LATEST UPDATES from press conference chaired by Malaysia Acting Transport

Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein (6:00pm, Sunday 16 March 2014):

- The search for MH370 has become "even more difficult", with the search area
expanded to include large tracts of land across 11 countries and oceans.
- The number of countries involved has increased from 14 to 25. Full story here.
- Malaysia's Foreign Ministry has requested support from over 22 countries, including:
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India,
China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia & Australia.
- This support would be in the form of general satellite data, radar playback and
provisions for ground, sea and aerial search and rescue.
- Both northern & southern corridors are being treated with equal importance.
For more on the difficulty of the search, go here.

- According to Malaysia Airlines, the pilot and co-pilot did not ask to fly together. Full
story here.
- The MH370 aircraft was subjected to Boeing's mandatory maintenance program,
fully serviced and fit to fly.
- Malaysia Airlines says the plane departed with its planned fuel load with nothing
extra.
- The cargo manifest has also been investigated and no hazardous materials were
found to be onboard.
- A flight simulator was taken from the home of MH370's pilot and is being examined
by police now. More here.
- Malaysian police says not all background checks on passengers have been completed
as some countries have yet to respond. Full story here.

UPDATE (4:00pm)
A press statement by the Ministry of Transport was released on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun
Razak's Facebook page at about 2:40pm, 16 March 2014. It gives the official word on the status of the
MH370 investigations. Read the full text here.
New York Times reports that investigators are puzzled why Malaysian military took no action over
unidentified blip on their radar screens that was later said to be the missing flight MH370,
Story here.

Malaysian spotters fight turbulence, nausea and mental strain while scanning an endless expanse of
water find Flight 370. Read what they have to go through here.
India says the plane could not have flown over its airspacewhich casts doubts on the theory that it
went toward the north corridor between Turkmenistan and Kazakstan Story here.
India puts on hold its search for the missing plane on Malaysian instructions, with a review of search
operations with more than a dozen countries scheduled for later today in KL. Story here.

Also, friends of the main pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah say its impossible he could be involved in a
terrorist attempt given what they know of him. What they say about him here.

Police have searched both pilots homes. Full story here.

Read the analysis on how MH370 has highlighted key gaps in air defense in general here.

Putrajaya rejected Interpol's help in finding MH370, a senior Western law enforcement official told
ABC News. Full story here.

A UK tabloid speculates that the pilot of MH370 may have hijacked the plane as a political protest
against Anwar's conviction. Find out what's the theory here.

The Bangkok Post reports that the Thai Navy will cease the search after Najib's media statement
about ceasing search operations in the South China Sea. Full story here.

BREAKING (3:05pm): Salient points from the Prime Minister's statement given at the press
conference:
1. New data shows last confirmed location was Saturday, 8 March at 8.11AM which indicate how far
the plane has flown.
2. Based on new satellite communication data, we can say with a high degree of certainty that the
Aircraft Communications, Addressing and Reporting System or ACARS, was disabled just before the
aircraft reached the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
3. Shortly aftewards, near the border between Malaysia and Vietnamese air traffic control, the
aircraft transponder was switched off.
4. From this point onwards, the Royal Malaysian Air Forces primary radar showed that an aircraft,
believed to be (but not confirmed to be) MH370, did indeed turn back.
5. It then flew back over Peninsular Malaysia, before turning northwest into the Straits of Malacca,
up until the point at which it left military primary radar coverage.
6. The PM also said that plane movement was consistent with "deliberate action" by someone on the
plane.
7. There will be refocused investigation into the crew and passengers on board.
8. Despite news reports that investigators concluded it was a hijacking, PM Najib said "I wish to be
very clear we are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH370 to deviate from its
original flight path." Hijacking is not ruled out, however.
9. Based on the direction in which the plane flew, the plane could have headed in one of two possible
corridors:
- Northern corridor: border of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan to Northern Thailand.
- Southern corridor: From Indonesia to Southern Indian Ocean.
9. Operations in the South China Sea will be ended and deployment of assets will be reassessed.
10. Malaysia Airlines is informing families of the passengers of the new developments.
11. "The search has entered a new phase... We hope this new information will bring us one step closer
to finding the plane."
No question were taken, but reporters were asked to submit questions to be answered at the 5.30pm
press conference. STAY TUNED!
Full transcript here .
UPDATE [12:55pm, 15 Mar]: A Malaysian government official involved in the investigation says
investigators have concluded that one or more people with significant flying experience hijacked the
missing Malaysia Airlines jet, switched off communication devices and steered it off-course.
Storyhere.

Prime Minister Najib Razak's twitter account has announced that the PM will be making a press
statement at 1:30pm.

CNN reports that classified intelligence analysis says it is likely that MH370 crashed in the bay of
Bengal or the Indian ocean, and gives a highly detailed description of the plane's flight path after it
disappeared. Details here.

