MH370: Audio recording played in public for first time to Chinese families

In the audio, the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control says: "Malaysia three seven zero contact Ho Chi Min 120.9, good night."

And a male voice, believed to be a male crew member, replies: "Good night Malaysian three seven zero."

Malaysian authorities which released the audio recording at a briefing with the families of the Chinese passengers on board flight MH370 also released of a chronology of the aircraft's last known contacts with radar stations as well as a satellite orbiting over the Indian Ocean, CNN reported.

A Malaysian aviation authority official, Sayid Ruzaimi Syed Aris said at 2:03am local time, the MAS operational dispatch centre had sent a message to the cockpit, instructing the pilot to contact ground control in Vietnam but there was no response from the flight.

Sayid said the Royal Malaysian Air Force had picked up the flight for the last time on its radar at 2.22am where by then the flight had moved off course, in the direction of the Malacca Straits.

He said at 7.13am, MAS had tried to make a voice call to the aircraft but no one picked up.

A MAS representative, Subas Chandran told the Chinese families that based on the airline’s calculation, the plane would have run out of fuel by 8.12am.

The authorities had also showed slides showing the last known "handshakes" between the MH370 and an Inmarsat satellite over the Indian Ocean.

"The sixth and final handshake took place at 8:11am Malaysian time. According to these Inmarsat data points, in relation to the Inmarsat satellite, flight MH370 was far south of where it should have been if it had been on its planned route to Beijing," CNN reported.