Investigators believe the missing Malaysia Airlines jet could have been hijacked

Investigators believe the missing Malaysia Airlines jet could have been hijacked

• Officials confirmed missing plane was hijacked by one or several people
• Could have turned off communication system and steered it off-course
• Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak refused to confirm the reports
• Investigators working to establish motive and where plane was taken
• Search expanded to 27,000 square nautical miles
• 14 countries, 43 ships and 58 aircraft are involved in the search
• Plane may have flown for about six hours after it was reported lost
• Authorities set to investigate the backgrounds of the 227 passengers
• Reports suggest home of one of the pilots is currently being searched

The focus of search efforts shifted on Thursday March 13,2014 from the South China Sea after the US said 'new information' indicated that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 may have gone down to the west in the Indian Ocean.
China, which had more than 150 citizens on board the missing plane, has deployed four warships, four coastguard vessels, eight aircraft and trained 10 satellites on a wide search area.
Chinese media have described the ship deployment as the largest Chinese rescue fleet ever assembled.

 The missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 sent signals to a satellite for four hours after the aircraft went missing, an indication that it was still flying for hundreds of miles or more, according to a U.S. official briefed on the search for the jet.

The Boeing 777's communication with the ground was severed just under one hour into a flight March 8 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

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, a Malaysian government official involved in the investigation said Saturday. No motive has been established and no demands have been made known, and it is not yet clear where the plane was taken, said the official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that hijacking was no longer a theory: 'It is conclusive

3 types of signals planes give off, and how they relate to the missing jetliner:
TRANSPONDERS
Transponders are electronic devices that automatically identify commercial aircraft within air traffic control radar range and transmit information on the plane's identity, location and altitude to ground radar stations. Beyond radar range, they enable planes to be identified and tracked anywhere in the world by satellite. Transponders can be turned off by pilots.
The missing jet's transponder last communicated with Malaysian civilian radar about an hour after takeoff, when the plane was above the Gulf of Thailand between Malaysia and southern Vietnam.
ACARS
ACARS - or Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System - is a data link system used to transmit short messages such as weather updates and status reports between aircraft and ground stations via radio or satellite.
According to the U.S. official, ACARS messages sent by the missing plane continued after its transponder went silent, although he wasn't certain for how long.
OPERATING DATA SENT VIA SATELLITE
Boeing offers a satellite service that can receive data during a flight on how the aircraft is functioning and relay the information to the plane's home base. The idea is to provide information before the plane lands on whether maintenance work or repairs are needed. Even if an airline does not subscribe to the service, planes still periodically send automated signals - or pings - to the satellite seeking to establish contact.


A Malaysian government official said people with significant flying experience could have turned off the flight's communication devices, meaning the plane could have flown for up to six hours after it was lost by satellite.
If the plane did carry on flying for five hours it could have travelled 2,200 nautical miles 
The representative said that hijacking theory was now 'conclusive', and police are now believed to be searching the home of one of the pilots.
While Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak refused to confirm that flight MH370 was seized, he admitted 'deliberate action' on board the plane resulted in it changing course and losing connection with ground crews.

Malaysian officials have said radar data suggests the plane may have turned back and crossed over the Malaysian peninsula toward the Andaman Islands after setting out on a northeastern path toward the Chinese capital

The USS Kidd arrived in the Strait of Malacca late Friday afternoon March 14,2014 and will be searching in the Andaman Sea, and into the Bay of Bengal

Relatives of passengers of a missing Malaysia Airlines plane attend a conference with airline representatives at a hotel in Beijing, China on Saturday March 15,2014

 Thousands of people have written messages of support on a wall at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, for passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane