MH370 plunged rapidly: New report

SYDNEY: Flight MH370 was likely out of control when it plunged into the ocean with its wing flaps not prepared for landing, a new report said yesterday, casting doubt on theories a pilot was still in control.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 passengers and crew.

The report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found the plane’s final satellite communications were “consistent with the aircraft being in a high and increasing rate of descent” when it vanished. Analysis of the right outboard flap – which was found off Tanzania – showed it was “most likely in the retracted position”, suggesting the plane was not configured for landing before it smashed into the ocean.

The new finding casts doubt on theories proposed by some analysts that a pilot had been flying the plane when it landed in the sea.

“You can draw your own conclusions,” ATSB’s head of MH370 search operations Peter Foley told reporters, adding that the new findings showed “we’re looking for an aircraft that’s actually quite close to the seventh arc.”

“This report contains important new information on what we believe happened at the end of MH370’s flight,” Australia’s Transport Minister Darren Chester said at the start of a three-day meeting in Canberra where experts will plan the final stages of the search. – AFP