Malaysian flight with 239 people aboard missing, including 153 Chinese nationals

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• Sep 6, 2014

• #321

Australia PM in Malaysia ahead of intensified MH370 search

AFP
September 6, 2014, 6:04 pm

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Australian premier Tony Abbott will visit Malaysia on Saturday ahead of an intensified search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which went missing six months ago and is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

Abbott will meet his counterpart Najib Razak to discuss the dual tragedies of MH370 and MH17, the Malaysia Airlines plane which exploded over strife-torn eastern Ukraine in July, Malaysia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The West has blamed Russian-backed separatists for shooting down MH17, while Moscow blames Kiev.

Abbott's one-day visit is his first since becoming prime minister in September last year.

"High on the agenda is discussions on the status of the two countries' cooperation in relation to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and Flight MH17 incidents," the ministry said.

The two premiers will meet with Malaysian personnel involved in the missions to find MH370 and to salvage wreckage and remains from the MH17 crash site.

They will also discuss other "regional and international issues of common concern".

"This visit will undoubtedly further cement the close and outstanding relations between the two countries," the ministry said.

Later in the day, Abbott will meet business leaders as well as educationists to present his government's "New Colombo Plan", a scholarship programme to encourage more Australians to study across the Indo-Pacific region, officials said.

Australia is leading what has so far been a fruitless search in a vast stretch of the southern Indian Ocean, where MH370 is believed to have gone down after inexplicably veering off course from its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route on March 8.

The Boeing 777-200 was carrying 239 people.

Australian authorities said Friday that "hard spots" had been found on the Indian Ocean seabed but that they would most likely be geological features.

Experts are preparing for a more intense underwater search to begin this month in a dauntingly vast stretch of ocean measuring 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 square miles), in addition to ongoing mapping through a sonar survey.

Malaysia's government and the national flag carrier were widely criticised over what many saw as a disorganised and secretive response to MH370's disappearance.

Flight MH17 went down in Ukraine on July 17, killing all 289 people aboard, including 38 Australian citizens or residents.

Dutch air crash investigators have announced that they will release a preliminary report on Tuesday into what brought down the flight, travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The Netherlands is leading the probe into the crash, which killed 193 Dutch citizens.

 

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• Sep 10, 2014

• #322

New MH370 search to start in two weeks, Australian PM says in Malaysia

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 06 September, 2014, 3:59pm
UPDATED : Monday, 08 September, 2014, 2:27pm

Agence France-Presse in Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott meet in Putrajaya yesterday. Photo: Reuters

A stepped-up underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will start in about two weeks' time, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday as he visited Malaysia to discuss the issue.

Abbott said the hunt for the jet, which inexplicably veered off its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route six months ago with 239 people on board, two-thirds of them from China, would continue for as long as necessary.

Australia has led the search for the Boeing 777 airliner, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean off its west coast. A massive air, sea and underwater search has not yet found any wreckage.

After talks with his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, Abbott said the new phase of the search would begin "in about a fortnight's time".

The underwater search "will utilise the best available technology. It will last as long as it needs to scour the seabed," he said.

Experts have used technical data to narrow down MH370's most likely resting place deep under the Indian Ocean.

The new underwater search will focus on a dauntingly vast stretch of ocean measuring 60,000 square kilometres.

Najib's government and Malaysia Airlines were widely criticised for their response to MH370's disappearance.

Paying his first official visit to Malaysia, Abbott also discussed with Najib the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, which exploded over eastern Ukraine in July.

The two leaders called for "justice" for the 298 people - among them 38 Australian citizens or residents and 43 Malaysians - who were killed in the disaster. The West has accused Russian-backed separatists of shooting down the plane, while Moscow blames Kiev.

Najib said intelligence reports on what happened to the plane were "pretty conclusive", but he did not elaborate.

Dutch air-crash investigators have announced that they will release a preliminary report on Tuesday into what brought down the airliner, another Boeing 777, which had been travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The Netherlands is leading the probe into the crash, in which 193 Dutch citizens were killed.

"What we need to do next is to assemble physical evidence that can be brought to court when the time comes so that it will be proven beyond any doubt that the plane was shot down," Najib said.

He added that investigators needed "at least a few weeks" - before winter set in - to search the MH17 crash site for human remains and to "assemble physical evidence".

Coffins with MH17 victims arrived in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week. Photo: EPA

The search has been suspended since early last month because of heavy fighting between Kiev's forces and rebels in the area, and although most human remains have been recovered, some are believed to still be at the site.

"Once that process is completed, we will look at the criminal side, who is responsible for this atrocious crime," Najib said.

The two prime ministers also met Malaysian personnel involved in the missions to find MH370 and to salvage wreckage and remains from the MH17 crash site.

 

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• Sep 29, 2014

• #323

Search for flight MH370 reveals underwater world on seabed

Extinct volcanoes found on seabed as part of hunt for flight MH370

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 28 September, 2014, 5:16am
UPDATED : Sunday, 28 September, 2014, 5:16am

Agence France-Presse in Sydney

A three-dimensional model of sea floor terrain.

Remnants of volcanoes, towering ridges and deep trenches have been discovered on the seabed of the southern Indian Ocean by experts mapping the underwater terrain as part of the search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

Australian authorities released the 3D images on Friday, revealing for the first time details about the seafloor where efforts are being focused to find the jet, which is presumed to have crashed into the sea on March 8.

The area where the plane is thought to have gone down is largely unexplored, and officials are conducting an intensive survey of the seabed prior to the underwater probe for the plane.

"The recently acquired high-resolution bathymetry [underwater survey] data has revealed many of these seabed features for the first time," said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the agency leading the search.

The MH370 search area far off Western Australia includes the seabed on and around an extensive, mountainous ridge that once formed the margin between two geological plates.

The expanse had many of the features typically found in such areas, with the tectonic movements having created now-extinct volcanoes, rugged ridges up to 300 metres high and trenches some 1,400 metres deep compared with the surrounding sea floor, the bureau said.

It said the identification of these features would assist in navigation during the underwater search phase for the Boeing 777, due to begin next month.

Australia has vowed to do all it can to find the last resting place of MH370, which was carrying 239 people, many of them Chinese, when it went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

 

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• Oct 6, 2014

• #324

With first ship in place, hunt for missing Flight MH370 about to resume

First of three ships seeking missing airliner expected in Indian Ocean today

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 05 October, 2014, 5:51am
UPDATED : Monday, 06 October, 2014, 10:25am

Associated Press in Sydney

Searchers will lower new equipment deep beneath a desolate stretch of the Indian Ocean to search for the missing Boeing 777. Photo: AFP

The hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 resumed on Monday in a desolate stretch of the Indian Ocean, more than six months after the jet vanished.

The GO Phoenix, the first of three ships that will spend up to a year hunting for the wreckage far off Australia’s west coast, is expected to spend 12 days hunting for the jet before heading to shore to refuel.

Crews will use sonar, video cameras and jet fuel sensors to scour the seabed for the Boeing 777, which vanished for reasons unknown on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The search has been on hold for four months so crews could map the seabed in the search zone, about 1,800 kilometres west of Australia. The 60,000-square kilometre search site lies along what is known as the “seventh arc” – a stretch of ocean where investigators believe the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed. Officials analysed transmissions between the plane and a satellite to estimate where it entered the water.

Two other ships being provided by Dutch contractor Fugro are expected to join the Malaysian-contracted GO Phoenix later this month.

The ships will be dragging sonar devices called towfish through the water about 100 metres above the seabed to hunt for the wreckage. The towfish are also equipped with sensors that can detect the presence of jet fuel, and are expected to be able to cope with the dizzying depths of the search zone, which is 6.5 kilometres deep in places.

If anything of interest is spotted on the sonar, crews will attach a video camera to the towfish to film the seabed.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan, whose agency is leading the search, has expressed cautious optimism that the plane will eventually be found.

“We’re confident in the analysis and we’re confident that the aircraft is close to the seventh arc,” he said.

