Malaysia concentrated search efforts for MH370 in the South China Sea
for six days, even though it knew - within hours of the plane
disappearing - that an unidentified aircraft had travelled west across
its northern reaches.
The then unidentified jet passed across three Malaysian radar installations but no one noticed the blips.
F/A-18 and F-5 fighter jets were available on standby to investigate further, if an order had been given,
The New York Times reports.
While radar analysts missed the jet in real time, a re-examination of
data soon after the plane was reported missing uncovered the radar
''pings'' on the morning of March 8.
The revelation of the error, and the fact it took until Saturday for the
South China Sea to be downgraded as the major search area, highlights
an investigation that has been marked by misinformation and missteps
from Malaysia's government.
The delay in redirecting search and rescue efforts means that any debris
in the sea from the aircraft could be hundreds of kilometres from
where the plane was ditched.
Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Razak, announced on Saturday that
satellites, believed to be operated by the US, received data from an
unidentified aircraft travelling west from Malaysia for almost eight
hours after MH370 took off.
The satellite information enabled investigators to plot two possible
trajectories of the plane - one south across Indonesia and along the
western Australian coast; and one north across Thailand and on to
northern Iran.
The divergent paths can be explained because the minimal data uploaded
by the satellite can only be translated into two flight paths that are
images across a 180-degree sweep.
The satellite data also indicates the plane flew for almost eight hours,
when it would have run out of fuel, or come very close to doing so.
Mr Najib insisted on Saturday that information had not been deliberately
concealed, saying it was only when the satellite data reinforced the
Malaysian military's radar readings that it could confirm that the plane
travelling west across Malaysia was MH370.
''We have put our national security second to the search for the missing plane,'' Mr Najib said.
But a Malaysia Airlines statement indicated the satellite data had been with authorities for some time.
''Given the nature of the situation and its extreme sensitivity, it was
critical that the raw satellite signals were verified and analysed by
the relevant authorities so their significance could be properly
understood,'' it said.
''This naturally took some time, during which we were unable to publicly confirm their existence.''
Even so, the disappearance of MH370 has exposed deep flaws in Malaysia's security operations.
Two passengers got on the aircraft in Kuala Lumpur using stolen
passports and Malaysian police initially downplayed concerns that the
pilots of the aircraft may have had terrorist links.
On Thursday night, Malaysia's Defence Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein,
emphatically denied that there was evidence that MH370 had flown on for
hours as he re-affirmed the investigation was centred on the South China
Sea.
Hours later, White House spokesman Jay Carney corrected that, saying the Indian Ocean was the new focus of attention.
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