Final words from missing Malaysian jet came after systems shutdown
The final words from the missing Malaysian jetliner’s cockpit gave no indication anything was wrong even though one of the plane’s communications systems had already been disabled, adding to suspicions that one or both of the pilots were involved in the disappearance.
Malaysian authorities examined a flight
simulator that was confiscated from the home of one of the missing
jetliner's pilots and pleaded for governments to divulge sensitive radar
data. (March 16)
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA—The final words from the missing Malaysian jetliner’s
cockpit gave no indication anything was wrong even though one of the
plane’s communications systems had already been disabled, officials said
Sunday, adding to suspicions that one or both of the pilots were
involved in the disappearance.
As authorities
examined a flight simulator that was confiscated from the home of one of
the pilots and dug through the background of all 239 people on board
and the ground crew that serviced the plane, they also were grappling
with the enormity of the search ahead of them, warning they needed more
data to narrow down the hunt for the aircraft.
The Malaysia Airlines
Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur at around 12:40 a.m. on March 8,
headed to Beijing. On Saturday, Malaysia’s government confirmed that the
plane was deliberately diverted and may have flown as far north as
Central Asia, or south into the vast reaches of the Indian Ocean.
Authorities have said
someone on board the plane first disabled one of its communications
systems — the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting
System, or ACARS — at 1:07 a.m. Around 14 minutes later, the
transponder, which identifies the plane to commercial radar systems, was
also shut down. The fact that they went dark separately is strong
evidence that the plane’s disappearance was deliberate.
Photos View photos
-
zoom
On Sunday,
Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a news
conference that that the final, reassuring words from the cockpit — “All
right, good night” — were spoken to air traffic controllers after the
ACARS system was shut down. Whoever spoke did not mention any trouble on
board, seemingly misleading ground control.
Air force Maj. Gen.
Affendi Buang told reporters he did not know whether it was the pilot or
co-pilot who spoke to air traffic controllers.
Given the expanse of
land and water that might need to be searched, the wreckage of the plane
might take months — or longer — to find, or might never be located.
Establishing what happened with any degree of certainty will likely need
key information, including cockpit voice recordings, from the plane’s
flight data recorders.
The search area now
includes 11 countries the plane might have flown over, Hishammuddin
said, adding that the number of countries involved in the operation had
increased from 14 to 25.
“The search was already a highly complex, multinational effort. It has now become even more difficult,” he said.
The search effort
initially focused on the relatively shallow waters of the South China
Sea and the Strait of Malacca, where the plane was first thought to be.
Hishammuddin said he had asked governments to hand over sensitive radar
and satellite data to try and help get a better idea of the plane’s
final movements.
“It is our hope with
the new information, parties that can come forward and narrow the search
to an area that is more feasible,” he said.
Malaysia is leading the multinational search for the plane, as well as the investigation into its disappearance.
In the United States,
Dan Pfeiffer, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, told NBC’s “Meet
the Press” that the FBI was supporting the criminal probe.
Rep. Peter King, who
is chairman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on
counterterrorism and intelligence, said on ABC’s “This Week” that so far
“there’s nothing out there indicating it’s terrorists.”
Investigators are
trying to answer these questions: If the two pilots were involved in the
disappearance, were they working together or alone, or with one or more
of the passengers or crew? Did they fly the plane under duress or of
their own volition? Did one or more of the passengers manage to break
into the cockpit, or use the threat of violence to gain entry and then
pilot the plane? And what possible motive could there be for flying off
with the plane?
Malaysia’s police
chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said he requested countries with citizens on
board the plane to investigate their background, no doubt looking for
any ties to terrorist groups, aviation skills or evidence of prior
contact with the pilots. He said that the intelligence agencies of some
countries had already done this and found nothing suspicious, but that
he was waiting for others to respond.
The government said
police searched the homes of both pilots on Saturday, the first time
they had done so since the plane went missing. Asked why it took them so
long, Khalid said authorities “didn’t see the necessity in the early
stages.”
Khalid said police
confiscated the elaborate flight simulator that one of the pilots,
Zaharie Ahmad Shah, had built in his home and reassembled it in their
offices to study it for clues.
Zaharie, 53, who has
three grown children and one grandchild, had previously posted photos
online of the simulator, which was made with three large computer
monitors and other accessories. Earlier this week, the head of Malaysia
Airlines said this was not in itself cause for any suspicion.
Malaysian police are
also investigating engineers and ground staff who may have had contact
with the plane before it took off, Khalid said.
ACARS is used to send
information about the plane’s engines and other parts to the airline.
Even though it was disabled on Flight 370, it continued to send out
faint hourly pulses that were recorded by a satellite. The last “ping”
was sent out at 8:11 a.m. — 7 hours and 31 minutes after the plane took
off. It placed the jet somewhere in a huge arc as far north as
Kazakhstan in Central Asia or far into the southern Indian Ocean.
While many people
believe the plane has crashed, there is a very small possibility it may
have landed somewhere and be relatively intact. Affendi, the air force
general, and Hishammuddin, the defence minister, said it was possible
for the plane to “ping” when it was on the ground if its electrical
systems were undamaged.
Australia said it was
sending one of its two AP-3C Orion aircraft involved in the search to
remote islands in the Indian Ocean at Malaysia’s request. The plane will
search the north and west of the Cocos Islands, a remote Australian
territory with an airstrip about 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) southwest
of Indonesia, military chief Gen. David Hurley said.
Given that the
northern route the plane may have taken would take it over countries
with busy airspace, most experts say the person in control of the
aircraft would more likely have chosen the southern route. The southern
Indian Ocean is the world’s third-deepest and one of the most remote
stretches of water in the world, with little radar coverage.
Malaysian officials
and aviation experts said that whoever disabled the plane’s
communication systems and then flew the jet must have had a high degree
of technical knowledge and flying experience, putting one or both of the
pilots high on the list of possible suspects.
Zaharie, the pilot,
was a supporter of a Malaysian opposition political party that is locked
in a bitter dispute with the government, according to postings on his
Facebook page and a friend, Peter Chong, who is a party member.
Chong said that he
last saw Zaharie a week before the pilot left on the flight for Beijing,
and that they had agreed to meet on his return to organize a shopping
trip for poor children.
“If I am on a flight, I
would choose Captain Zaharie,” he said. “He is dedicated to his job, he
is a professional and he loves flying.”
No comments:
Post a Comment