Penduduk pulau terpencil di Maldives nampak 'pesawat besar' berwarna putih terbang rendah pagi 8 Mac 2014

Penduduk pulau terpencil bernama Kuda Huvadhoo di Terumbu Dhaal, Maldives telah dilaporkan melihat sebuah pesawat putih yang kelihatan berjalur merah di bawahnya melintasi langit pada jam 6:15 pagi , 8 Mac 2014. Mereka menyebut pesawat itu terbang dari arah utara ke arah tenggara.

Hal ini merupakan sesuatu yang asing bagi mereka kerana bunyi bising dari pesawat itu mengejutkan mereka - di sebuah tempat yang jarang dilintasi pesawat penumpang serendah itu.

"Saya belum pernah melihat pesawat sebesar itu terbang serendah itu di kawasan ini. Jika pesawat jenis "seaplane" saya kenal tetapi tentulah yang ini bukan. Saya dapat melihat pintunya dengan jelas " ujar seorang saksi yang melihat pesawat tersebut.

" Bukan hanya saya, ramai lagi penduduk keluar rumah bagi melihat apakah punca bunyi sebising itu".

Ahli Majlis bagi Kuda Huvadhoo, Mohammaed Zaheem,  mengakui menerima aduan dan pertanyaan dari penduduk berhubung penampakan itu.

Penerbangan ke Maldives pada waktu seperti itu dikatakan sangat-sangat kurang.

Malangnya, Maldives tidak menjadi negara di mana Malaysia memohon pertolongan.Malaysia ketika ini meminta pertolongan dari Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia dan Perancis - Haveeru Online, Maldives

Maldives island residents report sighting of 'low flying jet'

Farah Ahmed and Ahmed Naif, Haveeru Online

Mar 18, 2014 - 02:55

Residents of the remote Maldives island of Kuda Huvadhoo in Dhaal Atoll have reported seeing a "low flying jumbo jet" on the morning of the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Whilst the disappearance of the Boeing 777 jet, carrying 239 passengers has left the whole world in bewilderment, several residents of Kuda Huvadhoo told Haveeru on Tuesday that they saw a "low flying jumbo jet" at around 6:15am on March 8.

They said that it was a white aircraft, with red stripes across it – which is what the Malaysia Airlines flights typically look like.

Eyewitnesses from the Kuda Huvadhoo concurred that the aeroplane was travelling North to South-East, towards the Southern tip of the Maldives – Addu. They also noted the incredibly loud noise that the flight made when it flew over the island.

"I've never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We've seen seaplanes, but I'm sure that this was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly," said an eyewitness.

"It's not just me either, several other residents have reported seeing the exact same thing. Some people got out of their houses to see what was causing the tremendous noise too."

Mohamed Zaheem, the Island Councilor of Kuda Huvadhoo, said that the residents of the island had spoken about the incident.

A local aviation expert told Haveeru that it is "likely" for MH370 to have flown over the Maldives. The possibility of any aircraft flying over the island at the reported time is extremely low, the expert added.

The Malaysia airlines jet disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. Investigators say it was deliberately diverted off course.

Twenty-six countries are now helping to hunt for the plane after satellite and military radar data projected two huge corridors through which it might have flown.

Satellite data suggests that the last "ping" was recieved from the flight somwhere close to the Maldives and the US naval base on Diego Garcia.

But the Maldives is not amongst the countries that Malaysian authorities had sought help from in its search for the missing jet. Malaysia has listed the countries that it had appealed for assistance: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and France.