Revealed: The transcript of the final 54 minutes of communication from the flight deck aboard missing Malaysia Airlines plane MH370

  • Communication from take off to the point of disappearance is revealed
  • The transcript shows the sharp westwards turn came as the cockpit handed over from Malaysian air traffic controllers to the Vietnamese
  • Expert said that would be the moment he would choose to steal a plane
  • Former pilot Stephen Buzdygan said: 'It was the only time during the flight they would maybe not have been able to be seen from the ground'

By Lizzie Parry

PUBLISHED: 12:51 EST, 21 March 2014 | UPDATED: 16:22 EST, 21 March 2014


The moment missing flight MH370 turned westwards unexpectedly is the point at which Malaysian air traffic controllers handed over to their Vietnamese colleagues, the final communications from the cockpit today reveal.

It fuels theories that the missing Malaysia Airlines plane was hijacked, as one former pilot said it is the point at which the flight would have momentarily been invisible to ground control.

The final 54 minutes of communication between the flight deck of the Malaysia Airlines plane and ground control has emerged as day two of a major search of the southern Indian Ocean found no sign of possible debris spotted on satellite.

The full communication record of MH370, including the vital moments prior to the disappearance of the Boeing 777 and its 239 passengers could provide crucial clues as to what happened to the aircraft.

Enlarge   Revealed: The final 54 minutes of communication between the flight deck on board the missing plane and air traffic controllers has today been revealed

Revealed: The final 54 minutes of communication between the flight deck on board the missing plane and air traffic controllers has today been revealed

Co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid
Pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah

Banter: A former pilot said the banter between co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid (left) and Captain Zaharie Admad Shah (right) reveals nothing unusual in the lead up to flight MH370's disappearance

The transcript reveals all communication between the cockpit and ground control from its taxi on the runway to its final message at 1.07am local time, when co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid said: 'Alright, good night.'

Two minutes after this final message the plane's transponder was disabled.

Adding weight to the theory that the plane could have been hijacked, the transcript reveals that the point at which the plane took a sharp west turn, was when air traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur handed over to their colleagues in Ho Chi Minh City.

Former British Airways pilot, Stephen Buzdygan told The Telegraph, if he was planning to steal an aeroplane, that would be the moment to choose.

 

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He said: 'There might be a bit of dead space between the air traffic controllers … It was the only time during the flight they would maybe not have been able to be seen from the ground.'

Another odd feature of the conversations on board the plane is a message repeated by the flight deck, telling air traffic controllers that the plane was flying at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.

The message, experts say, was unnecesarily repeated six minutes after it was first delivered.

Strange: A former pilot said the plane's sharp westwards turn, as radar contact was lost, came as air traffic controllers in Malaysia handed over to their Vietnamese colleagues. Stephen Buzdygan said that is moment he would choose if he were to steal a plane

Strange: A former pilot said the plane's sharp westwards turn, as radar contact was lost, came as air traffic controllers in Malaysia handed over to their Vietnamese colleagues. Stephen Buzdygan said that is moment he would choose if he were to steal a plane

Steve Landells, a former British Airways pilot who flew Boeing 777s, said: 'It could be as simple as the pilot forgetting or not being sure that he had told air traffic controllers he had reached the altitude.

'He might be reconfirming he was at 350 [35,000 feet]. It is not unusual. I wouldn’t read anything into it.'

The search for the possible wreckage of the aircraft has continued in the southern Indian Ocean today.


'It was the only time during the flight they would maybe not have been able to be seen from the ground'
- Former pilot Stephen Buzdygan on the moment the plane turned westwards unexpectedly

The transcript and final communications mark another piece of evidence to help investigators piece together what happened to the stricken plane.

The banter between Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and his co-pilot Hamid give no hint of the drama that was to ensue.

From the first sign-in at 12.36am local time, when the plane was on the ground in Kuala Lumpur, co-pilot Hamid gave regular and routine updates, alerting air traffic controllers to the plane's location, ascent and altitude.

'The communication up until the plane went to the changeover [to Vietnam] sounds totally normal,' Mr Mr Buzdygan said. 'I’ve done it hundreds of times. It is perfectly normal.'

Malaysia Airlines, Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority and the office of the Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak were contacted by the Telegraph, for confirmation of the communications report.

Only the prime minister's office responded, saying it would not release the information.

Scouring: Royal Australian Air Force pilot Russell Adams searches an area some 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth for debris possibly from MH370

Scouring: Royal Australian Air Force pilot Russell Adams searches an area some 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth for debris possibly from MH370

Unsuccessful: A second day searching an area of the southern Indian Ocean revealed no sign of the two suspected pieces of debris

Unsuccessful: A second day searching an area of the southern Indian Ocean revealed no sign of the two suspected pieces of debris

Search mission: A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion search plane passes over the Norwegian car transport ship Hoegh St Petersburg, as it scours the ocean for any sign of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight

Search mission: A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion search plane passes over the Norwegian car transport ship Hoegh St Petersburg, as it scours the ocean for any sign of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight

Search planes today scoured a remote patch of the Indian Ocean but came back empty-handed after a 10-hour mission looking for any sign of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.

