Hunt for MH370: Jet turned via a computer

 

Washington: Another new theory has emerged in the missing Malaysian Airline jetliner case. 

 

The new theory, first reported by the New York Times (NYT), says that 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.

 

The report quoted officials saying that instead of manually operating the plane’s controls, whoever altered Flight 370’s path typed seven or eight keystrokes into a computer on a knee-high pedestal between the captain and the first officer called the Flight Management System.

 

It is not clear whether the plane’s path was reprogrammed before or after it took off, the report said. 

The fact that the turn was made away from Beijing has lead the investigators to believe that some nature of foul play was involved and has brought back the focus to the plane’s pilots and co-pilots.

 

Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia had told reporters on Saturday that his government believed that the plane had been diverted because its transponder and other communications devices had been manually turned off several minutes apart. US officials were told the new info over the weekend.