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Relatives of the 239 passengers and crew on board missing Flight MH370 are clinging to every shred of evidence their loved ones are still alive.

And tonight they were given a major boost after the authorities admitted for the first time the missing Malaysia Airlines jet may have landed rather than crashed.

As the search, widened a senior official in Kuala Lumpur confirmed it was “possible” ­satellite signals from the plane could have been sent while it was on the ground.

That sparked hopes it may have been flown to a remote spot by hijackers who at some point will outline their demands.

But there were also fears for the safety of those on board after the FBI described the ­disappearance as “an act of piracy”.

The revelations came as pictures emerged of captain Zaharie Ahmed Shah, 53, and 27-year-old co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid being searched before they boarded the flight at Kuala Lumpur airport on March 8, the day it vanished. The pair were routinely frisked then allowed to proceed.

American teacher Sarah Bajc’s partner Philip Wood, 50, was on the ill-fated flight to Beijing. The 48-year-old said she is refusing to give up hope the IBM executive is alive.

She added: “My gut feeling is that it landed. I still feel his spirit. I don’t feel he is dead.”

Sarah Weeks, whose brother was also on the jet, said: “The ­possibility the plane has been hijacked rather than crashed does raise your hopes because you think the potential is there that my brother is still alive.

“But I also find that very scary as well because if someone has ­deliberately taken this plane then they’ve taken it for a reason, and I think we know that often that’s not good.”

Other relatives posted their hopes online. One wrote: “It is the first time it is good news that a plane was hijacked.”

The parents of one woman passenger added: “There’s still hope for my daughter and her husband.”

Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation chief Abdul Rahman revealed satellite “pings” were picked up from the jet six hours after the country’s military radar last detected it over the Malacca Strait at 2.15am on March 8. That means Flight MH370 could have reached as far north as ­Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

Police continue to probe the background of captain Mr Shah, who was once pictured wearing a T-shirt declaring “Democracy is Dead”.

Officers today examined a home-made flight simulator found at his house in Kuala Lumpur.

And they were still looking at the background of all passengers and crew as well as airport staff involved with the plane.

It emerged the pilot had either switched off the Boeing 777’s radar and ­transponders when he said goodnight to Malaysian air traffic controllers - or had done so under threats by hijackers.

However, the satellite messages were still going out automatically.

Malaysian transport minister ­Hishammuddin Hussein said: “Every day brings new angles, especially as we are focusing and expanding the search area.

“The search was already a highly complex, multi-national effort. It has now become more difficult. The area has been expanded and has changed. We are now looking at large tracts of land, crossing 11 countries as well as deep, remote oceans.

“The number of countries involved has increased from 14 to 25, which brings new ­challenges. This is a significant recalibration.”

Two scientists from British firm Inmarsat, which provided the new ­satellite information, have been sent to Kuala Lumpur to help with the search.

It has been established that whoever redirected Flight MH370 had specialist knowledge of the cockpit and knew how to avoid detection around Asia. The development came as Pakistan was forced to deny rumours it was hiding the plane.

Mr Hussein said: “I cannot comment on speculative theories on what might have caused this deviation from the original flight path as I do not wish to prejudice the investigation.

“We do not want to jump to ­conclusions. Out of respect for the ­families and the process itself, we must let the investigation run its course.

“The ­authorities are refocusing their ­investigations on all crew and passengers on board MH370 as well as all ground staff handling the aircraft.”

(Image: Getty)

Malaysian Police inspector general Khalid Abu Bakar added: “The four areas of focus on the investigation are hijacking, sabotage, personal problem and ­psychological problem. That includes ground staff.”

Investigators said there was no ­suggestion Mr Shah and co-pilot Mr Hamid – who had allowed passengers on to the flight deck on previous trips – had specifically asked to fly together.

Officials are now certain the plane’s Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System was partially ­disabled before it reached the east coast of Malaysia.

Soon afterwards, someone turned off its transponder, which communicates with civilian air traffic controllers. Aviation experts said it was ­relatively easy to switch off most of the systems that track an aircraft. Traditional radar would still pick up a plane.

But pilots may still not know about every system that link with satellites.

This would explain how Flight MH 370 was still sending out “pings” despite everything else being off.

It was confirmed Malaysian air force radar picked up traces of the plane turning back westwards, crossing over Peninsular Malaysia into the northern stretches of the Strait of Malacca. Another chilling theory suggested the plane could have been hijacked using a mobile phone or USB stick.

Anti-terror expert Dr Sally Leivesley, a former Home Office official, believes the speed, altitude and direction of the aircraft could have been changed by sending radio signals from a device.

She said: “It might well be the world’s first cyber hijack. There appears to be an element of planning from someone with a very sophisticated systems ­engineering understanding.”

For all the latest on the disappearance of flight MH370 follow our live blog.