Did MH370 crash into the sea because it ran out of fuel?

At a press conference on March 16, the Malaysian explained that a plane would usuallycarry additional fuel to allow for an extra flight time of 45 minutes to 1 hour, so with anormal fuel payload MH370 could have flown for 7.5 to 8 hours.

Yue Gang, an anti-terrorist expert and military commentator, suggested that before theplane went missing, it was taken over by onboard professionals, as the flight path showedindications of having been pre-planned. The "hijackers" might have run out of fuel beforereaching their destination and been forced to ditch in the sea. The plane might have sunkto the ocean floor with little damage. [Full Text]

What did the captain do on the plane?

Capitan Zaharie Ahmad Shah had carried out landings on over 30,000 airports with his flight simulator.

Investigators are still analyzing the flight simulator of MH370 captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah in the hope of finding clues. It is estimated that the flight simulator cost more than 7000 U.S. dollars. With this flight simulator, Zaharie Ahmad Shah could carry out virtual landings on more than 30,000 airports, and even on an aircraft carrier or a drilling platform. However, according to experts it would not be possible for him to simulate avoiding radar detection.

Taking into account the timing of events, the location, the course and the communication interruption, experts infer that hijack or sabotage by highly experienced persons might have caused the loss of the flight. As a result, Malaysia focused part of its investigation on pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid. [Full Text]

When will we find the black box?

As the search for flight MH370 entered its third week, the U.S. military ordered thedispatch of a towed sonar, which is believed to have the ability to detect the black box, tothe area where U.S. troops are searching

Chris Budde, officer of the U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a statement: “This move is simply aprudent effort to preposition equipment and trained personnel closer to the search area sothat if debris is found we will be able to respond as quickly as possible, since the battery lifeof the black box’s pinger is limited.” [Full Text]

How to identify the wreckage of flight MH370?

Australian aviation specialists say the wreckage could be identified through barnacle tests

Australian aviation specialists say that tests should be conducted on barnacles attached to any material recovered from the debris spotted on Monday by Chinese aircraft searching for the missing plane.

Jason Middleton, head of the School of Aviation at University of New South Wales, told Xinhua that any floating debris would attract barnacles, and it was easy for marine experts to determine from them how long the debris had been in the water. [Full Text]

The article is edited and translated from为何未见残骸就确认“终结”？; Source: Beijing News