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| Landing sites: The red dots show all the places MH370 could have landed within the search area |
◼ "The Nature of the Search Has Changed:' At a news conference on Sunday, the Malaysian authorities listed possible reasons behind the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, including “sabotage.” - NY Times
A signaling system was disabled on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet before a pilot spoke to air traffic control without mentioning trouble, a senior Malaysian official said on Sunday, reinforcing theories that one of the pilots may have been involved in diverting the plane and adding urgency to the investigation of their pasts and possible motivations.
With the increasing likelihood that Flight 370 was purposefully diverted and flown possibly thousands of miles from its planned route, Malaysian officials faced more questions about how the investigation, marked by days of contradictory government statements, might have ballooned into a global goose chase for information....
And on Sunday, Malaysia’s defense minister added a critical detail about investigators’ understanding of what transpired in the cockpit in the 40 minutes of flight time before ground controllers lost contact with the jet. The determination that the last verbal message to the control tower — “All right, good night,” someone said — came after a key signaling system had stopped transmitting, perhaps having been shut off, appeared likely to refocus scrutiny on the plane’s veteran pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, and his young first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid.
◼ Pilot wife and children moved out day before disappearance...
...Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was a fervent supporter of his country's opposition leader who was jailed for homosexuality - illegal in Malaysia - only hours before flight MH370 vanished with 239 passengers and crew on board, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.
And in a new twist, it emerged that the pilot's wife and three children moved out of the family's home the day before the plane's disappearance....
But his friend Peter Chong insisted Capt Zaharie, 53, would be "the last person" to hijack the aircraft.
He told the Sunday Mirror: "I would trust that man with my life. He loves people and being involved in something like that would hurt people. I would not believe he was involved in any way at all. If I went on a plane and was allowed the choice of a pilot, I would choose Captain Zaharie."
Mr Chong last saw his friend a week before the jet vanished. He said the two had agreed to meet up this week and that the pilot had been "his normal, cheerful self".
But now he has become a focus of the police investigation....
Boeing 777s need a runway up to a mile long to land, making it unlikely it touched down safely on a remote Asian strip.
"I can't think which airfield it would be - and what would they do with the passengers?" said Mr Learmount.
Malaysian authorities have been criticised for keeping the possibility of a hijack secret for eight days.
Mr Learmount said their "total incompetence is unforgivable", and created more agony for families desperate for news....
