wide blue yonder.
An unidentified girl holds a paper plane with best wishes for the missing Malaysia Airline, MH370 at the "wall of hope" as it enters the ninth day of the missing Malaysia Airline, MH370 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
An unidentified girl holds a paper plane with best wishes for the missing Malaysia Airline, MH370 at the "wall of hope" as it enters the ninth day of the missing Malaysia Airline, MH370 at the
17.05 Could MH370 have landed safely? The Telegraph's Rob Crillystates that while facts about what has happened to the Malaysia Airlines flight are in short supply, theories are not:
Could the airliner have landed somewhere, was it hijacked by remote control or did one of the pilots use the Boeing 777 as part of a one-man political protest or suicide?
Could the airliner have landed somewhere, was it hijacked by remote control or did one of the pilots use the Boeing 777 as part of a one-man political protest or suicide?
Each one sounds outlandish but the truth – whenever it finally comes to light – could be equally strange.
Investigators seem increasingly certain it was flown off course by someone with expert knowledge of Boeing 777 planes.
Satellite data indicate it could have travelled in two possible directions, either to the south across the Indian Ocean or to the north, perhaps as far as Kazakhstan.
After that comes speculation, not helped by confusing and contradictory accounts given by official bodies.
The uncertainty and possible locations the plane could have flown to provide fertile ground for conspiracy theorists. The theory that the plane could have landed has also given relatives of passengers and crew renewed hope.
16.31 The search area for Flight MH370 is now up to 30 million square miles, according to several estimates. The leader of one of the Malaysia search missions, Captain Fareq Hassan, said:
This is not just a needle in a haystack, it’s a haystack that gets bigger and shifts under us due to the (ocean’s) drift.
16.10 MH370 is not the only plane to go missing without a trace. Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 disappeared between New york City and seattle in 1950:
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 disappeared on June 24, 1950
Northwest Orient
15.22 Reports that the Chinese government issued strict guideleines to media not to analyse missing flight MH370 or do any independent reporting. China Digital Times has published the apparent message:
The media may not independently analyse or comment on the lost Malaysia Airlines flight. Related coverage must strictly accord with authoritative information issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China and with Xinhua News Agency wire copy. The domestic aviation department can promptly provide related information to passengers’ family members. All media must refrain from interviewing family members without permission, and must not incite any discontented sentiment.
Prayers in Kuala Lumpur
Prayers in Kuala Lumpur
15.15 The Hindu's Beijing correspondent speculates that China may be changing its critical atittude towards Kulala Lumpur over its handling of the crisis:
14.50 Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan, who are seeking to oust foreign troops and set up an Islamic state, said the missing plane had nothing to do with them.
"It happened outside Afghanistan and you can see that even countries with very advanced equipment and facilities cannot figure out where it went," he said. "So we also do not have any information as it is an external issue."
A commander with the Pakistani Taliban, a separate entity fighting the Pakistani government, said the fragmented group could only dream about such an operation.
"We wish we had an opportunity to hijack such a plane," he told Reuters by telephone from the lawless North Waziristan region.
14.41 As the disappearance of a Malaysian Airlines jet continues to baffle investigators, our travel team looks at other famous aviation mysteries:
The pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. Various reasons have been given for her disappearance. Some claim she was a spy, and that she was shot down and captured by Japanese forces; some believe she faked her own death; and a few even claim she was abducted by aliens. Last year researchers claimed they had discovered remnants of her aircraft using sonar readings.
The pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. Various reasons have been given for her disappearance. Some claim she was a spy, and that she was shot down and captured by Japanese forces; some believe she faked her own death; and a few even claim she was abducted by aliens. Last year researchers claimed they had discovered remnants of her aircraft using sonar readings.
14.29 The father of flight engineer and MH370 passenger, Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat, who is being investigated along with the other passengers and crew holds up a picture of his son:
Selamat Omar shows a picture of his son, flight engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat who was onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370
Selamat Omar shows a picture of his son, flight engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat who was onboard the missing
14.25 The Wall Street Journal's Henry Williams tweets a good MH370 graphic:
14.12 It would have been "extremely difficult" to fly Flight MH370 at 5,000 feet if it reached the mountainous areas in the Himalayan vicinity, over northern India, Pakistan, or elsewhere in that region, a 777 flight simulator operator tells CNN.
"It would be extremely treacherous, very difficult to control, especially hard to do at night," said Mitchell Casado, operator of a flight simulator in Mississauga, Ontario.
At that height it would have seemed as though the jet was almost flying into the tree tops or mountain side and would have sounded extremely loud on the ground and disconcerting for passengers aboard.
Mr Casado's assessment adds to the puzzling notion that the Malaysia Airlines flight could have continued for hours at low altitude without anyone in the air or on the ground raising the alarm.
14.02 Malaysian authorities confirm that it was the co-pilot who was the last to speak to the ground before the flight vanished between Malaysian and Vietnamese airspace and confirm they are widening the search.
13.28 A leader of the Malaysian opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, of which the captain of MH370 was a strong supporter, has said that members of his political alliance were willing to change places with all 239 passengers and crew if it emerged the plane had been hijacked.
Mahfuz Omar, MP, said:
Our concern now is the safety of the passengers. I am willing to exchange places with the passengers and become a hostage if the need arises.
13.09 The Malay Mail reports that three French investigators involved in the Air France 447 disaster have arrived in Malaysia to help authorities with missing flight MH370. Air France 447 was lost five years ago in the Atlantic Ocean as it flew from Rio to France. The Malaysian transport ministry said in a statement:
The officials will share their expertise and knowledge based on their experience from the search for Air France Flight 447.
Cambodian residents light candles as they pray for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at their village in Phnom Penh
12.42 Now this is possibly my favourite theory so far.
Did MH 370 switch off its radar, then "shadow" another plane - flying from Singapore to Barcelona - and land north of India or in Afghanistan?
It sounds crazy, but Keith Ledgerwood, an aviation enthusiast, hasproduced these charts.
It became apparent as I inspected SIA68’s flight path history that MH370 had maneuvered itself directly behind SIA68 at approximately 17:00UTC and over the next 15 minutes had been following SIA68. All the pieces of my theory had been fitting together with the facts that have been publically released and I began to feel a little uneasy.
12.40 Further detail from Kazakhstan's assertion (see 12.28) that there were no unidentified planes detected over its airspace.
ALMATY, March 17 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan said on Monday it had not detected any "unsanctioned use" of its air space by any planes on March 8, making it unlikely that a missing Malaysia Arlines jetliner could have been diverted along a northern route via Thailand.
Malaysia Airlines MASM.KL Flight MH370, which vanished with 239 people aboard, could hypothetically have reached the Central Asian nation's air space, but it would have been detected there, the Kazakh Civil Aviation Committee said in a detailed statement sent to Reuters.
Malaysia Airlines planes had made nine regular flights to and from Europe over Kazakhstan's territory on March 8, it said.
12.31 An interesting analysis from The New York Times here.
The government added to the confusion about what happened during those key minutes by withdrawing its assertion that the radio signoff came after a crucial communications system was disabled.
The new description of what happened to the Acars system appeared to reopen the possibility that the aircraft was operating normally until the transponder ceased sending signals two minutes after the last radio message. The new uncertainty could also raise additional questions about whether the plane was deliberately diverted or whether it suffered mechanical or electrical difficulties that crippled its communications and resulted in its flying an aberrant course.
12.28 Breaking news from Kazakhstan - effectively ruling the country out from the search?
KAZAKHSTAN DID NOT DETECT "UNSANCTIONED USE" OF ITS AIR SPACE ON MARCH 8 - KAZAKH CIVIL AVIATION COMMITTEE COMMENTS ON DISAPPEARED MALAYSIA AIRLINES PLANE
NINE MALAYSIA AIRLINES PLANES MADE REGULAR FLIGHTS TO AND FROM E NINE MALAYSIA AIRLINES PLANES MADE REGULAR FLIGHTS TO AND FROM EUROPE OVER KAZAKHSTAN ON MARCH 8 - KAZAKH CIVIL AVIATION COMMITTEE
12.21 New developments from India.
Salman Khurshid, the foreign minister, has been asked about the theory that the plane was hijacked as a possible "9/11 style" attack on India.
I don’t think we have gone that far.
The Times of India said security sources had “rubbished” the idea that the plane could have got anywhere close to an urban centre and insisted it would have been detected by a naval base on the Andaman islands, more than 600 miles off the Indian mainland.
12.17 Malaysia Airlines has decided to rename Flight MH 370 as Flight MH 318, as a mark of respect.
The route, from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, remains unchanged.
Reuters photographer Edgar Su boarded the flight in Kuala Lumpur on March 17 and documented the journey to Beijing.
Cabin crew prepare to serve breakfast onboard Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER flight MH318 as it cruises towards Beijing
Cabin crew prepare to serve breakfast onboard Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER flight MH318 as it cruises towards Beijing
Onboard Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER flight MH318 as it cruises towards Beijing
Onboard Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER flight MH318 as it cruises towards Beijing
11.59 Much has been made over the weekend of Capt Shah's support for Anwar Ibrahim, the imprisoned opposition leader.
The pilot was described variously as being "fanatical", "obsessed"and a "fervent" supporter of Mr Ibrahim.
But this article in Slate magazine is well worth reading, to give a bit of perspective.
William Dobson, Slate's politics and foreign affairs editor writes:
There is an axiom in Malaysian politics: Eventually everything comes back to Anwar Ibrahim. So, the longer that the fumbling and inept investigation into the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has gone on, the more certain it became that it would somehow boomerang to the leader of the country’s democratic opposition.
He concludes:
Zaharie Ahmad Shah supported Anwar Ibrahim. That’s common sense, not zealotry.
11.55 Our correspondent in Kuala Lumpur, Jonathan Pearlman, has sent the following update from Malaysia.
Malaysia Airlines revealed the plane’s co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, was the last person to communicate to the ground from the cockpit, apparently after the communications system was shut off. So far, nothing suspicious about his background – he was 27 and apparently planning to marry his pilot girlfriend. Trying to find out more on him tonight.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has “narrowed” the search to two enormous corridors – a northern one spreading from Myanmar to Uzbekistan, and a southern one spreading across Australia and Indonesia. Malaysian authorities say no terrorists have claimed responsibility and reports that the plane flew low now appear to be wrong.
11.41 As the search for the plane enters its tenth day, with still no sign of the plane nor wreckage, the number of theories as to its fate is growing.
• Has the plane been flown to a Taliban base?
After numerous theories of a possible sea crash, hijack and pilot suicide, Malaysian authorities are seeking diplomatic permission to scrutinize Taliban-controlled bases on the borders of Afghanistan and North West Pakistan, the Independent reports.
• Was the plane 'cyber hijacked', using a mobile phone?
A mobile phone or a USB stick could have been used by a hacker to potentially change the plane's altitude, speed and direction by sending radio signals to its flight management system.
Was it possible for hackers to get into main computer network of the plane through the in-flight, on-board entertainment system? Whoever was responsible for the plane's disappearance likely has a 'very sophisticated systems engineering understanding'.
• Did the pilot or co-pilot hijack the plane?
Captain Zaharie Ahmed Shah is reported to have been a supporter of Malaysia's opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who was sent to prison for five years just hours before the plane disappeared.
Capt Shah's wife and three children moved out of the family home the day before the plane disappeared.
Captain Zaharie Ahmed Shah, pilot of Flight MH 370
Captain Zaharie Ahmed Shah, pilot of Flight MH 370
11.31 AFP news agency have added more detail to this morning's new development - that the co pilot spoke the final known words from the cockpit.
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17, 2014 (AFP) - The last words spoken from the cockpit of the Malaysian passenger jet that went missing 10 days ago were believed to have been spoken by the co-pilot, the airline's top executive said Monday.
"Initial investigations indicate it was the co-pilot who basically spoke," Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told a news briefing.
The last message from the cockpit - "All right, good night" - came around the time that two of the missing plane's crucial signalling systems were switched off.
Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and his first officer Fariq Abdul Hamid have become a primary focus of the investigation into the fate of Flight 370, with one of the key questions being who was controlling the aircraft when the communications systems were disabled.
The last signal from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was received 12 minutes before the co-pilot's seemingly nonchalant final words.
ACARS transmits key information on a plane's condition to the ground.
The plane's transponder - which relays radar information on the plane's location - was switched off just two minutes after the voice message.
11.18 The Wall St Journal has pointed out that the search for the missing plane is hampered by the fact that the search area includes some of the highest and lowest points on earth.
The northern corridor includes mountainous terrain that reaches up to around 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), and crosses the borders of countries such as China and Kazakhstan. The southern corridor, apart from a small corner of Indonesia, traverses nothing but ocean. It includes an ocean trench that is deeper than the Tibetan Plateau on the northerly corridor is tall.
Both areas will present considerably difficulties to search parties looking for Flight 370.
11.02 Authorities in Malaysia now seem convinced that flight MH 370 was hijacked. By who, we don't yet know - although evidence suggests that someone with a good understanding of flight controls and radar systems was in charge.
This article from Wired magazine, exploring how and why planes are hijacked, offers an interesting overview.
On one level, it's comforting to think that a hijacker of MH370 was not bent on using the plane as a weapon of mass destruction, but rather wanted to start life anew somewhere else. But it's also frightening to imagine a world where, as in the early 1970s, the desperate and deluded increasingly start to view hijacking as a reasonable solution to their problems.
10.46 The Reuters news agency have produced this timeline of what we know so far.
- 0041: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 departs from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and is due to land in Beijing at 0630 the same day. On board the Boeing 777-200ER are 227 passengers and 12 crew.
- 0107: After take-off and ascent, the plane sends its last ACARS transmission, which gives engine maintenance data to the ground. The system is later deactivated.
- 0119: Someone in the cockpit says "All right, good night" to Malaysian air traffic control. They were the last words heard from Flight MH370.
- 0121: The plane drops off air traffic control screens as its transponder - which responds to civilian radar - is switched off. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam says the plane failed to check in as scheduled at 0121 with air traffic control in Ho Chi Minh City. Malaysian authorities believe that someone on board shut off the plane's communications systems and turned it sharply to the west.
- 0215: Malaysian military radar plots Flight MH370 at a point south of Phuket island in the Strait of Malacca, hundreds of miles west of its last known location.
- 0811: The last signal received from the plane, according to satellite tracking data. The final communication placed the plane somewhere in one of two corridors: a northern arc stretching from northern Thailand to Kazakhstan, or a southern one stretching from Indonesia to the vast southern Indian Ocean.
10.32 Our Sydney correspondent, Jonathan Pearlman, is in Kuala Lumpur for us.
He brings us this summary of the press conference this morning:
At a daily press briefing, Malaysia Airlines head Ahmad Jauhari Yahya revealed that Fariq Abdul Hamid, the co-pilot of the missing MH370 flight, was the last person to communicate to the ground from the cockpit. This was apparently several minutes after the communications system was shut off.
However, Malaysian authorities have so far found nothing suspicious about the backgrounds of the pilot or co-pilot, a 27-year-old flying enthusiast who was reportedly planning to marry his long-time girlfriend, a fellow pilot.
Hishammuddin Hussein, the acting transport minister, confirmed that no terrorist groups have claimed responsibility for the plane’s disappearance.
“The fact there are no distress signals, there are no ransom notes, there are no parties claiming responsibility – there is still hope.”
