Authorities are yet to find any conclusive information pertaining to the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight, with the search area broadened in an attempt to find traces of the missing Boeing 777. Further, additional data has emerged suggesting that the plane continued to fly well beyond its last sighting.
The widening of the search site - now including the Indian Ocean - has been greeted with much skepticism, with many suggesting that the search should have reached a stage where the geographical scope is narrowed. However, a series of conflicting reports, sightings, and satellite photos have done little to lend clarity to the search process.
Two U.S. authorities have tabled the theory that the plane's main communication systems shut down at separate times, lending weight to the belief that the aircraft could have continued flying for some time after losing communication with air traffic controllers. According the the U.S. investigators, the data reporting system stopped working at 1.07am, while the transponder device shut down at 1.21am. While the discrepancy in times doesn't appear dramatic, it indicates that the two systems were each shut down manually, suggesting that the plane was not taken down by a multi-level malfunction or an accident. The U.S. authorities have also mentioned the possibility of the plane going down over the Indian Ocean, where search efforts have now been refocused. "We have an indication the plane went down in the Indian Ocean," said a senior Pentagon official to ABC News.
Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, was similarly reticent in offering additional information. "It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive, but new information, an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean, and we are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy," he said. No officials from any of the countries searching have cast light on the 'new information' that has become available. However, it's thought that plane continued to communicate with satellites via 'pings', one per each hour, that could indicate how long it remained in the air - and thus, roughly where it went down.
Another theory, suggesting that the plane crashed into the ocean just shy of Ho Chi Minh City, was found to be fruitless. Shadows on Chinese satellite images revealed nothing once crews were sent to fly over the area. "It is true that the satellite was launched and detected some smoke and what were suspected metal shreds about 37km (23 miles) south-west of Ho Chi Minh City," said Li Jiaxing, China's civil aviation chief. "But after some review we cannot confirm that they belong to the missing plane."
