MH370 Dibajak setelah Transponder Dimatikan, Pesawat Mengarah ke Dua Koridor
Satellite Data Shows Hijacked MH370 was Last Seen Flying Towards Pakistan or Indian Ocean
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
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PARA penyidik ��mengatakan hilangnya pesawat jet Malaysia Airlines akibat dibajak, mengarah pada matinya perangkat komunikasi dan diperkirakan mampu mencapai Pakistan.
Seorang pejabat pemerintah Malaysia mengatakan pelakunya berpengalaman menerbangkan pesawat jet sehingga mampu mematikan perangkat komunikasi di pesawat.
Operasi pencarian kini difokuskan pada dua ´koridor´, salah satunya membentang dari barat daya Thailand ke perbatasan Kazakstan-Turkmenistan dan koridor kedua mengarah ke selatan Samudera Hindia, seperti dilansir Mail Online.
Pihak berwenang mengatakan bahwa teori pembajakan ´meyakinkan´, dan polisi kini diyakini menggeledah rumah sang pilot, Kapten Zaharie Ahmad Shah, di Kuala Lumpur.
Sementara Perdana Menteri Malaysia Najib Razak menolak untuk mengkonfirmasi bahwa penerbangan MH370 dibajak, ia mengaku ´tindakan kesengajaan´ di dalam pesawat itu mengakibatkan perubahan rute penerbangan dan putus komunikasi dengan kru darat.
Sistem komunikasi pesawat sengaja dimatikan setelah menuju ke barat melalui pesisir Malaysia dan mengudara selama tujuh jam sesuai persediaan bahan bakar.
Sampai saat ini belum diketahui dimana posisi pesawat saat ini, namun Najib Razak mengatakan data satelit terbaru menunjukkan pesawat bisa saja menuju ke salah satu dari dua koridor penerbangan.
Kontak radar terakhir dilakukan di sepanjang rute di salah satu koridor, tujuh jam dan 31 menit setelah lepas landas, namun pesawat bisa saja menyimpang jauh dari rute tersebut.
Cadangan bahan bakar pesawat diperkirakan mampu menjangkau Pakistan, Sri Lanka atau Australia.
Namun, jika dialihkan ke Samudera Hindia, tugas tim pencari menjadi lebih sulit, karena ada ratusan pulau tak berpenghuni dan kedalaman laut kedalaman sekitar 23.000 kaki.
Jangkauan maksimum dari Boeing 777-200ER adalah 7.725 mil laut atau 14.305 km.
Tidak jelas berapa banyak bahan bakar di pesawat saat itu, meskipun sudah cukup untuk mencapai tujuan yang dijadwalkan, Beijing, penerbangan lima jam dan 50 menit, plus bahan bakar cadangan.
Peneliti AS juga tidak mengesampingkan kemungkinan bahwa penumpang ditahan di lokasi yang tidak diketahui.
NASA juga bergabung dengan operasi pencarian internasional, menganalisis data satelit dan gambar yang berhasil dikumpulkan.
Pemerintah Malaysia dan pihak-pihak terkait segera menyelidiki kedua pilot dan 10 awak, bersama dengan 227 penumpang.
INVESTIGATORS say the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was hijacked, steered off-course and could have reached Pakistan.
A Malaysian government official said people with significant flying experience could have turned off the flight´s communication devices.
The search operation has now been focused on two ´corridors´, one which extends from north west from Thailand to the Kazakstan-Turkmenistan border and the other which opens out into the southern Indian Ocean.
The representative said that hijacking theory was now ´conclusive´, and police are now believed to be searching the home of pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, in Kuala Lumpur.
While Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak refused to confirm that flight MH370 was taken over, he admitted ´deliberate action´ on board the plane resulted in it changing course and losing connection with ground crews.
The plane´s communication system was switched off as it headed west over the Malaysian seaboard and could have flown for another seven hours on its fuel reserves
It is not yet clear where the plane was taken, however Mr Razak said the most recent satellite data suggests the plane could have headed to one of two possible flight corridors.
The last radar contact was made along one of the corridors, seven hours and 31 minutes after take off, but the plane could have deviated further from these points.
The aircraft´s fuel reserves mean it could have travelled as far as Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Australia in the other direction.
However, if it was diverted into the Indian Ocean, the task of the search teams becomes more difficult, as there are hundreds of uninhabited islands and the water reaches depths of around 23,000ft.
The maximum range of the Boeing 777-200ER is 7,725 nautical miles or 14,305 km.
It is not clear how much fuel the aircraft was carrying though it would have been enough to reach its scheduled destination, Beijing, a flight of five hours and 50 minutes, plus some reserve.
US investigators have also not ruled out the possibility that the passengers are being held at an unknown location and suggest that faint ´pings´ were being transmitted for several hours after the flight lost contact with the ground.
NASA has also joined the international search operation, analysing satellite data and images that have already been gathered.
Malaysian authorities and others are urgently investigating the two pilots and 10 crew members, along with the 227 passengers on board.
