MH370 disaster: Did passengers die of suffocation?
Investigators have been grappling with the mystery of the jet's disappearance
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-06-29 09:07 GMT
Mumbai: The passengers and crew of the mysterious Malaysian plane that went missing most probably died due to suffocation, according to The Independent.
A report released by the official investigating the case have recently concluded that the cabin ran out of oxygen, killing everyone onboard. "Given these observations, the final stages of the unresponsive crew/hypoxia event type appeared to best fit the available evidence for the final period of MH370's flight when it was heading in a generally southerly direction," the report said.
Meanwhile, reports also indicated that Flight MH370 was “highly likely” to have been on autopilot as it flew over the Indian Ocean, Australian officials said as they decided to focus further south to locate the plane that vanished over three months back.
After analysing data between the plane and a satellite, officials said MH370 was on autopilot before it disappeared on March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.
“It is highly, highly likely that the aircraft was on autopilot otherwise it could not have followed the orderly path that has been identified through the satellite sightings,” Deputy PM Warren Truss said.
“We are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it ran out of fuel,” Martin Dolan of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Watch: Malaysia jet passengers likely suffocated, says Australia