Malaysian investigators have said one or more people with significant flying experience hijacked the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, reports The Associated Press.
“One or more people switched off communication devices and steered the plane off-course,” a Malaysian government official involved in the investigation said on Saturday.
“It is conclusive,” he said.
He said evidence that led to the conclusion were signs that the plane's communications were switched off deliberately, data about the flight path and indications that the plane was steered in a way to avoid detection by radar.
The Boeing 777's communication with the ground was severed just after one hour into the flight on March 8 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The Malaysian official said: “Only a skilled aviator could navigate the plane the way it was flown after its last confirmed location over the South China Sea.”
He said it had been established with a “more than 50%” degree of certainty that military radar had picked up the missing plane after it dropped off civilian radar.
Malaysian officials previously have said radar data suggest that it may have turned back toward and crossed over the Malaysian peninsula after setting out on a northeastern path toward the Chinese capital.