Australian officials pledged to continue the search for two large objects spotted by a satellite earlier this week, which had raised hopes that the two-week hunt for the Boeing 777 that disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board was nearing a breakthrough.

But Australia's acting prime minister, Warren Truss, tamped down expectations.

'Something that was floating on the sea that long ago may no longer be floating - it may have slipped to the bottom,' he said.

'It's also certain that any debris or other material would have moved a significant distance over that time, potentially hundreds of kilometers.'

An updated image released by the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority today, detailing the search area planned for today

An updated image released by the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority today, detailing the search area planned for today

Aircraft and ships from China headed to the desolate southern Indian Ocean to join the new search for the Malaysia Airlines flight, which disappeared into the ether two weeks ago.

A satellite spotted two large objects in the area earlier this week, raising hopes of finding the Boeing 777 that vanished on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew on board.

Surveillance planes have been scouring the area - about 2,500 kilometres southwest of the Australian city of Perth - the size of the English Channel.

But after ten hours the second day of the search proved unsuccessful.

Australian officials pledged to continue the effort. even as they tried to tamp down expectations.

'It's about the most inaccessible spot that you could imagine on the face of the Earth, but if there is anything down there, we will find it,' Prime Minister Tony Abbott said at a news conference in Papua New Guinea.

'We owe it to the families and the friends and the loved ones of the almost 240 people on Flight MH370 to do everything we can to try to resolve what is as yet an extraordinary riddle,' he added.
Two pieces of wreckage that are possibly from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 - one estimated to be 78ft in size - have been found to the west of Australia, it was announced today. Pictured: Satellite pictures released by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority of the object thought to be related to the search for MH370

Two pieces of wreckage that are possibly from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 - one estimated to be 78ft in size - have been found to the west of Australia, it was announced today. Pictured: Satellite pictures released by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority of the object thought to be related to the search for MH370

Two Chinese aircraft are expected to arrive in Perth on Saturday to join the search. They will be followed by two Japanese aircraft on Sunday.

In Kuala Lumpur, where the plane took off for Beijing, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein thanked the more than two dozen countries involved in the overall search that stretches from Kazakhstan in Central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean. He called the whole process 'a long haul'.

The search area indicated by the satellite images in the southern Indian Ocean is a four-hour round-trip flight from western Australia, leaving planes with only enough fuel to search for about two hours.

The images were taken March 16, but the search in the area did not start until Thursday because it took time to analyse them. 

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My comment may show up in a bit, but here is the crux of the situation that I have not been able to find, anywhere on the web....so here they are: 1) How much fuel (pounds or kilos) were added to the plane's tanks? 1a) The pilot or other crew member must sign the fueling document. 2) How much total aircraft weight did the crew acknowledge? 2a) The crew must acknowledge total weight. 3) Wind direction(s) at known altitudes (radar approximates)...weather center at Kuala Lumpur would have had this data. 4) Wind speed (s) at known altitudes.....weather center at Kuala Lumpur would have known this. Without the above data being known, it is useless to try to guess where the plane might have gone. If there was fuel only to go to Beijing (+ 2 hours additional, which is usual practice) then the whole gaggle of guesses, speculation and other nonsense ginned up by ignorant talking heads is moot. What person or organization has demanded to see the fueling documents, anyway?

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I cannot find anywhere on the net any doltish reporter who has asked the question, nor who has asked for documents, that would show the crew's sign-off as to total aircraft weight, fuel load , total souls aboard, or any, other document that would indicate just how far this particular trip-7 could have flown. No questions asked to any authority as to direction of winds aloft, altitudes the plane was tracked, head or tail winds....all of which would have been recorded by weather experts at Kuala Lumpur or other reporting stations. A 10 year old with a basic understanding of Excel could provide a matrix of possible distances if having the above data to input. Truly some of the worst "reporting" I have ever seen.....

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The only real person who could get the timing right would surely be someone on the crew most likely the pilot . Have we gone full circle again?

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It was 'reported' (meaning who knows what is true in this fiasco) that that the cockpit recordings are in English (that is true), but what they have was actually translated to Chinese, then back to English. So who know how accurate it is...but the time stamps of each communication (relative the other known data) may be more important than what they said.

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so they haven't found those shipping containers?

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He likely would have told the traffic controllers before turning off the communication systems.

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Very confusing!

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They should be searching the near by countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan,Iran. Or maybe not!! What are they hiding???

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Fox News has a 3 star General " suggesting" that " possible sources" place the plane on the ground in Pakistan and certain US government officials know exactly where MH 370 is.

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New, non-corruptible, recorders and transponders, which prohibit pilot or human intervention, need to be added to all commercial jets. Then, no one can turn them off when the plane takes off.

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