Investigators are examining the entire passenger manifest after European diplomats said late on Saturday that two of the 227 passengers were travelling on stolen passports. Hishamuddin Hussein, who is also defence minister, said Malaysia would work with the FBI and other international agencies and that two more names were being checked.
“All the four names are with me,” he said, according to Reuters.
He spoke as the multinational hunt for any sign of the Malaysia Airlines flight missing with 239 people on board widened on Sunday, with officials saying search and rescue teams had so far found no trace of it.
Hishammuddin also said there was a chance the aircraft had turned back in mid-air.
“We are looking at the possibility of an aircraft air turn back, in which case different locations will have to be identified,” he said.
Citizens from 14 nations were on board, though the vast majority were Chinese. The 12-strong flight crew were all from Malaysia.
On Saturday night, diplomats confirmed that two Europeans listed on the passenger manifest – an Italian, Luigi Maraldi and an Austrian, Christian Kozel – had not been on the flight and were safe and well. Maraldi had his passport stolen in Thailand last year and Kozel’s was stolen in the region two years ago.
The flight was a codeshare with China Southern and the two people named as Maraldi and Kozel on the list booked together via the Chinese airline, Chinese media reported.
The company said it had CCTV footage of the two people who checked in as Maraldi and Kozel.
The Boeing 777 disappeared from radar screens just 40 minutes into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in the early hours of Saturday morning. It was last detected over the seas between Malaysia and Vietnam.
On Sunday morning the Malaysian director-general of civil aviation, Azaruddin Abdul Rahman, told reporters the search had expanded to a larger area of the South China Sea area and west coast of Malaysia, theStraits Times reported.
Warships from Singapore and China were heading to the area and the United States also offered vessels and aircraft.
In a statement issued on Sunday morning, Malaysia Airlines said: “More than 24 hours after the loss of contact with Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the search and rescue teams are still unable to detect the whereabouts of the missing aircraft.
“In fearing for the worst, a disaster recovery management specialist from Atlanta, USA will be assisting Malaysia Airlines in this crucial time.”
An earlier statement began with the words: “Malaysia Airlines humbly asks all Malaysians and people around the world to pray for flight MH370.”
Vietnam’s deputy transport minister, Pham Quy Tieu, said no wreckage had been seen in the vicinity of two oil slicks detected late on Saturday, but that the search continued.
The pilot of another flight told a Malaysian newspaper he had made brief contact with the plane via his emergency frequency, at the request of Vietnamese aviation authorities who had been unable to reach it as expected. Vietnam has said it believes the flight never entered its airspace.
The unnamed man said his Japan-bound plane was deep into Vietnamese airspace when officials asked him to relay to MH370 to establish its position, and that he succeeded at about 1.30am local time.
“The voice on the other side could have been either Captain Zaharie [Ahmad Shah, 53,] or Fariq [Abdul Hamid, 27], but I was sure it was the co-pilot.
“There were a lot of interference ... static ... but I heard mumbling from the other end.
“That was the last time we heard from them, as we lost the connection,” he told the New Straits Times.
He sakd he did not think any more of it at the time, as losing connections was common.
Malaysia Airlines executives have said the flight was at 35,000 feet when it vanished and had given no indication of problems when last in contact.
William Waldock, who teaches accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical university in Arizona, told Associated Press the lack of a distress call ‘‘suggests something very sudden and very violent happened”.
Both Malaysia Airlines and Boeing-777s have strong safety records.
CNN reported that an FBI team was flying to Malaysia to assist in the investigation because three Americans were on board. It cited an unnamed official.
