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

[YouMakeMyDreams]

​

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

​

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Search and rescue helicopter team confirms 'yellow object' sighting is not life raft from missing jet

More than two days after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing, the final minutes before its disappearance remain a mystery

Andrew Buncombe, Adam Withnall
Monday 10 March 2014

Authorities searching for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 have said a "yellow object" spotted off the coast of Vietnam was not a lift raft from the missing plane.

Earlier the crew from a Vietnamese jet reported seeing a "possible life raft" floating in the sea around 250 miles off the country’s southern coast, but were unable to get close enough to describe it in any more detail, the Vietnamese transport minister said.

Search and rescue teams from Vietnam were dispatched to the area in helicopters, and a ship sent from Malaysia, to investigate the area around 90 miles southwest of Tho Chu Island.

But this morning the Vietnamese Civil Aviation Authority said one of its crews had "salvaged the object... identified as a moss-covered cap of cable reel".

Officials had earlier quashed previous rumours that objects from the plane had been found, and said they were struggling with an "unprecedented aviation mystery".

Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, the director-general of Malaysia's own Civil Aviation body, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said samples of oil from a slick on the ocean were still being tested to see if had come from flight MH370.

"As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft, we have to find a piece of the aircraft if possible," he said.

Earlier, Malaysia's interior minister had suggested two passengers travelling on stolen European passports, had "Asian" features. Investigators said at the weekend that the passengers using those passports were the focus of their inquiry.

"I am still puzzled how come the immigration officers cannot think 'an Italian and Austrian but with Asian facial features'," Interior Minister Zahid Hamidi was quoted as saying by Bernama, Malaysia's national news agency.

Asked about this on Monday, Mr Rahman said investigators were still assessing CCTV footage of the passengers checking in for the flight. "We have to get a report from the investigation team. They are doing the investigation," he said.

He also said that five passengers who checked-in for the flight but who did not board, had had their luggage removed and checked. Nothing untoward was found.

More than two days after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing, the final minutes before its disappearance remain a mystery. The plane lost contact with ground controllers somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Malaysian military officials said on Sunday that the plane, a Boeing 777-200ER, may have turned back from its scheduled route shortly before vanishing from radar screens.

Mr Rahman said officials had set no time-frame for the search and referred to the search for Air France flight 447 which went missing in 2009 on route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 aboard.

It took investigators two years to locate the black box recorders and three years to piece together what happened. A report eventually blamed a combination of technical failure and pilot error.

"The experts have said this is a very big area for us to cover," Mr Rahman said of the area currently being searched. "We all have to work together to find this aircraft... It will take as long as it takes to find the aircraft."

Family members comfort Chrisman Siregar (left) and his wife Herlina Panjaitan, the parents of Firman Siregar, one of the Indonesian citizens thought to have boarded the Malaysia Airlines jetliner

A total of 34 aircraft and 40 ships from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, China and the United States have been deployed to the area where ground controllers lost contact with the plane, the maritime border between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board, two-thirds were Chinese, while the rest were from elsewhere in Asia, Europe and North America. Five Indians were among the passengers.

The thefts of the two passports - one belonging to Austrian Christian Kozel and the other to Luigi Maraldi of Italy - were entered into Interpol's database after they were stolen in Thailand in 2012 and last year, the police body said.

But no authorities in Malaysia or elsewhere checked the passports against the database of 40 million stolen or lost travel documents before the Malaysia Airlines plane took off.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines said it was working to provide relatives of those on board the flight visas and flights to enable them to travel to Kuala Lumpur, if they wished

"Malaysia Airlines' primary focus at this point in time is to care for the families," it said in a statement. "This means providing them with timely information, travel facilities, accommodation, meals, medical and emotional support. The costs for these are all borne by Malaysia Airlines."

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Flight MH370: officials 'puzzled' by Malaysia mystery as search widens

Teams from nine countries working non-stop, officials say, as hunt goes on for plane missing with 239 people on board

Tania Branigan in Beijing and Kate Hodal in Songkhla, Thailand
The Guardian Monday 10 March 2014 10.16 GMT

A relative of a passenger on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 waits for news in Beijing on Monday. A relative of a passenger on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 waits for news in Beijing on Monday. Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Search crews involving nine countries are working “every hour, every minute, every second” across a huge swathe of the South China Sea but have yet to find any evidence of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, the country’s civil aviation chief said on Monday.

Almost 60 hours after flight MH370 vanished from radar screens in the early hours of Saturday officials remain “puzzled” by its sudden disappearance and are considering all possible angles, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said.

“Unfortunately, we have not found anything that appears to be an object from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft,” he said.

The Beijing-bound flight was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it went missing around 40 minutes after its 12.41am take-off from Kuala Lumpur, over the seas between Malaysia and Vietnam. The Boeing-777 was cruising at 35,000 feet when it disappeared in apparently good weather, gave no indication of any problems and did not issue a distress call.

Rahman added: “There are many theories that have been said in the media; many experts around the world have contributed their expertise and knowledge about what could happen, what happened....We are puzzled as well.

“To confirm what happened on that particular day on this ill-fated aircraft...we need concrete evidence, parts of the aircraft for us to analyse, for us to do forensic study.”

He said that the government had not discounted speculation about a hijack, but was looking at every possible explanation, noting that it took two years to determine the cause of the 2009 Air France crash.

He confirmed that five passengers had checked in for the flight but not boarded, adding that their baggage was removed from the aircraft as necessary in such cases.

Concerns that terrorist might be responsible have been fuelled by the fact two passengers were travelling on stolen European passports - although experts have said that fraudulent documents are reasonably common on regional flights for a variety of reasons.

The men who used them were of Asian appearance, Malaysia’s home minister said late on Sunday.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told state news agency Bernama: “I am still perturbed. Can’t these immigration officials think? Italian and Austrian [passports] but with Asian faces.”

The Malaysian prime minister has said the country will review its security procedures.

The passports were stolen from Luigi Maraldi and Christian Kozel in the last two years, and were listed as stolen on Interpol’s database. The international police agency said the documents had not been checked with its system and that it had long urged all countries to check passports systematically.

The suggestion that the plane may have turned back just before disappearing from radar screens - mooted by officials yesterday – remains unconfirmed, Rahman added.

Nine countries are now taking part in the search, which Rahman said covered the area within a 50 nautical mile radius of the aircraft’s last known position and the northern Straits of Malacca in case the plane had turned back.

“We are every hour, every minute, every second looking at every inch of the sea,” he said.

Forty ships are working round the clock, while 34 aircraft are working during daylight hours. Potential sightings of aircraft debris by Vietnamese searchers have not been verified, Rahman said.

A potential sighting of part of a door had not been confirmed and an item thought to be part of an aircraft tail turned out to be several logs tied together, he said.

Authorities have taken oil samples from a slick in the area and say they should know this afternoon whether it is connected to the aircraft or came from a ship.

Malaysia Airlines said in a statement it posted today that its primary focus was caring for the families of passengers, some of whom it has already flown to Kuala Lumpur. It has also sent counsellors to Beijing as two-thirds of the travellers were Chinese.

“We appreciate the help we are receiving from all parties and agencies during this critical and difficult time...Malaysia Airlines is similarly anxious and we appreciate the patience, support and prayers from everyone,” it said.

But many of the Chinese passengers’ relatives have complained that the airline has so far given them little information or support and have chosen to stay in Beijing.

An editorial in the state-run Global Times newspaper attacked the airline and authorities on Monday, warning: “The Malaysian side cannot shirk its responsibilities. The initial response from Malaysia was not swift enough.”

It added: “There are loopholes in the work of Malaysia Airlines and security authorities. If it is due to a deadly mechanical breakdown or pilot error, then Malaysia Airlines should take the blame. If this is a terrorist attack, then the security check at the Kuala Lumpur airport and on the flight is questionable.”

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

China urges Malaysia to step up search for missing passenger plane as families grow impatient

Crime agency reveals that bogus documents used by two passengers travelling on missing Malaysia Airlines flight were on its database

PUBLISHED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 6:05am
UPDATED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 6:39pm

Staff Reporters in Beijing and Agencies in Kuala Lumpur and Phu Quoc Island

Malaysian Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) Director General Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (right) at a news conference at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang. Photo: Reuters

China on Monday night urged Malaysia to step up the search for a missing passenger plane, as it sent security agents to assist with an investigation into stolen passports.

As dozens of ships and aircraft scoured the seas around the area where flight MH370 was last heard of, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said families of the 239 people on board - some two-thirds of whom were Chinese nationals - deserved an explanation as to what happened as soon as possible.

"This incident happened more than two days ago, and we hope that the Malaysians can fully understand the urgency of China, especially of the family members, and can step up the speed of the investigation and increase efforts on search and rescue," Qin told reporters at a daily news briefing.

A friend of one passenger, speaking to reporters after a meeting with China’s civil aviation authority and government officials in Beijing, said fearful families of the missing were growing impatient.

"The family members are really not happy. They feel like they have waited far too long," the man, surnamed Zhou, said.

"The main thing they are interested in is whether there is anyone left alive or not."

Ships are seen from a flying Soviet-made AN-26 of the Vietnam Air Force during a search operation for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 over the South China Sea. Photo: AP

A statement from Malaysia Airlines Monday evening said the company was "actively cooperating with the search and rescue authorities coordinated by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) and the Ministry of Transport".

It said search and rescue teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, New Zealand and the United States of America had come forward to assist and that it was "very grateful" for their efforts.

Earlier Monday a high-ranking Malaysian official said all possibilites were still being investigated, including the possibilty the plane was hijacked before vanishing from radar screens Saturday night.

Director-general of Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, told a press conference that "every aspect of what could [have] happened on this ill-fated aircraft" was being probed.

He also said that despite reports that debris had been spotted by a Vietnamese search crew, the country's authorities had not been able to confirm any positive sighting.

“Unfortunately ladies and gentleman, we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft," he said.

A cabin crew of Division 918 of the Vietnam Air Force is onboard a flying Soviet-made AN-26 during a search operation for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 over the South China Sea Monday. Photo: AP

“There are various reports or sightings of objects that... agencies have reported with the various media. There was a report Vietnamese located an unidentified piece of the aircraft…it may have been a door of the aircraft.

“To inform all of you, that report was not verified officially by the Vietnamese authorities to date.”

Last night Interpol announced that Malaysia's international air security standards were being probed, after it said two stolen passports used by passengers on board the flight were in its database and could have been checked by officials in Kuala Lumpur.

The disclosure came as material suspected of belonging to the missing airliner was found by a Vietnamese Navy plane more than 40 hours after an international search was launched for the lost Boeing 777 aircraft and its 239 passengers and crew.

Oil slicks had earlier been spotted in the sea south of Vietnam by the country's air force.

China's Ministry of Public Security said it was sending a task force to Malaysia to help investigate after police revealed that a forged mainland passport was used by one of three passengers confirmed to be travelling on false documents.

A fourth case is being examined by officials investigating the disappearance of the plane as a possible terror attack.

"While it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol's databases," the agency's secretary general, Ronald Noble, said in a statement issued by its headquarters in Lyons, France.

"For years Interpol has asked why should countries wait for a tragedy to put prudent security measures in place at borders and boarding gates."

In a fresh statement Monday morning Malaysia Airlines said eight countries had offered search and rescue assistance, while families of those missing continued to gather in Kuala Lumpur.

"Malaysia Airlines is working closely with the government of China to expedite the issuance of passports for the families as well as with the immigration of Malaysia for their visas into Malaysia," the statement said.

"When the aircraft is located, a Response Coordination Centre (RCC) will be activated within the vicinity to support the needs of the families."

Earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the country's airport security protocols were being reviewed.

Passport of Fujian man who is still in China. Photo: SCMP

The two men who boarded the plane with passports stolen from Italian Luigi Maraldi and Austrian Christian Kozel were booked to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam via Beijing before flying to Copenhagen and Frankfurt separately.

Both flights had been booked with China Southern Airlines, which operates some flights jointly with other companies including Malaysia Airlines, and their ticket numbers were consecutive.

It appeared the tickets were purchased at the same time in Thai baht at identical prices, according to China's official e-ticket verification system Travelsky.

A military representative takes photos from the window of an aircraft belonging to the Vietnamese airforce during a search off Vietnam's Tho Chu island on March 10, 2014. Photo: Reuters

The passenger travelling on the forged mainland passport was listed on the airline manifest as Zhao Qiwei, but Fujian police said the true holder of the passport was still in the province and had never travelled abroad, Xinhua reported.

The mystery surrounding the airliner's last minutes deepened after Malaysian military officials said yesterday that the plane may have turned back from its scheduled route just before contact with it was lost.

Rodzali Daud, the Royal Malaysian Air Force chief, told reporters at a news conference that radar recordings had revealed the possibility that the aircraft had turned back from its scheduled flight path.

But Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the Boeing 777's systems would have set off alarm bells.

"When there is an air turn-back the pilot would be unable to proceed as planned," he said, adding authorities were "quite puzzled" over the situation.

Rolls-Royce, which made the plane's engines, told the Post it was sending investigators all information it had from its systems which monitor in-flight engine performance.

At least 34 aircraft and 40 ships have been deployed to the area by Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China and the United States. Vietnam, the Philippines and Australia have also deployed vessels not included in these numbers.

