'I could even make out the plane's doors': Inhabitants on tiny remote Island in Indian Ocean saw low-flying jet on morning MH370 went missing and plead with investigators to visit them so they can share their story
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Kudahuvadhoo is located in the southern area of the Dhaalu Atoll, in the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean
- Locals from the Maldives island of Kudahuvadhoo claim they saw a low-flying jet on the morning MH370 disappeared
- The island is over 5000 kilometres away from the current search area
- Members of the community say it was so low they could see the plane's doors and make out the distinctive colouring on the side of the jet
- Locals made statements to verify what they had seen to officials
- Curtin University acoustic scientists say they recorded 'distinctive' noise from the area at the presumed time of the crash
Fresh
testimonies from a small island community in the Maldives has reignited
reports that missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 could have crashed
over 5000 kilometres away from the official search led by Australian
authorities.
Locals
from the island of Kudahuvadhoo, located in the southern area of the
Dhaalu Atoll in the Maldives, reported witnessing 'a low-flying jumbo
jet' on the morning of March 8 last year, when the flight disappeared
while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.
The
reports come as acoustic scientists from Curtin University refuse to
rule out the possibility that 'distinctive' data they recorded from the
area at the assumed time of the crash may have come from the impact of
the aircraft as it hit the Indian Ocean.
Locals from the island of Kudahuvadhoo
in the Maldives reported witnessing 'a low-flying jumbo jet' on the
morning of March 8 last year when MH370 disappeared
Despite
an exhaustive search that is underway along a 600 square kilometre arc
approximately 1800 kilometres southwest of Perth, locals from the island
believe they identified red and blue markings, similar to those of the
missing plane, on a large passenger jet which flew over the island on
the morning of the MH370's disappearance, reported The Weekend Australian.
Villagers
from the community of 3500 claim that many on the island saw the
passenger plane, and were interviewed by police and testified with
signed statements to what they witnessed.
'I'm
very sure of what I saw on a very clear and bright day, and what I saw
was not normal- the plane was very big, and low. I did not know until
later that other people saw it too. I don't know if it's the Malaysia
plane', said Ahmed Shiyaam, 34, an IT manager.
Abdu
Rasheed Ibrahim said he saw the plane flying towards him over the
water, and did not know at the time that it could be the missing
Malaysian Airlines flight.
'I
didn't know that a plane was missing. I went straight home and told my
wife about it. I told my family, "I saw this strange plane". This is the
biggest plane I have ever seen from this island...I have seen pictures
of the missing plane- I believe I saw the plane...I strongly felt those
people who were searching should come here,' Mr Ibrahim said.
The
Maldvies National Defence Force released a statement in March last year
which denied that there had been any aircrafts in the area at the time
of the disappearance, which locals have branded as an attempt to hide
the limitations of their radar facilities.
A
local media outlet reported that witnesses claimed the plane was
travelling north to southeast, and that the plane was travelling so low
it's doors could be seen.
'I've never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We've seen
seaplanes, but I'm sure that this was not one of those. I could even
make out the doors on the plane clearly,' an eyewitness told the website.
Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board
The search for the missing plane has been headed up by the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre
The search has focused on 60,000 square kilometres of deep ocean off the coast of Western Australia
'It's
not just me either, several other residents have reported seeing the
exact same thing. Some people got out of their houses to see what was
causing the tremendous noise too.'
The
plane dropped off the civilian radar after its transponder and other
equipment were switched off shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur. It
was then tracked by Malaysia’s military radar heading towards the Indian
Ocean.
Over
the past year, the search for the missing plane by the Joint Agency
Co-ordination Centre, headed by Australia, has focused on 60,000 square
kilometres of deep ocean off the coast of Western Australia.
The
location of the search was primarily calculated by sophisticated
satellite technology which recorded 'pings' or 'electronic handshakes'
sent between MH370 and a satellite for the final hours of it's journey.
The
flight made a number of unexplained deviations, and flew for several
hours in radio silence after it lost contact with Air Traffic Control
while flying between Malaysia and Vietnam.
As
of early March 40 per cent of the area had been scrutinised, but there
have been no sightings of debris on the surface or any clues that the
aircraft is lying on the sea bed in region covered so far.
'Based
on all available data as well as circumstances ... survivability in the
defined area is highly unlikely. It is therefore with the heaviest
heart and deepest sorrow that we officially declare Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH370 an accident,' said Malaysia's civil aviation chief,
Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.
Malaysia's civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman declared the crash an accident
Dr Alec
Duncan (left) from Curtin University's Centre for Marine Science and
Technology began investigating a low-frequency underwater sound signal
The signal was recorded west of Rottnest Island using acoustic recorders (above) at 1:30 am on March 8
The
reports from Kudahuvadhoo follow information released from Curtin
University that a 'clear acoustic signal' was recorded at a time
reasonably consistent with the timeline of the plane's disappearance.
Dr
Alec Duncan and his associates from the university's Centre for Marine
Science and Technology began investigating a low-frequency underwater
sound signal which was recorded west of Rottnest Island just after 1:30
am UTC on March 8.
The
Centre, along with United Nations’ Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) and Geoscience Australia were involved in
investigating data that might prove helpful to the search, and
originally determined that the noise's source was close to the Maldives
and Kudahuvadhoo.
'Data
from one of the IMOS (Integrated Marine Observing System) recorders
showed a clear acoustic signal at a time that was reasonably consistent
with other information relating to the disappearance of MH370,' Dr
Duncan said in a statement released by Curtin University.
An Indian sand artist created a message of prayer for the missing crew and passengers of the flight
Relatives of the missing passengers of flight MH370 visit a temple in China to pray for their family members
Relatives of passengers of the flight are told the news that MH370 plunged into the sea on March 24, 2014
'The crash of a large aircraft in the ocean would be a high energy event and expected to generate intense underwater sounds.'
Dr
Duncan said that the noise may have been due to a geological event,
including a small earth tremor, but the timing piqued the interest of
his research team.
'It
would be more correct to say that our team has identified an
approximate possible location for the origin of a noise that is probably
of geological origin, but cannot be ruled out as being connected with
the loss of MH370,' he told The Weekend Australian.
In
early March, Malaysia's transport minister, Liow Tiong Lai, said that
data will be re-examined and a new plan formulated if the plane is not
found by the end of May.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3025270/I-make-plane-s-doors-Inhabitants-tiny-remote-Island-Indian-Ocean-saw-low-flying-jet-morning-MH370-went-missing-plead-investigators-visit-share-story.html#ixzz3WMdkOtAw
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