Last updated: December 28, 2014


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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Like a Hollywood movie with no ending

Flight search nears one-week mark 1:13

The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 nears the one-week mark with no trace of the plane or its 239 passengers and crew. Paul Chapman reports.

A Malaysian Muslim woman cries as she offers prayers for passengers of the missing Malays

A Malaysian Muslim woman cries as she offers prayers for passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plane at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Source: AFP

IT sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie — a plane full of hostages seemingly vanished into thin air.

Could they be hiding amid the dense tropical canopy of a remote island? Could they even be in North Korea — the reluctant guest of the Hermit State’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un?

Such scenarios seem far-fetched, but as theories surrounding the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 fall by the wayside one-by-one, it is an indictment of the lack of progress that a hijacking of the Boeing 777 remains as plausible a possibility as any.





Overnight, US officials confirmed that the USS Kidd was being moved at the request of Malaysia and was heading towards an area where the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea meet on the basis of unspecified “new information” about the disappearance of the plane.

The ship has helicopters aboard that can scour the area.

“It’s my understanding that based on some new information that’s not necessarily conclusive, but new information, an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean, and we are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Mr Carney did not specify the nature of the “new information”, but it followed a Wall Street Journal report the aircraft could have continued flying for four hours after it disappeared.

This was based on suggestions the aircraft had been automatically sending data to Boeing headquarters well after it dropped off radar screens.

This meant it could have continued for an additional 2200 nautical miles, potentially reaching as far away as the Arabian Sea, Pakistan or even Australia.

A total of 12 countries have now joined the search.

On the look out ... The Royal Malaysian Navy corvette KD Terengganu and a US Navy MH-60R

On the look out ... The Royal Malaysian Navy corvette KD Terengganu and a US Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter in the Gulf of Thailand. Source: AFP

Since the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 passengers and crew disappeared in the early hours of Saturday morning just off the coast of Vietnam, the explanations for its disappearance have changed almost hourly.

Australian National University security expert, Professor Clive Williams, said investigators appeared to be “thrashing around” in a blind search for the plane that has expanded to include areas as far apart as the eastern Indian Ocean, the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea.

“They’re all floundering a bit at the moment hoping someone will come staggering out of the jungle or wreckage will be found,” he said.

“Until then, they won’t know much.”

Professor Williams, who has discounted the involvement of a formal terrorist operation, said if the aircraft did continue flying after losing contact with air traffic control, the most likely explanations are that it was taken over by a passenger, hijacked by a member of the crew, or that there was a major software or instrument failure.

“I still don’t think it was a terrorist attack,” he said.

The most popular theory in the immediate aftermath of the aircraft’s disappearance was that it had been the victim of a “sudden catastrophic event”, such as a bomb or an explosion that tore the plane apart.

This appeared to be confirmed by the presence of two passengers travelling on fake passports.

However, they were later identified as Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, 19, and Delavar Syed Mohammad Reza, 29, Iranians who are now believed to have been travelling to Europe to seek asylum.

Travelled on stolen passports ... Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad (left) and 29-year-old Ira

Travelled on stolen passports ... Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad (left) and 29-year-old Iranian Delavar Seyedmohammaderza. Source: Supplied

A directive from the US Federal Aviation Administration warning of possible cracking in the fuselage that could lead those aboard to slowly suffocate was seized upon on Wednesday as a likely explanation before being discounted by Boeing.

Yesterday, Chinese satellite data appeared to show what looked like wreckage close to the aircraft’s last recorded position, while an eyewitness report from New Zealand oil rig worker Mike McKay suggested the Malaysia Airlines jetliner burst into flames off the southeast coast of Vietnam.

However, a recurring theory is that the aircraft veered wildly from its course after turning off its transponder.

There have been reports, later denied by Malaysia air force chief General Rodzali Daud, that the aircraft was tracked deviating from its path into the Malacca Strait, far from its last known contact.

A senior US official told CNN today “there is probably a significant likelihood” the plane is on the bottom of the Indian Ocean, citing information Malaysia has shared with the United States.

Among the 239 missing ... Ju Kun.

Among the 239 missing ... Ju Kun. Source: Supplied

Sugianto Lo.

Gone without a trace... Passenger Sugianto Lo. Source: Supplied

The CNN report said analysts from US intelligence, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have concluded pings sent to a satellite hours after the plane’s last transponder signal likely came from the missing aircraft.

Former British MI6 and Australian Secret Intelligence Service analyst Warren Reed told the Australian Financial Review it was even possible the plane was diverted to North Korea.

“North Korea might have the audacity to pull off something like this, however unlikely it seems,’’ Mr Reed said.

“I mean, if you combine the engine data continuing for another four hours with the fact that mobile phones still appear to be ringing out, it begs the question, no matter how improbable, that the plane has been taken over and diverted,’’ Mr Reed said.

“But it would be remarkable for it to evade detection while continuing flying for that long, or that it could somehow remain parked on the ground without being detected,’’ he said.

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Almost a week since its disappearance, the fate of the aircraft has been further clouded, according to Griffith University crisis management expert Dr Hamish McLean, by a stream of inconsistent information coming from Malaysian authorities.

“I think within the first couple of days, Malaysia Airlines did the right thing,” he said.

“But then the lack of information led to a lot of speculation and there have been so many people from the Malaysian authorities commenting that it does lead to conflicting information.”

This has not been helped by spats with authorities in Vietnam and China — the latter frustrated by a lack of progress to discover the fate of its 153 citizens on-board.

“This crisis is like a marathon and there is no end in sight,” Dr McLean said.

Vietnamese Air Force Col. Pham Minh Tuan uses binoculars on board a flying aircraft durin

Where is it? ... Vietnamese Air Force Col. Pham Minh Tuan uses binoculars on board a flying aircraft during a search in the Gulf of Thailand. Source: AP