MH370 search: Government releases transcript, says nothing 'abnormal'

PETALING JAYA: The full transcript of communications between Flight MH370 and the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control has been released, revealing nothing 'abnormal'.

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammudin Hussein said the transcript had been shared with the families of passengers.

"There is no indication of anything abnormal in the transcript," said Hishammuddin in a statement on Tuesday.

"The transcript was initially held as part of the police investigation," he said.

Hishammuddin said that previously, MAS had stated initial investigations indicated the voice which signed off was that of the co-pilot. 

"The police are working to confirm this belief, and forensic examination of the actual recording is ongoing," Hishammuddin added.

The 43 separate transmissions over nearly 54 minutes are thick with air-traffic and navigational jargon, giving no hint of trouble aboard the ill-fated plane.

The transcript concludes with Malaysian air traffic control first bidding MH370 "good night", as it instructs the pilots next to contact controllers in Vietnam, over which the plane was due to fly.

The final entry from just after 1.19am comes from one of the two MH370 pilots, who said: "Good night, Malaysian three seven zero".

The transcript - and particularly the final words from MH370 - have been the subject of much speculation following earlier statements by authorities and the airline that the last transmission from the plane was a casual "All right, good night". 

The Malaysian Boeing 777-200ER, with 239 passengers and crew on board, vanished on March 8, about an hour after the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight took off from the KL International Airport at 12.41am.

On March 24, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had announced that the flight path of MH370 ended in a remote region of the southern Indian Ocean based on detailed analysis of satellite data.

Malaysian authorities believed that up until the point at which the plane left military primary radar coverage, MH370's movements were consistent with deliberate action by someone on the aircraft. 

Below are the two pages of the transcript of the exchange: