Military ‘tracked MH370 off course’

The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 baffles experts. Courtesy: FOX News

Suspects ... Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, who was travelling on Flight MH370 with a stolen Austrian passport, (L) and Delavar Seyedmohammaderza who was with a stolen Italian passport. Source: Getty Images

INTERPOL has released an image of two Iranians who were travelling with stolen passports on a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner.

The image comes as Malaysia's military said it believes it tracked a missing plane over the Strait of Malacca, which is one of the world's busiest shipping channels and runs along Malaysia's west coast.

Radio and radar contact with Flight MH370 was lost off the east coast Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.

"It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait," the military official told Reuters.

MEN WITH STOLEN PASSPORTS IDENTIFIED

Officials said the two Iranian men carrying stolen passports boarded the plane at the same time. Interpol secretary-general Ronald K. Noble said on Tuesday that the two men travelled to Malaysia on their Iranian passports, then apparently switched to the stolen Austrian and Italian documents.

Mr Noble said the recent information about the men made terrorism a less likely cause of the plane's disappearance, but that did not allay concerns about the ease of travel involving stolen passports.

He identified the men as Pouri Nourmohammadi, 19, and Delavar Seyedmohammaderza, 29. The 19-year-old is believed to have planned to seek asylum in Germany.

Passport fraud ... Interpol ans police officials during a press conference where they displayed an image of two suspected impostors from the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight. Source: AFP

The announcement is likely to dampen, at least for now, speculation that the disappearance of the Boeing 777 was linked to terrorism. Both bought their tickets in Thailand and entered Malaysia together.

No debris from the plane has been found. On Tuesday, baffled authorities expanded their search to the opposite side of Malaysia from where it disappeared more than three days ago with 239 people on board.

The airline says the pilots did not send any distress signals, suggesting a sudden and possibly catastrophic incident. Speculation has ranged widely about possible causes, including pilot error, plane malfunction, hijacking and terrorism.

CO-PILOT SMOKED, TOOK PHOTOS

A co-pilot at the controls of the missing plane once invited a Melbourne tourist and her friend into the cockpit where he smoked, took photos and entertained the pair during a previous international flight.

READ MORE: The MH370 conspiracy theories

COMMENT: Our fears of flying just got worse

In a worrying lapse of security, it's been revealed pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid and his colleague broke Malaysia Airline rules when they invited passengers Jonti Roos and Jaan Maree to join them in the cabin for the one-hour flight from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur in 2011.

Ms Roos, who is travelling around Australia, told A Current Affair she and Ms Maree posed for pictures with the pilots, who smoked cigarettes during the midair rendezvous.

"Throughout the entire flight they were talking to us and they were actually smoking throughout the flight which I don't think they're allowed to do," Ms Roos said.

Appearing on A Current Affair, a former passenger talks of her meeting with co-pilot Fariq Ab Hamid from the missing Malaysian airlines plane MH370. Courtesy: ACA Nine Network

MUM IDENTIFIES MAN AS ASYLUM SEEKER

News that two of the passengers were travelling with stolen passports immediately fuelled speculation of foul play. However, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference on Tuesday that investigators had determined one was a 19-year-old Iranian, Pouria Nourmohammadi Mehrdad, who was planning to enter Germany to seek asylum.

"We believe he is not likely to be a member of any terrorist group," Mr Khalid said.

He said the young man's mother was waiting for him in Frankfurt and had been in contact with police. He said she contacted Malaysian authorities to inform them of her concern when her son didn't get in touch with her.

He also said there was no truth to a statement by at least one other government official that five passengers had checked in for the flight but never boarded the aeroplane.

The plane took off from Kuala Lumpur, on the western coast of Malaysia, early Saturday en route to Beijing. It flew across Malaysia into the Gulf of Thailand at 35,000 feet (11,000 metres) and then disappeared from radar screens.

Authorities have said the plane may have attempted to turn back toward Kuala Lumpur.

Search continues ... Chinese sailors check equipment before taking part in search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet. Source: AP

STILL NO SIGN OF MISSING PLANE

The hunt began on Saturday near the plane's last known location. But with no debris found there, the search has been systematically expanded to include areas the plane could have reached with the fuel it had on board. That is a vast area in which to locate something as small as a piece of an aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines said search and rescue teams have expanded the scope beyond the flight path to the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia's western coast and Indonesia's Sumatra island — the opposite side of Malaysia from its last known location.

An earlier statement said the western coast of Malaysia was "now the focus", but the airline subsequently said that phrase was an oversight.

"The search is on both sides," Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said.

The search currently includes nine aircraft and 24 ships from nine countries that have been scouring the Gulf of Thailand on the eastern side of Malaysia. Land areas also are being searched.

China, where two-thirds of the passengers are from, urged Malaysian authorities on Tuesday to "speed up the efforts" to find the plane. It has sent four ships, with another four on the way.

A shopping mall in Beijing suspended advertising on its large outdoor LED screen to display a search timer — an image of an aeroplane along with a digital clock marking the time since contact with the flight was lost.

Assuming the plane crashed into the ocean or disintegrated in midair, there will likely still be debris floating in the ocean, but it may be widely spread out, and much may have already sunk. In past disasters, it has taken days or longer to find wreckage.

The United States has sent two navy ships, at least one of which is equipped with helicopters, and a Navy P-3C Orion plane with sensors that can detect small debris in the water. It said in a statement that the Malaysian government has done ``tremendous job'' organising the land and sea search effort.

Vietnamese planes and ships are also taking part.

Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of the Vietnamese People's Army, said authorities on land had also been ordered to search for the plane, which could have crashed into mountains or uninhabited jungle. He said military units near the border with Laos and Cambodia had been instructed to search their regions also.

"So far we have found no signs ... so we must widen our search," he said.

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