MALAYSIAN Airlines flight en route to China is missing.

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• Jan 12, 2015

• #2,321

Families of MH370 passengers must cope with lack of answers

Staff Reporter
2015-01-11

A digital billboard at a shopping mall in Beijing on March 11, 2014, counting the hours and minutes since flight MH370 disappeared. (File photo/CNS)

After hope and despair have sapped their spirits, families of the Chinese passengers aboard flight MH370, which disappeared in March last year, have gradually come to terms with their misfortune as the anniversary of the plane's disappearance approaches.

The young son of Chen Liping has stopped crying for his father Ju Kun, while still aspiring to become Ultraman. He looks for his father every time he sees an airplane in the sky.

Jiang Hui still vividly remembers the heartwrench amid the chaos following the disappearance of MH370. He told a Hong Kong reporter then that he preferred the uncertainty because of the dim hope it provided for the survival of his 70-year-old mother. Nowadays, he has prepared for the worst, Guangzhou's Southern People Weekly reported.

The majority of the families of the 128 Chinese passengers who boarded the still missing flight refuse to acknowledge the death of their loved ones. They have not received the US$50,000 in advance compensation offered by Malaysia Airlines.

Understandably, many have resorted to divination to shed some light on the mystery. One girl reportedly obtained some comfort when slips containing divinations from a temple in Beijing showed no signs of ominous circumstances in response to her inquiry concerning the whereabouts of her missing boyfriend.

For Chen Liping, time has stopped since March 8, when the flight first disappeared carrying her husband Ju Kun, a martial arts movie choreographer. He was on his way home from an assignment in Malaysia. "I have pretended to live normally and smile over the past year, despite weeping and aching in my heart," said Chen.

Some families have resorted to white lies in order to shield older members of their families from the impact. The parents of Qin Feng, a Beijing resident, still believe that their grandson, a nephew of Qin's, is in Malaysia on an assignment from China's intelligence unit.

Some have even convinced themselves of anything other than the reality. The father of Li Er, who was returning home aboard the Malaysian airline for a vacation from a stint in ZTE's Malaysian branch, has taken speculation to the extreme. "My son was an avid reader of Robinson Crusoe. I believe the plane has been hijacked and landed on an uninhabited island, where he and others aboard are leading an isolated life, sound and well," he said.

 

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• Jan 12, 2015

• #2,322

Fourth ship to join search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

By ROD McGUIRK
Jan. 12, 2015 2:15 AM EST

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A fourth ship with specialized underwater equipment will join the search for a Malaysia Airlines jet 10 months after it vanished under mysterious circumstances off the west coast of Australia, an official said Monday.

The ship Fugro Supporter was on its way to the search area after conducting trials off the Indonesian island of Bali, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said in a statement.

"Fugro Supporter has been equipped with a Kongsberg HUGIN 4500 autonomous underwater vehicle," the statement said. "The AUV will be used to scan those portions of the search area that cannot be searched effectively by the equipment on other vessels."

Not a single trace of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been found since the Boeing 777 vanished with 239 people aboard on March 8 last year during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The jetliner disappeared after veering off course and flying for hours with its communications systems disabled.

Three ships — two provided by a Dutch contractor and one from Malaysia — have already been tasked with scouring a desolate, 60,000-square-kilometer (23,000-square-mile) area of the Indian Ocean about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) west of Australia.

Since a renewed search began in October, the ships have searched more than 12,000 square kilometers (4,600 square miles) of the seafloor — or one-fifth of the highest-priority search zone.

Government officials could not immediately say whether the additional ship would hasten the search, which was expected to end around May if nothing was found earlier.

The Fugro Supporter is jointly funded by the Australian and Malaysian governments. It is expected to join the search in late January, Truss said.

 

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• Jan 17, 2015

• #2,323

Australia confident of finding MH370, ten months after jet disappeared

Fourth vessel to be added to fleet searching for missing Malaysia Airlines jet should boost prospects of recovery, research team head says

PUBLISHED : Friday, 16 January, 2015, 4:28pm
UPDATED : Friday, 16 January, 2015, 7:16pm

Agence France-Presse in Sydney

The Fugro Equator, one of three ships currently searching for flight MH370, will be joined by a new vessel, the Fugro Supporter, later in January. Photo: AFP

Missing airliner MH370 is “very likely” to be found if it lies in the undersea zone now being scoured, and is probably in good condition despite being submerged for 10 months, the Australian search chief told reporters.

Three vessels, with a fourth on the way, are probing the depths of the Indian Ocean off western Australia where the Malaysian Airlines plane carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese, is believed to have crashed.

The jet disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 and apart from some mysterious satellite “pings” interpreted as plotting its southern course, no sign of it has been found despite a massive air and sea operation.

Relatives of those on board have endured a long wait for answers on what happened to their loved ones, with their torment reawakened by AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashing into the sea off Indonesia on December 28.

So far, one quarter of the priority underwater search area of 60,000 square kilometres has been checked, while a wider zone of 208,000 square kilometres has been mapped.

“Our satellite calculations gave us an area we determined was high priority,” Martin Dolan, the chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading the search, told reporters.

A policeman tries to move a group of frustrated relatives of passengers from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 outside the Foreign Ministry in Beijing on December 19. Photo: AFP

“In this 60,000 square kilometres, it’s very likely we will find the aircraft, but we don’t know exactly where. We just have to cover that area thoroughly until we find the aircraft.”

The priority search began in early October and will accelerate over the next few months as weather conditions improve, with the hunt expected to wrap up in May.

If the jet is not found, a decision on extending the investigation would be made by Australia and Malaysia, which have jointly shouldered the cost.

UNDERSEA REVELATIONS

Dolan said mapping had led to the discovery of previously unknown underwater features such as mountains, volcanos, chasms and a rough, uneven sea floor, highlighting the challenges.

To take a closer look at the complex terrain, the Australian and Malaysian governments said on Wednesday they were jointly funding the fourth ship, Fugro Supporter, to join the probe later this month.

Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik gives the final touches to his sand sculpture portraying two missing aircraft, Air Asia QZ8501 and Malayasia Airlines MH370 on Golden Sea Beach at Puri, some 65 kms east of Bhubaneswar in December, 2014. Photo: AFP

While the other three vessels – Fugro Equator, Fugro Discovery and GO Phoenix – use sophisticated sonar systems attached to tow cables up to 10 kilometres long, the Supporter will have an autonomous underwater vehicle.

“[It] can be programmed and cover areas much more thoroughly. It’s of course a lot slower,” Dolan said, adding that about 5 per cent of the search area needed the closer scrutiny.

“We need to go slow so that we can be 100 per cent sure that we have covered that area totally.”

NO OXYGEN, NO DECAY

The underwater probe is taking place in treacherous surface conditions with waves as high as 12 metres. Authorities believe the plane may be sitting on the ocean floor at depths of 4,000 metres.

But the deep sea would play an important role in preserving the aircraft if that was its resting place, Dolan said.

“At the likely depth we think the aircraft is, around about 4,000 metres below the sea surface, there’s very little going on there ... that’s likely to affect the components of the aircraft we are looking for,” he said.

“The second is that down there there’s very little or no oxygen, so there’s not anything in the way of oxidisation or decay going on with aircraft parts.

“The sonar equipment we are using means that – even if there’s an amount of silt or other things – we can still locate the aircraft parts.

For relatives of missing MH370 passengers, the pain endures as the search continues. Photo: AFP

“We are confident there’s going to be enough visible parts of the aircraft for us to be able to detect it.”

Authorities have drawn up a recovery plan if the plane is found.

The proposal, which is still being assessed, would use technology and techniques similar to those deployed to recover Air France flight AF447, Dolan said.

The French jet, including its “black box” flight data recorder, was hauled from the Atlantic nearly two years after it crashed en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 on board.