A Chinese maritime vessel, "China Coast Guard 3411", arrived on the scene early yesterday afternoon.

US officials from Boeing, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are also headed to Vietnam. The FBI is sending agents and technical experts.

Associated Press, Reuters

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Search for missing Malaysian flight continues as Chinese business group in Vietnam plan to join rescue

PUBLISHED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 7:42pm
UPDATED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 7:42pm

Phila Siu in Phu Qhoc Island, Vietnam [email protected]

An iPad is used as an equipment to support orientation by a military official inside a Vietnamese Air Force plane during search and rescue operations for a missing Malaysian Airlines flight, off Vietnam's Tho Chu island on Monday. Photo: EPA

The Vietnamese Navy was on Monday making a last-ditch effort to locate the Malaysian Airline flight MH370 that has already gone missing for three days.

Uniformed naval officers flew into the Phu Qhoc island in the southern part of Vietnam on Monday. An oil spill was earlier spotted near the area.

One officer limited himself in saying before he headed to a restricted airport that the navy was having a meeting at the airport convened for a rescue mission. Others were tight-lipped.

A South China Morning Post reporter visited a naval base on the island but the officers again refused to give details of the rescue mission.

"There is no update yet," one officer said.

Xinhua news agency quoted a Vietnamese navy commander as saying that a command centre would be set up at the airport in Phu Qhoc island.

Vietnamese media Nhan Dan reported on Monday that the country’s armed forces were widening the scope of their search to further northwest from their previously indicated area.

Malaysia is scouring the area to the south of the Ho Chi Minh City-based flight information region, while Singapore searches the waters between Vietnam and Malaysia.

Nhan Fan said a total of 23 planes and 39 vessels from Vietnam, Malaysia, China, the United States, the Philippines and Singapore are expected to join the search mission.

The Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 had been carrying 239 passengers bound for Beijing before it disappeared from air-traffic-control screens on Saturday.

Chinese businessmen in Vietnam are making an all-out effort to help the families desperate for news of their loved ones onboard the missing Malaysian Airline flight.

The China Business Association’s Ho Chi Minh branch said that it can provide 132 translators and 72 cars to help carry a total of 510 people to join the rescue mission.

“Everyone at the business association and all of our volunteers will offer any necessary help that the (Chinese) embassy has instructed,” the association said in a statement posted on its web site on Monday.

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Warning of ‘possible terrorist attack on China’ received by Taiwan days before Malaysia Airlines jet vanished

National Security Bureau chief Tsai De-sheng says the agency passed on a warning of planned attacks on Beijing airport and the city’s subway system to Chinese authorities

PUBLISHED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 4:49pm
UPDATED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 8:30pm

Bryan Harris [email protected]

A warning of a possible terrorist attack on China was received by Taiwan last week. Photo: AP

Taiwan’s spy chief revealed on Monday that the island’s security officials had last week received a warning of possible terrorist attacks in China.

National Security Bureau chief Tsai De-sheng told a legislative committee on Monday that the agency had passed on a warning of planned attacks on Beijing airport and the city’s subway system to Chinese authorities, after receiving it on March 4.

Tsai did not specify how the warning, which came three days after a knife attack at Kunming railway station left 29 civilians dead, had been relayed to the bureau.

However, security chiefs were believed to have received the alert from China Airlines, following a phone call to the company earlier in the day from a man who said he wanted to warn of possible terrorist activity.

Claiming to work for an anti-terrorism organisation in France, the caller at first spoke in French, but switched to Putonghua with a Cantonese accent after the airline’s switchboard operator could not understand him.

China Airlines on Monday confirmed that a call was received on March 4 and said information received had been passed to Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Authority and Aviation Police.

A statement by the airline said: “China Airlines on March 4 received calls claiming to provide intelligence on terror organisations, referring to mainland China, [saying] Beijing airport will have terrorist attacks.”

There is no indication that the warning was connected to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which vanished from radar in the early hours of Saturday, March 8.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou on Monday instructed the defence ministry and coastguard aircraft and vessels to join the search for the plane which went missing along with 227 passengers and 12 crew members off the coast of Vietnam.

Separately, on March 3 China Airlines circulated an unrelated ‘Aviation Security Notice’ to all staff, warning of a “significant risk of terrorist attacks and military actions against aviation”, a spokeswoman confirmed today.

The spokeswoman said the notice was issued in the wake of the March 1 Kunming railway station attacks in which 29 civilians were hacked to death by rampaging knifemen.

It urged all staff to “carry out your security responsibilities accordingly”, adding that: “All staff in mainland China please be aware of individual security.”

The spokesman said that although security alerts were circulated from time to time, they are not automatically issued during high-profile events such as the ongoing National People’s Congress meetings in Beijing.

As a search for the plane continued on Monday, a high-ranking Malaysian official said hijacking could not be ruled out as a possible explanation for the disappearance.

Director-general of Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said all possibilities were being investigated, but added that despite reports that debris had been spotted by a Vietnamese search crew, the country’s authorities had not been able to confirm any positive sighting.

Despite the so far fruitless search over the South China Sea, a Chinese coast guard ship has detected “two large swathes of oil slick” possibly related to the aircraft, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday afternoon.

The China Coast Guard 3411, which was scouring waters between Malaysia and Vietnam along with dozens of other planes and vessels from at least eight other nations, has taken samples of the oil slick for examination, CCTV reported.

Last night Interpol announced that Malaysia’s international air security standards were being probed, after it said two stolen passports used by passengers on board the flight were in its database and could have been checked by officials in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the country’s airport security protocols were being reviewed.

The two men who boarded the plane with passports stolen from Italian Luigi Maraldi and Austrian Christian Kozel were booked to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam via Beijing before flying to Copenhagen and Frankfurt separately.

Both flights had been booked with China Southern Airlines, which operates some flights jointly with other companies including Malaysia Airlines, and their ticket numbers were consecutive.

It appeared the tickets were purchased at the same time in Thai baht at identical prices, according to China’s official e-ticket verification system Travelsky.

Additional reporting by Lawrence Chung in Taipei

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

China deploys satellites for missing plane search

Xinhua | 2014-3-10 23:01:19
By Agencies

China has adjusted the operations of orbiting satellites to help in the search of the missing flight MH370, according to a website run by the People's Liberation Army.

Citing Xi'an Satellite Monitor and Control Center, the China military web (chinamil.com.cn) reported late Monday that the center had launched an emergency response for the search and adjusted up to ten high-resolution satellites.
The center purged the original commands of several satellites to offer full services in weather monitoring, communication and other aspects for the search.

Contact with Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was lost along with its radar signal at 1:20 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday as it was flying over the Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control area in Vietnam.

The flight was carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers, including more than 150 Chinese.

A large-scale search conducted by multiple countries has found no sign of the plane so far.

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Oil slick spotted by rescuers ‘not from missing Malaysia Airlines flight’, tests reveal

Search for flight MH370 continues after it vanished from radar on Saturday morning

PUBLISHED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 9:26am
UPDATED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 10:24pm

Reuters in Kuala Lumpur

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER that disappeared from air traffic control screens Saturday, taking off from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. Photos: AP, EPA

An oil slick spotted on Sunday by the Vietnamese air force did not come from the burst tanks of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, tests revealed on Monday night.

As yet another sighting of suspected crash debris proved to be a false lead, rescuers remained in the dark as to the fate of the passenger jet and the 239 people on board, which has been missing for almost three days.

Faidah Shuib, spokeswoman for the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency, said tests had shown that the slick spotted had come from a ship.

"The chemical department has confirmed this evening the oil found in Malaysian waters yesterday is bunker oil, and is not used by any aircraft."

A handout picture shows what is believed to be an oil slick stretching a length of about 15-20 km in the sea off the Vietnamese coast. Tests on Monday revealed fuel discovered by Vietnamese spotters had come from a boat. Photo: EPA

Over the last 24 hours search teams have ruled out a number of objects seen floating in the water.

A "yellow object" spotted by the crew of a Vietnamese jet, which it was reported may have been a life raft, turned out to be moss-covered rubbish, dashing hopes of survivors after more than two days of fruitless search.

On Monday afternoon a Chinese coastguard ship detected "two large swathes of oil slick" possibly related to the aircraft, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

Samples of the oil slick were taken for examination, CCTV reported. It was not immediately clear whether it was a separate slick.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished after climbing to a cruising altitude of 10,668 metres between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing in the early hours of Saturday.

Search teams have not been able to make any confirmed discovery of wreckage in seas beneath the plane’s flight path.
The fact that we are unable to find any debris so far appears to indicate that the aircraft is likely to have disintegrated at around 35,000 feet

"The fact that we are unable to find any debris so far appears to indicate that the aircraft is likely to have disintegrated at around 35,000 feet," said the source, who is involved in preliminary investigations in Malaysia.

If the plane had plunged intact from such a height, breaking up only on impact with the water, search teams would have expected to find a fairly concentrated pattern of debris, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly on the investigation.

Asked about the possibility of an explosion, such as a bomb, the source said there was no evidence yet of foul play and that the aircraft could have broken up due to mechanical issues.

Boeing, the maker of the 777-200ER, declined to comment and referred to its earlier statement, which said it was monitoring the situation.

The Malaysian source said the closest parallels to the Malaysian Airlines disappearance were the explosion on board an Air India jetliner in 1985 when it was over the Atlantic Ocean, and the Lockerbie air disaster in 1988. Both planes were cruising at around 31,000 feet when bombs went off on board.

Canadian and Indian police have long alleged the Air India bombing was conducted by Sikh extremists living in western Canada as revenge on India for the deadly 1984 assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikhism’s holiest shrine.

A photo released by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam shows an object floating in the sea. Photo: Reuters

The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie killed 259 passengers and crew and another 11 people on the ground. A Libyan intelligence officer was convicted for the attack.

International police agency Interpol has said at least two of the passengers on board the Malaysian plane, and possibly more, used passports listed as missing or stolen on its database.

"Whilst it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol’s databases," Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said in a statement.

US and European security officials have however maintained there is no proof yet of foul play and there could be other explanations for the use of stolen passports.

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Ten countries scour sea for Malaysia jet lost in 'unprecedented mystery'

By Eveline Danubrata and Nguyen Phuong Linh
KUALA LUMPUR/PHU QUOC ISLAND, Vietnam Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:38pm GMT

Rescue officials and journalist sit in an aircraft AN-26 belonging to the Vietnam Air Force during a search and rescue mission off Vietnam's Tho Chu island March 10, 2014. REUTERS-Kham

(Reuters) - T he disappearance of a Malaysian airliner about an hour into a flight to Beijing is an "unprecedented mystery", the civil aviation chief said on Monday, as a massive air and sea search now in its third day failed to find any trace of the plane or 239 people on board.

Dozens of ships and aircraft from 10 countries scoured the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam as questions mounted over possible security lapses and whether a bomb or hijacking attempt could have brought down the Boeing 777-200ER which took off from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The area of the search would be widened from Tuesday, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the head of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority, told reporters.

A senior police official told Reuters that people armed with explosives and carrying false identity papers had tried to fly out of Kuala Lumpur in the past, and that current investigations were focused on two passengers who were on the missing plane with stolen passports.

"We have stopped men with false or stolen passports and carrying explosives, who have tried to get past KLIA (airport) security and get on to a plane," he said. "There have been two or three incidents, but I will not divulge the details."

Interpol confirmed on Sunday at least two passengers used stolen passports and said it was checking whether others aboard had used false identity documents.

Azharuddin said a hijacking attempt could not be ruled out as investigators explore all theories for the loss of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

"Unfortunately we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft," he told a news conference. "As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft. We have to find a piece of the aircraft if possible."

Azharuddin also said the two men with stolen passports did not look like Asians, but he did not elaborate. Airport CCTV footage showed they completed all security procedures, he said.

"We are looking at the possibility of a stolen passport syndicate," he said.

About two-thirds of the 227 passengers and 12 crew now presumed to have died aboard the plane were Chinese. The airline said other nationalities included 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French and three Americans.

China urged Malaysia to speed up the search for the plane.

"This incident happened more than two days ago, and we hope that the Malaysians can fully understand the urgency of China, especially of the family members, and can step up the speed of the investigation and increase efforts on search and rescue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing.

A senior source involved in preliminary investigations in Malaysia said the failure to find any debris indicated the plane may have broken up mid-flight, which could disperse wreckage over a very wide area.

"The fact that we are unable to find any debris so far appears to indicate that the aircraft is likely to have disintegrated at around 35,000 feet," said the source.

Asked about the possibility of an explosion, the source said there was no evidence of foul play and that the aircraft could have broken up due to mechanical causes.

Still, the source said the closest parallels were the bomb explosions on board an Air India jetliner in 1985 when it was over the Atlantic Ocean and a Pan Am aircraft over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988. Both planes were cruising at around 31,000 feet at the time.

The United States extensively reviewed imagery taken by American spy satellites for evidence of a mid-air explosion, but saw none, a U.S. government source said. The source described U.S. satellite coverage of the region as thorough.

MOSS-COVERED CABLE REEL

Hopes for a breakthrough rose briefly when Vietnam scrambled helicopters to investigate a floating yellow object it was thought could have been a life raft. But the country's Civil Aviation Authority said on its website that the object turned out to be a "moss-covered cap of a cable reel".

Flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Saturday, about an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur, after climbing to a cruising altitude of 35,000 ft (10,670 metres).

Underlining the lack of hard information about the plane's fate, a U.S. Navy P-3 aircraft capable of covering 1,500 sq miles every hour was sweeping the northern part of the Strait of Malacca, on the other side of the Malaysian peninsula from where the last contact with MH370 was made.

No distress signal was sent from the lost plane, which experts said suggested a sudden catastrophic failure or explosion, but Malaysia's air force chief said radar tracking showed it may have turned back from its scheduled route before it disappeared.

The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on July 6 last year when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 struck a seawall on landing in San Francisco, killing three people.

The passenger manifest issued by the airline included the names of two Europeans - Austrian Christian Kozel and Italian Luigi Maraldi - who were not on the plane. Their passports had been stolen in Thailand during the past two years.

An Interpol spokeswoman said a check of all documents used to board the plane had revealed more "suspect passports", which were being investigated.

"Whilst it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol's databases," Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said.

A European diplomat in Kuala Lumpur cautioned that the Malaysian capital was an Asian hub for illegal migrants, many of whom used false documents and complex routes including via Beijing or West Africa to reach a final destination in Europe.

"You shouldn't automatically think that the fact there were two people on the plane with false passports had anything to do with the disappearance of the plane," the diplomat said.

"The more you know about the role of Kuala Lumpur in this chain, the more doubtful you are of the chances of a linkage."

A Thai travel agent who arranged the tickets for the two passengers using the stolen passports said she had booked them on the flight via Beijing because they were the cheapest tickets, the Financial Times reported.

The travel agent in the resort of Pattaya said an Iranian business contact she knew only as "Mr Ali" had asked her to book tickets for the two men on March 1.

She had initially booked them on other airlines but those reservations expired and on March 6, Mr Ali had asked her to book them again. She told the newspaper she did not think Mr Ali, who paid her in cash and booked tickets with her regularly, was linked to terrorism.

(Additional reporting by Siva Govindasamy, Niluksi Koswanage, Stuart Grudgings, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Yantoultra Ngui in KUALA LUMPUR, Ben Blanchard, Megha Rajagopalan and Adam Rose in BEIJING, Martin Petty in HANOI, Robert Birsel in BANGKOK, Alwyn Scott in NEW YORK, Naomi O'Leary in ROME, Tim Hepher in PARIS, Brian Leonal in SINGAPORE and Mark Hosenball and Ian Simpson in WASHINGTON; Writing by Alex Richardson; Editing by Nick Macfie)

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Blame game erupts as China criticises Malaysia over MH370

AFP
March 11, 2014, 5:15 am

Beijing (AFP) - Beijing on Monday blamed Kuala Lumpur for a lack of information about a vanished Malaysia Airlines flight, as tearful relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers aboard voiced frustration with all sides of the response effort.

Nearly two-thirds of the 239 people aboard Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 were from China, and if the loss of the aircraft is confirmed, it would be China's second-worst ever air disaster.

The Chinese government "urges the Malaysian side to step up their efforts to speed up the investigation and provide accurate information to China in a timely fashion," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

"They should also properly manage work related to family members of passengers and follow-up issues," he added.

Qin noted that "the incident is still under investigation", but China's state-run media minced no words, lashing out at Malaysia and its national carrier over their handling of the missing jet, demanding answers despite the early stage of the investigation and calling for a swifter effort.

For its part, MAS said in a statement that it is deploying an additional aircraft on Tuesday "to bring the families from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur".

Officials said an Italian and an Austrian whose names were on the passenger manifest -- who both had their passports stolen in Thailand -- were not on board.

"The Malaysian side cannot shirk its responsibilities," the Global Times newspaper, which is close to China's ruling Communist Party, wrote in a scathing editorial. "The initial response from Malaysia was not swift enough.

"There are loopholes in the work of Malaysia Airlines and security authorities," it said.

"If it is due to a deadly mechanical breakdown or pilot error, then Malaysia Airlines should take the blame. If this is a terrorist attack, then the security check at Kuala Lumpur airport and on the flight is questionable."

China itself regularly enforces heavyweight security, but authorities are often secretive about real or alleged incidents.

- Terrorism fears -

The China Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial that "terrorism cannot be ruled out".

"The fact that some of the passengers on board were travelling with false passports should serve as a reminder to the whole world that security can never be too tight," it added.

"Terrorism, the evil of the world, is still trying to stain human civilisation with the blood of innocent lives," it said.

Malaysia's police chief said Monday that one of the men who used the passports had been identified.

Later Monday the country's Civil Aviation Department chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said that the two men were not of Asian appearance, contrary to previous reports.

At a Beijing hotel, Malaysian embassy officials were processing visa applications for families wanting to take up an airline's offer to travel to Kuala Lumpur to be closer to the rescue operations.

Scores of relatives made their way into the room, some in groups of five or six, clutching handkerchiefs and wiping away tears from their faces.

Late on Monday some family members arrived at Beijing's international airport in a small white bus, witnesses at the scene told AFP.

The bus arrived ahead of a 1:30 a.m. flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday which some family members had been expected to board. However there was no confirmation of their travel plans.

Earlier many relatives said they would not travel to Malaysia.

"There is more we can do here in China," one woman told AFP. "They haven't even found the plane yet."

- Calls for action -

Some have criticised Malaysia Airlines' response and information disclosure, asking the Chinese government to devote "strong attention" to the incident.

"There is very little information coming from the airline," lamented one 40-year-old Chinese man, who said his best friend was on the plane. "They are very slow. We have to rely on the media."

Chinese government officials had met relatives on Monday, said one, but added: "We really don't know at this point what sort of help they can offer."

Beijing sent a working group to Malaysia on Monday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, including officials from the foreign, public security and transport ministries.

The aircraft's disappearance came one week after a deadly attack at a train station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, in which a group of knife-wielding assailants killed 29 people and wounded 143.

Both Beijing and Washington have condemned the mass stabbing as an act of terror, with Chinese authorities blaming it on separatists from the restive far western region of Xinjiang.

Even as information remains sparse and the hours tick by, many relatives in Beijing continue to believe that the passengers may yet be found, according to one US-trained psychologist who counselled about 20 families awaiting news at the hotel.

"I think most of them are holding onto that thin ray of hope," he said. "Whether they believe it to be realistic or not, most of them are not letting it go."

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Hunt for Mr Ali: Mystery Iranian businessman ‘bought tickets used by men on stolen passports’ who boarded doomed Malaysian Airlines flight to China

March 10, 2014 Henri Le Riche General, Global News

By James Rush

• Search teams still unable to find trace of missing Malaysia Airlines plane
  
• Searches taking place in South China Sea where last contact was made
• U.S. led search meanwhile is also taking place near Andaman Sea
• Interpol investigating whether up to four passengers had stolen passports
• Men who used stolen passports not of Asian appearance, investigators say
• Five passengers also checked on to flight but did not board plane
• China has urged Malaysia to step up search as it also sends rescue teams
• Thai travel agent says Iranian businessman booked tickets for the two stolen passport passengers

An Iranian businessman known only as Mr Ali is understood to have booked the tickets for the two passengers using the stolen passports of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, it has emerged.

Authorities had today still found no trace of the missing plane despite searches by ships from six navies and dozens of military aircraft.

A Thai travel agent who arranged the tickets for the two passengers has now said she had booked them on the flight via Beijing because they were the cheapest tickets, it has been reported.

The travel agent in the resort of Pattaya said an Iranian business contact she knew only as ‘Mr Ali’ had asked her to book tickets for the two men on March 1.

She had initially booked them on other airlines but those reservations expired and on March 6, Mr Ali had asked her to book them again.

She told the Financial Times she did not think Mr Ali, who paid her in cash and booked tickets with her regularly, was linked to terrorism.

The massive search is mainly in a 50-nautical mile radius from where the last contact with the plane was made, midway between Malaysia’s east coast and the southern tip of Vietnam.

A U.S. led search meanwhile is also taking place hundreds of miles away on the other side of the Malaysian peninsula.

The search was stepped up for debris and clues, as police today revealed the two men who boarded the plane with stolen passports were not of Asian appearance

Malaysia’s civil aviation chief said today that the search for the Boeing 777 which vanished early Saturday morning had failed to find anything and that a sighting of a yellow object, which was earlier suspected to have been a life raft, was found to be a false alarm.

It has now also been confirmed an oil slick suspected of coming from the wreckage was not jet fuel.

Flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Saturday, about an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur. Searches for the plane are now taking place throughout the area

Underlining the lack of hard information about the plane’s fate, a U.S. Navy P-3 aircraft capable of covering 1,500 sq miles every hour was sweeping the northern part of the Strait of Malacca, on the other side of the Malaysian peninsula from where the last contact with MH370 was made.

‘Our aircraft are able to clearly detect small debris in the water, but so far it has all been trash or wood,’ said U.S. 7th Fleet spokesman Commander William Marks in an emailed statement.

As Interpol investigates whether up to four passengers boarded the plane using stolen passports, it was today revealed five passengers checked on to the flight but did not board the plane. Their baggage was removed before it departed.

The Boeing 777 went missing early on Saturday morning on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Malaysia’s civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman described the disappearance of the plane as an ‘unprecedented aviation mystery’.

He said a hijacking could not be ruled out as investigators explore all theories for the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

‘Unfortunately we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft,’ he told a news conference.

‘As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft, we have to find a piece of the aircraft if possible.’

As dozens of ships and aircraft from seven countries scour the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam, questions mounted over possible security lapses and whether a bomb or hijacking could have brought down the Boeing airliner.

Malaysia has expanded the search to its west coast after theories that the plane may have turned back toward Kuala Lumpur for some reason. A total of 34 aircraft and 40 ships from 10 nations are involved in the search.

The U.S. 7th Fleet has sent a P-3C Orion surveillance plane from its base in Okinawa, Japan, and the USS Pinckney destroyer that is equipped with two MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for search and rescue.

The Orion was used for more than three hours on Sunday, sweeping about 4,000 sq km every hour. It is equipped with the APS-147, an advanced radar system that can identify a soccer ball bobbing in the water from hundreds of feet in the air.

The Seahawks have been used for night searches, using a forward-looking infra-red camera.

‘There are lots of challenges,” said Commander William Marks, a spokesman for the 7th Fleet.

‘First should the central point be the point of last communication or last radar contact? Then you have to account for winds and currents. Every hour, the area gets bigger. It’s been three days since the plane was reported missing, it’s a very large area.’

China has sent four naval ships, a coastguard vessel and a civilian ship to help. Three other Orions have also been deployed – two from Australia and one from New Zealand.

Besides militaries and hi-technology, many others are involved in the search.

‘We’ve ordered border guard forces and all fishing boats to check the area,’ Pham Thanh Tuoi, chairman of the People’s Committee of Vietnam’s southern Ca Mau Province, told Reuters by phone.

‘Everyone is on the alert and searching out at the sea, but we haven’t found anything yet.’

It comes as Interpol criticised Thailand’s lax airport security after it emerged at least two passengers’ passports were stolen.

The possibility of a further two stolen passports used on the same flight is now being investigated after it emerged that no cross checks were carried out against Interpol’s lost and stolen database.

The pilot of a Malaysia Airlines jet that went missing on Saturday enjoyed flying the Boeing 777 so much that he spent his off days tinkering with a flight simulator of the plane that he had set up at home, current and former co-workers said.

Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, captain of the airliner carrying 239 people bound for Beijing from the Malaysian capital, had always wanted to become a pilot and joined the national carrier in 1981.

Airline staff who worked with the pilot said Zaharie knew the ins and outs of the Boeing 777 extremely well, as he was always practicing with the simulator. They declined to be identified due to company policy.

‘He was an aviation tech geek. You could ask him anything and he would help you. That is the kind of guy he is,’ said a Malaysia Airlines co-pilot who had flown with Zaharie in the past.

Zaharie set up the Boeing 777 simulator at his home in a suburb on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital where many airline staff stay as it provides quick access to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Procedural checks would have revealed that at least two passengers were travelling on stolen passports stolen.

Malaysian authorities now believe they have CCTV images of the two men using the stolen passports to board the flights.

The images have been circulated across international intelligence agencies and will be cross-referenced with facial recognition software.

The passports were used to buy tickets booked in the names of Italian Luigi Maraldi and Austrian Christian Kozel on March 6, 2014, and issued in the Thai city of Pattaya, a popular beach resort south of the capital Bangkok.

Flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Saturday, about an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur, after climbing to a cruising altitude of 35,000 ft (10,670 metres).

A Vietnamese navy plane reported seeing what could have been a piece of the aircraft as darkness fell across the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea on Sunday, but ships and aircraft returning in daylight have so far found nothing.

No distress signal was sent from the lost plane, which experts said suggested a sudden catastrophic failure or explosion, but Malaysia’s air force chief said radar tracking showed it may have turned back from its scheduled route before it disappeared.

A senior source involved in preliminary investigations in Malaysia said the failure to quickly find any debris indicated the plane may have broken up mid-flight, which could disperse wreckage over a very wide area.

