KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crashed into a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean, killing all 239 people on board, Malaysia's prime minister Najib Razak announced early Tuesday.
''This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites,'' Mr Najib told a media briefing.
''It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,'' he said, fighting back tears.
Relatives of passengers, the pilots and crew were told of the news late on Monday night, ending an agonising wait to learn the fate of their loves ones.
Many of them had refused to believe those on board had perished.
Confirmation the Boeing 777, one of the world's most sophisticated airliners, crashed into the sea came from Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch which had been provided information from the London-based satellite company Inmarsat.
According to the analysis the plane flew for more than seven hours after it had turned back from its scheduled flight path over the South China Sea.
Officials said it was likely the plane ran out fuel before crashing.
It is not known whether the pilots were still in control of the plane during the long flight over the Indian Ocean.
The company used a type of analysis never used before in an investigation of this sort to determine the plane flew far into the southern Indian Ocean where there is no land for thousands of kilometres.
Perth will now become the base for a multi-nation recovery effort.
Mr Najib said the Inmarsat analysis concluded the plane flew along a southern corridor into the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean after inexplicably turning back from its scheduled flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.
He said based on the analysis the plane's last position was ''in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.''
More than 20 ships and planes from countries including Australia, China, Japan, India and the US are now expected to step-up their search of the icy Indian Ocean.
Twenty-six countries have been involved in the largest search for an aircraft on record, from Central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean, area of 2.4 million nautical miles.
The Australian warship HMAS Success is in an area where an Australian search plane potted two objects - one circular and the other rectangular - bobbing in rough seas that appeared to be debris from the plane.
Australian Prime minister Tony Abbott telephone Mr Najib late on Monday to tell him about the objects.
Hopes were high the debris could be recovered Tuesday morning.
The Inmarsat analysis will allow search coordinators to narrow a massive search area in the Indian Ocean, one of the most remote places on earth where the ocean can be as deep as 7000 metres.
They will now be able to calculate how far the plane could have flown with the fuel it had on board
Malaysian authorities say finding the plane's black box recorder will be crucial in discovering how the plane lost its communications and turned back from its flight path.
Malaysian authorities said more than a week ago there was evidence of a ''deliberate action'' by some-one on board.
But after investigations into the backgrounds of those on board, including the pilots, failed to uncover any links to extremist groups or anything suspicious, investigations have turned the possibility of an explosion, fire or mechanical failure.
They are investigating whether the pilots became unconscious after turning the plane around and it flew on unpiloted.
After interviewing more than 100 people, including the families of the pilot and co-pilot, police admit they have no strong leads in one of the most baffling mysteries in modern aviation.
Mr Najib said officials of Malaysia Airlines broke the news to the families of the passengers and crew in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
''For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking,'' he said.
''I know this news must be harder still . . . I urge the media to respect their privacy and allow them the space they need at this difficult time.''
Some journalists and officials wept after Mr Najib made the announcement.
Mr Najib, whose government has been criticised by China for its handling of the search and investigation, said he called a late night press briefing to release the information ''out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.''
Malaysia Airlines has promised to fly the next of kin of passengers and crew to Perth to be closest to where the plane crashed.
More than half of the passengers were Chinese nationals.
An Inmarsat spokesman said his company's ground-breaking analysis of ''pings'' emitted at regular intervals from the plane discovered without any doubt that plane few far into the Indian Ocean.
''This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites,'' Mr Najib told a media briefing.
''It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,'' he said, fighting back tears.
Relatives of passengers, the pilots and crew were told of the news late on Monday night, ending an agonising wait to learn the fate of their loves ones.
Many of them had refused to believe those on board had perished.
Confirmation the Boeing 777, one of the world's most sophisticated airliners, crashed into the sea came from Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch which had been provided information from the London-based satellite company Inmarsat.
According to the analysis the plane flew for more than seven hours after it had turned back from its scheduled flight path over the South China Sea.
Officials said it was likely the plane ran out fuel before crashing.
It is not known whether the pilots were still in control of the plane during the long flight over the Indian Ocean.
The company used a type of analysis never used before in an investigation of this sort to determine the plane flew far into the southern Indian Ocean where there is no land for thousands of kilometres.
Perth will now become the base for a multi-nation recovery effort.
Mr Najib said the Inmarsat analysis concluded the plane flew along a southern corridor into the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean after inexplicably turning back from its scheduled flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.
He said based on the analysis the plane's last position was ''in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.''
More than 20 ships and planes from countries including Australia, China, Japan, India and the US are now expected to step-up their search of the icy Indian Ocean.
Twenty-six countries have been involved in the largest search for an aircraft on record, from Central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean, area of 2.4 million nautical miles.
The Australian warship HMAS Success is in an area where an Australian search plane potted two objects - one circular and the other rectangular - bobbing in rough seas that appeared to be debris from the plane.
Australian Prime minister Tony Abbott telephone Mr Najib late on Monday to tell him about the objects.
Hopes were high the debris could be recovered Tuesday morning.
The Inmarsat analysis will allow search coordinators to narrow a massive search area in the Indian Ocean, one of the most remote places on earth where the ocean can be as deep as 7000 metres.
They will now be able to calculate how far the plane could have flown with the fuel it had on board
Malaysian authorities say finding the plane's black box recorder will be crucial in discovering how the plane lost its communications and turned back from its flight path.
Malaysian authorities said more than a week ago there was evidence of a ''deliberate action'' by some-one on board.
But after investigations into the backgrounds of those on board, including the pilots, failed to uncover any links to extremist groups or anything suspicious, investigations have turned the possibility of an explosion, fire or mechanical failure.
They are investigating whether the pilots became unconscious after turning the plane around and it flew on unpiloted.
After interviewing more than 100 people, including the families of the pilot and co-pilot, police admit they have no strong leads in one of the most baffling mysteries in modern aviation.
Mr Najib said officials of Malaysia Airlines broke the news to the families of the passengers and crew in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
''For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking,'' he said.
''I know this news must be harder still . . . I urge the media to respect their privacy and allow them the space they need at this difficult time.''
Some journalists and officials wept after Mr Najib made the announcement.
Mr Najib, whose government has been criticised by China for its handling of the search and investigation, said he called a late night press briefing to release the information ''out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.''
Malaysia Airlines has promised to fly the next of kin of passengers and crew to Perth to be closest to where the plane crashed.
More than half of the passengers were Chinese nationals.
An Inmarsat spokesman said his company's ground-breaking analysis of ''pings'' emitted at regular intervals from the plane discovered without any doubt that plane few far into the Indian Ocean.
Sounds like they still haven't a clue, but are now giving up and admitting it, (sorta). As for,"pings emitted... from the plane," I note way too many of these kind of misinformed, and/ or assumptive errors in this correspondent's articles. Also,
" 2.4 million nautical miles.." Shouldn't that be square miles? Or are they looking toward Mars?
... Might as well be.
Posted by The Night Mare on March 25, 2014 10:53