Post date: Mar 14, 2014 2:0:54 PM
Malaysia is working with U.S. investigators to establish whether any satellite information is available to help locate missing airliner.
SEPANG, SELANGOR STATE, MALAYSIA (MARCH 14, 2014) (REUTERS) - Malaysia is working with U.S. investigators to establish if there is any satellite information that could help locate an airliner with 239 people on board that has been missing for nearly a week, a senior government official said on Friday (March 14).
But Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the data has yet to be verified."There has been a lot of media speculation today after comments from unnamed U.S. officials suggested the plane may have travelled for some time after losing contact. As is standard procedure, the investigation team will not publicly release information until it has properly been verified and corroborated with the relevant authorities nor do we want to be drawn into specific remarks that unnamed officials have reportedly made in the media," Hussein told a news conference.
One of the most baffling mysteries in the history of modern aviation remains unsolved after nearly a week.
In a far more detailed description of military radar plotting than has been publicly revealed, two sources told Reuters an unidentified aircraft that investigators suspect was missing Flight MH370 appeared to be following a commonly used navigational route when it was last spotted early on Saturday (March 8), northwest of Malaysia.
The latest radar evidence is consistent with the expansion of the search for the aircraft to the west of Malaysia, possibly as far as the Indian Ocean.
"Two days ago the search area was widened to include the Andaman sea. Together with our international partners, we are now pushing further east into the South China Sea and further into the Indian Ocean," Hussein said, adding that the information had forced them to look further.
Two sources close to the investigation said on Thursday (March 13) that satellites picked up faint electronic pulses from Malaysia Airlines MASM.KL Flight 370 after it went missing on Saturday, but the signals gave no information about where the stray jet was heading and little else about its fate.
"We are now working very closely with our team from U.S. to get whatever information of satellite with the U.S. and we are working that to determine the whereabouts of the aircraft. We cannot reveal the information right now because it's still under investigation."
Investigators were still looking at "four or five" possibilities, including a diversion that was intentional or under duress, or an explosion, he said. Police would search the pilot's home if necessary and were still investigating all 239 passengers and crew on the plane, Hussein added.
There has been no trace of the plane nor any sign of wreckage as the navies and military aircraft of more than a dozen countries scour the seas across Southeast Asia.