The pilot of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, was the last person to speak to air traffic controllers, Malaysian sources told CNN today. “Good night, Malaysian three-seven-zero,” he said, according to the sources.
The plane disappeared from military radar for about 120 nautical miles after it deviated from its original course and crossed back over the Malaysian peninsula, sources say.
Based on available data, this means the plane must have dipped in altitude to between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, a senior Malaysian government official and a source involved in the investigation tell CNN.
Malaysia Air Force jets scrambled in the Straits of Malacca as a precautionary measure, soon after the plane was reported missing, Malaysian sources told CNN. The jets were scrambled before authorities corroborated the data that the plane turned back westward, a senior Malaysian government official told CNN.
New signal possibly detected
Investigators got new information that may help them narrow the possible whereabouts of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 as details emerged Thursday that shed light on the doomed flight’s final moments early March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur toward Beijing.
A search plane has detected a possible signal from the locator beacons on the so-called black boxes from the missing aircraft, the Australian agency coordinating the search announced.
“The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight but shows potential of being from a man-made source,” said retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the agency’s chief coordinator.
Other important elements were revealed Thursday from a senior Malaysian government official and another source involved in the investigation:
• Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared from military radar for about 120 nautical miles after it crossed back over the Malaysian Peninsula, sources say. Based on available data, this means the plane must have dipped in altitude to between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, a senior Malaysian government official and a source involved in the investigation tell CNN.
• Malaysian air force search aircraft were scrambled around 8 a.m., soon after Malaysia Airlines reported that its plane was missing early March 8, Malaysian sources told CNN. The aircraft were scrambled before authorities corroborated data indicating that the plane turned back westward, a senior Malaysian government official told CNN.
• But the air force did not inform the Department of Civil Aviation or search and rescue operations until three days later, March 11, a source involved in the investigation told CNN.
• MH370’s pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, was the last person to speak to air traffic controllers with the words “Good night Malaysian three-seven-zero,” sources told CNN. The Malaysian sources told CNN there was nothing unusual about the voice and there was no indication of stress. One of the sources, an official involved in the investigation, told CNN that police played the recording to five other Malaysia Airlines pilots who knew the pilot and co-pilot. “There were no third-party voices,” the source said.
The possible signal, which was picked up through sonar buoys equipped to receive such electronic data, was detected near the Australian ship Ocean Shield, said the Joint Agency Coordination Centre.
Crews have been narrowing the search area in the Indian Ocean.
Up to 10 military aircraft, four civil aircraft and 13 ships were to assist in Thursday’s search for the Boeing 777-200ER, which was carrying 239 people when it vanished March 8 on a fight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
Three of the vessels — the Ocean Shield to the north, and the British HMS Echo and Chinese Haixun 01 to the south — were focusing underwater.
Aircraft and ships spotted a number of objects during Wednesday’s search, but could recover only a small number, none of which appeared linked to MH370, the JACC said.
