Search for wreckage of flight MH370 draws a blank: Air crews pull back as international fleet of ships begins scouring ocean for missing plane



'There is something down there' said first U.S. crew member on scene



Two floating objects spotted on satellite images prompted new search



It could take days to find the debris, as initial sweeps fail to find the objects

Air search was suspended as darkness fell following ten-hour hunt



Pictures from surveillance aircraft show poor visibility



Satellite images dated 'March 16' raise concerns debris has moved

Unprecedented search in waters up to 5000m (16,400ft) deep

Australian PM says images are 'credible and potentially important'

Search planes and ships are on way to objects 2,500km southwest of Perth

UK to send a ship to the southern corridor to aid with the search effort



The search zone is about the size of the English Channel



The air search for two objects that may be wreckage from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been called off for the day with surveillance planes unable to locate them - though a Norwegian ship will continue to search through the night.

Air search teams called off the hunt at around 9pm Malaysian time (1pm GMT) after a ten-hour operation in treacherous conditions spanning an area the size of the English Channel failed to locate any wreckage.

The Australian government released pictures taken by satellite of possible plane debris spotted southwest of Perth in one of the most remote areas of the planet that is a four-hour flight from the Australian coast.



One of the objects is estimated to be 78ft (24m) in size, the other 15ft (five metres), and the sighting of the objects was said by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to be 'credible and potentially important'.

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Two pieces of wreckage that are possibly from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 - one estimated to be 78ft in size - have been found to the west of Australia, it was announced today. Pictured: Satellite pictures released by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority of the object thought to be related to the search for MH370

The debris was spotted on satellite imagery and a total of four aircraft have been sent to investigate the sighting, some 1553 miles off the coast of Perth Difficulties: This picture, taken on Thursday morning on board a Royal Australian Air Force Orion plane, shows how very poor visibility is hampering the search Vigilant: Royal Australian Air Force Flight Engineer Warrant Officer Ron Day keeping watch for any debris or wreckage during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the Southern Indian Ocean Map: An armada of ships and several surveillance aircraft have been dispatched to the area the satellite saw the objects in, which lies 1,500 miles to the southwest of Perth, Australia, pictured top right Narrowed the search: Investigators have halved the scope of the search for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 to an area roughly the size of Arizona, off the coast of Australia

WHAT THEORIES ARE NOW MORE LIKELY... AND WHICH LESS SO MAJOR MALFUNCTION - the plane is unlikely to have flown that far into the Indian Ocean. HIJACKING - less likely given that there is nowhere to land anywhere nearby.

COMMANDEERED - again unlikely as there is nowhere in the Indian Ocean of strategic value. PILOT SUICIDE - a possibility if they chose to nosedive into the ocean - but why not do this at an earlier possibility?

EMERGENCY - a fire or loss of cabin pressure may have forced crew to turn back - but it would be unusual for the crew not to be able to issue some sort of distress call.

If loss of cabin pressure caused them to fall unconscious, the plane could have flown for several hours on auto-pilot. But that doesn't explain why the plane was tracked flying to 45,000 feet shortly after its transponder was turned off at 1.21am.

Air crews reported being hampered by poor visibility caused by rain and clouds, but officials said they would be back out on Friday morning. A statement from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said four planes searched an area of 8,800 square miles (23,000 square kilometres) about 1,550 miles (2,500m) - the size of the English Channel - south-west of Perth without success.

The area is about halfway between Australia and desolate islands off the Antarctic. A crew member flying in a U.S Navy P-8 Poseidon declared during today's search that 'there is something down there', according to ABC, but the radar hits he was basing this statement on could not be confirmed as coming from plane debris.

The crew from a Royal Australian Air Force surveillance plane was 'very confident they will get a result' despite Thursday's 'very treacherous conditions', Nine Network Australia reported. The owner of a Norwegian car carrier - Hoegh St. Petersburg - sent to the search area said it planned to search through the night for the objects.

The flight disappeared on March 8 on a night journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Thirteen days have now passed since it vanished from air traffic control screens off Malaysia's east coast at 1:21am local time. Officials say that it had enough fuel to travel around 2,500 miles after it vanished from radar screens. The plane was last seen on military radar at 2.14am heading west over the Strait of Malacca.

