Maldives Islanders: We Saw Malaysia Airlines Jet

A new twist has emerged in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, as a newspaper in the Indian Ocean nation of the Malvides has reported that residents of the remote island of Kuda Huvadhoo report having seen a low-flying aircraft early in the morning on the night that the Boeing 777 disappeared.

Whilst the disappearance of the Boeing 777 jet, carrying 239 passengers has left the whole world in bewilderment, several residents of Kuda Huvadhoo told Haveeru on Tuesday that they saw a “low flying jumbo jet” at around 6:15am on March 8.

They said that it was a white aircraft, with red stripes across it – which is what the Malaysia Airlines flights typically look like.

Eyewitnesses from the Kuda Huvadhoo concurred that the aeroplane was travelling North to South-East, towards the Southern tip of the Maldives – Addu. They also noted the incredibly loud noise that the flight made when it flew over the island. 

“I’ve never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We’ve seen seaplanes, but I’m sure that this was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly,” said an eyewitness.

“It’s not just me either, several other residents have reported seeing the exact same thing. Some people got out of their houses to see what was causing the tremendous noise too.”

It is theoretically possible that the aircraft could have flown over the remote island, though it is unknown whether the Malaysia Airlines jet had enough fuel to reach the Maldives. The UK Telegraph quoted aviation expert David Kaminski Morrow: 

“It is all hugely, hugely tentative–and I wouldn’t want to vouch for the newspaper which is the source of this information. But theoretically it could be possible. The vital detail is the fuel; Malaysia Airlines has not said how much fuel was on board, other than to say ‘enough for the trip to Beijing.’ Therefore we can’t tell if that was enough to loop around and make it back to the Maldives.

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