Over 2.3 million people worldwide are searching for MH370, scanning thousands of satellite images
on their PCs in a crowdsourcing effort. Story here.

***************************
From the Editor, 12am 15 March 2014:
Dear readers,
We will be ending our MH370 live updates tonight. However, we will still be giving you the latest
news and updates on our Yahoo Malaysia front page, our Facebook fan site and of course, our
Twitterpage. We would like to thank you for sticking with us, and like you, we are praying for the safe
return of the MH370 passengers and crew.

Good night, and thank you.
The Yahoo Malaysia team.

UPDATE [11.52am]: Malaysian investigators are increasingly certain that the missing jetliner turned
back across the country after losing communications, and that someone with aviation skills was
responsible for the unexplained change in course. More of this here.

UPDATE [11.15pm]: Friends and family members of the co-pilot who flew the missing jet reveals that
he's serious about his career, and not a reckless playboy. Story here.

UPDATE [9.55pm]: India has started combing through Andaman and Nicobar, made up of more
than 500 mostly uninhabited islands, for signs of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370
jetliner. More on this story here.
The United States Navy Seventh Fleet's USS Kidd, meanwhile, has arrived in the northwestern
section of the Strait of Malacca today to assist in the search efforts. Full story here.

Iran said it is ready to provide Malaysia any kind of assistance in finding the missing MH370
airplane. More on the story.

UPDATE [7.01pm]: Investigators involved in the search for the missing flight MH370 reportedly now
fear that the aircraft is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Full story here.
Meanwhile, Chinese researchers have detected a "seafloor event" near the waters between Malaysia
and Vietnam, one-and-a-half hours after MH370 disappeared from the radar. Click here for the full
report
An aviation journalist also reveals that MH370 could have landed on a runway based on the data
received. Read his theory here.


UPDATE [6.00pm]: The press conference has just ended. Here are some key highlights:
The authorities have investigated two oil slicks at the South China Sea two days ago. One oil slick has
a tiny hint of jet fuel, but they can't confirm it belongs to MH370. No debris was found
Acting Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, denied reports that MH370 kept flying after it
lost contact, with Rolls Royce and Boeing confirming that they have not received any flight data.
Authorities are still unable to confirm that the plane made a turn-back: "Though there is
information, its not 100 per cent that its MH370. That has not changed.
The UK investigation team and representatives from Roll Royce will be arriving tonight to assist
investigations.
Authorities can't confirm if transponder was deliberately switched off: Theres no confirmation on
the signal. We are still investigating the possibility, says Hishammuddin.
Hishamuddin has continued to deny that the police have searched the houses of Malaysia Airlines
crew.
On extending their search area to the Indian Ocean, Hishamuddin said: "Together with our
international partners, we are pushing further east into the South China Sea and further into the
Indian Ocean."
Hishamuddin also confirmed that they are working very closely with the U.S. team: "They indicated
they were studying the possibility of satellite communication. Whatever they have and will share
with us."

UPDATE [4.50pm]: Sources close to the ongoing investigation revealed that military radar-tracking
evidence suggests that the missing jetliner was deliberately flown towards the Andaman Islands. Full
story here.

UPDATE [3.47pm]: The best information about the missing flight MH370 is probably in the hands of
American officials who are in Malaysia assisting the investigation but they are keeping mum, the
New York Times reported. Full story.

UPDATE [1.56pm]: Several family members of Chinese passengers on board a missing Malaysian
airliner have requested to speak directly with Malaysian leaders via teleconference. Story here.

UPDATE [12.13pm]: The US believes that the shutdown of two communications systems on missing
flight MH370 could have been deliberate. Full story.

UPDATE [10.28am] : A crisis management expert has pointed to rumours and speculation from
social media as a hindrance for Malaysian authorities investigating the disappearance of flight
MH370. Read it here.

UPDATE [8:17am]: US officials believe that the shutdown of two communication systems happened
separately on missing MH370. One source revealed, it is an indication that the plane did not come
out of the sky because of a catastrophic failure. Another source said that the data reporting system
and transponder was shut down at 1.07am and 1.21am, respectively.
UPDATE [5.05am]: US officials revealed that flight MH370 continued to "ping" a satellite for four
hours after it dropped off of the radar. The officials stated that the number of pings would indicate
how long the plane stayed aloft. Full story here.
UPDATE [2:04am]: Communications satellites picked up faint electronic pulses ("pings") from
MH370 after it went missing on Saturday, but the signals gave no indication about where the stray
jet was heading nor its technical condition. Full story here.
A new search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean, says the White House. "We are consulting
with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy." Full story here.
UPDATE [1.30am]: U.S. officials have an "indication" that the missing jetliner may have crashed in
the Indian Ocean. Naval ship USS Kidd was dispatched to the area to begin searc