Police are considering the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or anyone else on board, and have asked for background checks on all foreign passengers.

The plane's transponder - which sends out an identifying signal - was switched off at 1.21am, along with the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS.

This sends a message every 30 minutes to maintenance crews that indicates the plane's speed, altitude, position and fuel levels.

Investigators believe that someone with detailed knowledge of both the Boeing 777-200ER and commercial aviation navigation switched off these systems before diverting it thousands of miles. Officials haven't ruled out, however, that a catastrophic accident incapacitated the crew.

Speaking about the latest developments, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said 'we have a new and credible lead' that 'gives us hope'. The credibility of the sighting is based partly on the fact that an ephemeral satellite signal at 8.11am on March 8 suggested the plane was somewhere in two broad arcs - either to the northwest towards Kazakhstan or southwest in the Indian Ocean. The two objects are at the far end of the southerly corridor.

This map shows the possible routes that Beijing-bound MH370 may have taken after it took off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8. It disappeared from radar contact at 2.14am while heading west, far off course UK contribution: Survey ship HMS Echo is being sent to help with the search for MH370 Naval assets: HMAS Success is part of the search operation U.S, Australian, New Zealand, Malaysian and UK search aircraft and naval vessels have been dispatched to the area. The Royal Navy's HMS Echo is part of the search armada, which totals 25 aircraft and 18 ships.

INDIA REFUSES TO LET CHINESE SHIPS 'SNIFF AROUND' ISLANDS

India has declined China's request to allow four of its warships to join hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane near the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The refusal is said to have come at the same time as Indian authorities dispatched two aircraft to Malaysia to join the search, which is now scanning the southern Indian ocean, off the Australian coast of Perth. The Times of India reported that Indian officials have 'politely turned down' the Chinese proposal to send its four warships, including two frigates and a salvage vessel into Indian waters. The request is said to have been refused because Indian warships are already searching the area. 'The A&N command is our military outpost in the region, which overlooks the Malacca Strait and dominates the Six-Degree Channel,' said an official. 'We don't want Chinese warships sniffing around in the area on the pretext of hunting for the missing jetliner or anti-piracy patrols.' An Indian P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance plane and a C-130J special operations aircraft, with electro-optic and infra-red sensors, meanwhile will fly to Malaysia on Friday morning to join the international search force there.

According to the Royal Navy website HMS Echo, which has a range of 9,000 nautical miles, is mid-way through an 18-month deployment to improve charts used by seafarers across the world.

The British ship has been in the Gulf conducting hydrographic surveying - but will now join the search for flight MH370. The Royal Navy website said: 'Capable of collecting an array of military hydrographic and oceanographic data, due to her multi-role capability Echo is also equipped to support mine warfare and amphibious operations. 'To ensure she can operate in any environment she possesses a impressive array of weapons for force protection. Echo also carries a small detachment of Royal Marines.'

Hoegh St. Petersburg arrived in the search area on Thursday morning. The car carrier was on its way from Madagascar to Melbourne when it got a request from Australian authorities to assist in investigating the objects. 'We will continue searching during the night at reduced speed and with all spotlights available, and we will increase the speed again when the light comes back,' Ingar Skiaker, Chief Executive of Hoegh Autoliners, told a news conference in Oslo. 'We have not had any report of any finds, but if or when they find something... the captain will report to the Australian authorities first,' he said. China's icebreaker for Antarctic research, Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, will also join the search for the missing plane.

