CURIOUS LACK OF DEBRIS: Was MH370 deliberately landed in ocean & slowly SUNK?

EXPERTS inside the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 370 Joint Agency Coordination Centre believe there are just two possible explanations for the lack of debris on the ocean surface from the downed jet.

The wide-bodied Boeing 777 was either flown under control into the ocean, largely intact and sank to the bottom in one piece or its wreckage was scattered by a cyclone that passed through the search area soon after the search began.

In late March there were fears that Cyclone Gillian, which set off a cyclone warning in the southern corridor, could hamper search and rescue operations.

Hunt continues ... Jenna Shiel supervises on the gun direction of HMAS Perth during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean.

In calm seas it is possible to “ditch” a jet airliner in one piece and phantom wartime bombers have even been known to land on their own after all the aircrew bailed out.

Fourteen ships, including seven from the Chinese Navy, and 14 aircraft have been unable to find a single piece of wreckage.

Search ... the Ocean Shield drop sonar buoys to assist in the acoustic search for Flight MH370. Source: AFP

The lack of flotsam has authorities baffled.

“It is painstaking work to scour a massive area but we are perplexed about the lack of wreckage,” a source said.

“We expect to find some debris such as the wing (fuel) tanks that are air tight and would float.”

It is understood that the battery life of the locator beacons attached to the flight data and cockpit voice recorders will last for up to 45 days so the Australian Defence vessel Ocean Shield still has about 12 days left to isolate the signal.

Once that happens an unmanned underwater vehicle can be sent 4500-metres down to try and retrieve the boxes and photograph any wreckage.

Meanwhile the US will send a supply ship into the search area this week to relieve the Australian replenishment vessel HMAS Success that has been operating 24/7 in the area for 18 days.

The multinational search effort has had a positive spin-off with the military forces of the US and China operating more closely than ever before and a Malaysian ship conducting its first ever replenishment at sea from HMAS Success. -News.com.au