Ten days after the Malaysian Airline flight MH370 went missing, the most prominent newspaper of the Maldives, Haveeru has reported in its website, that several islanders of Kudahuvadhoo island in Dhaalu Atoll, has spotted a low flying jet over their island at about 6:15 in the morning of the very day the plane was reported missing.
According to Haveeru, eyewitnesses report that they have never seen such a huge plane flying so low and were able to even see the windows of the plane clearly and that the white body of the plane is marked with red stripes, which is consistent with the colors of the Malaysian Airline. Some of the island dwellers reportedly, came out of their houses due to the loud noise as the plane flew overhead as per the witnesses in a North to South direction over the island. The residents claimed the plane was flying towards the southern tip of the Maldives, the Addu Atoll.
Satellite data suggests that the last “ping” was received somewhere close to the Maldives and Diego Garcia, the US naval base. Local Maldivian aviation experts have told Haveeru that it is “likely” for MH370 to have flown over the Maldives. However, the possibility of any aircraft flying over the island at the reported time is extremely low.
This sighting appears to fit in with the theory proposed by an experienced pilot Chris Goodfellow, whose blog earlier in the week has gained much online support.”The reported sighting over the Maldives coincides with the timeline well,” Mr Goodfellow said in an updated post. “The aircraft is probably a small distance west of Maldives.’’
The news came as it emerged that investigators have discovered the runways of five airports near the Indian Ocean loaded into Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s home-made flight simulator, among which those of Male in the Maldives, that of the US owned base at Diego Garcia, as well as other runways in India and Sri Lanka – all notable runways as all are possible landing spots based on the flight’s potential trajectories.
The UK’s Telegraph spoke to the air transport editor at Flight Global, David Kaminski Morrow, who said he feels timing is of the essence to establish if the Maldives sighting is true.While Morrow has not vouched for the credibility of the sighting, he told the Telegraph that along with the timing aspect the fuel, the quantity of which has not been revealed by Malaysia Airlines, would also be vital to establish if the plane could have made it that far.
According to Haveeru, The Maldives police on Tuesday announced an investigation into reports that residents of the Maldives island of Kuda Huvadhoo in Dhaal Atoll have seen a “low flying jumbo jet” on the morning of the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The police did not reveal any details. The Maldives is not amongst the countries that Malaysian authorities had sought help from in its search for the missing jet