Boeing expresses sadness over MH370 tragedy

Boeing has expressed sadness over the Flight MH370 tragedy following Monday night's statement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft went down in the southern Indian Ocean.

"Our thoughts and deepest sympathies continue to be with the families and loved ones of those aboard.

"Boeing continues to serve as a technical advisor to the US National Transportation Board," the aircraft manufacturer said in a statement issued from Seattle.

Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, left the KL International Airport at 12.41 am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea. It was to have landed in Beijing at 6.30 am on the same day.

A multinational search was mounted for the aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then over a large tract of land and sea west of Malaysia, including the Indian Ocean, when it was learned that the plane had veered off course and flown for seven hours after someone deliberately switched off the communication system on board.

The search then focused on two corridors, namely the northern corridor which stretches from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, and the southern corridor which stretches from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.

After satellite imagery showed objects which looked like debris, military aircraft and ships of the multinational search team proceeded to the area in the southern Indian Ocean.

Following an unprecedented type of analysis of satellite data, United Kingdom company Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) informed Najib that they had concluded that Flight MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.