'All right, good night'
The revelation of the Chinese satellite pictures is the latest in a series of contradictory developments. And until they are corroborated by investigators either flying over the area or at sea, they should be treated with caution. But if confirmed, the wreckage would put the crash site not far from the last confirmed radar contact with the plane, and contradicts suggestions that it might have turned back towards Malaysia and even made it back over the Strait of Malacca.
It also ties in with an earlier claim from an oil rig worker who claimed he saw a plane on fire over the South China Sea, southeast of Vietnam.
Meanwhile it was revealed that the last message from the cockpit of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight was routine. “All right, good night,” was the signoff transmitted to air traffic controllers five days ago. Then the Boeing 777 vanished.