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Reports on missing Boeing 'inaccurate' [Mercury, The (South Africa)](Mercury, The (South Africa) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian authorities said yesterday there was no evidence that a jetliner missing for almost six days flew for hours after disconnecting contact with air traffic controllers and continued to transmit technical data. The Wall Street Journal said US aviation investigators and national security officials believed the Boeing 777 flew for five hours, based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from its Rolls-Royce Trent engines as part of a standard monitoring programme. "Those reports are inaccurate," Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said. "As far as both Rolls-Royce and Boeing are concerned, those reports are inaccurate. The last (data) transmission from the aircraft was at 1.07am (local time) which indicated that everything was normal." Boeing and Rolls-Royce have yet to comment. It was previously reported that the plane's transmission of the so-called Acars technical data ceased after it lost contact with air traffic control. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, with 239 people on board, dropped off air traffic control screens at about 1.30am on Saturday, less than an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. There were no reports of bad weather or mechanical problems. It is one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of modern aviation - there has been no trace of the plane since, nor any sign of wreckage. "It's extraordinary that with all the (satellite and telecommunication) technology that we've got that an aircraft can disappear like this," Tony Tyler, the head of the International Air Transport Association said in London. "It will trigger a desire to see how can we avoid this from happening again … I wouldn't be surprised that the technology did exist already but is not being used." - Reuters The Mercury (c) 2014 Independent Newspapers (Pty) Limited. All rights strictly reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |