DHAKA: Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was almost certainly on autopilot when it ran out of fuel and crashed, Australian officials said Thursday as they announced their search will shift further south.

Investigators have been grappling with the mystery of the Boeing 777’s disappearance on March 8 with 239 people on board, spending months scouring the Indian Ocean in vain.

An expert group has reviewed all the existing information and Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said it was now ‘highly, highly likely that the aircraft was on autopilot’ when it went down.

‘Otherwise it could not have followed the orderly path that has been identified through the satellite sightings,’ he told reporters, according to NDTV.

Martin Dolan, commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading the search, agreed.

‘Certainly for its path across the Indian Ocean we are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it went out of fuel,’ he said.

BDST: 1430 HRS, JUNE 26, 2014