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MH370 May Have Fallen at 25,000 Feet Per Minute, Searchers Say

  • Wing debris shows aircraft wasn’t configured to land: ATSB
  • Some simulations show descent outside plane’s flight envelope
A man walks pasts a mural representing the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Kuala Lumpur.

A man walks pasts a mural representing the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Kuala Lumpur.

Photographer: Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images
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Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, missing for more than two years, may have plummeted at 25,000 feet a minute in its final moments and wasn’t configured to land when it hit the water, according to the latest analysis by Australian investigators.

Debris recovered from the missing Boeing Co. 777 jet indicates the right wing flap was positioned for cruising when it separated from the plane, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said in a report Wednesday. At the same time, the aircraft’s final satellite communications suggest MH370 was in a fast and ever-increasing rate of descent, the ATSB said.