Some A$120 million (HK$763 million) has so far been jointly committed by Australia and Malaysia to fund the search.

“We are confident that if we are looking in the right area – as we think we are – we will find the aircraft,” Dolan said.

“It’s just that it’s a very large area, so it’s going to take a long time.”

 

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• Jan 28, 2015

• #2,324

Malaysia to release interim report on MH370 on March 7

KUALA LUMPUR Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:30am EST

A memorial to the victims of both flights MH370 and MH17 is set up at the Xiao En Bereavement Centre in Kuala Lumpur September 9, 2014. REUTERS/Olivia Harris/Files

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation will release an interim report on the investigation into the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on March 7, a day before the one-year anniversary of the disappearance, deputy transport minister Aziz Kaprawi said on Wednesday.

"It will have details on the technical investigation," Aziz told Reuters.

This is to abide by a requirement from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Malaysia to release an interim report on the anniversary of the incident, said Aziz.

The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 239 passengers and crew went missing on March 8.

The findings of an international investigation team set up in April 2014 will also be included in the report.

The international team consists of the U.S. National Transport Safety Board, Britain's Air Accidents Investigations Branch, China's Aircraft Accident Investigation Department, France's Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau, the Australia Transport Safety Bureau, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and British satellite communications company Inmarsat.

The airline's crisis worsened on July 17 when another jet, Flight MH17, was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Rounding out a bad year for Southeast Asian carriers, an AirAsia flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore crashed in December, killing all 162 people on board.

(Reporting By Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

 

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ynk2252

Alfrescian

Loyal

• Jan 29, 2015

• #2,325

I heard from a friend there may be some kind of special announcement forthcoming at 1530 Sinkie time on news channel.

 

xpo2015

Alfrescian

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• Jan 29, 2015

• #2,326

Lithium ions batteries on board burnt up and consumed the entire plane and its passengers with flame. The falling bits and pieces are left in the ocean.

 

Y

ynk2252

Alfrescian

Loyal

• Jan 29, 2015

• #2,327

xpo2015 said:

Lithium ions batteries on board burnt up and consumed the entire plane and its passengers with flame. The falling bits and pieces are left in the ocean.

Click to expand...

Nothing published so how you know?

 

K

Kuailan

Alfrescian

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• Jan 29, 2015

• #2,328

MH370 flew into outer space how to find?.?

From Diego Garcia the US remote control beyond 50,000 ft
into space! !

 

P

Primus

Alfrescian

Loyal

• Jan 30, 2015

• #2,329

So what will happen next? Insurance payouts and compensation settled right?

 

V

vtran2684

Alfrescian

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• Jan 30, 2015

• #2,330

SIA officials must be celebrating

 

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• Jan 30, 2015

• #2,331

Malaysia formally declares MH370 crash an accident, passengers presumed dead

Regulator says all 239 on board presumed dead, paving way for relatives to seek compensation

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 29 January, 2015, 6:24pm
UPDATED : Friday, 30 January, 2015, 1:54am

Danny Lee and Angela Meng

The wife of a missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 passenger shows her husband's picture to reporters at a media conference room in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Photo: EPA

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was formally declared an accident, the Malaysian government announced on Thursday, paving the way for victims’ relatives to be compensated.

The nations’ civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said it was with “the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow” that “survivability highly unlikely” and all onboard “presumed to have lost their lives” in the southern Indian Ocean.

The Boeing 777 aircraft, with 239 passengers and crew on board, lost contact with air traffic control on March 8, last year during a transition of airspace between Malaysia and Vietnam en-route to Beijing

Citing the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, Malaysia hoped an official declaration would allow the next-of-kin to obtain the assistance they needed, “in particular through the compensation process”.

The airline is set to take on their responsibility to the next-of-kin by paying compensation to the victims’ families either by consultation or by litigation.

James Healy-Pratt, a leading aviation lawyer, told the South China Morning Post the formal declaration brings some legal certainty to MH370, and the fate of the passengers and crew.

“Many families still believe that their loved ones are still alive, because there is no evidence of their deaths – only of their disappearance. This is a very sensitive area for obvious cultural reasons,” said the head of aviation at Stewarts Law, who is currently assisting families involved in the crash of Air Asia flight QZ 8501 in Indonesia. He has also represented 30 families of the victims of Air France 447 disaster.

“With the formal declaration, death certificates can be issued for those whom require them, and claims for compensation against Malaysian Airlines, and their aviation insurers in London can be progressed.”

Director General of the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman announces that Flight MH370 was officially "lost." Photo: Xinhua

Emotionally-drained family members have been awaiting the news for more than 10 months.

“This is so irresponsible, they announced it without any new evidence,” one next-of-kin surnamed Wang said.

“The Malaysians don’t want us to have hope, I don’t know what to do next”, said Yan Jiacheng, a familty member of one of the victims from Jiangsu said.

The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement shortly after the announcement that it expected full compensation for the 154 Chinese aboard the airliner.

Police stop a relative at a protest at the Malaysian embassy in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

The statement extended “deepest sympathies” and “sincere condolences” to the families of victims and the ministry also expressed gratitude to the many international organisations who assisted with the search work.

An earlier press conference on Thursday was abruptly cancelled by Malaysian authorities’ on Thursday afternoon, citing “unforeseen circumstances” as distraught family members rushed to the venue.

Echoing poor communication previously, the government’s crisis management communication skills fell short, opting for a delayed pre-recorded TV announcement to declare Flight MH370 an accident.

An interim report into the crash is due to be released on March 7 by its transport ministry, a day before the first anniversary marking the jet’s disappearance.

Rahman reassured that, with the cooperation of China and Australia, Malaysia would continue their efforts to find the missing jetliner and bring closure to the families who lost their loved ones.

 

G

Garbage

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• Jan 30, 2015

• #2,332

Read that the compensation payout is many times more than Air Asia. Huat Ah !

 

V

vtran2684

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• Jan 31, 2015

• #2,333

PRCs should shut up or next time fly their own airline.

 

laksaboy

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• Jan 31, 2015

• #2,334

Time for a new husband.

 

PressToTeleport

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• Jan 31, 2015

• #2,335

MH370: family fury after Malaysia Airlines flight's disappearance declared an 'accident'

Date January 30, 2015 - 12:00PM
Lindsay Murdoch
South-East Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media

Malaysia Airlines aircrafts taxi on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Photo: Reuters

Bangkok: Family members of the 239 people on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have vented their anger after Malaysia declared the disappearance an "accident" despite that the world's greatest aviation mystery remains unsolved after 328 days.

"They are lying," said Sarah Bajic, whose American partner Philip Wood was on board the plane.

Relatives of passengers aboard the missing jet gather at a Beijing temple in June. Photo: Reuters

"It could very well be that the plane crashed. But there is no evidence and until there is evidence we just can't believe them," she said.

"It is impossible to bring closure until we have proof."

Many relatives have accused Malaysia's authoritarian government and Malaysia Airlines of bungling its response to the disappearance through incompetence and a cover-up.

A family member of a passenger onboard the MH370 cries at a temple in Beijing in September, 2014. Photo: KIM KYUNG-HOON / Reuters

Malaysia formally announced the disappearance was an accident so that family members will be able to receive compensation.

But in Kuala Lumpur, Syafinaz Hasnan, whose brother was on board, told reporters the declaration should not have been made.

"Accident with what? It is just an excuse to declare it so they can make an announcement on the deaths," she said.

Family members were angry that Malaysian government ministers left the announcement to the Department and Civil Aviation.

"They have no guts to announce it right to our face," said Mohammed Sahril Shaai, another relative.

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the department's director-general, said in a statement that both safety and criminal investigations have failed to substantiate any of dozens of theories about what happened to the plane, indicating the mystery may never be solved.

He said the investigations have been limited by a lack of physical evidence, particularly the plane's fight recorders.

Mr Azharuddin attempted to reach out to family members, most of whom are Chinese.

"It is therefore, with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that, on behalf of the Government of Malaysia, we officially declare that Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident … and that all 239 of the passengers and crew on board are presumed to have lost their lives," he said.

Malaysia Airlines said it was ready to proceed immediately with a process that will see "fair and reasonable" compensation paid to relatives "in accordance with applicable laws."

"Without in any way intending to diminish the feelings of the families, it is hoped that this declaration will enable the families to obtain the assistance they need, in particular through the compensation process," Mr Azharuddin said.

The Boeing 777 aircraft disappeared over the South China Sea in the early hours of March 8 last year after taking off from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, prompting dozens of wild theories about what happened to it.

Mr Azharuddin said that based on analysis of all available evidence and the supporting factual information the data supports the conclusion that MH370 ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean west of Perth.

A search of the area where the plane is believed to have crashed into the ocean after running out of fuel has covered 18,600 square kilometres.

Four ships are continuing the search with the backing of Australia and China.

Mr Azharuddin's statement made no mention of earlier indications by Malaysian officials that there appeared to be human interference with the plane's communications equipment as it was leaving Malaysian airspace and entering that of Vietnam.

"Available data suggests that after the transponder ceased transmitting, there was no normal radio or aircraft system (ACARS) communications transmitted or received from the aircraft," he said.

Mr Azharuddin said satellite communication system signalling messages placed the aircraft in an arc in the Indian Ocean where its fuel would have been exhausted.

He said based on the available data the plane was on the sea floor.

"This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is also an area with adverse sea conditions with known depths of 6000 metres."

Authorities in Kuala Lumpur are planning to release a detailed interim report into the investigations on March 7, the day before the first anniversary of the disappearance.

But officials say the report mainly covers technical issues and does not include any significant revelations about the disappearance.

The international team consists of the US National Transport Safety Board, Britain's Air Accidents Investigations Branch, China's Aircraft Accident Investigation Department, France's Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau, the Australia Transport Safety Bureau, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and British satellite communications company Inmarsat.

The report's release is a requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Mr Azharuddin confirmed that a Malaysian police investigation into the disappearance is ongoing.

No details have been made public.

"We have never wavered in our commitment to continue our efforts to find MH370 and bring closure for everyone, most of all for the families of the passengers and crew," Mr Azharuddin said.

"This declaration is by no means the end. We will forge ahead with the cooperation and assistance of the governments of China and Australia. MH370, its passengers and its crew will always be remembered and honoured."

Desmond Ross, a Sydney–based commercial pilot with extensive experience in Asia, said he doubts the plane will ever be found and that he would put money on it not having crashed where the search is now located.

"I just think that after this length of time that some floating debris would have washed up somewhere," he said.

The crisis worsened for Malaysia Airlines on July 17 when another plane, Flight MH17, was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Rounding out a bad year for Southeast Asian carriers, an AirAsia flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore crashed in December, killing all 162 people on board.

-with agencies

 

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• Jan 31, 2015

• #2,336

Declaring MH370 disappearance an accident will help with compensation

Xinhua
2015-01-30

A TV broadcast showing Azharuddin Abdul Rahman declaring the MH370 crash an accident, Jan. 29. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese legal experts have said that declaring the disappearance of flight MH370 an accident will help passengers' families to claim compensation.

The Malaysian government officially declared the MH370 disappearance an accident on Thursday and said that all 239 people, including the 154 Chinese nationals, on board the plane are presumed dead.

Lawyer Niu Linna said the timing of the announcement helps ensure passengers' families' prescribed period for litigation–as international law demands that litigation begins within two years of any accident–before March 8, 2016.

"It now appears that time is pressing, as the preparation work is very difficult and will take a very long time," said the lawyer, adding litigation preparation includes passenger investigation, their past income, work ability and social contribution among other materials and evidence. All these factors determine the amount of compensation.

Lawyer Bi Wensheng said, "It is very difficult to legally start compensation procedures until the accident is officially announced."

