Missing jet: No debris at spot shown on China images,says Malaysia

Published on:

13 Mar 2014, 12:00 am

Planes sent Thursday to check the spot where Chinese satellite images showed possible debris from the missing Malaysian jetliner found nothing, Malaysia's civil aviation chief said, deflating the latest tantalizing lead in the six-day hunt.

"There is nothing. We went there, there is nothing," Azharuddin Abdul Rahman told reporters in Kuala lumpur.

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reported that U.S. investigators suspect the plane flew on for four hours once it lost contact with air traffic controllers, based on data from the plane's engines that are automatically downloaded and transmitted to the ground as part of routine maintenance programs.

The report raises questions as to why the Boeing 777 would have been flying without contact, and if anyone would have been in control during that time. U.S. counterterrorism officials are considering whether a pilot or someone else on board intentionally disabled the jetliner's transponders to avoid detection and divert it, the report said.

The hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 has been punctuated by false leads since it disappeared with 239 people aboard about an hour after leaving Kuala lumpur for Beijing early Saturday.

The plane was heading northeast over the South China Sea when it disappeared, but authorities believe it may have turned back and headed into the upper reaches of the Strait of Malacca or beyond.

Chinese satellite imagery showed possible debris is not far from where the last confirmed position of the plane was between Malaysia and Vietnam. The images and coordinates were posted on the website of China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

China's state Xinhua News Agency said the images from around 11 a.m. on Sunday appear to show "three suspected floating objects" of varying sizes in a 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius, the largest about 24-by-22 meters (79-by-72 feet) off the southern tip of Vietnam.

li Jiaxiang, chief of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said later China had yet to confirm any link between the suspected floating objects and the plane.

Pham Quy Tieu, deputy transport minister, told The Associated Press that the area had been "searched thoroughly" by forces from other countries over the past few days. Doan Huu Gia, chief of air search and rescue coordination center, said Malaysian and Singaporean aircraft were scheduled to visit the area again Thursday.

Malaysia has come under some criticism for its handling of the search, which currently covers 35,800 square miles (92,600 square kilometers) and involves 12 nations.

China's satellites spot possible debris from missing plane

PTI | Beijing

China today said it would not give up its efforts in searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane as long there is a "glimmer of hope" after its satellites spotted three floating pieces of possible debris in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam.

China will not give up its efforts in searching for the missing aircraft with 154 Chinese passengers aboard "as long as there is a glimmer of hope," Chinese Premier li Keqiang told the media at the end of the parliament session.

"We will not give up any suspected clue that is being found," he said.

"We are also looking very closely at all suspected clues showing on satellite images," he said.

His comments came after a Chinese satellite found three floating objects at a suspected crash site of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.

He said that the Chinese government has asked all relevant parties in the ongoing massive international search to enhance coordination to investigate the cause and to locate the missing jetliner as soon as possible.

China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said early today that the objects were monitored in the South China Sea at 6.7 degrees north latitude and 105.63 degrees east longitude, spreading across an area with a radius of 20 kms.

The satellite images, which were captured around 11 am on Sunday, showed the objects measuring 13 by 18 meters, 14 by 19 meters and 24 by 22 meters respectively.

The images are being analysed, according to the SASTIND.

The plane has been missing for over five days since contact with it was lost early on Saturday. It was flying over the Ho Chi Minh air traffic control area in Vietnam and carrying 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese.

The international search for the missing plane, which has so far involved at least 40 ships and nearly 40 aircraft from 12 countries, entered its sixth day today, but the whereabouts of the Boeing 777-200 remain unknown.

China has employed 10 satellites to provide technological support in attempts to locate the aircraft, which was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 am local time on Saturday.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Malaysia's Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein as saying that Malaysia has dispatched an aircraft to the site where Chinese satellites photographed the three "suspected floating objects" in the search for the missing jet.