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| Search for Missing Jet Shifts to Indian Ocean Amid Confusion Over Radar | Search for Missing Jet Shifts to Indian Ocean Amid Confusion Over Radar |
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| SEPANG, Malaysia — The focus of the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner shifted westward on Thursday, toward the vastness of the Indian Ocean, as Malaysian authorities denied a variety of reports related to the jet’s disappearance, and experts pored over military radar data that seemed to indicate the flight had turned west and remained airborne long after its last contact with ground controllers. | SEPANG, Malaysia — The focus of the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner shifted westward on Thursday, toward the vastness of the Indian Ocean, as Malaysian authorities denied a variety of reports related to the jet’s disappearance, and experts pored over military radar data that seemed to indicate the flight had turned west and remained airborne long after its last contact with ground controllers. |
| An American destroyer, the Kidd, was redeploying to the Strait of Malacca, the Seventh Fleet and Pentagon officials said — one of several indications that the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was turning away from the eastern waters that have been combed by dozens of ships and airplanes for days. | An American destroyer, the Kidd, was redeploying to the Strait of Malacca, the Seventh Fleet and Pentagon officials said — one of several indications that the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was turning away from the eastern waters that have been combed by dozens of ships and airplanes for days. |
| Malaysian officials said they had expanded the search into the Andaman Sea, the part of the Indian Ocean northwest of the strait. The Pentagon said that the Kidd would be searching there, at the request of the Malaysian government, and that a P-3 surveillance plane had already flown over the area. Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said that India had also sent three ships, two airplanes and a helicopter to search intensively in that area. | Malaysian officials said they had expanded the search into the Andaman Sea, the part of the Indian Ocean northwest of the strait. The Pentagon said that the Kidd would be searching there, at the request of the Malaysian government, and that a P-3 surveillance plane had already flown over the area. Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said that India had also sent three ships, two airplanes and a helicopter to search intensively in that area. |
| Pentagon officials said that several American agencies were reviewing radar signals recorded by the Malaysian military, but had not yet found anything that would indicate specifically where the missing plane might be. A senior Pentagon official said that Malaysian and American authorities were “looking pretty closely” at the possibility that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean, but had not reached any conclusions. | Pentagon officials said that several American agencies were reviewing radar signals recorded by the Malaysian military, but had not yet found anything that would indicate specifically where the missing plane might be. A senior Pentagon official said that Malaysian and American authorities were “looking pretty closely” at the possibility that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean, but had not reached any conclusions. |
| Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said Thursday afternoon in Washington that the search area might soon be expanded again. | Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said Thursday afternoon in Washington that the search area might soon be expanded again. |
| Yet in a measure of the continued caution and bafflement among the authorities here, Malaysia’s defense minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said the main search effort continued to be east of the Malaysian peninsula, in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. | Yet in a measure of the continued caution and bafflement among the authorities here, Malaysia’s defense minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said the main search effort continued to be east of the Malaysian peninsula, in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. |
| In a news briefing that was more structured and organized than those of earlier days, the Malaysian authorities denied a widely circulated report that the jetliner, a Boeing 777, had transmitted technical data after contact with the cockpit was lost around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, when the airplane was on course toward Beijing, its scheduled destination. | In a news briefing that was more structured and organized than those of earlier days, the Malaysian authorities denied a widely circulated report that the jetliner, a Boeing 777, had transmitted technical data after contact with the cockpit was lost around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, when the airplane was on course toward Beijing, its scheduled destination. |
| The report, by The Wall Street Journal, asserted that a satellite communications device designed to automatically send periodic updates on the status of certain systems on the plane had kept transmitting signals for roughly four hours after the last radio contact with the pilots, suggesting that the plane was still intact and flying during that time. | |
| But the chief executive of Malaysia Airlines, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, said that the last data received from Flight 370 came at 1:07 a.m. Saturday, when the aircraft was still in touch with ground controllers and there was no indication of trouble with the plane. | |
| “That was the last transmission,” Mr. Ahmad Jauhari said at a news conference at the international airport serving Kuala Lumpur, in Sepang. “It did not run beyond that.” | “That was the last transmission,” Mr. Ahmad Jauhari said at a news conference at the international airport serving Kuala Lumpur, in Sepang. “It did not run beyond that.” |
| The authorities said separately that nothing had come of images recorded by Chinese satellites on Sunday and posted online on Wednesday, which appeared to show large objects floating in the South China Sea. Aircraft and ships sent to the area found nothing, they said, and Mr. Hishammuddin said he was told by Chinese officials that “the images were released by mistake and did not show any debris.” | The authorities said separately that nothing had come of images recorded by Chinese satellites on Sunday and posted online on Wednesday, which appeared to show large objects floating in the South China Sea. Aircraft and ships sent to the area found nothing, they said, and Mr. Hishammuddin said he was told by Chinese officials that “the images were released by mistake and did not show any debris.” |
| The government also denied Malaysian news reports that the police had searched the house of the missing flight’s pilot. | The government also denied Malaysian news reports that the police had searched the house of the missing flight’s pilot. |
| There were increasing indications that the aircraft did turn radically off course after contact with the ground was lost. Malaysian authorities said they were setting aside national security considerations to share military radar readings with the United States and China to help determine whether they show the missing jet. | There were increasing indications that the aircraft did turn radically off course after contact with the ground was lost. Malaysian authorities said they were setting aside national security considerations to share military radar readings with the United States and China to help determine whether they show the missing jet. |
| They said the data appear to show an unidentified plane flying westward across the Malaysian peninsula and toward the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea, with the last reading placing it 200 miles northwest of the island of Penang, cruising at 29,500 feet. The military took no immediate action on Saturday to investigate the unidentified blips, whose path appeared to take the aircraft near Penang, and only later realized the significance of the readings. | They said the data appear to show an unidentified plane flying westward across the Malaysian peninsula and toward the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea, with the last reading placing it 200 miles northwest of the island of Penang, cruising at 29,500 feet. The military took no immediate action on Saturday to investigate the unidentified blips, whose path appeared to take the aircraft near Penang, and only later realized the significance of the readings. |
| Mr. Hishammuddin, who is also the country’s acting transport minister, told reporters on Thursday that Malaysia had asked neighboring countries, including India, for any radar data they might have that could help establish what became of the aircraft seen on Malaysian military screens. | Mr. Hishammuddin, who is also the country’s acting transport minister, told reporters on Thursday that Malaysia had asked neighboring countries, including India, for any radar data they might have that could help establish what became of the aircraft seen on Malaysian military screens. |
| Gen. Rodzali Daud, the Malaysian air force chief, said on Wednesday that the military was still not certain that the aircraft its radar had detected was the missing jetliner, which took off with enough fuel to fly more than 2,500 miles. | Gen. Rodzali Daud, the Malaysian air force chief, said on Wednesday that the military was still not certain that the aircraft its radar had detected was the missing jetliner, which took off with enough fuel to fly more than 2,500 miles. |