Declaring the disappearance an accident protects passengers' rights and interests, Bi said.

"Malaysia Airlines will undertake their responsibilities in relations to the legitimate rights and interests of the next-of-kin, which includes the fulfillment of the compensation process," said director general of the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman on Thursday in a statement, adding that the company was ready to proceed immediately with the compensation process.

Malaysia also promised to continue to search for the plane and release an interim statement detailing the progress of the investigation "on or around the one year anniversary of the accident".

Professor Dong Nianqing of Civil Aviation Management Institute of China said the search will help determine the cause of the accident. While Mao Yanfeng, an accident investigation director at the Civil Aviation Administration of China, warned of challenges that searchers will face as the accident was "unprecedented" in international civil aviation history over the last 30 years.

Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft with 239 people on board, disappeared on March 8 last year shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en-route to Beijing.

Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday called on Malaysia to continue the search. "We hope Malaysia will act on its commitment and continue search and investigation efforts, fulfill its compensation obligations, and make every possible effort to find the plane and passengers," Li said.

 

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• Feb 1, 2015

• #2,337

Angry relatives of flight MH370 victims reject Malaysia's findings, turn down payouts

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 31 January, 2015, 1:50pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 31 January, 2015, 2:39pm

Agence France-Presse in Beijing

Relatives for the victims of MH370 Malaysian Airline missing flight hold a press conference in Subang Jaya outside Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA

Traumatised relatives of those aboard missing flight MH370 Friday blasted the Malaysian government for declaring the passengers and crew dead without evidence of the plane’s fate, and rejected compensation offers.

Malaysian authorities a day earlier had said they were now classifying the unexplained disappearance of the plane as an “accident” under global aviation conventions and said for the first time that all 239 on board were presumed dead.

But relatives in both Malaysia and China - two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese nationals - rejected that declaration.

“We call on Malaysia to withdraw their statement. It lacks a basis in evidence,” said Jiang Hui, whose mother was on the plane, calling on authorities to apologise.

More than 100 Chinese relatives of the lost passengers are demanding Malaysia withdraw the statement, according to posts in an online group they use.

In Kuala Lumpur, some 20 relatives held a briefing to blast Malaysia’s move and demand answers to a 10-month-old mystery they said has been mishandled from the start and marked by secrecy on the part of the government and flag carrier.

“Almost all families are unanimous in our stand that we do not want to declare our loved ones dead without a shred of evidence,” they said in a prepared statement.

Policemen move in to stop family members (L), whose relatives were onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, giving an interview to the media yesterday. Photo: Reuters

“We, the next of kin of MH370, are perplexed as to why the Malaysian authorities are jumping the gun in wanting to make any announcements while the search is a long way from completion.”

Family members in Beijing, some of whom burst into tears as they spoke to reporters near a Buddhist temple, said they had received little advance warning of the announcement - echoing complaints from furious relatives in Kuala Lumpur.

“Malaysia ignored the right of relatives to know the news first,” Jiang added.

Malaysia’s declaration opens the door for compensation payments, but many relatives told AFP they wanted answers before any compensation.

“We don’t want money. We want the truth about what happened,” said Hu Xiufang, whose only child, daughter-in-law and grandson were on the plane.

Chinese media reported on Friday that the father of an MH370 passenger died suddenly at his home three hours after hearing the plane was missing.

Li Xiaohui, 60, whose son was onboard, had no known serious medical problems at the time of his death, a state-run outlet called The Paper reported.

The plane vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing last March 8 in one of history’s great aviation mysteries.

Malaysia’s government says satellite data indicates the plane inexplicably detoured to the remote southern Indian Ocean, which they suspect was due to “deliberate” action onboard.

But no evidence has turned up despite an ongoing Australian-led search and rescue operation - the most expensive in history.

The relatives in Kuala Lumpur said they fear Thursday’s declaration indicated Malaysian authorities’ desire to wash their hands of the affair and leave it unsolved.

They appealed to the governments of Malaysia, Australia and China not to abandon the search.

