Maldives/Low Flying Jumbo Jet

Kuda Huvadoo sighting of a "low-flying jumbo jet"

Summary

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

• several residents were alerted by a loud noise
• they saw a large aircraft (the size of a jumbo jet or Boeing 777)
• the plane was white with a red stripe
• it was travelling north west to south east
• the reported the time was around 6:15 am or between 6:15 and 8 am (Maldives time) on March 8

Original Story 18 March 2014

The story was written by Farah Ahmed and Ahmed Naif and published as Maldives island residents report sighting of 'low flying jet' by Haveeru Online on Tuesday 18th March 2014.

It was also published by Minivan News on 18 March 2014 as Kudahuvadhoo islanders spotted low-flying mystery aircraft in hours after MH370 disappearance written by Daniel Bosley with additional reporting by Ahmed Azeer and Ahmed Rilwan.

Update 18 March 2014

Later, on 18th March, Haveeru Online published an article titled Maldives police probe reported sighting of 'low flying jet', adding

Maldives police on Tuesday announced an investigation into reports that residents of the remote Maldives island of Kuda Huvadhoo in Dhaal Atoll have seen a "low flying jumbo jet" on the morning of the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. But the police did not reveal any details.

Officially "Untrue" 19 march 2014

On Wednesday 19th March 2014 at the 05:30 PM MH370 Press Briefing, Hishammuddin Hussein stated that

Regarding reports that the plane was sighted in the Maldives, I can confirm that the Malaysian Chief of the Defence Force has contacted his counterpart in the Maldives, who has confirmed that these reports are not true.

This made the eye witnesses angry...

An Angry Response 22 March 2014

On 22 March 2014, Haveeru Online published Missing MH370: Maldives eye witness furious after authorities concluded his claim false

Last week some islanders from Kudahuvadhoo, Maldives, reported sighting of a large low flying aircraft. The Maldives Police and National Defence Force started an investigation and just after 2 days the authorities told press that the claim was believed to be false and further investigation was underway. This was again published on the local news and in the comments readers criticized people from Kudahuvadhoo for false report.

Mysterious Object 25 March 2014

But then the story got more complicated...

In an article headed Airline refused to disclose the plane's cargo manifest and now Maldives finds a possible bomb on beach, Maldives Finest wrote:-

25 Mar 2014: A suspicious object that is believed to be some kind of bomb has just got washed up on beach in Maldives island. Police media officer said that the villagers of Baarah Island saw this object in the evening and reported immediately. Police went to inspect the suspicious object and now it has been reported to the military. Police further said they have no clue what his object is and it will be investigated by the Maldives National Defence Force.

Mysterious Object Update 26 March 2014

Maldives Finest added more detail on 26th March:-

An aircraft engineer from Maldives has now said the mysterious object is likely to be a Fire Suppression Bottle of an aircraft. The engineer could not say if it is the type used in Boeing 777 model as he did not personally inspect the object. Meanwhile, we have received multiple messages from readers saying that it looks like plane's fire extinguisher and requested to report to authorities.

The odd thing about this discovery is that mainstream media has generally ignored it.

Marc Dugain

One person who didn't ignore the story is Marc Dugain, formerly of Proteus Airlines and now an author, who visited the Maldives and talked with residents on Kudahuvadhoo and also Baarah Island. Dugain published a six page story in Paris Match in which he proposed that MH370 was hacked and flown towards Diego Garcia but was shot down by the US military.

Diego Garcia is a US military base about 700 miles south of Kudahuvadhoo.

Flight Simulator

A simulator featuring five airports in the Indian Ocean region was discovered in the home of flight Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah today, as investigators remain convinced the plane’s disappearance was deliberate. A senior Malaysian police officer told Reuters, however, that such simulators are likely to feature hundreds of runways. Ibrahim Nasir International Airport was featured on the simulator, as were three runways in Indian and Sri Lanka, as well as the US military base in Diego Garcia.

What Did Residents See?

Now that wreckage has been discovered on La Reunion island, south of the Maldives, the story has surfaced again. So what's the problem? It is simply not possible for the aircraft seen at Kudahuvadhoo to be MH370. But if it was not, then what did the residents see?

Minister of Defence and Acting Minister of Transport (Malaysia)

A list of people and goods carried on a ship or plane.

United States

Captain and Pilot in Command, MH370