Malaysia rejects China’s lost plane images, denies reports MH370 flew on for hours

Malaysia on Thursday denied a media report that its missing airliner flew on for hours after last making contact, and said Chinese photos that raised hopes of a search breakthrough actually showed no wreckage.

“Those reports are inaccurate,” Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said of a Wall Street Journal report that said US investigators suspected the plane had flown on.

The report said data automatically sent to the ground from the aircraft’s Rolls-Royce engines suggested the Boeing 777 was in the air for four hours after its last contact with air traffic control at 1.30am Malaysian time.

“The last transmission from the aircraft was at 0107 hours which indicated that everything was normal,” Hishammuddin said.

The Malaysia Airlines (MAS) jet was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on an overnight flight when it disappeared.

“Rolls-Royce and Boeing teams are here in Kuala Lumpur and have worked with MAS and investigation teams since Sunday. These issues have never been raised.”