Experts: Malaysia Flight 370 ran out of fuel, crashed in southern Indian Ocean

Getty Images/Pool

Experts: Malaysia Flight 370 ran out of fuel, crashed in southern Indian Ocean
(Image credit: Getty Images/Pool)

The same day that Malaysian authorities released raw satellite data from the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian air-accident investigators concluded that the doomed jetliner likely ran out of fuel and plunged into a remote section of the southern Indian Ocean.

In a report released overnight, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the plane was running out of fuel and probably descending during its final ping transmission, and crashed "within around 25 nautical miles" of its final electronic message, reports The Wall Street Journal. "This is consistent with satellite communication equipment on the aircraft powering up following a power interruption," the agency said in a statement. "The interruption in electrical supply may have been caused by fuel exhaustion."

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.