10.25 As confirmed by Malaysian authorities this morning, Australia is leading the search of the southern corridor.
Here's what Tony Abbott, Australia's prime minister, said about the search:
10.13 So what have we learnt from that press conference?
- The co pilot spoke the last words to Air Traffic Control; "All right, good night." When asked if the voice recording was being analysed for stress, the authorities said that was part of the investigation and they couldn't comment.
- The last ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) transmittion from the plane was at 1.07am
- 26 countries are now involved in the search, which spans the border of 11 countries.
- The search has been divided into two corridors, a northern and southern one. The northern one runs from Laos to the Caspian Sea; the southern one from Sumatra into the Indian Ocean.
- Authorities defended their handling of the crisis.
- Malaysia says it is unaware of reports that the plane flew at 5,000ft to avoid radar detection.
10.12 The press conference has just finished.
10.11 Hishammuddin Hussein is saying:
We have to be very responsible with the statements we make, and think about the suffering of the families.
10.06 The authorities are being asked whether the plane was flying at 5,000ft.
We are not aware of that report. It doesn't come from us.
Read more on that claim here:
10.02 The Malaysian authorities are explaining how they calculate the size of the two search corridors.
For the northern corridor, if the aircraft was travelling at minimum speed, it went to Laos. At maximum speed it would have reached the Caspian Sea.
For the southern route; the minimum speed would have taken it west ofSumatra. At maximum speed, it would have reached the south of theIndian Ocean.
As you can appreciate, the area involved is huge. We are trying to narrow this.
That is why countries which have satellites or assets on the ground are being contacted.
09.59 The Malaysian team are asked: "Do you believe that the person who said 'All right, good night' was the pilot or the co pilot?"
We believe it was the co pilot.
They are then asked if the voice recording has been analysed for stress.
The Malysian officials say they cannot reveal that, as it is part of the investigation.
09.52 Mr Hussein says that they are going through the passenger list again, to check for any suspicious behaviour among passengers.
But as yet they have not found anything.
The home of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur
The home of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur
09.48 Hishammuddin Hussein, the Malaysian transport minister, is being asked about the security checks performed on the pilot before he was permitted to fly.
He says they were standard, but are currently being reviewed.
Going forward, we will obviously look into this, and see if we can strengthen or tighten the requirements.
We are now on "Code Tango", which means a heightened security environment. Extra precautions are currently being taken.
09.45 Interesting to note that French investigators have been invited to assist the search.
Remember they spent two years searching for the wreckage of the Air France plane which crashed over the Atlantic in June 2009.
Our Washington correspondent, Raf Sanchez, has had a look at how the Malaysia Airlines disappearance compares to other tragedies.
In the search for Air France 447, an Airbus 330 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, the first signs of wreckage were found a day after the crash.
The Air France Airbus also sent automated warning messages to its manufacturer as it began to go out of control in 2009. Boeing does not appear to have received any similar messages from its 777, leaving no clues of its fate.
09.42 Malaysia's transport minister is now taking questions.
China, India and Pakistan have said that the plane did not enter their air space.
Indonesian officials say it hasn't crossed their territory either.
09.40 Hishammuddin Hussein says that the search has been "recalibrated" over the past few days - into a northern and a southern corridor.
He said the Australians are taking control of the southern corridor.
He also held up two maps showing the new search areas. We'll bring you those when we get them.
09.35 Hishammuddin Hussein, the transport minister, continues:
As soon as we verified and corroborated the information, we recalibrated the search corridors, as stated by the Prime Minister.
Malaysia Airlines has set up operations centres in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. The airline gives daily briefings to the families.
09.33 Experts from China, France and Australia have joined the search, Mr Hussein says.
On Saturday March 8 we began investigations into all crew members.
On Sunday March 9 we visited the homes the pilot and co-pilot and spoke to their families.
We visited the homes again on Saturday March 16 and took away the pilot's flight simulator.
09.32 The Malaysian transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, is giving a press conference now.
He says 26 countries are now involved in the search.
09.31 For a recap of all yesterday's developments, you can see our live coverage here:
09.30 Good morning and welcome to The Telegraph's live coverage of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk