‘Missing plane’s engines stopped sending data’
15 March 2014 4:44 AM IST
The Wall Street Journal newspaper quoted US investigators on Thursday as saying they suspected the Boeing 777 remained in the air for about four hours after its last confirmed contact, citing data from the plane’s engines that are automatically transmitted to the ground as part of a routine maintenance program.
Malaysian Defense Minister and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the government had contacted Boeing and Rolls Royce, the engine manufacturer, and both said the last engine data was received at 1.07 am, several minutes before the plane lost contact over the South China Sea on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
An international search effort is sweeping the South China Sea, but also focusing on the Strait of Malacca because of unconfirmed military radar sightings indicating the plane may have changed course and headed west after it stopped communicating.
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.’
He said the search had been expanded into the Andaman Sea and that the country was asking for radar data from neighboring countries such as India. If the plane flew far from the current search areas, then locating it will likely be a vast task.
Investigators have not ruled out any possible cause for the disappearance of the plane and the 239 people on board. 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 planes nearby, were not working. Another possibility is that the pilot, or a passenger, likely one with some technical knowledge, switched off the transponders.
The plane was heading northeast over the Gulf of Thailand toward Vietnam when it vanished. The last message from the cockpit was routine: ‘All right, good night,’ was the signoff transmitted to Malaysian air traffic controllers.
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.
Malaysian Defense Minister and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the government had contacted Boeing and Rolls Royce, the engine manufacturer, and both said the last engine data was received at 1.07 am, several minutes before the plane lost contact over the South China Sea on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
An international search effort is sweeping the South China Sea, but also focusing on the Strait of Malacca because of unconfirmed military radar sightings indicating the plane may have changed course and headed west after it stopped communicating.
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.’
He said the search had been expanded into the Andaman Sea and that the country was asking for radar data from neighboring countries such as India. If the plane flew far from the current search areas, then locating it will likely be a vast task.
Investigators have not ruled out any possible cause for the disappearance of the plane and the 239 people on board. 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 planes nearby, were not working. Another possibility is that the pilot, or a passenger, likely one with some technical knowledge, switched off the transponders.
The plane was heading northeast over the Gulf of Thailand toward Vietnam when it vanished. The last message from the cockpit was routine: ‘All right, good night,’ was the signoff transmitted to Malaysian air traffic controllers.
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.
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