BREAKING (3:05pm): Salient points from the Prime Minister's statement given at the press conference:
1. New data shows last confirmed location was Saturday, 8 March at 8.11AM which indicate how far the plane has flown.
2. Based on new satellite communication data, we can say with a high degree of certainty that the Aircraft Communications, Addressing and Reporting System or ACARS, was disabled just before the aircraft reached the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
3. Shortly aftewards, near the border between Malaysia and Vietnamese air traffic control, the aircraft transponder was switched off.
4. From this point onwards, the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s primary radar showed that an aircraft, believed to be (but not confirmed to be) MH370, did indeed turn back.
5. It then flew back over Peninsular Malaysia, before turning northwest into the Straits of Malacca, up until the point at which it left military primary radar coverage.
6. The PM also said that plane movement was consistent with "deliberate action" by someone on the plane.
7. There will be refocused investigation into the crew and passengers on board.
8. Despite news reports that investigators concluded it was a hijacking, PM Najib said "I wish to be very clear we are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH370 to deviate from its original flight path." Hijacking is not ruled out, however.
9. Based on the direction in which the plane flew, the plane could have headed in one of two possible corridors:
- Northern corridor: border of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan to Northern Thailand.
- Southern corridor: From Indonesia to Southern Indian Ocean.
9. Operations in the South China Sea will be ended and deployment of assets will be reassessed.
10. Malaysia Airlines is informing families of the passengers of the new developments.
11. "The search has entered a new phase... We hope this new information will bring us one step closer to finding the plane."
UPDATE [12:55pm, 15 Mar]: A Malaysian government official involved in the investigation says investigators have concluded that one or more people with significant flying experience hijacked the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, switched off communication devices and steered it off-course. Storyhere.
Prime Minister Najib Razak's twitter account has announced that the PM will be making a press statement at 1:30pm.
CNN reports that classified intelligence analysis says it is likely that MH370 crashed in the bay of Bengal or the Indian ocean, and gives a highly detailed description of the plane's flight path after it disappeared. Details here.
Over 2.3 million people worldwide are searching for MH370, scanning thousands of satellite images on their PCs in a crowdsourcing effort. Story here.
Prime Minister Najib Razak's twitter account has announced that the PM will be making a press statement at 1:30pm.
CNN reports that classified intelligence analysis says it is likely that MH370 crashed in the bay of Bengal or the Indian ocean, and gives a highly detailed description of the plane's flight path after it disappeared. Details here.
Over 2.3 million people worldwide are searching for MH370, scanning thousands of satellite images on their PCs in a crowdsourcing effort. Story here.
source: Yahoo News
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