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634 Runways Where Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Could Have Landed


(Steve Robson) These are the 634 runways where the missing Malaysia Airlines plane could have landed after a potential hijacking.

Today Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said investigators believe flight MH370’s disappearance is the result of ‘deliberate action’ by someone on the plane.

During a dramatic press conference, he said satellite evidence showed the aircraft’s transponder was turned off and it change direction shortly before it vanished.

Mr Razak said it is believed to have been heading in a westerly and then north westerly direction.

The revelation gives hope to the families of the 227 passengers and 12 crew that the Boeing 777 may have landed somewhere and they are still alive.

It is estimated that the jet had enough fuel to have flown around another 2,200 miles after it vanished.

WYNC Data Team said based on the size of the plane, there are 634 runways where it could potentially have landed.

They are spread from as far north as Pakistan, to as far south as the west coast of Australia or even Japan.

Other remote locations include Micronesia, Mongolia and the Maldives.

Prime Minister Razak stopped short of saying the aircraft had been hijacked, but his ‘deliberate action’ comments point ever more towards foul play.

He said: “Based on new satellite communication we can say with a high degree of certainty that the aircraft communication addressing system was disabled just before the aircraft reached the east coast of Malaysia.

“Shortly afterwards between the border of Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control the aircraft’s transponder was switched off.

“Radar data showed that from this point onwards a plane believed to be MH370 did turn back and turned back in a westerly direction before turning north west.

“These movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane.”

Map: Investigators are concentrating on two ‘corridors’ where the plane could have flown

 

The prime minister said this new information had led to the ending of the search operation in the South China Sea.

He said two new huge search areas had been opened up with ‘a northern corridor heading towards Europe from Turkmenistan to Thailand, with the other stretching from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.

Shortly after he finished speaking, a police source said officers had arrived at the home of 53-year-old pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, to search for evidence that could help with the investigation.

Investigators are increasingly focused on the possibility the plane was flown off-course by the pilot or co-pilot, or someone else on board with detailed knowledge of how to fly and navigate a large commercial aircraft.