One expert said it could take two days to find the objects and confirm what they are. Michael Daniel, a retired United States Federal Aviation Administration official told The Straits Times: 'If they have a strong feeling or indication that the debris belongs to the aircraft, one of the first things authorities will do is drop sonar buoys in the water. Norwegian assistance: The Hoegh St. Petersburg has arrived in the search area TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO FIND FLIGHT MH370'S CRUCIAL 'BLACK BOX'

An expert has said time is of the essence as the search mission for flight MH370 turns its attention to the southern tip of the Indian Ocean. Canadian pilot Chris Goodfellow told The Toronto Star, that in about two weeks the missing Boeing 777's 'black box' cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder will stop emitting the vital pinging sound and fall silent. The 66-year-old, who lives in Florida, said that eventuality will make it much harder to locate the aircraft. 'If there is no ping, that’s a whole other kettle of fish,' he said. Mr Goodfellow said he is confident that the search mission is concentrating on the right area, after two large floating objects, which could be debris, were spotted off the western coast of Australia. He said he believes the aircraft made a 90-degree turn off its planned flight path, after the crew detected a fire on board. He posted his thoughts on his blog, revealing he thinks speculation about terrorism, hijacking and suicide missions being to blame are 'wildly unfair'. He said were a fire detected on board, the pilot would have been trained to prepare for an emergency landing - in his theory the pilot of flight MH370 could have been heading for a 13,000ft runway on the island of Langkawi. Mr Goodfellow said it would be a logical place for the pilot to consider, adding he would have been trained to have a safe alternate landing spot in mind. He added: 'I have over 50 per cent confidence this morning that this is a piece of the aircraft. 'It’s going to be a long process to find the main body of the aircraft.' 'If the black box is there, the buoys should be able to pick up the signals. This could take up to 48 hours but it all depends on how near or far the ships and other assets are.' The area is so far away - a distance from Perth equivalent to that from London to Moscow - that planes will only be able to spend a limited amount of time there before needing to return to base to refuel.



The imagery, from U.S. company DigitalGlobe Inc, was progressively captured by satellites passing over the area and analysed by the Australian Defence Imagery And Geospatial Organisation.



Though commercial satellites have been tasked with collecting higher resolution images of the floating objects, it hasn't been disclosed who owned the satellites that took the initial pictures.



DigitalGlobe, which runs several commercial satellites, confirmed to MailOnline that images they supplied to Australian officials were the ones that Prime Minister Abbott referred to, but an industry expert said they 'looked military'.



John Young of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said visibility was poor in the area, hampering both air and satellite efforts and he estimated the water in the location where the debris was spotted to be several thousand feet deep.

'I must emphasize that these objects may be very difficult to locate,' he told reporters.

Meeting my Chief of Defence Force. After call from @TonyAbbottMHR, awaiting confirmation from Australia on the objects found. #PrayForMH370 — Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) March 20, 2014



This Google Earth map shows just how remote the search area is



MH370's pilots: Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah (left) and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid (right). The final words from the flight - 'all right, good night' - were spoken by Hamid







Recovery mission begins: John Young, pictured, of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said at an afternoon press conference that one aircraft is already on scene searching the area, and three others were on their way to help with the search





WHY THE OBJECTS SPOTTED ARE SIGNIFICANT: MH370'S DIMENSIONS

One of the objects spotted1,500 miles south-west of Perth is estimated to be 78 feet (or 24m) in length.

Its size and shape has been deemed significant by experts, who say that it may be wreckage from the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight.

These are the dimensions of the Boeing 777-200ER, according to the Boeing website: Wing span 60.9 meters (199 feet 10 ins)

Overall length 63.7 meters (209 feet)

Tail Height 18.5 meters (60 feet 9 ins)

Fuselage Diameter 6.19 meters (20 feet 4 ins) (The length of each wing was not immediately available but the published data implies that each wing is about 27.4 meters (89 feet 11 ins) long, after adjusting for the width of the fuselage).

Mr Young reiterated that it was too early to tell whether the objects spotted on satellite were from MH370.

'The images captured by satellite may not be related to the aircraft,' he said. 'The objects are relatively indistinct. They may not be related to the search.'

It is not uncommon for cargo to fall off a container ship into the water, Mr Young said.



However, he said the fact the objects were in the designated search area and there were two of them of varying sizes 'really makes it worth looking at.'



The depth of the water where the possible debris has been sighted would likely make recovering the 'black box' voice and data recorders that may finally unlock the mystery of what happened aboard Flight MH370 extremely challenging.

Planes and ships will be searching a deep-water area around the size of the English Channel, with currents possibly having pushed the debris up to 600 miles from its last known location in any one of several directions.