据英国《卫报》报道，马来西亚交通部长于3月9日称，马亚西亚航空失联航班上的4名乘客的真实身份正进行调查中，而马来西亚航空公司方面表示，担心正在发生“最糟糕情况”。
欧洲外交官员们3月8日晚称，227名乘客中有两名旅客冒用他人护照混上飞机，调查人员正在检查全部乘客名单。马来西亚国防部长希山慕丁·侯赛因（Hishamuddin Hussein）表示，马来西亚将与美国联邦调查局(FBI)及其他国际机构一同协助调查，而另外两名乘客展开调查。
据路透社报道，希山慕丁说道：“我已掌握四名乘客的名字。”
在希山慕丁发表上述言论之时，多国正扩大搜救范围联合搜寻载有239名乘客及机组人员的失联马航的痕迹，而有官员反映称，搜救队迄今没有发现任何迹象。
希山慕丁还透露，该失联航班可能曾折中途返吉隆坡。
他说：“我们正研究飞机失联前掉头返航的可能性，这种情况下，搜寻范围必须扩大。”
机上的乘客来自14个不同的国家，不过绝大多数是中国人，其中超过12名机组人员均来自马来西亚。
3月8日晚上，外交人员证实，所列乘客名单中的两名欧洲乘客，来自意大利的Luigi Maraldi和来自奥地利的Christian Kozel并没有登上该航班，目前处于安全状态。他们俩的护照都是在过去两年间于泰国被偷了。
据中国媒体报道，失联航班与中国南航公司共享代码，名为Maraldi和Kozel的冒名顶替者是通过中国南航完成订票的。
南航则表示拥有Maraldi和Kozel在检票登机时的闭路电视录像。
马航波音777客机于3月8日凌晨执行吉隆坡至北京任务，起飞后仅短短40分钟就从雷达屏幕中消失了。其最后一次被检测到是在马来西亚和越南之间的海域。
据《海峡时报》报道，马来西亚民航局局长阿卜杜勒·拉赫曼（Aaruddin Abdul Rahman）于3月9日告诉记者，搜救范围已扩大至南中国海区域和马来半岛的西海岸。
新加坡和中国的军舰赶赴相关海域搜救，美国也相继派军舰前往支援。
马来西亚航空于3月9日上午发布声明：“马来西亚航空公司MH370航班失联已超24小时。搜救队目前仍无法侦察到失踪客机的下落。”
“做好最坏打算的心理准备，来自美国亚特兰大的灾难恢复管理专家人员将将在这个关键时刻协助马来西亚航空公司。”
马来西亚航空公司在声明的一开头称：“马来西亚航空公司诚致地请求所有马来西亚人民和世界各地的人民为MH370航班上的所有乘客祈祷。”
越南交通部副部长Pham Quy Tieu于周六晚上称，侦察到的两条油迹带附近没有任何飞机的残骸，搜救仍在继续。
另一个航班的飞行员对马来西亚报社称，他曾在越南航空当局的要求下，通过应急频率与MH370客机取得过短暂联系，而越南航空管理局之前一直无法如预期与该航班联系上。越南当局曾认为MH370没有进入过越南领空范围。
据一位未透露姓名的飞行员指出，其在执行飞往日本的任务而进入越南领空时，越南当局要求他联系MH370以确定它的位置，而他在当地时间1点30分左右成功与MH370取得过联系。
“那边的声音可能是机长Zaharie Ahmad Shah（现年53岁）或Fariq Abdul Hamid（现年27岁）两个人其中一个的，但我可以肯定的是对方是副驾驶。”
“有很多干扰……静电干扰……但我听到另一端在断断续续的声音。”
他告诉《海峡时报》：“这是我们最后一次与MH370取得联系，之后就失去联系了。”
他表示，当时对此没有很在意，觉得联系中断是正常的。
马航高级官员之前曾表示，MH370航班在飞行高度达35000英尺时消失前的最后一次联系中没有发出任何求救信号。
美国亚利桑那州的安柏瑞德航空航天大学（Embry-Riddle Aeronautical university）意外调查专家威廉·瓦多克（William Wwaldock）告诉美联社，连一个求救信号都没有，“表明可能发生非常突然、猛烈的状况。”
另外，马来西亚航空公司和波音777都具备无可挑剔的安全记录。
CNN报道，据一位未透露姓名的官员称，失联飞机上有三名美国人，美国联邦调查局已派出一支FBI小组赶赴马来西亚协助调查。
