Plane was on suicide mission, say sources

PERTH/KUALA LUMPUR - Just hours after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak explained what happened to Flight MH370 - it fell into the Indian Ocean - a British newspaper quoted official sources to suggest why it happened.

The Malaysia Airlines plane was on a suicide mission, reported The Telegraph.

No fire or malfunction could possibly have caused the silent seven-hour flight into the sea of the plane, which was guided away from its planned route, the newspaper reported.

After its communications systems appeared to have been deliberately switched off, the plane's routing and signalling suggested it was flown "in a rational way".

"This has been a deliberate act by someone on board who had to have the detailed knowledge to do what was done... Nothing is emerging that points to motive," The Telegraph was told.

Investigators have apparently simulated how the plane could have got where it was last detected in a remote area of the Indian Ocean, and signs point to it being flown in a deliberate manner.

Asked about the possibility of a plane malfunction or an on-board fire, the source said: "It just does not hinge together... (The investigators) have gone through processes you do to get the plane where it flew to for eight hours. They point to it being flown in a rational way."

They believe someone on the flight shut off the plane's communications systems as it passed from Malaysia to Vietnam air space.

Experts have said that this was the "perfect moment" for a plane to be absent for communications without arousing suspicion.

Partial military radar tracking showed it turning west and re-crossing the Malay Peninsula, apparently under the control of a skilled pilot.

Mr Najib said on Sunday that groundbreaking satellite-data analysis by the British company Inmarsat had revealed that Flight MH370 had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

While no confirmed debris from the plane has been found, Inmarsat had used a principle called the Doppler effect to analyse the difference between the frequency that the ground station expects to receive and one that is actually measured.

The British company checked its predictions with six other B777 aircraft flying on the same day in various directions, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a press conference last evening.

He also revealed that what had been reported to be the satellite transmitter's final ping at 8.11am on March 8 was followed by "a partial handshake" between the plane and a ground station at 8.19am.

The next ping, which was supposed to happen at 9.15am, was not detected.

Between those two times, the aircraft was no longer able to communicate with the ground station.

"This is consistent with the maximum endurance of the aircraft," said Mr Hishammuddin.

After Mr Najib's announcement, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng demanded that Malaysia hand over all relevant satellite analysis showing how Malaysia had reached its conclusion about the fate of the jet.

As a result of the new analysis, the search in the north corridor has been called off.

myp@sph.com.sg

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