17 days since MH370 vanished: all the details

(chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-03-24 23:34

Day 17 March 24

11:59 pm

The BBC said on its website that it saw a text message sent to families saying it had to be assumed "beyond reasonable doubt" that the plane was lost and there were no survivors.

10:01 pm

Investigators concluded that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 ended in the Southern Indian Ocean, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said at a press conference Monday.

Day 16 March 23

Australia's prime minister said on Sunday there was "increasing hope" of a breakthrough in the hunt for a missing Malaysian airliner carrying 239 people, after Chinese satellite images showed what could be debris within a search area deep in the southern Indian Ocean.

Day 15 March 22

Chinese embassy in Malaysia confirmed Saturday that Chinese satellite spotted a floating object, 22.5 meter by 13 meter, along the southern corridor missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 might have taken.

Day 14 March 21

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said on Friday suspicious objects spotted on satellite images in the remote southern Indian Ocean may have sunk, Reuters reported

Day 13 March 20

Satellite imagery provided to AMSA of objects that may be possible debris of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in a revised area 185 km to the south east of the original search area.

A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion has been dispatched Thursday by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)'s Rescue Coordination Centre Australia (RCC Australia) after AMSA reported two objects possibly connected to the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370.

Day 12 March 19

A Thai air force radar station has detected the signal of an unidentified aircraft that departed from Malaysia and flew northward but later diverted possibly to the Strait of Malacca, air force chief Prajin Juntong said Tuesday.

Investigators believe the missing plane most likely flew into the southern Indian Ocean, Reuters cited a source close to the investigation as saying.

Day 11 March 18

The first turn to the west that diverted the missing Malaysia Airlines plane from its planned flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing was carried out through a computer system that was most likely programmed by someone in the plane’s cockpit who was knowledgeable about airplane systems, according to senior American officials.

Day 10 March 17

Malaysian government said that last ACARS transmission was at 1:07am, unknown when it was switched off. It did not transmit 30 minutes later as programmed. Last pilot communication with air traffic control was at 1:19am.

Day 9 March 16

A passenger on the missing Flight MH 370 is discovered to be born in China, educated in Turkey, taught for two years in the UK, and then learned about airplane engines in Switzerland, China's Central Television reports.

Day 8 March 15

Malaysian prime minister confirmed the plane was suspected to have been deliberately diverted, a senior police official told Reuters.

Search in South China Sea has ended and now is focusing on new corridors. - Malaysian PM

Day7? ?March 14

A new search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean as authorities try to determine what happened to a missing Malaysian airliner, the White House said on Thursday.

"It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive - but new information - an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "And we are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy."

Carney did not specify the nature of the "new information." The United States has been helping in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, including the deployment of US Navy vessels.

Day 6? ?March 13

A Chinese satellite has found three floating objects in the suspected site of missing Malaysian plane, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND).

"Chinese satellites have found smoke and floating objects ... At present we cannot confirm this is related to the missing aircraft," Li Jiaxiang told reporters on the sidelines of China's annual meeting of parliament. He added that there was also no evidence the Malaysian military was concealing information about the missing flight.

Day 5? ?March 12

Vietnam partially suspends search for MH370

Vietnam said on Wednesday it was scaling back the search in Vietnamese waters for a Malaysian Airlines jetliner missing for four days, a senior Vietnamese official said.

"We still have plans to search with a few flights today, while other activities are suspended," Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu, who heads the Vietnam search, told reporters.

The last communication received from a Malaysia Airlines plane suggests everything was normal on board minutes before it went missing over the South China Sea, Malaysian authorities say.

Flight MH370 replied "All right, roger that" to a radio message from Malaysian air control, authorities said.

Day 4??? March 11

A photo of Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, a 19-year-old Iranian man who used the stolen passport to board the missing plane, was shown at a press conference held by local government in Kuala Lumpur

Day 3? March 10

Tests on a sample of the oil slick found off the Kelantan coast reveal that it was not from the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight, according to the local media.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Eastern Region chief Datuk Nasir Adam revealed test results showed that the samples were actually from a ship.

Day 2??March 9

The United States officials are investigating terrorism concerns over the missing Malaysia Airlines plane after two people listed as passengers of the MH370 flight were confirmed not on board, and their passports were reported stolen in Thailand.

Malaysia's authorities confirmed on Monday that the two passengers boarding on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane with false passports are not with Asian appearance.

Day 1??March 8

11:10 am

The Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya confirmed that the airline have lost all contacts with flight MH370.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their search-and-rescue teams to locate the aircraft," the statement said.

An official at the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said the plane had failed to check in as scheduled at 1721 GMT while it was flying over the sea between Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh city.

11:40 am

The Malaysia Airlines just released a list of the passengers from 14 countries and regions.

The origins of the passengers break down like this:

154 Chinese, including one infant and 1 from China's Taiwan.

Malaysia 38

Indonesia 12

Australia 7

France 3

USA 3, plus one infant

New Zealand 2

Ukraine 2

Canada 2