Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crashed into a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean, killing all 239 people on board, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak has announced.

“This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites,” Mr Najib told a media briefing.

“It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” he said, fighting back tears.

The Prime Minister added: “This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path.

Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.

Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking; I know this news must be harder still.”

Many of the relatives had refused to believe those on board had perished.

According to the analysis the plane flew for more than seven hours after it had turned back from its scheduled flight path over the South China Sea.

Officials said it was likely the plane ran out of fuel before crashing.

It is not known whether the pilots were still in control of the plane during the long flight into the Indian Ocean.

Perth will now become the base for a multi-nation recovery effort.
Malaysian authorities say finding the plane’s black box recorder will be crucial in discovering how the plane lost communication and turned back from its flight path.

Photo: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (left) with acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (AT/cz)