Searchers have been left empty handed after seven weeks[REUTERS]
THE team searching for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 have said they are looking at the possibility the plane landed somewhere, after a seven week search has failed to find any trace of the plane.
Members of the International Investigation Team (IIT) have said they are looking into the theory the plane may not have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, but could have been re-directed to another country or made a crash landing.
Speaking to the New Straits Times, a source said: “We may have to regroup soon to look into this possibility if no positive results come back in the next few days.
"But at the same time, the search mission in the Indian Ocean must go on.
“The thought of it landing somewhere else is not impossible, as we have not found a single debris that could be linked to MH370.
“However, the possibility of a specific country hiding the plane when more than 20 nations are searching for it seems absurd."
Calculations by Inmarsat and the United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch pinpointed the crash site to an area of ocean 1,500 miles off the coast of Perth.
But the data used did not provide any definite details – including the plane's direction, altitude and speed.
The source added: "A communications satellite is meant for communication – the name is self-explanatory.
"The reason investigators were forced to adopt a new algorithm to calculate the last known location of MH370 was because there was no global positioning system following the aircraft as the transponder went off 45 minutes into the flight.
They went on to say that they may be "looking for the plane in the wrong place" and attempts to find the black box using an underwater drone depended on "luck".
"We can't focus on one place too long as the ocean is very big although the search team has been following the leads received and analysed", they said.
"It is by luck if we find the wreckage using the Bluefin-21.
"There is no physical evidence and we are totally depending on scientific calculations since day one, including the pings."
The news comes after authorities announced death certificates for those on board the plane would be issued, allowing relatives to launch lawsuits against the airline or apply for financial support.
An air search for the missing plane was suspended today due to stormy weather.
