Jamie Doward
theguardian.com
March 15, 2014
Authorities across the world are asking who aboard the doomed Malaysian jetliner would want to hijack a Boeing 777 – and why.
American authorities have confirmed that they went through the passengers and crew members on the manifest and none had any known links to extremist groups. Now attention is shifting to the two pilots after Malaysian police began a search of their homes.
The last message from the flight deck to Malaysian air traffic control was “all right, good night”. This appears to have been made after the aircraft communications and reporting system (Acars), which sends information about the plane’s location to air traffic control, was deliberately switched off. If so it may suggest that one or both of the pilots were key players in the drama, possibly under duress.
Mike Glynn, a committee member of the Australian and International Pilots Association, thought pilot suicide was the most likely explanation for the disappearance. It was the suspected cause of a SilkAir crash flying from Singapore to Jakarta in 1997 and an EgyptAir flight in 1999.
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