Words, By George!

Here is a timeline of major developments in the hunt for flight MH370, up to when the Australian Maritime Safety Authority took over the search:

SATURDAY MARCH 8

• The Boeing 777 takes off from Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 am, bound for Beijing. It vanishes from Malaysian civilian radar at 1:30 am, just before passing to Vietnamese air traffic control. It blips on military radars until 2:15 am, but that sighting is only later identified as flight MH370.
• Vietnam launches a search operation that expands in the following days into a multinational hunt in the South China Sea.
• Vietnamese planes spot two large oil slicks near the plane’s last known location, but they turn out to be a false alarm.
• It emerges that two passengers were travelling on stolen EU passports, fuelling speculation of a terrorist attack. The two Iranian men are later revealed as suspected illegal immigrants.

SUNDAY MARCH 9

• Malaysia’s air force chief says the plane may have turned back towards Kuala Lumpur for no apparent reason, citing radar data.
• A Vietnamese plane spots possible debris off southwest Vietnam – another false alarm.

MONDAY MARCH 10

• Malaysia sends ships to investigate a sighting of a possible life raft, but only flotsam is found.

TUESDAY MARCH 11

• The search area now includes land on the Malaysian peninsula, the waters off its west coast, and an area to the north of Indonesia’s Sumatra island – all far from the flight’s scheduled route.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 12

• Malaysia expands the search zone again to include the Malacca Strait off its west coast and the Andaman Sea north of Indonesia.
• Malaysia’s air force chief says an unidentified object was detected on military radar north of the Malacca Strait early Saturday, but says it is still being investigated.

THURSDAY MARCH 13

• Chinese satellite images of suspected debris in the South China Sea are found to be yet another false lead.

FRIDAY MARCH 14

• The hunt spreads to the Indian Ocean after the White House cites “new information” that the jet may have flown on after losing contact.

SATURDAY MARCH 15

• At a dramatic news conference, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announces that the plane appears to have been flown deliberately for hours, veering sharply off-route at roughly the same time that its communications system and transponder were manually switched off.
• Satellite data now places the jet anywhere in one of two huge corridors of land and sea, a northern one stretching into Central Asia and a southern one swooping deep into the Indian Ocean. The search in the South China Sea is called off.

SUNDAY MARCH 16

• As the number of countries involved in the search jumps to 26, experts examine a flight simulator installed in the home of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

MONDAY MARCH 17

•  After conflicting statements, officials confirm that the relaxed sounding last words from the cockpit – “All right, good night” – came two minutes before the plane’s transponder was shut down.
• Malaysia Airlines says the voice is believed to be that of co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid. Police probe a potential political motive on the part of Captain Zaharie, a supporter and distant relative of Malaysian opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

TUESDAY MARCH 18

• Australian and US surveillance planes begin combing 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 square miles) of the remote Indian Ocean in the southern search corridor.
• Desperate relatives of the Chinese passengers threaten to go on hunger strike.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 19

• Malaysia says background checks on almost all passengers and crew have produced no “information of significance”.
• Angry Chinese relatives try to gatecrash Malaysia’s daily media briefing on the investigation, unfurling a banner reading: “Give us back our families.”
• With the 26-country search apparently bogged down in coordination problems, Thailand’s air force reveals its military radar had picked up what appeared to be flight MH370 just minutes after it was diverted.

THURSDAY MARCH 20

• Australia says satellites have spotted two objects, one estimated at 24 metres (79 feet) long, in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean.
• Four surveillance aircraft are dispatched to the area, as is a Norwegian merchant ship. But in poor weather, they spot nothing.

FRIDAY MARCH 21

• Planes spend a second fruitless day searching the remote stretch of the Indian Ocean.
• Malaysia asks the United States to provide undersea surveillance technology.

SATURDAY MARCH 22

• China releases a new satellite photo of an object floating 120 kilometres (75 miles) from those pictured in the Australian images.

SUNDAY MARCH 23

• Along with French satellite data indicating floating objects in the area, sightings of a wooden pallet and other debris raise hopes of a breakthrough.

MONDAY MARCH 24

• China and Australia both announce fresh, separate sightings of objects in the sea, adding to the mounting evidence of debris in the Indian Ocean.
• The US Navy orders a specialised black box locator sent to the area.
• Late in the evening, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announces “with deep sadness and regret” that MH370 crashed into the Indian Ocean, citing new analysis of satellite data. In a message to families, the airline states “we have to assume” the plane was lost at sea.

TUESDAY MARCH 25

• Relatives of those on board MH370 hit out at authorities for the way the tragedy has been handled.
• It also emerged Malaysia Airlines was offering relatives of the victims $5,000 per passenger in compensation. The company said additional cash would be handed out at a later date.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 26

• Images taken by a French satellite are released, showing 122 objects floating in a possible “debris field” 2,557km west of Perth.
• Transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein describes the discovery as “the most credible lead that we have”.
• But despite this, the search and rescue effort deployed to the remote area of the Indian Ocean fails to find any wreckage for another day.

THURSDAY MARCH 27

• The search operation was temporarily suspended due to bad weather as the Australian Maritime Safety Authority revealed the news on Twitter
• As 300 floating objects were spotted by a satellite, a veteran Boeing 777 pilot claimed the plane needed “human input” to change course so dramatically
• But the pilot’s son dismissed any suggestions his dad was involved in the appearance

FRIDAY MARCH 28

• The search moved on some 685 miles to northeast after a “new credible lead” in the Indian Ocean
• F1 teams organised a minute’s silence ahead of Malaysian Grand Prix for victims, which is being supported by Williams ace Felipe Massa
• British Airways were left red-faced after featuring an advert saying “escape to the Indian Ocean”

SATURDAY MARCH 29

• Grieving families of MH370 launched a scathing attack against ‘despicable’ Malaysian authorities
• Families were moved out of the hotel where they were staying in Malaysia so that room could be made for Ferrari’s F1 team
• The search resumed after more debris was spotted as planes spot ‘multiple coloured objects’ in Indian Ocean

Source: The Star On-line