Official denies plane flew for hours

Malaysia’s transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, says that the US is wrong in speculating that the plane continued to fly for hours after contact was lost. Hussein cites experts from Malaysia Airlines and Rolls-Royce, the manufacturers of the plane’s engines, who both told him the report was erroneous. Hussein says:

I would like to refer to news reports suggesting that the aircraft may have been flying for some time after the last contact. Those reports are inaccurate. The last transmission from the aircraft was at 01.07, which indicated everything was normal. Rolls-Royce and Boeing teams are here in Kuala Lumpur and have worked with MAS [Malaysia Airlines] and the investigation teams since Sunday. This issue has never been raised … Since today’s media reports MAS has asked Rolls-Royce and Boeing specifically about the data. As far as Rolls-Royce and Boeing are concerned those reports are inaccurate.