A relative of Chinese passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 takes a photo of a slideshow displaying the chronology of events since the plane went missing during a press conference held by Hugh Dunleavy, right bottom, commercial director of Malaysia Airlines at right in a hotel in Beijing, China, Friday, March 14, 2014. AP
HONG KONG 鈥� Friday marks day seven of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, as the hunt widens into the vast Indian Ocean.
Here is a timeline of major developments since the plane vanished early Saturday with 239 people on board, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing:
SATURDAY MARCH 8
鈥� Malaysia Airlines says the Boeing 777 lost contact with air traffic control at around 1:30 a.m. (1730 GMT Friday), about an hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Initially, authorities had put the last contact time at 2:40 a.m.
鈥� Vietnam says the plane went missing near its airspace. It launches a search operation that expands into a huge international hunt in the South China Sea, involving dozens of ships and aircraft from countries including the US and Japan.
鈥� Tearful relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers criticise Malaysia Airlines over a lack of information.
鈥� Vietnamese planes spot two large oil slicks near the plane鈥檚 last known location, but it proves a false alarm.
鈥� It also emerges that two passengers were travelling on stolen EU passports, fuelling speculation of a terrorist attack.
SUNDAY MARCH 9
鈥� Malaysia says it is probing a possible terror link to the jet鈥檚 disappearance. The US sends FBI agents to assist in the investigation.
鈥� Malaysia raises the first of several suggestions that the plane may have veered radically off-course 鈥� with the air force chief saying it may have turned back towards Kuala Lumpur for no apparent reason.
鈥� A Vietnamese plane spots possible debris off southwest Vietnam 鈥� but this too yields no sign of the airliner.
MONDAY MARCH 10
鈥� Authorities double the search radius to 100 nautical miles (equivalent to 185 kilometres) around the point where MH370 disappeared from radar.
鈥� China lashes out at Malaysia, saying it needs to speed up the investigation.
鈥� Malaysia sends ships to investigate a sighting of a possible life raft, but a Vietnamese vessel that gets there first finds only flotsam.
鈥� Chemical analysis by Malaysia disproves any link between oil slicks found at sea and the missing plane.
TUESDAY MARCH 11
鈥� The search area now includes land on the Malaysian peninsula itself, the waters off its west coast, and an area to the north of Indonesia鈥檚 Sumatra island 鈥� all far removed from the flight鈥檚 scheduled route.
鈥� Authorities identify the two men with stolen passports as young Iranians who are believed to be illegal immigrants 鈥� not terrorists.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 12
鈥� Malaysia expands the search zone to include the Malacca Strait off the country鈥檚 west coast and the Andaman Sea north of Indonesia, hundreds of kilometres away.
鈥� Malaysia鈥檚 air force chief says an unidentified object was detected on military radar north of the Malacca Strait early Saturday 鈥� less than an hour after the plane lost contact 鈥� but says it is still being investigated.
鈥� At a heated news conference, Malaysian officials deny that the search is in disarray after China says conflicting information about its course is 鈥減retty chaotic鈥�.
鈥� It emerges that US regulators warned months ago of a 鈥渃racking and corrosion鈥� problem on Boeing 777s that could lead to a mid-air break-up 鈥� but the manufacturer later confirms that the warning did not apply to the missing plane, which had a different kind of antenna.
THURSDAY MARCH 13
鈥� Malaysia dismisses a report in the Wall Street Journal which said US investigators suspect the plane flew on for four hours after its last known contact, based on data sent from its engines.
鈥� Authorities in Kuala Lumpur also say that Chinese satellite images of suspected debris in the South China Sea are yet another false lead.
鈥� India steps up its search, sending three ships and three aircraft to the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
FRIDAY MARCH 14
鈥� The hunt spreads west to the Indian Ocean after the White House cites unspecified 鈥渘ew information鈥� that the jet may have flown on after losing contact.
鈥� Malaysia declines to comment on US media reports that cite US officials as saying the plane鈥檚 communication system 鈥� not the engines 鈥� continued to 鈥減ing鈥� a satellite for hours after it disappeared, suggesting it may have travelled a huge distance.
鈥� A US warship, initially deployed to Thailand, is among the vessels heading to the Indian Ocean.
RELATED STORIES
Malaysian military says missing jet changed course
Q&A: What happened to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370?
China-bound Malaysian jet vanishes with 239 aboard