WATCH: Malaysia’s prime minister now says missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went down in the southern Indian Ocean and there’s no hope of finding any survivors. Robin Stickley reports.
LATEST UPDATES:
- Malaysian PM Najib Razak says new analysis of satellite data shows that the missing plane crashed into the southern Indian Ocean
- Relatives sob, collapse after Malaysian PM says missing plane must have gone down in ocean
- Satellite images from Australia, France and China have all identified possible debris in the area that may be linked to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 — but nothing has been confirmed
- Pilots’ mental health a concern amid jet mystery
- Malaysia Airlines jet makes emergency landing in Hong Kong
TORONTO – The Prime Minister of Malaysia says new data show missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 plunged into the southern Indian Ocean.
Najib Razak made the grim comments in a news conference Monday.
READ MORE: New Zealand plane spots objects in new search area
A British company calculated satellite data obtained from the remote area of the ocean, using analysis never before used in an aviation investigation of this kind, and pinpointed the last spot the flight was seen in the air was in the middle of the ocean west of Perth, Australia.
READ MORE: Flight MH370: Relatives sob after announcement on missing Malaysia Airlines flight
If confirmed, the news would be a major breakthrough in the unprecedented two-week struggle to find out what happened to Flight 370. But with the location of the plane itself still unknown — most likely somewhere at the bottom of the sea — profound questions remain about what brought down the aircraft and why.
The prime minister didn’t address whether investigators had confirmed floating objects in the ocean and images captured by several countries’ search parties, including that of France and China, were debris from the plane.
News that Malaysia Airlines reportedly informed the families of passengers of the plane’s fate via text message started an outcry on social media.
NBC News’ Adrienne Mong tweeted the following screenshot of what is believed to be the text message that was sent to the families:
The airline later clarified in a statement that it informed families in person, via phone and text message.
“…And it is in that spirit that we informed the majority of the families in advance of the Prime Minister’s statement in person and by telephone. SMSs were used only as an additional means of communicating with the families.”
Selamat Omar, the father of a 29-year-old aviation engineer who was on the flight, said some members of families of other passengers broke down in tears at the news.
“We accept the news of the tragedy. It is fate,” Selamat told The Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur.
Selamat said the airline hasn’t told the families yet whether they will be taken to Australia, which is co-ordinating the search for the plane. He said they expect more details Tuesday.
WATCH: Families of the missing passengers were devastated following the announcement
A multinational force has searched a wide swath of Asia trying to find the plane.
The jet vanished March 8 with 239 people on board – including two Canadians.
Australian, Chinese planes spot objects in Indian Ocean
Earlier on Monday, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the crew on board an Australian search plane located two objects in the search for Flight MH370 – the first, grey or green and circular, the second, orange and rectangular.
They were spotted 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth at around 6:45 GMT on Monday, and are separate to objects spotted by Chinese search planes earlier in the day.
However Abbott warned parliament “we don’t know whether any of these objects are from MH370, they could be flotsam.”
An Australian navy supply ship, the HMAS Success, was heading to the scene on Monday night.
At a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s acting transport minister said the vessel could reach the objects within a few hours or by Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, one of the two Chinese IL-76 search planes taking part in the search returned to an airbase in Perth after spotting two separate objects in the search area.
READ MORE: Flight MH370: 14 days of searching, no plane debris found
China has redirected the icebreaker Snow Dragon toward the latest find, and that ship is due to arrive early on Tuesday.
Relatives of jet’s passengers struggle to cope
Women shrieked and sobbed uncontrollably. Men and women held up their loved ones who were nearly collapsing. Their grief came pouring out after 17 days of waiting for some definitive word on the fate of their relatives aboard the missing plane.
Malaysia’s prime minister gave that word in a televised news conference from Kuala Lumpur, saying there was no longer any reasonable doubt that the aircraft ended up in the southern Indian Ocean far from any possible landing site.
MORE: Anger, heartbreak as families of missing jet passengers demand answers
Relatives of passengers in Beijing had been called to a hotel near the airport to hear the announcement. Afterward, they filed out of a conference room in heart-wrenching grief.
One woman collapsed and fell on her knees, crying “My son! My son!”
17 days later, more questions, few answers
Authorities are considering the possibilities of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or someone else on board.
Malaysia’s police chief, Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar reiterated at a news conference Monday that all the passengers had been cleared of suspicion.
READ MORE: Flight MH370: frequently asked questions, few answers
But he said that the pilots and crew were still being investigated. He would not comment on whether investigators recovered the files that were deleted a month earlier from the home flight simulator of the chief pilot.
MORE: Flight MH370: FBI analyzing flight simulator data in Malaysia
In the U.S., Tony Blinken, President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said on CNN: “There is no prevailing theory.”
“Publicly or privately, we don’t know,” he said. “We’re chasing down every theory.”
Malaysia Airlines jet makes emergency landing in Hong Kong
A Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul made an emergency landing in Hong Kong after a generator failed.
READ MORE: Malaysia Airlines jet makes emergency landing in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s airport says firefighters were put on standby for the arrival of the Airbus A330-300, which landed without incident just before 3 a.m. on Monday.
– with files from The Associated Press
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