 

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• Oct 14, 2014

• #325

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• Oct 22, 2014

• #326

Malaysia's defence minister hopeful MH370 will be found

AFP
October 22, 2014, 6:40 pm

Perth (Australia) (AFP) - Malaysia's Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Wednesday his country was determined to find missing Flight MH370, as he was briefed by Australian officials leading the complex search deep in the Indian Ocean.

Hishammuddin, who is in the Western Australian port of Fremantle to inspect one of the search ships, the GO Phoenix, said the passengers and crew on board the Malaysia Airlines jet "remain in our thoughts and also in our prayers".

"We must continue to hope because sometimes hope is all we have," Hishammuddin told reporters.

"We will find MH370."

The passenger aircraft was carrying 239 people, about two-thirds of them from China, when it disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. No sign of the Boeing 777 has ever been found despite a massive air and sea search.

The jet is believed to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean after inexplicably veering off course.

Hishammuddin was acting transport minister when the plane went missing and led Malaysia's search for the jet before Liow Tiong Lai replaced him in the transport portfolio in June.

During his visit he toured the GOPhoenix, a Malaysian-contracted vessel which is conducting the underwater search using sophisticated sonar systems.

The renewed underwater probe began in early October and more than 1,200 square kilometres (463 square miles) have so far been scoured without success, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.

GO Phoenix is expected to leave for the Indian Ocean search site on Thursday after its resupply in Fremantle.

The Australian-contracted Fugro Discovery departed the port last week and is set to arrive in the search zone Wednesday, said the ATSB, which is leading the search.

The Chinese survey ship Zhu Kezhen, which has since left the search zone, and the Australian-contracted Fugro Equator have been mapping the seabed since May before the underwater hunt.

The Fugro Equator is expected to finish its seabed mapping duties on Friday before it is outfitted with a sonar system so it can join the underwater search.

Hishammuddin met officials from the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, the Australian agency coordinating information about the search. He said Malaysia was dedicated in its support for the MH370 search.

"All that could have been done to find the plane at this point has been done," he said.

"This is it, the next phase. The search goes on."

 

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• Oct 25, 2014

• #327

Australia asks Indonesia to be on the lookout for debris from Flight MH370

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 23 October, 2014, 9:54pm
UPDATED : Friday, 24 October, 2014, 3:14am

Kyodo in Sydney

Malaysian defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein stands near an underwater probe aboard the Malaysian contracted vehicle, GO Phoenix, docked at Fremantle Port near Perth, Australia. Photo: EPA

Australian authorities have asked their Indonesia counterparts be on the lookout for debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, according to local reports yesterday.

"It is possible that some materials may have drifted to the coastline of Indonesia," an operational report released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the Joint Agency Coordination Centre in charge of coordinating the search efforts for the missing aircraft said.

The report also notes that drift modelling undertaken by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority suggests any floating debris "is far more likely to have travelled west, away from the coastline of Australia".

Flight MH370, with 239 people aboard, was bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur when it vanished over the South China Sea on March 8. No debris from the flight has so far been recovered.

An extensive search has been undertaken by Australian-led authorities, with more than 1,200 sq km of sea floor combed in a new round of operations that began recently.

This followed several months of surveying of the underwater terrain by two contract vessels.

 

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• Oct 29, 2014

• #328

Malaysia Airlines MH370: Australia and Malaysia accused of a cover-up

October 26, 2014 4:53 PM MST

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 map

The countries close to the Malaysia Airlines MH370, the passenger jetliner that disappeared with 239 persons aboard last March 8, are being accused of a cover-up. The accusation comes from Des Ross, an aviation advisor in South Sudan, who claims that there must have been recordings that would tell more of the mysterious story of the flight that went missing, but Australia and Malaysia officials are not providing the public with all the information they must have had. According to the International Business Times on Sunday, there should have been various audio recordings contained in records and hard disks that would detail what transpired during the first four hours that the Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane went missing.

However, alleged recordings from that crucial period of time have not been released to the public. Des Ross who has 35 years of aviation industry experience is now asking what was on those recordings – and blatantly and accusatorily asking Malaysia and Austria why they have been so protective of the recordings which most likely exist. He asked, “What needed to be kept secret from the world even when 239 people were lost?” He stated that the Malaysian Air Force has the ability to intercept an unidentified aircraft, and he accuses the military of continuing to without such information.