University of Western Australia Professor of Oceanography Charitha Pattiaratchi said that, based on currents in the area, if the debris is from the plane, it probably would have gone into the water around 300-400 km (180-250 miles) to the west.



The search area covers an ocean ridge known as Naturaliste Plateau, a large sea shelf about 3,500 metres (9,800 feet) deep, Pattiaratchi said. The plateau is about 250 km (150 miles) wide by 400 km (250 miles) long, and the area around it is close to 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) deep.



'Whichever way you go, it's deep,' he said.

These waters are twice as deep as those that Air France flight AF447 crashed in en route between Rio de Janiero in Brazil and Paris in June 2009. It took two years for its black box to be recovered.

David Gallo, who co-led the search for Air France Flight 447, has told CNN the largest item identified in the satellite image could be the missing plane's tail.

'It's a big piece of aircraft to have survived something like this,' he said.



The aircraft sent to the site include two Royal Australian Air Force Orion planes, a Royal New Zealand Orion and a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon, the world's most advanced maritime surveillance plane.

A New Zealand C130 Hercules has been tasked to drop data marker buoys, which provide information about water movement. That information will be useful if the search becomes protracted, Mr Young said.

If one of the planes spots the objects, it will report back an accurate GPS coordinate. The object would then be recovered and transported back to shore by the HMAS Success, which is, according to Mr Young, 'equipped to recover any object that might be found.'

The HMAS Success, an Australian supply and logistics ship, is currently en route to the area, though is not due to arrive for several days.



When asked if the objects were the size of 'a basketball or seat cushion,' Mr Young said one was 24 meters in size - or 78ft - and another was smaller.

THE EXTRAORDINARY TECHNICAL CHALLENGE FACING THE MULTINATIONAL SEARCH TEAMS IN THEIR EFFORTS TO FIND MH370

The search for the obje cts spotted sou thwest of Perth is unprece dented in i ts technical difficulty. The mul ti nati onal assortment of ships and planes dispatched to the location must search an area the size of the English Channel for an object just 24 metres in length that could have drifted up to 600 miles in any direction from when it was spotted four days ago.

It may also have sunk completely.

One expert told Sky News that it is 'one of the most hostile regions on earth'. University of Western Australia Professor of Oceanography Charitha Pattiaratchi said that, based on currents in the area, if the debris is from the plane, it probably would have gone into the water around 300-400 km (180-250 miles) to the west.

The search area covers an ocean ridge known as Naturalist Plateau, a large sea shelf about 3,500 metres (9,800 feet) deep, Pattiaratchi said. The plateau is about 250 km (150 miles) wide by 400 km (250 miles) long, and the area around it is close to 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) deep.

'Whichever way you go, it's deep,' he said. These waters are twice as deep as those that Air France flight AF447 crashed in en route between Rio de Janiero in Brazil and Paris in June 2009. It took two years for its black box to be recovered. David Gleave, an aviation safety researcher at Loughborough University, said if the objects are positively identified then the search will intensify in a bid to find the rest of the aircraft. He said this is because, as each day passes, ocean currents will widen the possible search area by many miles. The battery life in the black box is also more likely to run out, making locating the plane under the surface extremely difficult. ‘Working on the big assumption that it is part of the plane then they need to establish the exact location, which they have done,’ he said. ‘They may then place a buoy with it so they can continue to track it and there will be a navy ship diverted to the search area. ‘If it is then identified as part of a plane, they would secure the wreckage so it does not sink with flotation attachments, and the search area around it would be intensified.’ Mr Gleave said experts would then be brought in to start mapping the ocean floor and establish how far it could have drifted. ‘Each day you could be adding a lot of sea area to the search, because of the ocean currents. And the longer it takes the battery life on the black box is less likely to last,’ he said. ‘Oceanographers will be brought in to estimate how far they expect it to have drifted and a guided search for the plane would begin. ‘In searches like that you look for clues on the surface and under the sea you listen for anything that the black box is pinging; however, that may have been disabled. ‘If the plane is found, say 12,000ft (3,658m) down, then you need remotely controlled submarines with cameras on board to go to the bottom of the ocean. ‘The key will be whether there is any data on the flight recorders. Once they have them on the surface they have to be taken to the relevant organisation to read the data. ‘Once it's taken to be read you then have to dry the boxes out, which takes just over a day, and then you can start to access the information.’

