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Malaysia Airlines Flight Spotted In Maldives? Examining The Latest Theory On MH370
By Alberto Riva
on March 18 2014 11:41 PM
Malaysia Airlines Flight Spotted In Maldives? Examining The Latest Theory On MH370

Update 8.30am ET: The Maldivian government issued a statement saying that the country's military and airport radars had not seen the flight. However, it should be noted that a large airplane, by flying at low level, could easily escape detection by radar.

According to a local newspaper, residents of a remote island in the Maldives, Kuda Huvadhoo, spotted a plane at 6:15 a.m. local time on March 8 that could have been the missing Malaysia Airlines 370. Eyewitnesses cited by the paper said they saw "a jumbo jet," white with red stripes across it, flying low and very loudly. The description of a big airplane in those colors is consistent with the Malaysian Boeing 777.

The islanders said they did not recall ever seeing an airplane there, and at that height, before, making it unlikely that what they had seen was a normal takeoff or landing by another passenger jet.

The time of the sighting also matches what we can deduct about the plane's range and its known whereabouts.