Kuala Lumpur, March 16- The search operations for the missing Malaysian Airlines MH 370 aircraft have extended over the Indian Ocean as the mystery around its disappearance entered its second week. Investigators have also increased their focus on the possibility that one of the crew members, more likely the pilot or the co-pilot, or someone else on board with detailed knowledge of flying could have flown the plane off-course.
The investigations into the disappearance of MH370, with 239 people on board, including five indians, has taken an interesting turn as the Malaysian Prime Minister on Saturday said the flight path of the aircraft has been “diverted deliberately”.
“Despite media reports that the plane was hijacked, I wish to be very clear, we are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH 370 to deviate,” Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a press conference on Saturday.
The commander of the aircraft, Captain Zaharie, is under cloud of suspicion. Some photographs posted by the Captain on his Facebook page show him with a flight simulator at his house. Flight simulators are usually used by pilots undergoing flying training. Given Zaharie’s expertise in the field, there is little answer to why he would keep one at his house, sources said.
Friends and colleagues of Zaharie had earlier said he was a flying enthusiast and had a simulator on which he liked to tinker. Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said there was nothing wrong with pilots having simulators at their homes. “Every one is free to have their own hobbies,” he said.
Zaharie is also under scanner By Atir Khan in Kuala Lumpur as it has now been established the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System was “systematically shut down” shortly after it took off.
Based on raw data obtained from satellite data service providers, Malaysian authorities confirmed that the aircraft shown in the primary radar data was indeed flight MH 370.
It has been ascertained that after the Boeing 777 took off at 12:41 am on Saturday, it steered towards the Strait of Malacca, after which it may have either flown towards Thailand or Kazakhstan or towards southern Indian Ocean from Indonesia, the prime minister said.
In another revelation based on the analysis of the US satellite data, Razak said the flight had indicated its rough position as late as 8:11 am (Malaysian time) last Sunday, even after the flight lost contact with the Air Traffic Control at 1:29 am on Saturday. Malaysian authorities have also decided to withdraw their search operation from the South China Sea, in a move to deploy the resources towards the Indian Ocean. “We are ending our operation in the South China Sea and reassessing the deployment of our assets,” Razak said.
Malaysian aviation authorities and their international counterparts have determined that the plane’s last communication with satellite was in one of two possible corridors: Northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Northern Thailand; or a Southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean. Investigators are working to further refine the information.
Malaysian Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Baker said the police were looking at four areas in the probe- hijack, sabotage, psychological or financial problem involving the crew and passengers.
-IndiaToday
