Missing plane: 25 countries now looking for Flight MH370

S U N D AY 16 MARCH 2014 Officials confirm to Channel 4 News that the ilot of missin! fli!ht MH"#0 s o$e to air traffic control after a comm%nication s&stem was 'isa(le' (& someone on (oar') No trace of the Boeing 777-200ER has been found since it vanished on 8 March with 239 peop e on board! but investigators be ieve it was diverted b" so#eone who$new how to switch off its co##unications and trac$ing s"ste#s% &efense Minister 'isha##uddin 'ussein said( )*he search area has been significant " e+panded and the nature of the search has changed% ),ro# focusing #ain " on sha ow seas! we are now oo$ing at arge trac$s of and crossing -- countries as we as deep and re#ote oceans% )*he nu#ber of countries invo ved in the search and rescue operation has increased fro# -. to 2/ which brings new cha enges of coordination and dip o#ac"%)

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Ma a"sian officia s briefed envo"s fro# about 20 countries on progress in the investigation after ca ing off a search in the 0outh 1hina 0ea% New 'i lomatic hase 2 though countries have been coordinating individua "! the broad for#a re3uest #ar$s a new dip o#atic phase in an operation e+panding across two he#ispheres and overshadowed b" #ounting 1hinese criticis# of Ma a"sian- ed search efforts% 'e added( )4e are as$ing countries that have sate ite assets inc uding the 50! 1hina and ,rance a#ongst others! to provide further sate ite data%) *he disappearance of , ight M'370 has baff ed investigators! aviation e+perts and internet s euthssince the p ane vanished fro# civi ian air traffic contro screens off Ma a"sia6s east coast ess than an hour after ta$ing off fro# 7ua a 8u#pur en route to Bei9ing% 4hen as$ed if the aircraft cou d sti trans#it data whi e on the ground! &irector :enera ,or &epart#ent ;f 1ivi 2viation! 2<haruddin 2bdu Rah#an said it was a possibi it"% )=t is possib e for the aircraft to be turned on the ground! as ong as there6s e ectrica power to the aircraft s"ste#!) he said%

'isha##uddin a so revea ed to 1hanne . News that the 2ircraft 1o##unications 2ddressing and Reporting 0"ste# >212R0? was switched off before the pi ot6s ast co##unication with aircraft contro staff% *he 212Rs s"ste# provides sate ites with detai ed infor#ation about the p anes #ove#ents and current status% Investigation into pilots Ma a"sian po ice are investigating the persona ! po itica and re igious bac$grounds of the pi ots and crew of the #issing 9et iner! a senior officer said on 0unda"! as the" tr" to wor$ out wh" so#eone aboard f ew the p ane hundreds of #i es off course% Ma a"sia po ice chief! =nspector :enera 7ha id 2bu Ba$ar said( )*here are four areas of focus of our investigation! nu#ber one! hi9ac$ing! nu#ber is sabotage! nu#ber three! persona prob e# and nu#ber four! ps"cho ogica prob e#! that doesn6t change and that inc udes a the ground staff! ever"bod"%) 2t a news conference on 0aturda" Ma a"sian @ri#e Minister Na9ib Ra<a$ said investigators be ieved so#ebod" steered the p ane west! far fro# its schedu ed route% E ectronic signa s it continued to e+change periodica " with sate ites suggest it cou d have continued f "ing for near " seven hours after being ast spotted b" Ma a"sian #i itar" radar off the countr"6s northwest coast% *he sate ite data revea ed b" Na9ib suggests the p ane cou d be an"where in either of two arcs( one stretching fro# northern *hai and to the border of 7a<a$hstan and *ur$#enistan! or a southern arc heading fro# =ndonesia to the vast southern =ndian ;cean%