mh370 latest news

The seemingly routine redeye flight of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8th 2014 has turned into a tragedy and one of the greatest mysteries of aviation history. MH370 has diverted from its route, crossed Malaysia and flew south into the wast South Indian Ocean. Since then only one sign of the flight appeared : a Boeing 777 flaperon found on Reunion Island has been confirmed, according to Malaysian authorities, from flight MH370.

August 13th 2015 - Zaaim Redha Abdul Rahman, a satellite communication expert, told Malaysia News Agency Bernama that he believes MH370 is largely intact and lying somewhere beneath the southern Indian Ocean. He believes the Boeing 777 sank into the ocean in one piece after probably floating for a while.

Speaking to Bernama in an interview recently, Zaaim Redha said his theory that the plane probably "glided down" was supported by evidence in the form of the integrity of the two-metre-long flaperon, which was discovered on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean and confirmed to be part of the missing MH370 plane. 

"It (the flaperon) was only slightly damaged and was just encrusted with barnacles. Its appearance indicates that it was not violently torn off from the aircraft's main body...it does seem that it got detached pretty nicely at its edges," he explained.
Source : MH370 Plane Sank In Indian Ocean In Almost One Piece, Claims Satcom Expert

 If this was what happened, it would probably mean that someone has glided MH370 down to the ocean surface since a fuel deprives aircraft without pilot or auto-pilot would spiral down and nose dive into the ocean. A pilot should be in control because even with the presence of an experience pilot, the ocean surface landing of a large aircraft would be a devastating as seen in Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 crash video. The plane was hijacked and forced to divert to Australia. Although the pilot tried to explain the hijackers that the plane do not have enough fuel to fly to Australia from Africa, the hijackers forced the route. When the plane was out of fuel, the pilot tried to land it to the beach. The following sea surface landing was devastating because the plane did not have power to deploy flaps to reduce the landing speed. Of 163 people on board, 50 still survived the crash.

9M - MRO, the missing Boeing 777 of flight MH370 seen above. Recovered flaperon is circled.

August 13th 2015 - Australian Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) has confirmed that Boeing 777 flaperon found on Reunion Island is from flight MH370. The wing part was discovered on July 29th. On August 6th, Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak confirmed that part of the flaperon found on the island was part of the aircraft.

MH370 debris found on Reunion Island

Note : The part of the Boeing 777 wing found in Reunion Island is from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), confirmed the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris [...] is indeed MH370," Mr Najib told reporters.
"We now have physical evidence that [...] flight MH370 tragically ended in the southern Indian Ocean," he added.[6]

Despite the certainity of Najib's announcements, French authorities did not yet confirm that the flaperon is from MH370. They have just said the are very strong indications that it is from MH370.

Unfortunately, the confirmation does not mean that the crash site or the reasons behind the crash will be find any time soon. It will also not explain why a plane flying from KL to Beijing diverted all the way down to Indian Ocean.

Update : Debris found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is "very likely" to be from the missing flight MH370, a top Australian official has told the BBC.[5] There have been only 5 hull-loss accidents of Boeing 777 during its history : one crash in 2008 in London, one in Cairo in 2011, one in San Francisco in 2013, MH370 and MH17 in Ukraine in 2014. MH370 is the only missing Boeing 777 jet and is the only one which had hull loss accident in Indian Ocean.

Update : "It is almost certain that the flaperon is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. Our chief investigator here told me this" said Malaysia Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi. Since there is no other missing Boeing 777, the debris may be from the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight.

Debris found in Reunion Island in Western Indian Ocean near Madagaskar may be from the missing MH370. The debris looks like a part from the wing of a large aircraft like Boeing 777, the type of the aircraft disappeared in March 2014.

Officials are cautiously optimistic and working on the part which washed off the shores of the island The debris was found off the coast of St. Andre, a community on the Reunion Island.[1]

The aircraft part shows sign of tearing off the wing and appears to be an inside flap from Boeing 777 wind. But it is painted white which is not consistent with silver color of such part in Boeing 777.

Malaysia meanwhile announced that they have sent a team to see if Reunion Island debris is from MH370 flight. "I have sent a team to verify the wreckage ... we hope that it can identify (the wreckage) as soon as possible," said Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai during a visit to the United Nations (UN) in New York. [2]

An US official told the Associated Press news agency that, based on the photos, investigators had a "high degree of confidence" that the part was a flaperon unique to a Boeing 777 wing.[3]

Given the fact that there is no other Boeing 777 is missing, the part is most probably from MH370 if the debris is from a Boeing 777.[4]

The part may also be from another tragedy. Yemenia Flight 626 has crashed near the north coast of Grande Comore, Comoros on 30 June 2009, killing the 152 other people on board.

Where is the suspected MH370 debris found?
Reunion Island is off the coast of Madagaskar Island which is off the shores of Africa. It is in the same ocean where there is an ongoing search for MH370 but thousands of miles away from the search site.

[1] - Debris looks like Boeing 777, could be MH370, says source
[2] - Malaysia sends team to see if Reunion Island debris is from MH370 flight
[3] - MH370 search: Experts investigate Indian Ocean wreckage
[4] - US official: Plane debris in Indian Ocean same type as MH370
[5] - MH370 search: Reunion debris 'very likely' part of plane
[6] - MH370: Reunion debris is from missing Malaysia flight

MH370 flew off Australia last seen in Southern Indian Ocean Najib Razak says

There are new missing MH370 news but this time they are unfortunately dark ones. Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak has just ended a press conference which was announced a few hours ago. He has told that missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 has last communicated with the sattelite in Southern Indian Ocean off Australian city of Perth. This is the position where suspected debris is located by satellites.

Here is Najib Razak's statement on MH370:

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 the satellite 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.

Najib Razak has left without taking any question. For more details, a news conference will be held tomorrow. Najib Razak's announcement means that now authorities believe that MH370 has crashed in Indian Ocean without any survivors.

Malaysia Airlines has also posted this statement below at 10:15 pm:

"Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s Prime Minister, new analysis of satellite data suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.

On behalf of all of us at Malaysia Airlines and all Malaysians, our prayers go out to all the loved ones of the 226 passengers and of our 13 friends and colleagues at this enormously painful time.

We know there are no words that we or anyone else can say which can ease your pain. We will continue to provide assistance and support to you, as we have done since MH370 first disappeared in the early hours of 8 March, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The ongoing multinational search operation will continue, as we seek answers to the questions which remain. Alongside the search for MH370, there is an intensive investigation, which we hope will also provide answers.

We would like to assure you that Malaysia Airlines will continue to give you our full support throughout the difficult weeks and months ahead.

Once again, we humbly offer our sincere thoughts, prayers and condolences to everyone affected by this tragedy."

Although Najib Razak says MAS has spoken to relatives, some online news articles say that prior to the press conference being held, Malaysia Airlines sent a SMS to relatives of those aboard the plane saying that it is to be "assumed beyond any reasonable doubt" that MH370 has been lost. Sending something like this with SMS is quite insensitive!

Here is the Chinese translation of Malaysia Airlines statement:

马来西亚航空公司MH370航空事件

媒体声明廿三

（2014年3月24日晚上10时15分发布）

注： 以下信息谨与MH370航班的乘客及机组人员的家属共享。

随着马来西亚首相即将在一项简报声明中指出，根据卫星数据的新分析，MH370航班已坠毁于南印度洋，为此，马来西亚航空公司深感悲痛与遗憾地告知各位，我们唯有假设此航班已终结于南印度洋。

在此极度悲伤的时刻，我们谨代表马来西亚航空公司全体同仁与所有马来西亚人，向226乘客以及本航13名友人兼同事的爱人与亲属致以深切的哀悼与祈祷。

                大家悲痛的心情，我们感同身受。我们也知道，此时此刻，不管何人或何语言，都难以抚平内心的伤痛。我们将继续给您提供援助与支持。正如MH370于3月8日失联后数小时般，从吉隆坡赶往北京，展开进一步的行动。

        仍在进行着的多国搜救行动依然在持续着，毕竟我们寻求答案的问题依然存在。在搜寻MH370之际，尚有许多方面有待调查，希望也能得到答案。

            我们向您保证马来西亚航空在您整个艰巨难熬时期与未来的数月中，继续给您全面的支援与帮助。

            我们谨此再次向所有遭受此悲剧的每一位表示深切的哀悼与慰唁。

It is expected that these relatives will be booked on charter flights and taken to Australia.

This news development also means that we may never know what has happened to MH370. Why a Boeing 777 flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing has diverted its path on South China Sea and flew all the way to South Indian Ocean has become the biggest mystery of aviation history. Even if the black boxes are found and retrieved from thousands of meters deep Indian Ocean, the flight voice recorder only records the last 2 hours of cockpit voice so we probably will not have the most cruicial part, diversion of the plane from its course on the recorder.

Najib Razak's announcement at missing MH370 news conference confırms that the missing Malaysia Airlines
Boeing 777 flew to southern Indian Ocean off Australia.

Did Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappear using SIA68 (another 777)?

Since it became almost obvious that missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH370 was delibrately flown from South China Sea to Andaman and then flew almost 6 plus hours to either Central Asia or Southern Indian Ocean, people are trying to figure-out how a wide-body aircraft like Boeing 777 can fly without being detected. Since this is highly unlikely, many experts believe that the MAS Boeing 777 probably flew to South than North. Since none of the 25 countries looking at their radar records could locate an unidentified plane, it would have flown to the south. Or maybe very low?

An interesting theory which is going viral involves another Boeing 777 belonging to Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines Flight 68, SIA68 namely.

 Keith Ledgerwood, has plotted the route taken by the missing MAS plane and then looked for another plane which was there around that time and found out that SIA68 was passing through there and flying to Europe to its final destination of Barcelona, Spain. Indeed, the unusual Singapore Airlines service flies from Singapore to Barcelona and from there to Sao Paolo.

Basically, Keith Ledgerwood calculated that MAS plane was at 1815UTC when military radar lost contact. At the exact time, SQ68 was also there:

It is my belief that MH370 likely flew in the shadow of SIA68 through India and Afghanistan airspace.  As MH370 was flying “dark” without transponder / ADS-B output, SIA68 would have had no knowledge that MH370 was anywhere around and as it entered Indian airspace, it would have shown up as one single blip on the radar with only the transponder information of SIA68 lighting up ATC and military radar screens.

Wouldn’t the SIA68 flight have detected MH370? NO!  The Boeing 777 utilizes a TCAS (Traffic collision avoidance system) system for traffic avoidance; the system would ordinarily provide alerts and visualization to pilots if another airplane was too close.  However that system only operates by receiving the transponder information from other planes and displaying it for the pilot.  If MH370 was flying without the transponder, it would have been invisible to SIA68.
Source : Did Malaysian Airlines 370 disappear using SIA68 (another 777)?

Although another commercial plane would not see MH370 on TCAS system, MH370 could easily see all commercial airlines nearby! MH370 would see the direction, speed and altitude of other airliners (see below)!

TCAS (Traffic collision avoidance system) screen on Boeing 777 cockpit.
Courtesy of AirTeamImages.com

Keith Ledgerwood theorizes that if MH370 indeed followed SQ68, it would have been free to break off from the shadow of SIA68 somewhere in Cental Asia and then land in Xingjian province of China, Kyrgyzstan, or Turkmenistan.

Last known position of MH370 on Malaysia military radar and the position of SIA 68.
Courtesy of Keith Ledgerwood

Where is missing Malaysia Airlines MH370?

Today, Malaysia confirmed that the diversion of Malaysia Airlines MH370 airliner was a 'deliberate act' through Prime Minister. Earlier, it was also revealed that the last confirmed signal between the plane and the satellite was at 8.11 AM.

Although the signal from missing plane does not have coordinates data, possible locations can still be calculated from the distance of the plane to the satellite at the time of the transit. Below map shows the possible locations of MH370 based on satellite data.

Here is from Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak's statement:

According to the new data, the last confirmed communication between the plane and the satellite was at 8.11am Malaysian time on Saturday, March 8. The investigations team is making further calculations which will indicate how far the aircraft may have flown after this last point of contact. This will help us to refine the search. 

Due to the type of satellite data, we are unable to confirm the precise location of the plane when it last made contact with the satellite. 

However, based on this new data, the aviation authorities of Malaysia and their international counterparts have determined that the plane’s last communication with the satellite was in one of two possible corridors: a 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. The investigation team is working to further refine the information.

Source :  Press statement on MH370 – Najib Razak

Look at the below map again. I do not want to speculate anything but the northern arc is passing through China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where there is an ongoing conflict.

Here is from The Straits Times:

There is a possibility the hijacking of MH370 could be linked to ongoing tensions between the Uighurs, a minority Muslim group from Xinjiang in north-west China, and the Chinese government, one security expert has said. Xinjiang shares a border with Kazakhstan, among other countries.