MH370 passengers, crew 'suffocated before crash'

The passengers and crew of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 most likely died of suffocation and plummeted on autopilot into the ocean, according to Australian officials searching for the wreckage.

In a new report released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, investigators have pinpointed what they say is the most likely cause of death as they narrow down the possible final resting place from thousands of routes scrutinised.

"Given these observations, the final stages of the unresponsive crew/hypoxia event type appeared to best fit the available evidence for the final period of MH370's flight when it was heading in a generally southerly direction," the ATSB report says.

The 55-page report says the likely cause of death was determined after comparing conditions on MH370 with previous disasters.

The conclusion comes in the same report in which the ATSB declares the new search zone will be an area further south in the Indian Ocean than previously thought.

The Boeing 777 carrying 239 passengers and crew disappeared on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

So far intensive searches have failed to find any trace of the plane.

"The new priority area is still focused on the seventh arc, where the aircraft last communicated with satellite. We are now shifting our attention to an area further south along the arc," Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said.

"It is highly, highly likely that the aircraft was on autopilot otherwise it could not have followed the orderly path that has been identified through the satellite sightings."

Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Reuters.