Remote islanders saw 'low-flying jumbo jet' on the day MH370 disappeared

'I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly'

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has confirmed that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is not in the search zone where acoustic pings were detected (Getty Images)

Just over a year on, inhabitants of the remote island of Kudahuvadhoo in the Indian Ocean have reported seeing a low-flying passenger jet on the morning the MH370 flight disappeared.

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared with 239 people on board on the 8 March 2014. Now residents of the Maldives island say they saw a plane with red and blue markings on the fatal day.

Villagers from the 3500-strong community, in the Southern area of the Dhaalu Atoll in the Indian Ocean, also heard a loud noise as the plane flew low over head, according to a local news source.

Atols in the Maldives (Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“I've never seen a jet flying so low over our island before.

"We've seen seaplanes, but I'm sure that this was not one of those.

"I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly,” said one villager.

Several residents reported seeing exactly the same thing.

"I'm very sure of what I saw on a very clear and bright day, and what I saw was not normal- the plane was very big, and low.

"I did not know until later that other people saw it too.

"I don't know if it's the Malaysia plane', said 34 year-old IT manager, Ahmed Shiyaam.

Whilst Abdu Rasheed Ibrahim said: "I didn't know that a plane was missing.

"I went straight home and told my wife about it.

"I told my family, "I saw this strange plane".

Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik gives the final touches to a sand sculpture on December 29, 2014 (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

"This is the biggest plane I have ever seen from this island...I have seen pictures of the missing plane- I believe I saw the plane...I strongly felt those people who were searching should come here."

Witnesses have also suggested that the plane was travelling north to south-east, towards the southern tip of the Maldives, when it was sighted.

The islanders claims are not in line with recent approximations as to where the MH370 plane went down.

Calculations based on satellite connections currently suggest that the plane crashed within a 180km arc southwest of Perth.

However, acoustic scientists have suggested that a high energy sound measured around the time the plane was thought to have crashed, could place the aircraft's final destination as near to the Maldives.