Chinese relatives have formed a loose-knit group to express their demands, but Beijing is wary of any unofficial organisations and they have met with harassment from police.

Around a dozen policemen on Friday surrounded relatives of MH370 passengers outside the temple, telling them not to speak to reporters and ordering journalists to leave the scene.

 

PressForNirvana

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• Feb 1, 2015

• #2,338

MH370: Australia insists it has not given up search after loss declared an 'accident'

Head of Australian search authority refuses to comment on costs of underwater MH370 operation but says she wakes each morning "praying that today is the day"

(File photo) Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion flies past Australian Defense vessel Ocean Shield on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the acoustic search of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean. Photo: AP

By Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney
1:57PM GMT 30 Jan 2015

The Australian authority overseeing the MH370 search says its focus is "just as fervent" as when the hunt started and it has deployed a fourth ship to cover difficult underwater territory in the Indian Ocean.

A day after Malaysian authorities declared the loss of the plane an accident and all 239 passengers presumed dead, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre said it supported the declaration but had not given up on finding the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft.

"We remain focused on the search activity. We have a priority area," Judith Zielke, an Australian civil servant who is coordinating the search, told ABC News.

"We've just put a fourth vessel into the search area to assist with some of the more difficult areas of the terrain, but please be assured that our focus on these search operations continues to be just as fervent as it was when we first started."

The official description of the incident as an "accident" was made by Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the head of Malaysia's civil aviation department, and was intended to pave the way for families of passengers to be compensated.

No trace of the Boeing 777 has been found since it flew off course and disappeared during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. The plane is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

Some families of the passengers were angered by Malaysia's announcement and insisted that their loved ones may still be alive.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014

Ms Zielke said she supported the declaration and believed it would help the families to "move on".

"We understand that the families of those on board are experiencing enormous grief and that's only heightened by not knowing the circumstances under which the aircraft disappeared," Ms Zielke said.

"For next of kin to be able to proceed with presumption of death certificates and be able to take decisions in relation to how to deal with very day to day issues – bank accounts, assets, life insurance – you know, they need a decision like this to be able to move on."

Ms Zielke would not comment on the cost of the massive underwater search, which is due to continue until May. Almost 7,000 square miles have been covered, about 30 per cent of the targeted zone. A fourth search vessel is due in the zone within days.

"I don't believe you can put a figure on the search," she said.

"Australia has committed substantial resources but so have Malaysia and China as well … We have what we need at the moment to be undertaking the activity and this isn't something that necessarily more ships will resolve. This needs to be undertaken carefully and we need to make sure that we're coving all of the area."

Asked how long the search might ultimately last, Ms Zielke said: "I can only say that I wake up every morning praying that today is the day. I am greatly concerned about the grief of the next of kin and trying to answer their concerns and their questions as quickly as possible. As well as just the general travelling public, I think everybody would like to know what has happened."

 

PressForNirvana

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• Feb 2, 2015

• #2,339

MH370: Nine things we will never know about the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines plane

Authorities declared the flight's disappearance an 'accident' today, but promised that the search would remain a 'top priority'

Rose Troup Buchanan
Thursday 29 January 2015

Malaysian officials have confirmed that although the search for missing flight MH370 will continue, the disappearance of the aircraft has been labelled an “accident”, effectively drawing a line in the sand over speculation.

But for those fascinated by the mysterious disappearance of the plane, this means that there are many things we will – probably – never know.

1. Where is the plane now?

Obviously, this is the million-pound question. And one which Malaysian authorities have seemingly admitted they may never find. Although they had stressed that searching for the missing aircraft will remain a “top priority” – approaching a year after the plane’s disappearance, hope is fading.

The most recent searches have focused on a swath of ocean off the western coast of Australia. Despite the use of sophisticated sonar equipment, and aid from governments including China, nothing conclusive has turned up.

The search area has expanded massively to include the territory of a dozen countries

2. Why were the plane’s communications systems disabled?

MH370’s transponder, which communicates with the ground, was shut down as the plane travelled from Malaysian air traffic control to Vietnamese controlled airspace.

