Missing MH370 was on auto pilot when it crashed: Aus officials

The missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was “highly, highly likely” on autopilot when it ran out of fuel and crashed, Australian officials said Thursday as they announced the search will shift further south. “It would be fair to comment that it is highly, highly likely that the aircraft was on autopilot, otherwise it could not have followed the orderly path that has been identified through the satellite sightings,” Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said. [caption id=“attachment_1589867” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Associated Press[/caption] Transport Minister Warren Truss told reporters in Canberra on Thursday that the new search area is based on fresh analysis of existing satellite data from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The plane vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew aboard. The shift was expected. The head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said last week it would move south of an area where a remote-controlled underwater drone spent weeks fruitlessly scouring 850 square kilometers (330 square miles) of seabed. Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said “certainly for its path across the Indian Ocean, we are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it ran out of fuel.” Truss said officials have not attempted to fix a moment when the plane was put on autopilot. Agencies