Malaysia denies jet flew for hours

Malaysian authorities denied media reports that the missing Malaysia Airlines jet may have flown on for hours at a press conference Thursday afternoon and defended their handling of the search, saying it was a very complex operation.  [Special coverage]

The aircraft, with 227 passengers and 12 crew, has now been missing since early Saturday. Criticism of the handling of the incident has been increasing in the wake of often contradictory information from different authorities.

There is still no concrete information as to the whereabouts of MH370, said acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein, and the search, with over 80 planes and ships, continues on both sides of the Malaysian Peninsula. He said they would never give up the search.

Nothing had been found in an area in which a Chinese satellite spotted debris near the plane's expected flight path on Sunday morning, Hussain said.

The Wall Street Journal, quoting US investigators and national security officials, said that data packets sent automatically from the Boeing 777-200's Rolls Royce engines indicated that it had flown on for around four hours. It could have traveled as far as the Pakistani border or even the Arabian Sea.

But Hussain said these reports are inaccurate. "The last transmission from the aircraft was at 01:07 am, which indicated everything was normal," he said.

Rolls Royce and Boeing have been working with the investigation team since Sunday, and "these issues have never been raised," he said.

A manager from Rolls Royce told China Radio International Thursday that they would monitor related data regarding maintenance of the engines, but she refused to comment on this case.

A safety warning for Boeing 777 operators did not apply to the missing plane, as it did not have the antenna associated with the problem, Boeing said.

China will not give up its efforts in searching for the flight with 154 Chinese aboard "as long as there is a glimmer of hope," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday at a press conference shortly after the conclusion of the annual legislative session.

"We will not give up any suspected clue that is being found," he said. "We are also looking very closely at all suspected clues showing on satellite images."

Malaysia Airlines announced Thursday that the flight code MH370 and the return MH371 to Kuala Lumpur will be retired and numbered MH318 and MH319 from Friday.

The airline issued a statement saying that this is "as a mark of respect to the passengers and crew of MH370 on 8 March 2014."

Duan Zhaoxian, a commander of the Chinese naval search force, said they are facing some major difficulties in the search for the plane.

He said that the last known position revealed by Malaysian authorities is inaccurate and there is too much information, meaning that plans have to be adjusted from time to time.

India said it has sent two ships to assist in the search in the Andaman Sea and they may start looking for the aircraft in the area east of Campbell Bay, local media NDTV reported.