WATCH: Malaysian authorities now believe the missing aircraft may have sharply changed course and flown west, at the same time as it lost contact with ground controllers – it’s transponders stopped working. Mike Drolet reports.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The Malaysian military has radar data showing the missing Boeing 777 jetliner changed course and made it to the Malacca Strait, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the last position recorded by civilian authorities, according to a senior military official.
READ MORE: Without a trace: Mysterious aviation disappearances
The development injects more mystery into the investigation of the disappearance of Saturday’s flight, and raises questions about why the aircraft was not transmitting signals detectable by civilian radar.
VIDEO: Malaysian officials turn search efforts to Straits of Malacca, but Malaysia’s defence minister is daunted by the massive area needed to cover.
Local newspaper Berita Harian quoted Malaysian air force chief Gen. Rodzali Daud as saying radar at a military base had detected the airliner at 2:40 a.m. near Pulau Perak at the northern approach to the strait, a busy waterway that separates the western coast of Malaysia and Indonesia’s Sumatra island.
“After that, the signal from the plane was lost,” he was quoted as saying.
A high-ranking military official involved in the investigation confirmed the report and also said the plane was believed to be flying low. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Authorities had earlier said the plane, which took off at 12:20 a.m. and was headed to Beijing, may have attempted to turn back to Kuala Lumpur, but they expressed surprise that it would do so without informing ground control.
READ MORE: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: The missing
Interpol releases image of 2 Iranians on missing plane
Interpol says it seems unlikely that two men who boarded the missing Malaysian Airlines plane with stolen passports were terrorists.
An official says it appears the two Iranian men — who used their own passports to get to Malaysia before switching documents for the flight to Beijing — were seeking asylum in Europe.
VIDEO: CBS News’ Craig Boswell has new details about the men with stolen passports who boarded the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.
Citing national authorities, Interpol named the two as Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar, 29, and Pouria Nourmohammadi. Malaysian authorities say Nourmohammadi is 19, although Interpol’s information indicated an age of 18.
Report of pilot smoking
According to a media report from news.com.au, the co-pilot of the missing flight “once invited a Melbourne tourist and her friend into the cockpit where he smoked, took photos and entertained the pair during a previous international flight.”
Report of phones of missing passengers ringing
A separate report in the Washington Post said that relatives of missing passengers claim the phones of the passengers have been ringing when called.
Airline says search area has widened for missing jet
The airline said in a statement “search and rescue teams scope beyond the flight path to the West Peninsular of Malaysia at the Straits of Malacca. The authorities are looking at a possibility of an attempt made by MH370 to turn back to Subang. All angles are being looked at. We are not ruling out any possibilities.”
Authorities have said they were also exploring the possibility that the plane may have attempted to turn back toward Kuala Lumpur.
READ MORE: U.S. company asks public to help locate missing Malaysia Airlines flight
The hunt began on Saturday near the plane’s last known location. But with no debris found there, the search has been systematically expanded to include areas the plane could have reached with the fuel it had on board. That is a vast area in which to locate something as small as a piece of an aircraft.
Malaysia Airlines said search and rescue teams have expanded the scope beyond the flight path to the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia’s western coast and Indonesia’s Sumatra island – the opposite side of Malaysia from its last known location.
WATCH: Malaysian officials update search for missing plane
The search currently includes nine aircraft and 24 ships from nine countries that have been scouring the Gulf of Thailand on the eastern side of Malaysia. Land areas also are being searched.
China, where two-thirds of the passengers are from, urged Malaysian authorities on Tuesday to “speed up the efforts” to find the plane. It has sent four ships, with another four on the way.
U.S., Vietnam send ships to aid in search
The United States has sent two navy ships, at least one of which is equipped with helicopters, and a Navy P-3C Orion plane with sensors that can detect small debris in the water. It said in a statement that the Malaysian government has done “tremendous job” organizing the land and sea search effort.
Vietnamese planes and ships are also taking part.
Airline probing report 2 visited cockpit in 2011
Malaysia Airlines says it is investigating an Australia television report that the co-pilot on its missing flight had invited two women to stay in the cockpit for the duration of a flight two years ago.
The airline said late Tuesday it wouldn’t comment about the report until its investigation into it is complete.
Roos said she and her friend were allowed to stay in the cockpit during the entire one-hour flight in December 2011 from Phuket, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur. She said the arrangement did not seem unusual to the plane’s crew.
Comments