MH370: Dove at 20,000ft per minute, there should be debris - Experts

A test pilot today disputed a new report that says MH370 plunged into the sea at high speed - up to 20,000 feet a minute as there was no debris found by the search party.

Universiti Kuala Lumpur's Test Pilot, Prof Dr Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian, said if the Malaysia Airlines flight plunged into the ocean at high speed, the jetliner would have broken on impact.

He said this could not be because there were no traces of explosion found during the search and rescue operation.

He said this theory could not hold true as there were not even major debris or fuselage found by the searchers and officials since the search operation was launched 888 days ago.

"Weird...we should find at least small or major debris or even fuselage if the theory is true...but nothing...maybe MH370 ran out of fuel so there was no explosion," he said.

However, he was not rejecting the theory that the jetliner dove at high speed.

"We could only accept the data and do research and assumption to break the deadlock and find any debris. That's our main objective," he told Bernama today.

Yesterday, Australian defence scientists who analysed signals from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 revealed that the Boeing 777 fell very fast before crashing into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Western Australia.

Data analysis and manufacturer simulations showed it was likely that the aircraft had lost engine power before falling out of the sky at a rate of up to 20,000 feet per minute on March 8, 2014.

Asked on the possibility that the jetliner had likely crashed at high speed in the search area, former pilot Captain (R) Abdul Rahmat Omar Tun Mohd Haniff said none of the search vessels and aircraft found any extraordinary debris during the search operation.

"The Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) designed to activate in a crash did not send any message. The ELT would have been triggered if MH370 dove at 20,000ft per minute. In this case, none.

"This is why I still hold on to the theory of someone gliding the aircraft to a smooth landing, dislodging engine cowling, flaperon etc. Aircraft broke apart only 6km down there following seismic and ocean current activities.

"Therefore, it would have been in pieces. Bodies and seats floating all over. But as for now, still nothing," said the former Royal Malaysian Air Force officer.

Meanwhile, Universiti Putra Malaysia Aerospace Engineering lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Kamarul Arifin Ahmad said the debris from the jetliner should be scattered and floated if it dove into the ocean at high speed.

He said since there were no major debris found at the search area, officials should find another solution or alternative to locate the black box that would eventually solve this mystery.

Meanwhile, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in its weekly report said the search vessel, Fugro Discovery, would depart the search area for the last time on Aug 11 and transit to Singapore to be readied for its next project, which is unrelated to the search for MH370.

It said the search plan provides for the remaining search area to be completed using the other vessels, with more than 110,000 square kilometres of the seafloor covered so far.

Malaysia, China and Australia will suspend but not terminate the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 upon completion of the priority 120,000 square kilometre search area.

Flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared from the radar shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur enroute to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

The jetliner has yet to be found despite massive search operations in the southern Indian Ocean where the aircraft was believed to have ended its flight after diverting from its original route.