Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Maldives residents saw 'low-flying jet' on March 8

New Delhi: A "low-flying jumbo jet" was reportedly seen flying over the remote Maldives island of Kuda Huvadhoo in Dhaal Atoll at around 06:15 am on March 8, the day Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared. It has been 10 days since the disappearance of the Boeing 777 jet, carrying 239 passengers, which has left the whole world in bewilderment. Quoting eyewitnesses, Maldivian daily Haveeru said it was a white aircraft with red stripes across it. Their description of the plane matched the appearance of the Malaysian aircraft. According to the daily, the plane was travelling North to the Southern tip of the Maldives. More importantly, residents of Kuda Huvadhoo 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," an eyewitness told Haveeru. "It's not just me. Several other residents have reported seeing the exact thing. Some people got out of their houses to see what was causing the tremendous noise too," he added. According to the Maldivian daily, a local aviation expert said it is "likely" for MH370 to have flown over the Maldives. However, the possibility of any aircraft flying over the island at the reported time is extremely low, the expert added. Meanwhile, Malaysia said on Tuesday it had conferred with the US and Chinese ministers on the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, an unprecedented 26-nation operation that now spans Asia from the Caspian Sea to the southern Indian Ocean. Investigators are convinced that someone with deep knowledge of the Boeing 777-200ER and commercial navigation diverted the jet, carrying 12 crew and 227 mainly Chinese passengers, perhaps thousands of miles off its scheduled course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. But intensive background checks of everyone aboard have so far failed to find anyone with a known political or criminal motive to crash or hijack the plane. Satellite data suggests that the last "ping" was received from the flight somewhere close to the Maldives and the US naval base on Diego Garcia.