‘The fact that we are unable to find any debris so far appears to indicate that the aircraft is likely to have disintegrated at around 35,000 feet,’ said the source.

Asked about the possibility of an explosion, such as a bomb, the source said there was no evidence yet of foul play and that the aircraft could have broken up due to mechanical causes.

Still, the source said the closest parallels were the explosion on board an Air India jetliner in 1985 when it was over the Atlantic Ocean and the Lockerbie air disaster in 1988. Both planes were cruising at around 31,000 feet when bombs exploded on board.

The United States extensively reviewed imagery taken by American spy satellites for evidence of a mid-air explosion, but saw none, a U.S. government source said. The source described U.S. satellite coverage of the region as thorough.

The passenger manifest issued by the airline included the names of two Europeans – Austrian Christian Kozel and Italian Luigi Maraldi – who were not on the plane. Their passports had been stolen in Thailand during the past two years.

An Interpol spokeswoman said a check of all documents used to board the plane had revealed more ‘suspect passports’, which were being investigated.

‘Whilst it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol’s databases,’ Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said.

Malaysia’s state news agency quoted Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying the two passengers using the stolen European passports were of Asian appearance, and criticised the border officials who let them through.

‘I am still perturbed. Can’t these immigration officials think? Italian and Austrian but with Asian faces,’ he was quoted as saying late on Sunday.

A European diplomat in Kuala Lumpur cautioned that the Malaysian capital was an Asian hub for illegal migrants, many of whom used false documents and complex routes including via Beijing or West Africa to reach a final destination in Europe.

‘You shouldn’t automatically think that the fact there were two people on the plane with false passports had anything to do with the disappearance of the plane,” the diplomat said.

‘The more you know about the role of Kuala Lumpur in this chain, the more doubtful you are of the chances of a linkage.’

Boeing declined to comment and referred to its brief earlier statement that said it was monitoring the situation.

The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on July 6 last year when Asiana Airlines flight 214 struck a seawall on landing in San Francisco, killing three people.

- “DM”

 

[MOLANY0NG]

​

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Did Malaysian authorities ignored his warnings?


<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vtuBxWh08Cs?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="480"></iframe>


​

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

​

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Two Iranians who used stolen passports to board Malaysia Airlines jet are named by Interpol

Police say they are looking at four possible scenarios for flight's disappearance

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 4:17pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 7:23pm

Lana Lam and Danny Lee

Iranian men Pouri Nour Mohammadi, 19, and Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza, 29, who boarded Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 with stolen passports. Photo: EPA

Two men flying on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were tonight identified by Interpol as passengers who used Iranian passports to fly from Doha to Kuala Lumpur, before boarding the ill-fated flight to Beijing using stolen documents.

After earlier speculation that up to five stolen passports were being used on the flight, Interpol tonight confirmed that the only stolen passports used by passengers on board were those of an Italian and an Austrian. They were taken from their owners in Thailand during separate incidents.

Secretary General of Interpol, Ronald Noble, appealed for the public's help in identifying the two Iranian men, named as Pouri Nour Mohammadi, 19, and Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza, 29.

During a press conference he displayed a picture of the pair boarding a plane at the same time.

“We know that once these individuals arrived in Kuala Lumpur on the 20th of February, they boarded flight 370 using different identities: a stolen Austrian and a stolen Italian passport," he said.

"We are in the process of asking our member countries around the world to provide us with any additional information concerning the images, the names on the passport and the passport numbers."

He said recent information gathered on the men made terrorism a less likely cause of its disappearance on Saturday night, an hour after take-off.

An extensive air and sea search focussing on a huge area of land and sea has failed to turn up any evidence of a crash.

At an earlier press conference Malaysian police released a CCTV image of one of the teenagers wearing a dark T-shirt. He said he had been travelling using the stolen Austrian passport belonging to a man named Christian Kozel.

Police chief Khalid Abu Bakak said the investigation into the disappearance of the flight on Saturday night was focussing on four possibilites - hijack, sabotage, psychological problems of the passengers and crew; and personal problems among passengers and crew.

"Maybe somebody on the flight has bought a huge sum of insurance, who wants family to gain from it or somebody who has owed somebody so much money, you know, we are looking at all possibilities," he said, outlining possible reasons why somebody would want to down an aircraft.

"We are looking very closely at the video footage taken at the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), we are studying the behavioral pattern of all the passengers," he added.

He said investigation into the theories was being carried out "slowly, one by one".

He added: "We are working with Iranian authorities [on the case]."

Bakak said that the mother of the Iranian teenager had contacted Malaysian authorities after her son did not arrive in Frankfurt where she claimed she was waiting for him.

“That’s why we knew he’s the one travelling on that stolen passport,” the police chief said.

“It is likely that he is not a member of a terrorist group,” Bakak added, saying authorities had made all efforts to probe his background."

However, Bakak did not rule out terrorism as a possibility for the disappearance of the plane. “I would not say [terrorism is] less likely," he said.

In answer to a reporter's question he said police were also investigating the possibility that a bomb had been loaded into the cargo hold.

A mass air and sea search has failed to find any signs of the aircraft, which disappeared off the radar at 1.30am local time on Saturday. Malaysia Airlines was informed by the country's civil aviation authorities of the disappearance an hour later.

The Boeing 777-200ER had 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.

Correction: A previous version stated the suspect's name as Douria. It is Pouria.

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Land search for Malaysia Airlines plane begins as firm reveals aircraft had no 'issues with health'

Crew of Cathay Pacific Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur bound flight reports large amount of debris was spotted off the coast of southeast Vietnam, says Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department

PUBLISHED : Monday, 10 March, 2014, 6:05am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 6:33pm

Staff Reporters in Beijing and Agencies in Kuala Lumpur and Phu Quoc Island

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation, explains a graphic showing the areas where the search has expanded. Photo: Xinhua

The hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was widened in scope significantly on Tuesday to include a major land search, as the company revealed the plane was given a clean bill of health just 10 days before it vanished.

After drawing a blank for more than three days as to the aircraft's whereabouts, including the possibility that the plane may have veered off its usual trajectory, the search teams "expanded the scope beyond the flight path".

The hunt will now encompass a larger swathe of the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, while the western coast of Malaysia and all the land between the two area is being scoured.

In a statement the airline said Tuesday that the B777-200 aircraft had undergone maintenance just 10 days before its disappearance, and no health issues had been found.

"The aircraft was delivered to Malaysia Airlines in 2002 and has since recorded 53,465.21 hours with a total of 7525 cycles," the statement said.

"The B777-200 aircraft that operated MH370 underwent maintenance 10 days before this particular flight on 6 March 2014.

"The maintenance was conducted at the KLIA hangar and there were no issues on the health of the aircraft."