There does not appear to be any rational explanation for this, with some aviation experts labelling the pilot’s decision to do so “extraordinary”. Fingers have been pointed towards malicious intent, either on the behalf of the pilots or of an unknown ‘outside’ player in the scenario.

Realistically, it is impossible to know and with the continued absence of the plane’s black box we will probably never know the final moments in the cockpit.

HMS Echo, which is helping to find missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

3. Why was the plane’s disappearance not spotted immediately?

As mentioned, the plane’s was shut down during the flight, but this appears to have gone unnoticed until much later.

One possible reason for this is simply human error – Malaysian air control would have handed over to their Vietnamese counterparts and simply forgotten about it.

A woman writes a message of support and hope for passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370

4. Why did the plane make a sharp left turn?

Conspiracy theories abound on this question. Military logs show the plane turned west, deviating from its planned flight path, shortly after the plane’s transponder had been switched off and the last ACARS (the system used to communicate with the ground) datalink transmission had been sent.

One theory, suggested by aviation blogger Chris Goodfellow, claims that the sharp left turn came after the aircraft’s communications were knocked out in some kind of catastrophe.

According to Mr Goodfellow, the actions of the pilot – in the situation – would be to turn towards the nearest safe airport, possibly Paulau Langwaki.

5. Was the plane hijacked?

Since 9/11 all alirlines hav fitted their cabin cockpits with reinforced ‘bulletproof’ doors designed to prevent exactly such a hijacking. Realistically, it is unlikely anyone would be able to get into the cockpit once these doors had been closed – moreover the pilots should have been able to issue a distress call had it happened.

There are times when the doors are open, which allows for the possibility of a hijack, or even if passengers had been invited into the cockpit – as the co-pilot of MH370 was shown to have done previously.

Network data show the phone belonging to co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, was on 30 minutes after MH370 turned west, according to CNN

6. Did the pilots have something to do with the possible crash?

Extensive searches were carried out on both pilots’ homes and backgrounds – and turned up nothing conclusive. But there is equally nothing to disprove it.

There have been occasions when pilots are believed to have carried out suicidal thoughts: Egypt Air flight 990 (1999) and Silk Air flight 185 (1997) are both considered to be examples of this.

Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel take part in the search to locate the missing Malaysia Airways Flight MH370 over the Indian Ocean

7. Was the entire event just a series of fluke chances and bad luck?

We love a good conspiracy but there is a chance that the flight disappearance is the result o a series of accidents, disabling parts of the plane in stages.

For example; a fire could have caused the communications to be knocked out but left the plane broadly intact. Later, there could have been gradual decompression which would have caused hypoxia, incapacitating the crew and passengers, until the crasH.

A Buddist devotee offers prayers for the missing Malaysian Airline plane MH370 in Bentong, Pahang, Malaysia

8. Would passengers have known something was happening?

It depends on what happened previously. If the events leading up to the plane’s crash were hostile, then it is fair to expect that many passengers were aware that something was wrong.

However, given the time the plane appears to have disappeared – middle of the night – there is a chance many passengers would have been asleep and would have been unaware of the events unfolding around them, especially if the possible crash was just a fluke series of accidents.

A message for pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, captain of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, is pictured at an event to express solidarity to the family members of passengers onboard the plane

9. Did the plane crash land?

It has been estimated that the plane still had enough fuel to fly another 2,200 miles from its known location after its communication devices were turned off. This leaves a dizzyingly large area – and roughly 634 runways where it is possible for an aircraft of that size could have landed.

Other suggestions – mostly from that most verifiable of sources ‘The Internet’ – claim the flight could have landed on a deserted island somewhere. This plays into conspiracy theories suggesting the flight was hijacked and later touched down somewhere.

 

Y

ynk2252

Alfrescian

Loyal

• Feb 2, 2015

• #2,340

Damn Malaysians trying to take the easy way out.