A new report issued on Monday by Malaysian officials investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370) concludes that the aircraft was most likely purposely flown off course.
The report indicated that there was no evidence to support theories such as the plane ran out of fuel, or a fire in the cargo compartment caused the plane to crash.
After ruling out mechanical and systems failures, investigators concluded that the only reasonable explanation for MH370’s course deviation is that the aircraft’s controls were deliberately manipulated.
The report, however, did not attribute the manipulation to any specific member of the flight crew and left open the possibility that a hijack had taken place.
“The possibility of intervention by a third party cannot be excluded,” said Kok Soo Chon, chief inspector of the MH370 investigation team, while speaking to reporters outside of Kuala Lumpur according to Bloomberg.
The wreckage of MH370 still has not been found, although some debris from the Boeing 777 was discovered at various locations in the Indian Ocean. Investigators are unable to accurately piece together the flight’s final moments without the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, better known as the “black boxes,” which are typically used to ascertain the cause of aviation incidents.
MH370’s original flight plan for March 8, 2014, had the aircraft flying from Kuala Lumpur to Bejing, yet shortly after takeoff air traffic control lost contact with the flight, but was able to track it via radar for more than an hour.