Watch above: Why the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has again turned west and a U.S. navy ship is joining efforts in the Indian Ocean. Mike Drolet reports.
- Conflicting reports on whether data “pings” were received hours after the plane vanished
- Malaysian authorities backtrack on how long plane flew after last contact
- Chinese satellite images were released by mistake; no plane debris found
- Search expanded with ships and/or planes from U.S., China, India, Philippines and Vietnam
- Oil rig worker says he saw Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 go down
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A Malaysia Airlines plane sent signals to a satellite for four hours after the aircraft went missing, an indication that it was still flying for hundreds of miles or more, a U.S. official briefed on the search said Thursday.
Six days after the plane with 239 people aboard disappeared, Malaysian authorities expanded their search westward toward India, saying the aircraft may have flown for several hours after its last contact with the ground shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.
A string of previous clues about Flight MH370 have led nowhere.
READ MORE: Theories on missing plane range from possible to surreal
CNN reports that a senior U.S. official was told by Malaysian authorities that they believe they have several data “pings” from hours after after the plane vanished, and that it may have flown four to five hours into the Indian Ocean.
A separate report from The Associated Press cited an anonymous U.S. official who said there was no data transmitted after contact was lost. The official said investigators are exploring whether the plane may have flown for another four hours after contact was lost based on the estimated fuel on board and the inability of searchers thus far to find wreckage.
The official said there was information about the Boeing 777-200’s engines sent via a digital datalink along with other information on the functioning of the plane before contact was lost.
White House spokesperson Jay Carney said the U.S. is “following leads where we find them” and that an “additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean.”
In the latest in a series of false leads, planes were sent Thursday to search an area off the southern tip of Vietnam where Chinese satellite images published on a Chinese government website reportedly showed three suspected floating objects.
No plane debris found at spot shown by satellite images
They saw only ocean.
“There is nothing. We went there, there is nothing,” said acting Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
Compounding the frustration, he later said the Chinese Embassy had notified the government that the images were released by mistake and did not show any debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
Watch above: Malaysian Transport Minister confirms surveillance plane found nothing where Chinese satellite images showed potential debris
The plane left Kuala Lumpur and was flying northeast across the Gulf of Thailand and into the South China Sea when it dropped off civilian radar without any indication it was having any technical problems.
Conflicting reports
An international search effort is sweeping the South China Sea, where the airliner was last known to be. A roughly similar sized hunt is being conducted in the northern stretches of the Strait of Malacca because of military radar sightings that might indicate the plane headed west after its last contact and passed over Peninsular Malaysia.
Watch below: Malaysian Transport minister denies plane’s engine sent data hours after last contact
READ MORE: Oil rig worker saw Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 go down
Hishammuddin said the government had contacted Boeing and Rolls Royce, the engine manufacturer, and both said the last engine data was received at 1:07 a.m., around 23 minutes before the plane lost contact.
But asked if it were possible that the plane kept flying for several hours, Hishammuddin said:
“Of course, we can’t rule anything out. This is why we have extended the search. We are expanding our search into the Andaman Sea.”
The statement was contrary to his previously reported remarks denying the several hours of additional flight time.
Investigators haven’t ruled out any possible causes
Experts say a massive failure knocking out its electrical systems, while unlikely, could explain why its transponders, which identify it to civilian radar systems and other nearby planes, were not working. Another possibility is that the pilot, or a passenger, likely one with some technical knowledge, switched off the transponders in the hope of flying undetected.
READ MORE: Mysterious aviation disappearances
The jet had enough fuel to reach deep into the Indian Ocean.
Malaysia’s air force chief said Wednesday that an unidentified object appeared on military radar records about 320 kilometres northwest of Penang, Malaysia, and experts are analyzing the data in an attempt to determine whether the blip is the missing plane.
Malaysia criticized for handling of disappearance
Malaysia has received some criticism for its handling of the search, in part because it took several days to fully explain why it couldn’t state for sure whether the plane had turned back.
Officials say they are not hiding anything and are searching in areas where the plane is mostly likely to be.
“There is no real precedent for a situation like this. The plane just vanished,” Hishammuddin said.
Dozens of ships and aircraft from 12 nations have been searching the Gulf of Thailand and the strait, but no confirmed trace has been found. The search area has grown to 92,600 square kilometres, or about the size of Portugal.
INFOGRAPHIC: Airline accidents in the past 50 years
Experts say that if the plane crashed into the ocean then some debris should be floating on the surface even if most of the jet is submerged. Past experience shows that finding the wreckage can take weeks or even longer, especially if the location of the plane is in doubt.
Multinational ships, planes deployed in search
UNITED STATES: The USS Kidd searched the southwest section of the Gulf of Thailand before heading to the Strait of Malacca as of Thursday, and the USS Pickney searched the northeast area, between Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before heading to Singapore for maintenance.
The Kidd’s two HM-60R Seahawk helicopters flew sorties from dawn to dusk in search of debris and a Navy P-3C Orion aircraft has been searching over both the Strait of Malacca and the Gulf of Thailand. CNN reported Thursday afternoon the U.S. may expand their search over the Indian Ocean.
INDIA: India received a formal request for help from the Malaysian government in tracing the missing aircraft Thursday afternoon. The area indicated by Malaysia is in the South Andaman Sea and west of Great Nicobar Island, and India’s navy and coast guard ships will comb the area, including two C-130s, one Mi-17 V5 helicopter of the air force and Dornier and P8i maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the navy.
CHINA: More than two-thirds of those on board the missing plane were from China, which has shown impatience with the absence of any results. Four Chinese naval vessels are joining the effort, and an air force plane is searching for signals from the flight’s black box. The People’s Liberation Army Newspaper said Beijing also sent four helicopters and four civilian search vessels.
On state-run China Central Television, PLA navy officers said the ships were using underwater sonar and robots to detect the plane, and the crews have been surveying the sea.
THE PHILIPPINES & VIETNAM: The Philippines’ largest and newest naval vessel, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter, was deployed on Wednesday to replace two smaller patrol boats that returned to port for refuelling and resupply.
An air force Fokker 27 that searched on the weekend was replaced by a navy Islander on Monday. A C-130 was deployed on Tuesday. The navy Islander and the Gregorio del Pilar were both searching on Thursday, and all fishermen and fishing boats in the area were advised to help.
Vietnam has dispatched a helicopter to scour jungles of U Minh in southern Vietnam after the massive sea search found no clues.
MORE ON THE WAY: Japan said it will deploy two C-130 transport planes and two P-3C aircraft to the area as soon as possible.
Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei have already provided ships, and Singapore is planning to add more aircraft. Thailand has contributed helicopters, while Australia has offered two P-3C aircraft and India is reportedly mobilizing coast guard vessels.
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