MH370 might have crashed into Indian Ocean in suicide mission, says daily

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean in an apparent suicide mission, the Daily Telegraph quoted unnamed sources as saying today.

The team investigating MH370's disappearance believed no malfunction or fire was capable of causing the aircraft's unusual flight, it reported today.

"Nor would the disabling of the aircraft's communication system cause MH370 to veer wildly off course on a seven hour silent flight into the sea," the English daily said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced last night that MH370's final flight path was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, according to latest satellite data.

An official source told The Telegraph that investigators believe “this has been a deliberate act by someone on board who had to have had the detailed knowledge to do what was done... Nothing is emerging that points to motive.”

Asked about the possibility of a plane malfunction or an on-board fire, the source told the Telegraph: “It just does not hinge together... (The investigators) have gone through processes you do to get the plane where it flew to for eight hours. They point to it being flown in a rational way.”

Despite no confirmed sightings of wreckage, Najib said last night that new data showed MH370 ended its eight-hour flight on March 8 in the deep, remote waters of the Indian Ocean.

The data was provided by British satellite company Inmarsat and the United Kingdom's Air Accident Investigation Bureau.

“This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites,” Najib said.

At a hotel in Beijing, some family members fainted amid an outpouring of anger and grief as the agonising wait to learn the fate of the flight ended with the news they most feared. 

For some it came via a text message from Malaysia Airlines.

They later delivered a scathing denunciation of Malaysia Airlines and Putrajaya, branding them “the real executioners” of the MH370 passengers.

But some continued to cling on to hope, pointing to the continued failure to find the plane. 

“No confirmed wreckage, so no real closure,” said Sarah Bajc, whose American partner Philip Wood was on board.

The Telegraph report said the flight remains shrouded in mystery and misinformation. 

Malaysian authorities have come under intense criticism for their handling of the ordeal, including claims they hid information and bungled the search.

Foreign intelligence agencies have conducted two rounds of checks on the passengers and found nothing suspicious about any of the passengers.

Nor have any leads emerged from an intensive police investigation into the two prime suspects, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the 53-year-old pilot, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.

Neither has any known background of extremism or psychological problems.

Police have interviewed more than 100 friends and family members of the pilots, conducted a forensic investigation of a flight simulator seized from Zaharie’s home, combed through their laptops and flying records, and enlisted the help of the FBI and Interpol.

But a source involved in the police investigation told the Daily Telegraph: “We are still clueless. We have not collected anything suspicious". – March 25, 2014.