U.S. Official sets the record straight:
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Co-pilot’s cell phone was on, U.S. official says
(CNN) — The phone of the co-pilot of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was on and made contact with a cell tower in Malaysia about the time the plane disappeared from radar, a U.S. official told CNN on Monday.
However, the U.S. official — who cited information shared by Malaysian investigators — said there was no evidence the co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, had tried to make a call.
The official told CNN’s Pamela Brown on Monday that a cell-phone tower in Penang, Malaysia — about 250 miles from where the flight’s transponder last sent a signal — detected the co-pilot’s phone searching for service roughly 30 minutes after authorities believe the plane made a sharp turn westward.
The details do appear to reaffirm suggestions based on radar and satellite data that the plane was off course and was probably flying low enough to obtain a signal from a cell tower, the U.S. official said.
U.S. officials familiar with the investigation told CNN they have been told that no other cell phones were picked up by the Penang tower.
Pilots are supposed to turn off their cell phones before pushing back from the gate.
“It would be very rare in my opinion to have someone with a cell phone on in the cockpit,” safety analyst David Soucie said. “It’s never supposed to be on at all. It’s part of every check list of every airline I am familiar with.”
When the plane first went missing, authorities said millions of cell phone records were searched, looking for evidence that calls had been made from the plane after it took off, but the search turned up nothing.
The revelation of the co-pilot’s cell phone connection with a Penang tower 30 minutes after MH370 was diverted has struck a nerve:
Why doesn’t M’sia punish Umno newspaper NST for false MH370 report?
New Straits Times(NST) should be severely punished for acting against the national interests by trying to exploit the MH370 tragedy with treacherous intent of sensational and false reporting without due regards for facts and the feelings of family members of the passengers. As NST is owned by UMNO and regarded as both UMNO and the Federal government’s mouthpiece, its front-page world exclusive expose on 12 April 2014 has caught the world’s attention.