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| Malaysian authorities cede search control | Malaysian authorities cede search control |
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| KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian authorities said Tuesday that they were ceding a bit of control to other countries in the massive and sometimes chaotic hunt for an airliner that vanished 11 days ago. | |
| In what has become the largest search on record for a missing aircraft, Malaysia has drawn criticism for its delayed and contradictory release of information, as well as for bucking some offers for help. | |
| But officials acknowledged Tuesday for the first time since the plane’s disappearance that other countries needed to take leading roles in scouring a search grid roughly the size of Australia. Malaysia said it has chopped that grid into 14 sections, and negotiated for Indonesia, Australia, China, and Kazakhstan to coordinate the efforts in some of those areas. | |
| By reducing its role slightly, Malaysia has opened a new stage in the search process, one in which the other 25 countries involved have more autonomy and coordinate in small groups. Malaysia, working with British and U.S. investigators, has determined that the 230-foot Boeing 777 ended up either in a tract of land stretching across Asia or a swath of the Indian Ocean. | |
| “A needle in a haystack remains a good analogy,” said John Young, the general manager of Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority, who said the search could take weeks or longer. | |
| Several other countries involved in the search — including India and Japan — have been waiting for several days to receive marching orders from Kuala Lumpur. Other countries in Asia say there’s no way the missing jet could have crossed their airspace — even though Malaysia says satellite analysis indicates it possible. | |
| After concluding from radar data that the plane never entered Pakistani airspace, Pakistani officials said Tuesday there was no need to organize search parties. | |
| According to Dawn news, a local news channel, Pakistani Information Minister Pervez Rashid told a group of journalists a “Boeing 777 is a big plane” that could have only landed at airports in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. | |
| “The missing Malaysian plane didn’t land in Pakistani territory,” he said. “It’s not like a balloon that you can take out the air and put it in a pocket.” | |
| The search, spanning the world’s largest continent and third-largest ocean, is a painstaking inquiry, even as efforts are made to narrow it down. Malaysia is hoping other countries will provide satellite information and military radar records, though some have so far refused to do so. | |
| Australia acknowledged Tuesday that, given the available information about where the plane traveled, the search areas are not very precise. | |
| “What we’re doing is producing our best estimate of the most likely place to search,” Young said, as a single Australian surveillance plane made a seven-hour round trip journey from Perth to scan one spot in the Indian Ocean. | |
| Malaysian officials said Tuesday that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, before takeoff, had been programmed with a computer system — as is typical in commercial aviation — to fly to Beijing, the intended destination. But Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said it was “speculative” to suggest the plane’s diversion from that path had also been programmed. | |
| “Once you are in the aircraft anything is possible,” he said. | “Once you are in the aircraft anything is possible,” he said. |
| Citing U.S. officials, The New York Times had reported Monday that the westward turn away from Beijing was also carried out through the computer system, suggesting that whoever steered the plane was knowledgeable about its technical aspects. | |
| This comes as China said Tuesday it had checked the background of all its citizens aboard the flight and uncovered no links to terrorism. Of the 239 on board, 153 were Chinese. Malaysia has requested that all countries with passengers on board do detailed background checks to search for any suspicious behavior, training in aviation, or links with militant groups. | |
| The search has been plagued by a series of contradictory statements from Malaysian authorities that have frustrated countries in the region and caused anguish for relatives of those on board. | The search has been plagued by a series of contradictory statements from Malaysian authorities that have frustrated countries in the region and caused anguish for relatives of those on board. |
| Chinese Premier Li Keqiang asked Malaysia to provide more detailed and timely data about the flight, which had departed Kuala Lumpur and was bound for Beijing, the Chinese news agency Xinhua said. | Chinese Premier Li Keqiang asked Malaysia to provide more detailed and timely data about the flight, which had departed Kuala Lumpur and was bound for Beijing, the Chinese news agency Xinhua said. |
| Australia committed several more planes to a search off Perth, the west coast city whose offshore waters run to 13,000 feet deep. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak asked the Australians to coordinate the activity. | Australia committed several more planes to a search off Perth, the west coast city whose offshore waters run to 13,000 feet deep. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak asked the Australians to coordinate the activity. |
| In a statement, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, “Australia is preparing to work with assets from a number of other countries, including surveillance aircraft from New Zealand and the United States.” | In a statement, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, “Australia is preparing to work with assets from a number of other countries, including surveillance aircraft from New Zealand and the United States.” |
| With the focus switching to Australian waters, the U.S. Navy said its ship that had been looking for wreckage in the Andaman Sea would pull out of the search. | With the focus switching to Australian waters, the U.S. Navy said its ship that had been looking for wreckage in the Andaman Sea would pull out of the search. |
| Narrowing search area | Narrowing search area |
| Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Monday that it was important to narrow the focus of the hunt. | Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Monday that it was important to narrow the focus of the hunt. |
| “The area is huge,” he said, “and what we’ve been doing is to try to narrow this.” | “The area is huge,” he said, “and what we’ve been doing is to try to narrow this.” |
| Malaysian officials have asked countries throughout the region to search their radar records for clues as to where the airliner could have flown. Aviation officials in Pakistan say they have no evidence that the plane entered the country’s airspace. Indian defense officials and air-traffic controllers have scoffed at the theory that a plane could have flown across that country undetected. However, security analysts said that radar does not cover all 1.2 million square miles of that country. | Malaysian officials have asked countries throughout the region to search their radar records for clues as to where the airliner could have flown. Aviation officials in Pakistan say they have no evidence that the plane entered the country’s airspace. Indian defense officials and air-traffic controllers have scoffed at the theory that a plane could have flown across that country undetected. However, security analysts said that radar does not cover all 1.2 million square miles of that country. |
| Malaysian officials said that they were reviewing psychological tests of crew members and that they had asked Chinese authorities to examine the histories of the 154 Chinese passengers. | Malaysian officials said that they were reviewing psychological tests of crew members and that they had asked Chinese authorities to examine the histories of the 154 Chinese passengers. |
| U.S. aviation expert Ron Carr said that whether the plane is found may depend on how it struck the water. He said that if it came in as though it were landing, it would float for a while and then sink, creating a large underwater target for sonar detectors. If it came down hard and broke into pieces, plenty of debris would be floating. | U.S. aviation expert Ron Carr said that whether the plane is found may depend on how it struck the water. He said that if it came in as though it were landing, it would float for a while and then sink, creating a large underwater target for sonar detectors. If it came down hard and broke into pieces, plenty of debris would be floating. |
| “The third option is the aircraft went under water at a steep angle,” said Carr, who was an Air Force and airline pilot for 39 years before becoming a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona. “It would accordion down into a smaller size that would make discovery more difficult. A ship or an aircraft would have to be in the right place, at the right time, looking in the right spot to see any floating debris, if there was any floating debris left to see.” | “The third option is the aircraft went under water at a steep angle,” said Carr, who was an Air Force and airline pilot for 39 years before becoming a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona. “It would accordion down into a smaller size that would make discovery more difficult. A ship or an aircraft would have to be in the right place, at the right time, looking in the right spot to see any floating debris, if there was any floating debris left to see.” |
| Unlike in the most recent airliner to crash in the ocean, Air France Flight 447 in 2009, Carr said, there is no clue as to where to search. | Unlike in the most recent airliner to crash in the ocean, Air France Flight 447 in 2009, Carr said, there is no clue as to where to search. |
| “As time goes by, I would say it would become more and more difficult to find the [Boeing] 777, and at some point the cost of the search will reach a point that it will be abandoned and the possibility of it never being found obviously goes way up,” he said. | “As time goes by, I would say it would become more and more difficult to find the [Boeing] 777, and at some point the cost of the search will reach a point that it will be abandoned and the possibility of it never being found obviously goes way up,” he said. |
| Evidence points to a plan | Evidence points to a plan |
| Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the automatic communications system made what proved to be a final transmission at 1:07 a.m. on March 8, relaying routine information about the plane’s performance. The next transmission, from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), was due 30 minutes later but never arrived, he said. | Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the automatic communications system made what proved to be a final transmission at 1:07 a.m. on March 8, relaying routine information about the plane’s performance. The next transmission, from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), was due 30 minutes later but never arrived, he said. |
| “The last ACARS transmission was 1:07. It was supposed to transmit 30 minutes from that, but that transmission did not come through,” he said. “When was it switched off? Any time between then and 30 minutes later.” | “The last ACARS transmission was 1:07. It was supposed to transmit 30 minutes from that, but that transmission did not come through,” he said. “When was it switched off? Any time between then and 30 minutes later.” |
| At 1:19 a.m., the co-pilot of Flight MH370, Fariq Abdul Hamid, said, “All right, good night,” to air-traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur, two minutes before the plane disappeared from civilian radar, authorities said. | At 1:19 a.m., the co-pilot of Flight MH370, Fariq Abdul Hamid, said, “All right, good night,” to air-traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur, two minutes before the plane disappeared from civilian radar, authorities said. |
| The recording of that final radio contact is being analyzed to see if it could indicate whether everything was normal in the cockpit at the time. On Sunday, Hishammuddin had told reporters that the ACARS system was shut down before the “good night” communication, suggesting that the person at the controls was either hiding information or being forced to cover up the irregular situation. Malaysian authorities revealed Monday that it was the co-pilot who said good night to air traffic control. | The recording of that final radio contact is being analyzed to see if it could indicate whether everything was normal in the cockpit at the time. On Sunday, Hishammuddin had told reporters that the ACARS system was shut down before the “good night” communication, suggesting that the person at the controls was either hiding information or being forced to cover up the irregular situation. Malaysian authorities revealed Monday that it was the co-pilot who said good night to air traffic control. |
| Indications that something malign was occurring before the final radio call had led many people to suspect that the co-pilot or the plane’s captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, might have been behind the plane’s disappearance. Zaharie had flown for the airline for 30 years and had not shown any sign of personal trouble recently, friends said. | Indications that something malign was occurring before the final radio call had led many people to suspect that the co-pilot or the plane’s captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, might have been behind the plane’s disappearance. Zaharie had flown for the airline for 30 years and had not shown any sign of personal trouble recently, friends said. |
| Hishammuddin said Zaharie and Fariq’s homes were visited on March 9 and then searched over the past weekend. Police are examining a flight simulator from Zaharie’s home, he said. But he has warned against jumping to conclusions, saying that the pilot and co-pilot had not asked to fly together that day. | Hishammuddin said Zaharie and Fariq’s homes were visited on March 9 and then searched over the past weekend. Police are examining a flight simulator from Zaharie’s home, he said. But he has warned against jumping to conclusions, saying that the pilot and co-pilot had not asked to fly together that day. |
| Evidence has steadily mounted that the plane’s diversion — by passengers or crew members — was meticulously planned. | Evidence has steadily mounted that the plane’s diversion — by passengers or crew members — was meticulously planned. |
| The plane’s transponder, a device that identifies and locates the airliner for civilian air-traffic control, was turned off just as it was leaving Malaysian airspace and entering that of Vietnam. At that point, the plane appeared to turn back toward the Malay Peninsula, flying on for as many as seven hours without being spotted. | The plane’s transponder, a device that identifies and locates the airliner for civilian air-traffic control, was turned off just as it was leaving Malaysian airspace and entering that of Vietnam. At that point, the plane appeared to turn back toward the Malay Peninsula, flying on for as many as seven hours without being spotted. |
| Steven B. Wallace, a former head of investigations at the Federal Aviation Administration, said he is confident that the mystery will be solved. But “I’m slightly less confident than I was on the day this investigation began,” he said. “This is the modern jet transport era, and this is a state-of-the-art aircraft. Jet airliners have never disappeared. We’ve never seen anything like this.” | Steven B. Wallace, a former head of investigations at the Federal Aviation Administration, said he is confident that the mystery will be solved. But “I’m slightly less confident than I was on the day this investigation began,” he said. “This is the modern jet transport era, and this is a state-of-the-art aircraft. Jet airliners have never disappeared. We’ve never seen anything like this.” |
| Tim Craig in Islamabad, Annie Gowen in New Delhi and Ernesto Londoño and Ashley Halsey in Washington contributed to this report. |