MH370 pilot spoke to control after data-link shut down

No trace of the Boeing 777-200ER has been found since it vanished on 8 March with 239 people on board, but investigators believe it was diverted by someone who knew how to switch off its communications and tracking systems.

Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said: “The search area has been significantly expanded and the nature of the search has changed.

“From focusing mainly on shallow seas, we are now looking at large tracks of land crossing 11 countries as well as deep and remote oceans.

“The number of countries involved in the search and rescue operation has increased from 14 to 25 which brings new challenges of coordination and diplomacy.”Hishammuddin revealed to Channel 4 News that the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (Acars) was switched off before the pilot’s last communication with aircraft control staff. The Acars system is a data-link that provides satellites with detailed information about the planes movements and current status.

When asked if the aircraft could still transmit data while on the ground, Director General For Department Of Civil Aviation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman also said it was a possibility.

“It is possible for the aircraft to be turned on the ground, as long as there’s electrical power to the aircraft system,” he said.

New diplomatic phase

Although countries have been coordinating individually, the broad formal request marks a new diplomatic phase in an operation expanding across two hemispheres and overshadowed by mounting Chinese criticism of Malaysian-led search efforts.

He added: “We are asking countries that have satellite assets including the US, China and France amongst others, to provide further satellite data.”

The disappearance of Flight MH370 has baffled investigators, aviation experts and internet sleuths since the plane vanished from civilian air traffic control screens off Malaysia’s east coast less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.

Malaysian officials briefed envoys from about 20 countries on progress in the investigation after calling off a search in the South China Sea.

Investigation into pilots

Malaysian police are investigating the personal, political and religious backgrounds of the pilots and crew of the missing jetliner, a senior officer said on Sunday, as they try to work out why someone aboard flew the plane hundreds of miles off course.

Malaysia police chief, Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar said: “There are four areas of focus of our investigation, number one, hijacking, number is sabotage, number three, personal problem and number four, psychological problem, that doesn’t change and that includes all the ground staff, everybody.”

At a news conference on Saturday Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said investigators believed somebody steered the plane west, far from its scheduled route.

Electronic signals it continued to exchange periodically with satellites suggest it could have continued flying for nearly seven hours after being last spotted by Malaysian military radar off the country’s northwest coast.

The satellite data revealed by Najib suggests the plane could be anywhere in either of two arcs: one stretching from northern Thailand to the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, or a southern arc heading from Indonesia to the vast southern Indian Ocean.