Ross insists that there has been absolutely no information made available to the public regarding the first four hours the plane went missing and further insists that such information is in existence - but still kept a secret. He asserts that a recording between Ho Chi Minh City and air traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur, via a voice-data link, has information about that crucial time during the mysterious plane disappearance that has never been made public. He says that such data is kept for 30 days.

Additionally, Ross asserts that if there is no recording of communications between the civil air traffic controller at the Kuala Lumpur control center and a military air defense officer, the non-existence of such a recording would result in an act of criminal negligence. He insists, however, “Nobody can tell us that the recordings do not exist.” He continued by saying that the two nations – Australia and Malaysia – could be accused of covering up vital information which would help the families and independent investigators work out what happened to the aircraft.

In other news on the missing passenger jetliner, multiple media sources including the Telegraph, have recently reported that the plane’s debris - which is assumed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean – is most likely drifting to the west toward the coastline of Indonesia instead of drifting to the east to the coastline of Australia as previously thought. Of that reported news, Transport Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Ruhaizah Mohamed Rashid spoke at a press briefing and stated that there has been no report of debris coming to the shores of Indonesia yet. If debris does should be swept up on Indonesia’s shores, it will be taken to Australia for inspection.

 

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• Nov 1, 2014

• #329

Malaysia Airlines sued by two boys who lost father on MH370

PUBLISHED : Friday, 31 October, 2014, 3:25pm
UPDATED : Friday, 31 October, 2014, 5:37pm

Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur

MH370 is believed to have gone down in a remote patch of the Indian Ocean, where a search is ongoing. Photo: AFP

Two Malaysian children sued Malaysia Airlines and the government on Friday over the loss of their father on flight 370, the first lawsuit filed in the country by relatives of those aboard the jet that mysteriously disappeared eight months ago.

Jee Kinson, 13, and Jee Kinland, 11, accused the civil aviation department of negligence for failing to try and contact the plane within reasonable time after it dropped from the radar while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 with 239 people on board.

The suit filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court alleges the airline was negligent and failed to take all due measures to ensure a safe flight. It also named the director-generals of civil aviation and immigration, the country’s air force chief and the government as respondents and alleged they committed gross neglect and breach of duty.

“We have waited for eight months. After speaking to various experts, we believe we have sufficient evidence for a strong case. A big plane missing in this age of technology is really unacceptable,” their lawyer Arunan Selvaraj said.

The boys are seeking damages for mental distress, emotional pain and the loss of support following the disappearance of their father, Jee Jing Hang. He operated an internet business earning monthly income of nearly 17,000 ringgit (HK$40,000).

Selvaraj said it was “up to the court” to determine the amount of any damages to award.

“The question is, could we have salvaged the situation if action was taken earlier?” Selvaraj said. “We want accountability.”

Nearly two-thirds of the passengers on MH370 were from China. Lawyers from legal firms with experience in plane disasters have approached many of them, but it’s unclear whether any others have sued or are preparing to do so. The fact the plane has not been found will make assigning blame for the incident difficult.

Aviation lawyer Jeremy Joseph said the boys certainly have a case for the authorities to answer in court but it won’t be easy.

“It’s going to be quite challenging as the plane has not been recovered. Without knowing the cause of the incident, it’s all very speculative,” he said.

Joseph said Malaysian civil courts aren’t likely to give big payouts. In the case of the airline, he said the court could likely follow the compensation amount of US$175,000 set under the Montreal Convention. For the other respondents, he said it is an unprecedented case and would depend on the evidence given in court and culpability of the parties.

The plane is believed to have gone down in a remote patch of the Indian Ocean, where a search is ongoing. Not a single piece of debris from the plane has been found so far. Australian officials, who are coordinating the search, have said the hunt for the plane could take another year.

