No signs of the missing Malaysian airliner have been found at a location where Chinese satellite images showed what might be plane debris, Malaysia’s civil aviation chief said.
Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman says planes searched the location today, adding: “There is nothing. We went there, there is nothing.”
Meanwhile, US investigators suspect the airliner flew on for four hours after it lost contact with air traffic controllers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The suspicion is based on data from the plane’s engines which is automatically downloaded and transmitted to the ground as part of routine maintenance programmes.
The report raises questions why the Boeing 777 as to whether anyone was in control during that time.
In relation to the reports of debris indicated by Chinese satellites, Vietnamese officials said the area had already been “searched thoroughly” in recent days.
The hunt for the Boeing 777 has been punctuated by false leads since it disappeared with 239 people aboard just hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early on Saturday.
The plane was heading east over the South China Sea when it disappeared, but authorities believe it might have turned back and headed into the upper reaches of the Strait of Malacca or beyond.
The Chinese sighting of possible debris was not far from where the last confirmed position of the plane was in between Malaysia and Vietnam. The images and co-ordinates were posted on the website of China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence.
A report from China’s Xinhua news agency said the images from around 11am on Sunday appear to show “three suspected floating objects” of varying sizes, the largest about 79ft by 72ft, off the southern tip of Vietnam.
Pham Quy Tieu, Vietnam’s deputy transport minister, said the area had been “searched thoroughly” by forces from other countries over the past few days.
Mr Rahman had earlier urged caution over the sighting, noting that the general area had been searched several times and the images were taken on Sunday. “There have been lots of reports of suspected debris,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines has retired the missing jetliner's flight code as a sign of respect to the 239 passengers and crew on board.
The airline said it will no longer be using MH370 and MH371, the codes used by the Boeing 777 that vanished from radar screens on Saturday.
MH370 was used for the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route and MH371 for a return flight.
Malaysia Airlines said it will use codes MH318 and MH319 for twice-a-day flights to and from Beijing, starting tomorrow.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of our colleagues and passengers of MH370,” the airline said in a statement.