MH370 pilot “plotted Indian Ocean course”
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
The pilot of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 plotted a course into the southern Indian Ocean prior to the disappearance of the aircraft, investigators have discovered.
The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), which is managing the search effort, told Reuters on Thursday that analysis of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s home flight simulator revealed that he had studied the remote flight path before the incident.
It added however, that this did not serve as proof that the pilot was responsible for the flight’s disappearance.
“The MH370 captain’s flight simulator showed someone had plotted a course to the southern Indian Ocean,” the JACC email to Reuters stated.
In another statement however, reported by Channel NewsAsia, the JACC said that the simulator “does not reveal what happened on the night of the aircraft’s disappearance, nor where the aircraft is located”.
Meanwhile, a senior Australian investigator has told the aviation website AirlineRatings.com that flight MH370 plunged sharply and quickly into the ocean, potentially suggesting that no-one was in control of the aircraft at the time it crashed.
In his first interview since taking over as chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Greg Hood said that automated satellite communications revealed that the Boeing 777’s rate of descent increased dramatically in its final minutes, from about 1,200 metres per minute to up to 6,700m per minute. This would mean the aircraft struck the water at a speed of almost 400kph.
Hood’s statement counters the theory that Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah made a controlled landing on the water.
He also said that he is “confident” that the aircraft will be found, despite the recent tripartite statement that the hunt will be suspended upon the completion of the existing 120,000km² search area.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 239 passengers and crew, none of whom have been seen or heard from since.
Comments are closed.