 

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• Nov 13, 2014

• #330

MH370 families furious over report missing jet to be declared 'lost'

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 November, 2014, 3:25pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 12 November, 2014, 3:40am

Agence France-Presse in Kuala Lumpur

An industry source familiar with the MH370 saga said once the plane is declared lost, all search efforts will be stopped. Photo: EPA

Relatives of MH370 passengers have criticised beleaguered Malaysia Airlines after an official reportedly said authorities would set a date to announce the plane “lost”, with an industry source saying such a declaration would see the search called off.

Both Malaysia Airlines and officials in Australia – which is leading the search for the missing jet far off its western coast – have denied the reported comments by the carrier’s commercial director Hugh Dunleavy.

But Voice370, an association of MH370 victims’ relatives, said in a statement late on Monday that it was “bewildered” by the report last week.

“Such unilateral declaration brings intense agony and confusions to family members and makes us lose faith in the search effort,” it said.

A The New Zealand Herald article, citing Dunleavy, said authorities were working to set a date – likely by the end of the year – to formally announce the loss of the Boeing 777, which vanished off radars on March 8 with 239 people aboard.

“We don’t have a final date but once we’ve had an official loss recorded we can work with the next of kin on the full compensation payments for those families,” he was quoted as saying.

An industry source familiar with the MH370 saga said once the plane is declared lost, all search efforts will be stopped.

“The talk has been that the search has been futile so far and it’s unlikely to bring anything,” he said.

In a statement on Monday, Malaysia Airlines distanced itself from Dunleavy’s comments, saying it was his personal opinion and “ongoing search and recovery operations will remain and will not be discontinued”.

It said any information regarding MH370 will only be communicated by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) in Australia.

Officials at the JACC said on Tuesday that Dunleavy’s comments were “greatly disturbing for the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew on board MH370”, reiterating Australia’s commitment to the search.

MH370 inexplicably disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in what remains one of history’s great aviation mysteries.

Australia has been spearheading the hunt for the plane, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean off western Australia.

Some next-of-kin bitterly accuse the Malaysian government and airline of a bungled response and cover-up, charges that they have strenuously denied.

A Malaysian family last month sued the government and the airline for negligence in what is believed to be the first lawsuit filed over the disaster.

 

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• Dec 29, 2014

• #331

Relatives of Flight 370 passengers still pressing for answers

Relatives say officials are shutting them out over search for plane that vanished on March 8

PUBLISHED : Monday, 29 December, 2014, 3:33am
UPDATED : Monday, 29 December, 2014, 8:55am

Wu Nan [email protected]

Relatives of passengers from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 speak to a policeman as he makes a phone call outside the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. Photo: AFP

More than 290 days have passed since Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar, one hour into a journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

In the days leading up to Christmas, more than 30 relatives of passengers on the flight gathered in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, demanding the government pressure the Malaysian authorities for more information on the search.

"The Malaysian officials at the support centre for MH370 relatives have been absent for two weeks … They said they would go back home to renew their passports. The relatives are desperate now that they are cut off from any information," Jiang Hui, one of the relatives, said. "It is the responsibility of the Department of Consular Affairs to protect the rights of Chinese citizens when they travel abroad. Yet the officials there refuse to talk to us and we can't even enter their office."

Police showed up after relatives stood outside the ministry for a few hours and then asked them to leave. One relative was detained for about an hour. "It is difficult for us to understand why our own government is so tough on us. We did nothing but look for our loved ones," Jiang said.

Jiang is a regular visitor to the two offices set up by the Chinese and Malaysian governments near Beijing Capital International Airport to release information about the ongoing search for the plane. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 2pm to 5pm, the offices open their doors and dozens of relatives rush in, among them 60-year-old Gao Xianying, from Guoyang in Anhui province.

"I am in pain every day. I want my daughter and granddaughter to come home," Gao said. Her daughter and son-in-law boarded the plane with their two-month-old daughter for their first trip abroad as a family.

Nan Kaifang, wife of MH370 passenger. Photo: Simon Song

Of the 239 passengers and crew on the missing plane, 154 were Chinese.

Gao and her husband moved to Tongzhou, an eastern suburb of Beijing, in early May when Malaysia Airlines stopped paying for hotel accommodation. She said she changed subway lines three times, took two buses and then walked to get to the offices.

