The mystery surrounding the fate of the Malaysia Airlines plane which went missing almost six days ago has deepened amid claims that satellites were still receiving data from the aircraft after it went missing.
A source close to the investigation has said the flight MH370, which was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 on board, sent a brief signal, or ‘ping’, to satellites in space after it had lost contact with ground control.
The development comes as Malaysian authorities attempted to downplay the theories springing up around the fate of the aircraft, and as the U.S. confirms it could start searching the Indian Ocean for debris – rather than the South China Sea.
Scroll down for videos
Radius: U.S. officials believe the missing plane could have come down in the Indian Ocean (left), rather than the South China Sea (right), while speculation that the plane could have kept flying for four hours after losing contact were described as ‘inaccurate’.
U.S destroyer USS Kidd is now reportedly being moved to the Indian Ocean in order to search the area (file picture).
An Indonesian Air Force officer draws a flight pattern flown earlier in a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, during a post-mission briefing at Suwondo air base in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
The ‘ping’ is not through to have contained any information about the condition or trajectory of the plane, but merely to confirm that the aircraft existed and that it was possible to contact it.
The system transmits such pings about once an hour, sources said, but it remains unclear how many signals the plane sent after air traffic control lost track of it.
Boeing Co, which made the missing 777 airliner, and Rolls-Royce, which supplied its Trent engines, declined to comment.
Earlier Malaysian officials denied reports that the aircraft had continued to send technical data after losing contact.
Meanwhile Malaysian authorities expanded their search westward towards India today, and a senior Pentagon official suggested there was ‘an indication’ the plane came down in the Indian ocean.
Responding to the new theory that the Malaysian Airlines flight may have come down in the Indian Ocean, rather than the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy has allegedly sent its own resources there.
U.S destroyer USS Kidd is now reportedly being moved in to search the area, while Malaysia was due to ask for radar data from India and other neighbouring countries to see if they can trace the plane flying north west.
This evening a White House spokesperson conceded the possibility of a new search, saying ‘new information’ prompted the move. He did not make clear what the information was.
‘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,’White House spokesman Jay Carney said. ‘And we are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy.’
‘We’re looking at information, pursuing possible leads, working within the investigation being led by the Malaysian government,’ Carney added.
Meanwhile, India plans to imminently deploy planes and ships in the southern section of the sea, a senior Indian official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The senior Pentagon official reportedly told ABC News it would take 24 hours for USS Kidd to be moved into position.
Malaysian defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein (centre) said the search had been expanded westward today, while a senior Pentagon official has been quoted as saying there was ‘an indication’ the plane came down in the Indian Ocean.
Six days on and a massive international air and water search involving 10 nations using 56 surface ships has failed to find a single piece of debris or sign of the Malaysian Airlines aircraft.
Earlier, Malaysian defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein described reports suggesting the jetliner kept flying for four hours after it vanished as ‘inaccurate’ and said satellite images showing suspected debris of the crash had been released ‘by mistake’.
The plane left Kuala Lumpur and was flying northeast across the Gulf of Thailand and into the South China Sea when it dropped off civilian radar without any indication it was having any technical problems.
An international search effort has been methodically sweeping parts of the South China Sea. A roughly similar-sized hunt has also been conducted to the west in the Strait of Malacca because of military radar sightings that might indicate the plane headed that way after its last contact, passing over the Malay Peninsula.
The total area is around 35,800 square miles, or about the size of Portugal.
The developments come as people gathered in Kuala Lumpur airport, from which flight MH370 took off, to offer up prayers for the 239 people missing as a result of the disaster.
Hundreds of Muslim worshippers could today be seen bowing in unison in the ceremony, offering their thoughts to the passengers who are missing as a result of the flight’s disappearance, and their worry-stricken relatives.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper quoted U.S. investigators on Thursday as saying they suspected the plane remained in the air for about four hours after its last confirmed contact, citing data from the plane’s engines that are automatically transmitted to the ground as part of a routine maintenance program.
