The Acting Transport Minister however says investigators will look into all aspects, including the possibility of a hijacking
VIDEO INSIDE
SEPANG: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today refused to confirm or deny new reports that the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 may have been deliberately flown across to the Andaman Islands after losing contact.
Speaking in his daily media briefing in Sepang, Hishammuddin said the investigation team will not publicly release information until it has been properly verified and corroborated with the relevant authorities.
“Nor do we want to be drawn into specific remarks that unnamed officials have reportedly made to the media,” said Hishammuddin, who is also the Defence Minister.
He also said that the local authorities were working closely with all international partners, including the US team, whose officials have been here on the ground in Kuala Lumpur.
“Since Wednesday, the Malaysian investigation team have shared more detailed information, as it became available, for verification.
“The international team are currently working on verifying that detailed information, but we have nothing to confirm at the moment,” he said.
Earlier today Reuters quoted sources familiar with the investigation as saying that military radar-tracking evidence had suggested the jetliner was deliberately flown across the Malay peninsula towards the Andaman Islands.
Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints, indicating it was being flown by someone with aviation training, when it was last plotted on military radar off the country’s northwest coast.
Search expanded
The last plot on the military radar’s tracking suggested the plane was flying toward India’s Andaman Islands, a chain of isles between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, they said.
Waypoints are geographic locations worked out by calculating longitude and latitude that help pilots navigate along established air corridors.
A third source said inquiries were focusing increasingly on the theory that someone who knew how to fly a plane deliberately diverted the flight hundreds of miles off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
“What we can say is we are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards,” said that source, a senior Malaysian police official.
All three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media and due to the sensitivity of the investigation.
When pressed to comment on these media reports, Hishammuddin also said he was not ruling out the possibility of the jetliner being hijacked.
The flight with 239 passengers and crew went missing an hour after taking off from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing. Its last contact with Malaysian air traffic control was at 1.07am when it was flying over the South China Sea.
Today is the seventh day of the search for MH370 involving 57 ships and 48 aircraft from 13 countries.
The government has now expanded the search area to cover further east into the South China Sea, and further into the Indian Ocean.
VIDEO INSIDE
SEPANG: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today refused to confirm or deny new reports that the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 may have been deliberately flown across to the Andaman Islands after losing contact.Speaking in his daily media briefing in Sepang, Hishammuddin said the investigation team will not publicly release information until it has been properly verified and corroborated with the relevant authorities.
“Nor do we want to be drawn into specific remarks that unnamed officials have reportedly made to the media,” said Hishammuddin, who is also the Defence Minister.
He also said that the local authorities were working closely with all international partners, including the US team, whose officials have been here on the ground in Kuala Lumpur.
“Since Wednesday, the Malaysian investigation team have shared more detailed information, as it became available, for verification.
“The international team are currently working on verifying that detailed information, but we have nothing to confirm at the moment,” he said.
Earlier today Reuters quoted sources familiar with the investigation as saying that military radar-tracking evidence had suggested the jetliner was deliberately flown across the Malay peninsula towards the Andaman Islands.
Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints, indicating it was being flown by someone with aviation training, when it was last plotted on military radar off the country’s northwest coast.
Search expanded
The last plot on the military radar’s tracking suggested the plane was flying toward India’s Andaman Islands, a chain of isles between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, they said.
Waypoints are geographic locations worked out by calculating longitude and latitude that help pilots navigate along established air corridors.
A third source said inquiries were focusing increasingly on the theory that someone who knew how to fly a plane deliberately diverted the flight hundreds of miles off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
“What we can say is we are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards,” said that source, a senior Malaysian police official.
All three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media and due to the sensitivity of the investigation.
When pressed to comment on these media reports, Hishammuddin also said he was not ruling out the possibility of the jetliner being hijacked.
The flight with 239 passengers and crew went missing an hour after taking off from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing. Its last contact with Malaysian air traffic control was at 1.07am when it was flying over the South China Sea.
Today is the seventh day of the search for MH370 involving 57 ships and 48 aircraft from 13 countries.
The government has now expanded the search area to cover further east into the South China Sea, and further into the Indian Ocean.
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