BALTIMORE, Maryland March 24, 2014 - The missing Malaysian Jet with 239 people aboard has certaily crashed in the Southern Indian Ocean, the Malaysian Prime Minister announced today. Speaking in Kuala Lumpur, where the ill-fated flight originated over two weeks ago, Najib Razak somberly announced that a thorough analysis of new satellite data has led to the regrettable conflusion that the flight ended over the ocean and the plane then crashed into it. Razak said he has met with family members of the passengers and informed them of the news.
The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinese-search-plane-spots-suspicious-objects-in-hunt-for-missing-malaysian-jet/2014/03/24/b6783ac6-b314-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html) and the very respected aviation blog "Plane Talking," written by Ben Sandilands and carried by the Crikey Media outlet in Australia, said Razak spoke at 10 pm local time. "This is a remote location, far from any possible landing site,” Razak said solemnly. “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.” He said the families of those on board have been informed of this “heartbreaking” news. The Sandilands article is at: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2014/03/25/mh370-the-flight-ended-in-the-southern-indian-ocean/
There was news Monday of new citings of debris and new information about more debris, although none of it has yet been recovered and analyzed to see if it is from the jet, a Boeing 777. It was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China when it went missing. Satellite data has indicated that the plane took one of two "corridors" after it turned inexplicably left, off of its intended course, about 40 minutes into the flight. Radio contact was terminated before the turn and the last transmission from the crew did not indicate any problem. Originally it was reported that the plane's transponders, which transmit flight data and permit it to be tracked more easily by radar, had been turned off manually before the last radio transmission, but that has been changed. Now, it is unclear if the transponders were turned off before or after the last radio transmission.
A Chinese search plane reported on Monday that it saw a new batch of debris, but another search plane was unable to verify it. A Chinese Navy vessel was en route to the scene of the citing. Another search plane saw what spotters identified as a wooden pallet over the weekend, but that also has not been confirmed and the spotters could not photograph the debris because of poor visibility and lighting. A variety of satellite sightings have not been confirmed by airplane or boat crews.
According to Mr. Sandilands, Najib had commented earlier on Monday that he had met with representatives from the UK satellite company Inmarsat and the UK’s Air Accident Investigation Board, and they told him that new analysis that had been performed on the electronic traces of MH370 that had been registered by that satellite had eliminated the possibility that the jet could have come down along a northern corridor of possibilities.
This is Mr. Razak's press statement:
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.
Malaysia Airlines posted this statement:
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.
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