Hotuba ya Najak PM
11.51 am: Press conference of Malaysian PM begins
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's press conference begins. He thanks the multi-national search effort, says this has been an unprecedented event. "We followed every credible lead, sometimes they led nowhere," he says.
"There has been intense speculation. We understand the desperate need for information on behalf of the families and those watching. But we have a responsibility to the investigation and families to release the information that has been corroborated," he adds.
"Data showed that the plane went north of the Straits of Malacca and thus we extended search to the North, and later to Andaman Sea. Investigation authorities have briefed me on what happened to the flight. Based on new satellite communication, with a high-degree of certainty, we can say that aircraft's communication system was disabled. Shortly afterwards, near the border between Malaysia and Vietnamese air space, the plane's transponder was switched off. Malaysia Airforce's data showed that an aircraft believed to be MH370 flew in the opposite direction," he says.
"These movements are consistent with deliberate action from someone on the plane," says the PM.
"Plane lost communication with satellites. We believe it was flown was in two possible corridors. One in the corridor of North Kazakhstan to Turkmenistanand second from Indonesia to South Indian Ocean. We have also stopped our search operations in South China sea," he add.
He refuses to confirm hijacking claims but says it is still being explored. It should be noted that he has not denied the report of hijacking either.
The press conference has vastly expanded the search area. Once again nothing conclusive has been revealed in the press conference.
11.30 am: Malaysia PM's press conference set to begin
set to host a press conference to give the latest update on the missing MH370 plane. Here's what is being speculated about the plane for now:
1) Hijack is no longer a theory, it is being looked upon as a conclusive event. According to Associated Pressone of the investigators has confirmed that the MH370 was indeed hijacked. This is based on the fact that the plane few on for four hours in the opposite direction.
2) Search in the Indian Ocean has found nothing for now.
3) Search in the Indian Ocean won't be an easy task for the teams given the depth of the Ocean and the vast expanse. There's also a fear that high winds and currents could have swept the debris far away.
4) Plane might have run out of fuel in the Indian Ocean.Another report fromReuterssaid that the plane could have run out of fuel in the Indian Ocean and then crashed.
11.08 am: Indian search finds no trace of Malaysian plane
Indian navy ships supported by surveillance planes and helicopters are scouring Andaman Sea islands for a third day without any success in finding evidence of a missing Malaysia Airlines jet, reports Associated Press.
VSR Murthy, a top Indian coast guard official, says the search has been expanded farther west into the Bay of Bengal on Saturday. Nearly a dozen ships, patrol vessels, surveillance aircraft and helicopters have been deployed but Murthy says, "We have got nothing so far."
Seeing no headway, Malaysian authorities suggested Friday a new search area of 9,000 square kilometers (3,474 square miles) to India along the Chennai coast in the Bay of Bengal, India's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
10.30 am: Malaysian hijacking theory: Why it's not an easy task to pull off
According to Associated Press reports, investigators have all but confirmed that the plane was indeed hijacked given that it was deliberately flown in the opposite direction. The search for the missing plane has now been.... expanded into the Indian ocean, which is not an easy task, given the vastness of the Ocean and the sheer depth.
As far as pulling off a hijacking is concerned, it still remains highly implausible. Avoiding both air-traffic controllers, military radars are all highly difficult tasks and would require extreme skill on part of the concerned hijackers.
Scott Shankland, an American Airlines pilot who spent several years as a co-pilot on Boeing 777s, told Associated Pres,a captain would know how to disable radios and the plane's other tracking systems. "But a hijacker, even one trained to fly a plane, "would probably be hunting and pecking quite a while - 'Do I pull this switch? Do I pull that?' You could disable a great deal" of the tracking equipment, "but possibly not all of it."
Experts feel that this a case of a hijacking gone bad. However the fact that no one has claimed responsibility and no motive has been determined, adds to the confusion. Hopefully the Malaysian PM's press conference will make the picture clearer today.
10.15 am: Malaysian PM holding emergency press conference
Malaysian PM will hold an emergency press conference today shortly. He is likely to give updates on the fact that the plane was indeed hijacked.
10:00 am: Investigators conclude flight was hijacked
Investigators have concluded that one or more people with significant flying experience hijacked the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, switched off communication devices and steered it off-course, a Malaysian government official involved in the investigationsaid onSaturday, according to an Associated Press report.
No motive has been established and no demands have been made known, and it is not yet clear where the plane was taken, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media. The official said that hijacking was no longer a theory.
"It is.... conclusive," he said.He said evidence that led to the conclusion were signs that the plane's communications were switched off deliberately, data about the flight path and indications the plane was steered in a way to avoid detection by radar.
8.00 am: Investigators looking at foul play
The mystery of the missing Malaysian flight is now continuing for the the second week and according to reports from Reuters, the investigators are now seriously exploring the question of foul play.
Evvidence suggests it was deliberately flown hundreds of miles off course, sources familiar with the Malaysian probe told Reuters.
Two sources told Reuters that military radar data showed an unidentified aircraft that investigators suspect was Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 following a commonly used navigational route toward the Middle East and Europe when it was last spotted early on March 8, northwest of Malaysia. That course - headed into the Andaman Sea and towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean - could only have been set deliberately, either by flying the Boeing 777-200ER jet manually or by programming the auto-pilot.
Another report from Reuters adds that the plane could have run out of fuel in the Indian Ocean. If this did happen, then finding the plane will be a tricky task. The Indian Ocean with depths of more than 7,000 metres (23,000 feet) is likely to add difficulties to the task faced by searchers Winds and currents could shift any surface debris tens of nautical miles within hours.
