Malaysia confirms MH370 pilot had plotted Indian Ocean route
Malaysian officials have confirmed that the captain of Flight MH370 had plotted a course on his home computer to the southern Indian Ocean area where the plane is believed to have have crashed.
The theory that the plane was deliberately flown into the sea was suggested last month by Australian officials leading the search, but this is the first time it has been acknowledged by Malaysian authorities.
The Boeing 777, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared on March 8 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board.
Search teams have been unable to trace the main wreckage of the plane or the black box recorders.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai admitted the route had been simulated by the flight’s captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, but said it was just one of thousands of routes plotted to many parts of the world.
He insisted there is no evidence to prove that captain Zaharie deliberately flew the plane into the area and crashed it.
Air crash expert Larry Vance said last month this was the most likely scenario, based on examinations of a small section of a wing, called a flaperon, which was recovered from the sea.
He said the flaperon was extended and this can only be activated by a person.
The failure to find floating debris could also be explained by a slow, controlled landing, he added.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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