The official report into the disappearance of Malaysia Airline’s service MH370 has ruled out any third-party interference of the operation of the aircraft.
The unexplained disappearance of the Boeing 777 after it took off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing remains one of the great aviation mysteries.
The aircraft was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it took off from Malaysia on March 7 2014.
Extensive searches for the aircraft have failed to locate it, by 27 pieces of wreckage have been found as far north as the eastern coast of Tanzania and as far south as eastern coast of South Africa only three of which have been confirmed as being from MH370.
The official report into the incident was released to families of the missing passengers ahead of a press conference that was taking place in Malaysia this morning.
Kok Soo Chon, the lead investigator, said: “What we have established is that the aircraft has turned back.
“We can conclude that MH370 had turned back and the turn back was not because of anomalies in the mechanical system. The turn back was made not under autopilot but under manual control.”
Investigators have concluded, however, that there was no evidence that the aircraft had been taken over by remote control using technology Boeing patented in 2006.
“There is no evidence to support the theory that MH370 was taken over by remote control. We have confirmation from Boeing that they have no information of any commercial aircraft with this technology.”
The report concludes MH370 deviated from its path due to “more than as a result of system anomalies”, but under manual control.
It says Ho Chi Minh air traffic officials made a mistake by not notifying Chinese authorities earlier when the plane did not make contact.
Kok said the air traffic controllers did not initiate the correct emergency procedures, delaying search and rescue operation.
The report states the aircraft was well-maintained and had no defects that could have contributed to the disappearance.
The lack of contact before the turn back, could indicate systems being manually turned off whether with intent or otherwise.
Kok added that the pilot of the aircraft was the first person the investigation focused on. The 53-year-old was an experience pilot with 18,000 hours of flying under his belt.
He said there was no history of mental or psychiatric treatment, conflict issues with friends or family, drug use or troubled relationships with family members.
Kok said there was also no stress or anxiety was detected in audio recordings from the flight, no evidence of financial stress or that he had taken out additional insurance.
Investigators looked at allegations that the first officer had a flight simulator in his home.
But they concluded there was nothing suspicious and the simulator was “game-related”.
A claim that the first officer’s phone had been used after the plane went offline, was also investigated.
“We talked to the telco service provider, we confirmed there was a signal heat coming in at the morning of the crash.
“But the signal heat was just a signal heat to show that the phone was turned on, but there was no call,” said Kok.
Addressing the cargo the aircraft was carrying Kok confirmed it included 2,500 kilogrammes of mango in plastic baskets.
There was also a large number of lithium batteries onboard which has raised suspicions.
However, Kok is said lithium batteries are a common form of cargo and. “We have not found any irregularities in the packing process,” he said.