I think they were way too quick to discard the Maldives sighting of a low flying plane shortly after 6 AM. Its very possible that the plane was waiting for sunlight to try for an emergency landing. It could have been doing circles around maldives and when sun came up it tried for emergency landing near there.
Are there any airports on Malidives because it could have purposely landed there too. Below is a map and I think its possible.
http://www.mapsofworld.com/maldives/maldives-location-map.html
Like someone else said, they saw a plane flying very low that they never saw so low before because of the roar it made. Multiple people saw it. Not just 1 person.
Yes Indeed there are airports on the Maldives! Info listed in Post #583 on this Thread, Page: 24. Please see listing there,
or for your convenience a very short recap here:
List of airports in the Maldives:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_the_Maldives"]List of airports in the Maldives - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
Ibrahim Nasir International Airport:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Nasir_International_Airport"]Ibrahim Nasir International Airport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
"Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (IATA: MLE, ICAO: VRMM), commonly known as Malé International Airport, previously known as Hulhulé Airport,
is the MAIN International airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll, nearby the capital island Malé.
Ibrahim Nasir International is well connected with major airports around the world, mostly serving as the main gateway into the Maldives for tourists.
Moreover, despite the upgrading of GAN Airport to international standard, Ibrahim Nasir International is currently the ONLY
INTERNATIONALLY ACTIVE airport in the country."
Gan International Airport:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gan_International_Airport"]Gan International Airport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
"Gan International Airport (IATA: GAN, ICAO: VRMG) is located on the island of Gan in Addu Atoll (previously known as Seenu Atoll) in the Maldives.
First built by the Royal Navy, and transferred to the Royal Air Force as RAF Gan, it was a military airbase used during World War II and until 1976.
The British handed it over to the government and it was used as a domestic airport. Recently the airport has been upgraded to international standards
in preparation for international flights with the opening of tourist resorts in the area.
Gan International Airport (GIA) serves as a key tourism gateway to the Republic of Maldives and its luxury beach resorts and dive sites.
GIA is situated at the southern tip of the country, and allows international and domestic aircraft movements year-round."
List of airlines of the Maldives:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_the_Maldives"]List of airlines of the Maldives - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
Fore full/more Maledives Flight Information, visit
http://www.fis.com.mv
:seeya: