Investigators hunting the missing Malaysia Airlines plane yesterday revealed it was the co-pilot who spoke the last words to ground controllers before it vanished.
First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, calmly said ‘All right, good night’ shortly before Flight MH370 vanished ten days ago.
The cockpit sign-off to air traffic controllers — not the recognised radio drill — came at 1.19am on March 8 as the jet left Malaysian airspace on a routine journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
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Around a minute later, the Boeing 777-200’s transponder, which sends out a signal to radar stations, was switched off — making the jet disappear.
Officials are considering if the unusual sign-off was a secret signal that there was something wrong on the flight deck.
The other possibility, of course, is that Hamid was by then in sole control.
The hunt for the missing plane has become the biggest search in aviation history, with the total area being examined amounting to 30 million square miles, or a tenth of the planet.
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said finding the plane was still the main focus, and he did not rule out that it might be discovered intact.
'The fact that there was no distress signal, no ransom notes, no parties claiming responsibility, there is always hope,' Hishammuddin said at a news conference.
Malaysian Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said an initial investigation indicated that the last words heard from the plane by ground controllers - 'All right, good night' - were spoken by the co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid.
Had it been a voice other than that of Fariq or the pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, it would have clearest indication yet of something amiss in the cockpit before the flight went off-course.
Malaysian officials had said earlier that those words came after one of the jetliner's data communications systems - the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System - had been switched off, suggesting the voice from the cockpit may have been trying to deceive ground controllers.
Officials are considering if the unusual sign-off was a secret signal that there was something wrong on the flight deck.
The other possibility, of course, is that Hamid was by then in sole control.
The hunt for the missing plane has become the biggest search in aviation history, with the total area being examined amounting to 30 million square miles, or a tenth of the planet.
Captured: Airport security CCTV of Zaharie Ahmad Shah, pilot of Malaysia Boeing 777 Airlines flight
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said finding the plane was still the main focus, and he did not rule out that it might be discovered intact.
'The fact that there was no distress signal, no ransom notes, no parties claiming responsibility, there is always hope,' Hishammuddin said at a news conference.
Malaysian Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said an initial investigation indicated that the last words heard from the plane by ground controllers - 'All right, good night' - were spoken by the co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid.
Had it been a voice other than that of Fariq or the pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, it would have clearest indication yet of something amiss in the cockpit before the flight went off-course.
Malaysian officials had said earlier that those words came after one of the jetliner's data communications systems - the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System - had been switched off, suggesting the voice from the cockpit may have been trying to deceive ground controllers.
Family members of passengers onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vote to talk directly to Malaysian government's representatives during a meeting with the airline's representatives at Lido Hotel in Beijing on Monday
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