 Australia investigators defend MH370 out-of-control scenario Sydney (AFP) May 22, 2018 - Australian investigators Tuesday defended their findings that missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was out of control when it plunged into the ocean, despite renewed theories that a rogue pilot ditched the plane. The Boeing 777 -- which vanished in March 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 239 passengers -- has not been found despite an extensive search led by Australia in the southern Indian Ocean and a continuing private search commissioned by Malaysia. The failure to find the plane has fuelled theories which differ from the conclusions of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which led the first search, that the jet was making a high-speed out-of-control descent when it hit the water. The theory that a rogue pilot deliberately ditched the jet -- landing it in a controlled way on the ocean surface -- was revived in a new book released this week by former Canadian air crash investigator Larry Vance. Vance has also asserted that there were failures in the ATSB-led probe, leading to what he believed were the wrong conclusions about the end-of-flight scenarios. The ATSB's chief technical officer Peter Foley, who was the MH370 search head, defended its conclusions, saying investigators had explored all the expert advice and analysis they were provided with. "I can say with great confidence... that we considered every piece of evidence that we had at the time in an unbiased fashion," Foley told a parliamentary hearing in Canberra, adding that he had already read Vance's book. "We have quite a bit of data to tell us that the aircraft, if it was being controlled at the end, it wasn't very successfully being controlled." Foley said a key piece of evidence was from the right outboard flap, which was found off Tanzania in June 2016. This showed the flap was mostly liked in a retracted position and therefore not configured for landing when it smashed into the ocean. Analysis of MH370's last transmission by an Australian defence agency suggested that it was triggered by fuel exhaustion, a scenario that was less likely to have occurred if a pilot had planned to ditch the aircraft, Foley added. Investigators have so far confirmed that three pieces of debris washed up on western Indian Ocean shorelines -- including the one off Tanzania -- came from MH370. The current hunt, which was commissioned by Malaysia on a "no find, no fee" basis, is just north of the former search zone and is likely to end by mid-June. |
The search for flight MH370 will end next week, Malaysia's transport minister said Wednesday, more than four years after the plane disappeared and triggered one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.
The Malaysia Airlines jet vanished in March 2014 with 239 people -- mostly from China -- on board, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
No sign of the jet was found in a 120,000 square kilometre (46,000 square mile) sea search zone and the Australian-led hunt, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January last year.
After pressure from family members, the former Malaysian government struck a deal with US exploration firm Ocean Infinity to restart the search in January on the condition it would only be paid if the Boeing 777 or its black boxes were found.
The firm stood to make up to $70 million if successful but did not find any sign of the jet despite scouring the seabed with some of the world's most hi-tech search equipment.
Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke, part of the new government that came to power following May 9 elections, said the hunt was officially meant to finish in April but had been extended, and would come an end next week.
"The search will continue until May 29," he told reporters.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had said earlier that the contract with Ocean Infinity was being reviewed, as his administration seeks to cut costs after accusing the allegedly corrupt former regime of leaving the public finances in bad shape.
Grace Nathan, a Malaysian lawyer whose mother Anne Daisy was on the plane, said the news was not a surprise but said the government should leave the "no find, no fee" offer on the table in case a company wants to take on the search in future.
"We can't tell (the government) what to do but for me and the families... finding the plane is important for many reasons," she told AFP.
- 'Comprehensive review' -
In a letter to the new administration released before the end of the search was announced, Voice370 -- a group representing families of those on the plane whose members include Nathan -- urged the government to undertake a "comprehensive review" of all matters related to the plane's disappearance.
It also called for "an investigation into any possible falsification and/or elimination of records related to MH370".
The new hunt was in an area of about 25,000 square kilometres in the southern Indian Ocean, north of the former search area.
The ship conducting the hunt, Seabed Constructor, was a Norwegian research vessel carrying 65 crew, including two members of the Malaysian navy as the government's representatives.
It used eight autonomous drones, equipped with sonars and cameras, that scoured the waters for wreckage and can operate in depths up to 6,000 metres (20,000 feet).
Only three confirmed fragments of MH370 have been found, all of them on western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre wing part known as a flaperon.
The jet's disappearance stands as one of the most enduring aviation mysteries of all time and has spawned a host of theories, with some blaming a hijacking or even a terror plot.
Mahathir himself revived one of the many conspiracy theories in March when he suggested the plane could have been taken over remotely to foil a hijacking.
Earlier this week, Australian investigators defended their findings that the plane was out of control when it plunged into the ocean, after a theory that a rogue pilot deliberately ditched the jet was revived in a book by a Canadian air crash investigator.
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