MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has denied reports that the missing flight MH370 had continued flying for hours, based on alleged engine data.
 
He said the report claiming that the engine had been running for hours after it was last seen were untrue.
 
"Based on our records, the last Acars (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) transmission was done at 1.07am local time, and that was the last transmission (of engine data) that we have received from the aircraft. It did not run beyond that," he told a press conference today.
 
The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft was last seen on radar at 120 nautical miles off the coast of Kota Bahru on March 8, 1.30 am, near an aeronautical waypoint known as "Igari" after flying for about an hour.
 
The Wall Street Journal said US aviation investigators and national security officials believed the plane flew for a total of five hours, based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing 777's engines as part of a standard monitoring programme.

Jauhari explained that Acars is programmed to transmit engine data during certain stages of the flight, such as take-off, climbing, when reaching cruising altitude, at timed intervals, or if there are abnormalities.
 
"The last transmission we received at 1.07am states that everything is operating normally," he said.
 
Manufacturers already read data

Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who was also at the press conference, added that representatives from Rolls-Royce and Boeing are already in Kuala Lumpur assisting investigations since Sunday.

 
"Since today's media reports, MAS asked Rolls-Royce and Boeing specifically about this data. As far as Rolls-Royce and Boeing are concerned, those reports are inaccurate," he said.
 
Being the aircraft's engine manufacturer, Rolls-Royce would have been on the receiving end of the Acars data.
 
Hishammuddin also said that Chinese embassy has informed Malaysia this afternoon that release of satellite imagery of a possible plane wreckage was a mistake.
 
The release was not authorised nor endorsed by the Chinese government and Chinese authorities are now investigating the incident.
 
"The image has not been confirmed to be connected with the plane. His Excellency (the Ambassador of China) wishes to reiterate that on our side, we will first inform your side of whatever important developments," Hishammuddin said, reading from a statement from the embassy.
 
This morning, Hishammuddin said, a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) aircraft was also sent to the purported location of the wreckage according to the image, but found nothing.

'Unverified reports waste of assets'

 
According to previous reports, China has deployed 10 satellites among other assets to search for the missing aircraft.
 
The image was posted on China’s State Administration for Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defence’s website, showing what appears to be three objects floating in the sea in the vicinity of where the aircraft went missing.
 
When asked to comment on unverified reports regarding the ultimate fate of MH370 and the 239 persons aboard, Hishammuddin said it jeopardises and slows down the search and rescue (SAR) operation.
 
For example, he pointed to the MMEA aircraft rushed to confirm the supposed sighting of a plane wreckage.
 
"This morning we had to send our assets to confirm whether it is true or not, and in the end it is not. It affects our operation," he said.

In addition, he reiterated that these reports hurt family members of those on board, and gives them false hope.

Among other reports dismissed as untrue today include claims that MH370 crew and passengers are being held hostage by terrorists, that medical personnel in Penang have been told to prepare to receive survivors, and that police have searched the homes of MH370 crew.