Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia announced today (March 15) that Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 left its planned route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing a week ago as the result of a “deliberate action” by someone on board the aircraft according to the New York Times.

According to the Times, “That conclusion was based on a final signal from the plane picked up on satellite at 8:11 a.m. on March 8, nearly seven hours after ground control lost contact with the jet”.

Read the full report from the New York Times: CLICK HERE

Read the analysis from CNN: CLICK HERE

The search area is again being expanded for the lost Boeing 777-2H6 ER 9M-MRO (msn 28420) that was operated on flight MH 370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing over a week ago.

The homes of the pilots are now being searched.

The Prime Minister also reported someone in the cockpit said “OK, good night” to Air Traffic Control (ATC) AFTER the transponder and ACARS was turned off! This would show intent and knowledge of the turn off. The aircraft then turned to the west rather than proceeding on course into Vietnamese airspace as instructed. After that the aircraft either turned north or south in the Indian Ocean.

Here is a timeline of events by the minute when MH 370 went missing: Read the full report from ABC News: CLICK HERE

Malaysia Airlines issued this statement today:

Further to the statement by the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak earlier today into the ongoing search for Flight MH 370, Malaysia Airlines has shared all available information with the relevant authorities since the moment we learned that the aircraft had disappeared, in the early hours of Saturday March 8. This includes the very first indications that MH 370 may have remained airborne for several hours after contact was lost, which the Prime Minister referred to today.

This is truly an unprecedented situation, for Malaysia Airlines and for the entire aviation industry. There has never been a case in which information gleaned from satellite signals alone could potentially be used to identify the location of a missing commercial airliner. Given the nature of the situation and its extreme sensitivity, it was critical that the raw satellite signals were verified and analysed by the relevant authorities so that their significance could be properly understood. This naturally took some time, during which we were unable to publicly confirm their existence.

We were well aware of the ongoing media speculation during this period, and its effect on the families of those on board. Their anguish and distress increases with each passing day, with each fresh rumor, and with each false or misleading media report. Our absolute priority at all times has been to support the authorities leading the multinational search for MH 370, so that we can finally provide the answers which the families and the wider community are waiting for.

We remain absolutely committed to sharing confirmed information with family members and the wider public in a fully open and transparent manner. However given the nature of the situation, the importance of validating new information before it is released into the public domain is paramount.

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of the 227 passengers and our 12 Malaysia Airlines colleagues and friends on board flight MH 370. They will remain at the center of every action we take as a company, as they have been since MH 370 first disappeared.