Aircraft: The above Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion aircraft from 10 Squadron is to join the Australian Maritime Safety Authority-led search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean today

Debris spotted: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott pictured today in Canberra, said two pieces of debris had been spotted on satellite imagery and aircraft were being sent to investigate

THE BAFFLING SEARCH FOR MH370: HOW EVENTS UNFOLDED

Uncertainty and frustration has clouded the mystery over the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

A series of false leads has added to wide-ranging speculation that pilot error, plane malfunction, hijacking or terrorism may have been the cause.

March 8 - Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 takes off from Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am local time bound for Beijing carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew.

Someone, apparently the co-pilot, makes the final voice communication from the cockpit at 01.19am, saying 'All right, good night' to air traffic controllers.

The plane is last seen on military radar at 02.14am heading west over the Strait of Malacca. Half an hour later the airline reveals to the public it has lost contact with the plane. The plane was due to land around 6.30am.

Officials reveal two passports used to board the flight were stolen, raising the first suspicions of terrorist involvement.

March 9 - Malaysia's air force chief says that military radar indicated the missing Boeing 777 jet may have turned back.

March 10 - Vietnamese aircraft search for a plane door spotted in their waters but find nothing.

March 11 - The hunt is widened to cover a 115-nautical mile radius involving 34 aircraft and 40 ships from several countries.

The Malaysian military claims it has radar evidence showing that the missing plane changed course and made it to the Malacca Strait which is hundreds of miles away from the last location reported by civilian authorities.

March 12 - Satellite images on a Chinese government website shows suspected debris from the missing plane floating off the southern tip of Vietnam, China's Xinhua News Agency says.

The report includes co-ordinates of a location in the sea off the southern tip of Vietnam and east of Malaysia, near the plane's original flight path.

March 13 - Malaysian authorities expand their search for the missing jet into the Andaman Sea and beyond after acknowledging it could have flown for several more hours after its last contact with the ground.



March 15 - Prime Minister Najib Razak's says the missing airliner was deliberately diverted and continued flying for more than six hours after losing contact with the ground.

March 16 - The search area now includes 11 countries the plane might have flown over. The number of countries involved in the operation had increased from 14 to 25.



March 17 - Officials release a new timeline suggesting the final voice transmission from the cockpit of the missing Malaysian plane may have occurred before any of its communications systems were disabled.

Investigators have not ruled out hijacking, sabotage, or pilot suicide, and they are checking the backgrounds of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members, as well as the ground crew, to see if links to terrorists, personal problems or psychological issues could be factors.

March 18 - Ten days after a Malaysian jetliner disappeared, Thailand's military said it saw radar blips that might have been from the missing plane but did not report it 'because we did not pay attention to it'.

March 19 - Distressed relatives of the missing passengers threaten to go on hunger strike over the lack of information about the investigation.

March 20 - Two objects which could be connected to the missing jet are detected in the southern India Ocean, the Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said.

The AMSA will now concentrate its efforts on finding the two bits of wreckage, and would not continue searching the rest of the southern zone until they had been found or officials were convinced that they could not be found, he said.

'AMSA is doing its level best to find anyone who might have survived,' Mr Young added.

'If these objects are from the aircraft, that will put us in a more accurate search corridor to what we have at the moment.'

'This is a lead, it is probably the best lead we have right now.'



Malaysia confirmed in a statement that Mr Abbott called Prime Minister Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur to inform him of the developments at around 10a.m local time.

The potentially huge breakthrough in the disappearance was announced after investigators halved the scope of the search for the passenger aircraft to an area roughly the size of Arizona late Wednesday.

Malaysia's Acting Transportation Secretary Hishammuddin Hussein said in a statement: 'At this stage, Australian officials have yet to establish whether these objects are indeed related to the search for MH370.'

There have already been several false alarms of what were said to be pieces of the aircraft being seen in waters on both sides of the Malaysian peninsula.

At the Canberra press conference, Air Commodore John McGarry from the Australian Defence Force said other nations had offered to help in the search for the objects but, due to their extremely remote location, very few aircraft could access it.

Should the debris not be from the aircraft the search for MH370 will be taken back almost to the beginning.

This is because it is understood that none of the remaining 24 of 26 nations - setting aside Australia and Thailand - helping in the search, either physically or examining satellite and radar data, have come forward with any new information.



The search had been drastically narrowed Wednesday to two possible flight paths after hourly satellite pings detected from the aircraft provided far more information than expected as to where a wreck may be found.

Some analysts said the debris is most likely not pieces of Flight 370.



'The chances of it being debris from the airplane are probably small, and the chances of it being debris from other shipping are probably large,' said Jason Middleton, an aviation professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.



Military planes from Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand began covering a search region over the southern Indian Ocean stretching 117,000 sq miles down from 232,000 sq miles.

Both of the routes were heading toward the South Pole and ended in the Indian Ocean, some 1429 miles from Perth, ABC News reported Wednesday. The calculations were at that point handed over to Australian officials and the county's search and rescue crews began combing the area.

Earlier Wednesday Malaysian officials confirmed they received 'some radar data' from other countries about the missing Flight MH370 - but claimed they were 'not at liberty' to release the information.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia was continuing to co-ordinate the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER.

He added: 'I can confirm that we have received some radar data, but we are not at liberty to release information from other countries.

'I appeal to all our partners to continue volunteering any and all information that could help with the investigation and the search for MH370.'

Meanwhile, distraught family members of the missing passengers were removed from the press conference.

Moments before officials spoke to the media, half a dozen furious relatives stormed the conference - blaming the Malaysian government of failing to work hard enough to find the plane.

The group had banners - most which which blamed the government of inaction - as airline officials desperately tried to resume order.

In dramatic scenes, one woman shouted: 'You are traitors to us... you have let us down. Tell us the truth! We want the truth!'

Agony: Relatives of Chinese passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines, MH370 gather at a hotel ballroom as they wait for a news briefing by the airlines' officials on Thursday

Hishammuddin Hussein (centre) told a news conference Malaysia had received 'some radar data' but were 'not at liberty' to release information from other countries

Hishammuddin Hussein s aid he 'fully understands' the frustration of the relatives of the missing passengers and said a high-level delegation was being sent to Beijing to speak to the families.

He later ordered an inquiry into the incident where security guards carried out the distraught mother of one of the passengers.

The families of the two pilots are also struggling to cope.

'It is very agonizing for the family, and the media is not helping at all,' said Mohammed Ghouse, a longtime friend of [pilot] Zaharie [Ahmad Shah]'s brother-in-law, according to The Washington Post.



'The daughter especially is very upset. She was very close to her father.'



Thai military yesterday said they picked up an unidentified aircraft on radar bearing off the flight path, heading left over Malaysia and towards the Strait of Malacca

Sky News presenter Kay Burley was caught on camera tripping up an escalator during a media scrum to speak to the women.



It was reported that pilot Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah had programmed a r emote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean with a runway long enough to land a Boeing 777 into his home flight simulator.



A U.S. official said the Malaysian government is seeking the FBI's help in analyzing any electronic files deleted last month from the pilot's simulator.



The official, speaking anonymously, said the FBI has been provided electronic data to analyze.



CNN also reported investigators at Quantico, a Marine Corps base and home to FBI labs, were examining 'hard drives belonging to two pilots':



Malaysia's defense minister said iinvestigators were trying to restore files deleted from the simulator last month to see if they shed any light on the disappearance.

Files containing records of simulations carried out on the program were deleted February 3.

THE FBI TO ANALYSE FILES FROM PILOT'S FLIGHT SIMULATOR

A U.S. official said the Malaysian government is seeking the FBI's help in analyzing any electronic files deleted last month from the home flight simulator of the pilot of the missing Malaysian plane.

Malaysia's defense minister said earlier Wednesday that investigators were trying to restore files deleted last month from the home simulator used by the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, to see if they shed any light on the disappearance. Files containing records of simulations carried out on the program were deleted Feb. 3.

At the news conference today, Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that 'I don't think we have any theories" about what happened to the plane but said the FBI has been in touch with Malaysian investigators about providing any help that it can.

'We are in ongoing conversations about how we can help and we will make available whatever resources that we have, whatever expertise we have, that might be able to be used,' Holder said.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people aboard disappeared March 8 on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.



At a news conference Wednesday, US Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters: 'I don't think we have any theories' about what happened to the plane'

However, he said the FBI has been in touch with Malaysian investigators about providing any help that it can.



'We are in ongoing conversations about how we can help and we will make available whatever resources that we have, whatever expertise we have, that might be able to be used,' Mr Holder said.



Suggestions the flight may have deliberately been changed were challenged by the acting transport minister today.



In words that appeared to rubbish a Reuters report suggesting MH370 used waypoints, or navigational points, after losing contact with ground control, he said: 'I am aware of speculation that additional waypoints were added to the aircraft’s flight routing. I can confirm that the aircraft flew on normal routing up until the waypoint IGARI. There is no additional waypoint on MH370’s documented flight plan, which depicts normal routing all the way to Beijing.'



Investigators at the conference also rubbished reports the plane may have been sighted over the Maldives.

Some residents of Kudahuvadhoo, one of the most remote parts of the area, said they saw a low-flying aircraft on the morning the flight's disappearance. Hishammuddin Hussein said these were false.



Thousands of well-wishers have written on a prayer wall at Kuala Lumpur Airport, begging MH370 and its passengers to come home.

An unprecedented search for the plane is under way involving 26 nations in two vast search 'corridors'.

A woman look at the thousands of messages left for those missing aboard the flight at Kuala Lumpur Airport

The 'prayer wall' was started soon after the craft disappeared on March 8. No sign of the plane has been found

One of the corridors arches north overland from Laos towards the Caspian Sea, while the other curves south across the Indian Ocean from west of Indonesia's Sumatra island to west of Australia.



Another theory, predicted by a veteran pilot, suggests the flight was in trouble and simply heading for the nearest safe airport when it turned off-course.

Also reported Wednesday was the fact the U-turn made by the missing jet is believed to have been programmed into the on board computer before the last radio contact was made with the co-pilot.

A leading aviation expert on Tuesday suggested Asian military officials may be staging a mass cover-up because they do not want to expose gaping holes within their countries' air defenses.

The jet went missing shortly after 1am - but it wasn't until the following Tuesday that the Malaysian Air Force reported they had spotted the aircraft on radar over the Strait of Malacca at 2.15am.

Holding back: Aviation expert David Learmount suggested some countries may be withholding radar information

Thailand's military said Tuesday they detected a plane at 1.28am, eight minutes after MH370's communications went down, heading towards the Strait but did not share the information because they were not asked for it.

Writing on his blog, aviation expert David Learmount said: 'Maybe these states' air defences, like Malaysia's, are not what they are cracked up to be.



'And maybe they wouldn’t want the rest of the world to know that.'

Mr Learmount, a former pilot and now operations and safety editor at the respected Flight Global publication, points out that MH370 might have flown over several Asian countries including Thailand, Burma, China, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

If it emerges that an unidentified aircraft had been able to fly over a territory undetected and unchallenged it would amount to an embarrassing security failure.

Regarding the Malaysian sighting Mr Learmount wrote: 'Clearly they had let an unidentified aircraft pass through Malaysian sovereign territory without bothering to identify it; not something they were happy to admit.

'The Malaysian government has called upon all the countries to the north-west as far as Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea to check their primary radar records for unidentified contacts in their airspace in the seven hours after the 777 went missing.

'Depending on the actual track the aircraft followed, if it had headed approximately north-west this could include some–if not all–of the following countries: Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan.

'If the aircraft had gone that way, surely military primary radar in one of those countries–or several–would have picked up the signal from this unidentified aircraft, and the vigilant radar operator would have scrambled a fighter to intercept the intruder?