The plane went missing almost a year ago on March 8th 2014, but after months of searching and coming up with nothing, the Malaysia government issued a formal declaration stating that the passengers on MH370 is presumed dead.
The formal declaration, read Thursday by civil aviation director Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, will allow the families of those presumed dead to continue the compensation process with the airline or with insurers.
“It is therefore, with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that, on behalf of the Government of Malaysia, we officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident in accordance with the Standards of Annexes 12 and 13 to the Chicago Convention and that all 239 of the passengers and crew on board MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives,” Azharuddin said.
A chilling theory suggests the missing Malaysian Airlines plane could have been hijacked using a mobile phone or USB stick.
An anti-terror expert believes the speed, altitude and direction of the aircraft could have been changed, simply by sending radio signals from a small remote device.
A framework of ‘codes’ created by cyber terrorists would also be able to get into the plane’s in-flight entertainment system and override the security software.
Probe: Police in Malaysia have searched the home of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah (left) and Fariq Abdul Hamid after officials confirmed the plane was taken over by a ‘deliberate act’
It is also believed, once the systems have been successfully hacked, the plane could be landed by remote control.
The theory has emerged as the search for flight MH370 continues to grow, with 25 countries now involved in the rescue effort.
Yesterday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed the plane’s disappearance was the result of a ‘deliberate act’ and could have flown as far as Kazakstan.
Dr Sally Leivesley, a former Home Office official, said: ‘It might well be the world’s first cyber hijack.’
Dr Sally Leivesley, a former Home Office official, said: ‘It might well be the world’s first cyber hijack’
Dr Leivesley, who now prepares businesses and governments for potential terrorist attacks, told the Sunday Express: ‘There appears to be an element of planning from someone with a very sophisticated systems engineering understanding,’
‘This is a very early version of what I would call a smart plane, a fly-by-wire aircraft controlled by electronic signals.
She added that once the plane is air-side, you can insert a set of commands and codes which can begin a new set of processes.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that the plane could have travelled, undetected, for a further seven hours.
Friends of Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah, whose home was searched by police yesterday, said he was a ‘gadget geek’ while at school.
They described the 53-year-old as someone who would ‘never compromise his passenger’s safety’, the Malaysian Star reported.
A flight simulator, which was taken from his luxury house in a suburb outside Kuala Lumpur, has been dismantled and is being examined by investigators.
Police also searched the home of co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, who lives in the same upmarket district.
A journalist films the home of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur.
Police sources have confirmed that Shah was a vocal political activist – and fear that the court decision left him profoundly upset. It was against this background that, seven hours later, he took control of a Boeing 777-200 bound for Beijing and carrying 238 passengers and crew.
It is not yet clear where the plane was taken, however Mr Razak said the most recent satellite data suggests the plane could have been making for one of two possible flight corridors.
The search, involving 43 ships and 58 aircraft from 15 countries, switched from the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
Satellite data has shown that after losing contact with air traffic controllers, the plane could have kept flying as far north as Kazakhstan in Central Asia or deep into the southern Indian Ocean.
It has left authorities desperate to narrow down a search area now stretching across 11 nations and one of the most remote oceans in the world.
‘The search was already a highly complex, multinational effort. It has now become even more difficult,’ Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a news conference Sunday.
‘It is our hope with the new information, parties that can come forward and narrow the search to an area that is more feasible,’ he said, adding that the search effort now includes 25 countries.
“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 tracts of land, crossing 11 countries, as well as deep and remote oceans,” Hishammuddin said.
Given that the northern route the plane may have taken would take it over countries with busy airspace, most experts say the person in control of the aircraft would more likely have chosen the southern route.
The southern Indian Ocean is the world’s third-deepest and one of the most remote stretches of water in the world, with little radar coverage. The wreckage might take months – or longer – to find, or might never be located.
Malaysia has asked for help from countries in South, Central and Southeast Asia for assistance in tracing the jet by providing satellite and radar data, the government said in a statement. It said that for now, both the northern and southern routes that the plane may have taken were being treated with ‘equal importance.’
The head of Interpol has said he does not believe the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane was a terrorist incident as he revealed the identity of both of the men who used stolen passports to board the plane.
Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said Iranian nationals Pouria Nour Mohammah Mehrdad, 19, and Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza, 29, travelled to Malaysia on their Iranian passports before switching to the stolen Austrian and Italian documents.
He said the recent information about the men made terrorism a less likely cause of the plane’s disappearance. He said: ‘The more information we get, the more we are inclined to conclude it is not a terrorist incident.’
Malaysian police released images of the two men after they revealed the identity of the 19-year-old,
who was believed to have been planning to enter Germany to seek asylum and was not thought to be a member of a terrorist group.
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Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said Iranian nationals Pouria Nour Mohammah Mehrdad, 19, and Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza, 29, travelled to Malaysia on their Iranian passports before switching to the stolen Austrian and Italian documents
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The announcement came as authorities expanded their search for the Boeing 777 on the opposite side of the country from where it disappeared nearly four days ago with 239 people on board
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Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the possibility the plane had been attacked by terrorists was ‘fading’, adding his detectives were now looking into four main areas: sabotage, hijacking or psychological problems among either the crew or the passengers
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Police have identified one of the men as a 19-year-old Iranian who was believed to have been planning to enter Germany to seek asylum
Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the possibility the plane had been attacked by terrorists was ‘fading’, adding his detectives were now looking into four main areas: sabotage, hijacking or psychological problems among either the crew or the passengers.
The announcement came as authorities expanded their search for the Boeing 777 on the opposite side of the country from where it disappeared nearly four days ago with 239 people on board.
In the absence of any sign that the plane was in trouble before it vanished, speculation has ranged widely, including pilot error, plane malfunction, hijacking and terrorism.
The terrorism theory has weakened after Malaysian authorities determined that one of the two men was an Iranian asylum seeker.
Khalid said his team of investigators did not believe Pouria was part of a terrorist group but was using a stolen passport to fly to Germany.
Asked how he had established this, he said: ‘We’ve spoken to his mother. She has been waiting for him to arrive in Frankfurt.
‘When he did not arrive she realised something had gone wrong and then she heard about the plane disappearing.’
Khalid said the possibility that the plane had been attacked by a terrorist group was ‘fading’ – adding that ‘terrorism is less likely’ – but then he revealed that an illegal act could not be ruled out.
Malaysian police say Iranian asylum seeker had stolen passport
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Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar today said the 19-year-old was not believed to be a member of a terrorist group
He said: ‘We are looking into four areas – one hi-jacking, two sabotage, three a psychotic problem of passengers or crew, four personal problem among the passengers and crew.
‘We have been going through passenger manifests and we have communicated with our counterparts in at least 14 countries and also from other parts of the world and we have been exchanging information and intelligence.’
Asked if it was still possible that a bomb could have been loaded onto the aircraft through a passenger’s luggage, he said that ‘we are looking into all areas of possibilities.’
He pointed out that even though there were four areas of the investigation, he had no confirmed information that would lead to his detectives specifically targeting any of those areas.
The plane took off from Kuala Lumpur, on the western coast of Malaysia, early Saturday en route to Beijing. It flew overland across Malaysia and crossed the eastern coast into the Gulf of Thailand at 35,000 feet (11,000 meters).
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In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said search and rescue teams ‘have expanded the scope beyond the flight path to the West Peninsula of Malaysia at the Straits of Malacca
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Authorities have expanded their search for the Boeing 777 on the opposite side of the country from where it disappeared nearly four days ago with 239 people on board
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The new statement said authorities are looking at a possibility that MH370 attempted to turn back toward Kuala Lumpur
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