Her biggest wish for the new year was for her family to be gathered at home. "Other than that, I don't know what to do. All I've done is talk to their photographs every day," she said.

Liu Kun, 47, and his sister-in-law, 41-year-old Nan Kaifang, are from Jining in Shandong province. Liu's brother, 40-year-old Liu Qiang, was on board MH370. "We will not give up until we find my brother," Liu said.

Nan said she and her two children had no financial support because her husband, who worked in Malaysia, was the family's breadwinner. They now depend on their relatives' support.

Liu said the family was more than 70,000 yuan (HK$88,000) in debt. Every trip to Beijing cost them at least 6,000 yuan. But he said he had no choice because his ageing parents asked him to continue the visits. "We need my brother to be back or our family is ruined forever," he said.

Jiang's 70-year-old mother was on the plane, and he said he was prepared for the worst but needed direct proof from the Malaysian authorities. "I'm mostly worried what will happen after May next year, when they have said the search will stop at some point. What if the plane is not found by then?"

 

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• Dec 29, 2014

• #332

Western/Ang Moh twitterers this Air Asia is the same as MAS.

 

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• Dec 30, 2014

• #333

What's happening with the search for Flight 370?

By KRISTEN GELINEAU
Dec. 30, 2014 7:27 AM EST

A member of the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) points to a map of a search area during a briefing prior to a search and rescue operation of the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, at Pangkal Pinang command post in Sumatra Island, Monday, Dec. 29, 2014 in Indonesia. Search planes and ships from several countries on Monday were scouring Indonesian waters over which the AirAsia jet disappeared, more than a day into the region's latest aviation mystery. Flight 8501 vanished Sunday in airspace thick with storm clouds on its way from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

SYDNEY (AP) — As hundreds of search crews frantically scour the waters off Indonesia where AirAsia Flight 8501 went down, a couple of ships a few thousand kilometers (miles) to the south are quietly combing another patch of ocean for perhaps the most infamous missing plane of all time — Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Nearly 10 months after the Malaysian aircraft vanished on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, not a single trace of it has been found, despite a massive, Australian-led search effort in the remote waters of the southern Indian Ocean.

The location of Flight 8501 was a more fleeting mystery, though no less tragic: Wreckage and bodies were recovered from the Java Sea on Tuesday, more than two days after air-traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, which carried 162 passengers and crew.

The latest disaster focused attention once again on the frustratingly fruitless hunt for Flight 370. Here is a look at the latest in that search:

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WHERE ARE THEY SEARCHING — AND HOW?

Three ships — two provided by a Dutch contractor and one provided by Malaysia — have 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. Two of the ships have been dragging sonar devices called towfish through the water about 100 meters (330 feet) above the seabed to hunt for the wreckage. The third ship recently finished mapping the seafloor and returned to port in Western Australia last week to be fitted with search equipment.

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HOW FAR HAVE THEY GOTTEN?

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. So far, nothing connected to Flight 370 has been found.

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WHAT ABOUT FLOATING DEBRIS?

Officials believe any wreckage that may have been floating has long since sunk. Still, they did ask Indonesian authorities in August to keep an eye out for any debris that may have drifted to the island nation's shores.

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HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO FINISH THE SEARCH?

It depends. If there are no major delays due to bad weather or issues with the equipment (and there have already been some intermittent equipment problems), the search is expected to be completed by May. Otherwise, it could drag well beyond that.

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SO WHAT DO OFFICIALS THINK HAPPENED?

There are a million theories. But the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading the search effort and has analyzed transmissions between the aircraft and a satellite, is working on the assumption that the plane was flying on autopilot when it ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean. Malaysian officials heading up the investigation have previously said they believe the plane was deliberately diverted by someone on board, and its communications systems intentionally disabled.

 

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• Jan 12, 2015

• #334

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

• #335

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

• #336

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

• #337

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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• Jan 30, 2015

• #338

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.

 

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• Jan 31, 2015

• #339

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

 

PressToTeleport

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• Jan 31, 2015

• #340

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.