It added: "All Malaysia Airlines aircraft are equipped with continuous data monitoring system called the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) which transmits data automatically. Nevertheless, there were no distress calls and no information was relayed."

The airline reiterated that the plane may have changed course before disappearing from radar at the position 065515 North (longitude) and 1033443 East (latitude), and may have made efforts to "turn back to Subang". No further explanation was given.

A relative prays for news at the Lido Hotel, where anxious families of the passengers on flight MH370 are staying. Photo: Reuters

The company added: "We regret and empathise with the families and we will do whatever we can to ensure that all basic needs, comfort, psychological support are delivered. We are as anxious as the families to know the status of their loved ones."

The expansion of the search area came after Beijing on Monday night called for swifter action by the Malaysian authorities amid increasing pressure from dozens of angry relatives of the some 150 Chinese passengers feared dead.

Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department (CAD) said Monday it had received a report from the crew of a Cathay Pacific Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur bound flight that a large amount of debris was spotted at about 3pm off the coast of Vung Tau, southeast Vietnam. The department said it had notified its counterparts in Vietnam, Malaysia and in Sanya city, Hainan province of the sighting.

“At Hong Kong time 15:10 on 10 Mar 2014, HKCAD received a report from Cathay Pacific Airways that pilots of CX725 while en-route from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur... had sighted 'large solid debris' over the surface of the sea at position 09.54.3N 107.25.0E within Ho Chi Minh Flight Information Region," the aviation department said.

The location of suspected debris does not match the path expected to have been taken by Malaysia Airlines flight 370, which should have flown directly over Ho Chi Minh City. The location supplied to the CAD was over the sea more than 125 kilometres south-east of the original flight path.

As dozens of ships and aircraft scoured the seas around the area where flight MH370 was last heard of, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said families of the 239 people on board - some two-thirds of whom were Chinese nationals - deserved an explanation as to what happened as soon as possible.

A US Navy SH-60R Seahawk helicopter takes off from a carrier in the Gulf of Thailand to assist in the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Photo: Reuters

"This incident happened more than two days ago, and we hope that the Malaysians can fully understand the urgency of China, especially of the family members, and can step up the speed of the investigation and increase efforts on search and rescue," Qin told reporters at a daily news briefing.

A friend of one passenger, speaking to reporters after a meeting with China’s civil aviation authority and government officials in Beijing, said fearful families of the missing were growing impatient.

"The family members are really not happy. They feel like they have waited far too long," the man, surnamed Zhou, said.

"The main thing they are interested in is whether there is anyone left alive or not."

A statement from Malaysia Airlines on Monday evening said the company was "actively co-operating with the search and rescue authorities co-ordinated by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) and the Ministry of Transport".

It said search and rescue teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, New Zealand and the United States of America had come forward to assist and that it was "very grateful" for their efforts.

Vietnamese Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu attends a press conference on the missing Malaysian jet. Photo: Felix Wong

Earlier on Monday a high-ranking Malaysian official said all possibilites were still being investigated, including hijack.

Director-general of Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, told a press conference that "every aspect of what could [have] happened on this ill-fated aircraft" was being probed.

He also said that despite reports that debris had been spotted by a Vietnamese search crew, the country's authorities had not been able to confirm any positive sighting.

“Unfortunately ladies and gentleman, we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft," he said.

“There are various reports or sightings of objects that... agencies have reported with the various media. There was a report Vietnamese located an unidentified piece of the aircraft…it may have been a door of the aircraft.

“To inform all of you, that report was not verified officially by the Vietnamese authorities to date.”

Last night Interpol announced that Malaysia's international air security standards were being probed, after it said two stolen passports used by passengers on board the flight were in its database and could have been checked by officials in Kuala Lumpur.

The disclosure came as material suspected of belonging to the missing airliner was found by a Vietnamese Navy plane more than 40 hours after an international search was launched for the lost Boeing 777 aircraft and its 239 passengers and crew.

Oil slicks had earlier been spotted in the sea south of Vietnam by the country's air force.

Vietnamese officers discuss during a meeting before a mission to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at Phu Quoc Airport on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

China's Ministry of Public Security said it was sending a task force to Malaysia to help investigate after police revealed that a forged mainland passport was used by one of three passengers confirmed to be travelling on false documents.

A fourth case is being examined by officials investigating the disappearance of the plane as a possible terror attack.

"While it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol's databases," the agency's secretary general, Ronald Noble, said in a statement issued by its headquarters in Lyons, France.

"For years Interpol has asked why should countries wait for a tragedy to put prudent security measures in place at borders and boarding gates."

In a fresh statement on Monday morning Malaysia Airlines said eight countries had offered search and rescue assistance, while families of those missing continued to gather in Kuala Lumpur.

"Malaysia Airlines is working closely with the government of China to expedite the issuance of passports for the families as well as with the immigration of Malaysia for their visas into Malaysia," the statement said.

"When the aircraft is located, a Response Co-ordination Centre (RCC) will be activated within the vicinity to support the needs of the families."

Earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the country's airport security protocols were being reviewed.

The two men who boarded the plane with passports stolen from Italian Luigi Maraldi and Austrian Christian Kozel were booked to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam via Beijing before flying to Copenhagen and Frankfurt separately.

Both flights had been booked with China Southern Airlines, which operates some flights jointly with other companies including Malaysia Airlines, and their ticket numbers were consecutive.

It appeared the tickets were purchased at the same time in Thai baht at identical prices, according to China's official e-ticket verification system Travelsky.

The passenger travelling on the forged Chinese passport was listed on the airline manifest as Zhao Qiwei, but Fujian police said the true holder of the document was still in the province and had never travelled abroad, Xinhua reported.

The mystery surrounding the airliner's last minutes deepened after Malaysian military officials said yesterday that the plane may have turned back from its scheduled route just before contact with it was lost.

Rodzali Daud, the Royal Malaysian Air Force chief, told reporters at a news conference that radar recordings had revealed the possibility that the aircraft had turned back from its scheduled flight path.

But Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the Boeing 777's systems would have set off alarm bells.

"When there is an air turn-back the pilot would be unable to proceed as planned," he said, adding authorities were "quite puzzled" over the situation.

Rolls-Royce, which made the plane's engines, told the Post it was sending investigators all information it had from its systems which monitor in-flight engine performance.

At least 34 aircraft and 40 ships have been deployed to the area by Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China and the United States. Vietnam, the Philippines and Australia have also deployed vessels not included in these numbers.

A Chinese maritime vessel, "China Coast Guard 3411", arrived on the scene early yesterday afternoon.

US officials from Boeing, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are also headed to Vietnam. The FBI is sending agents and technical experts.

Associated Press, Reuters

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Largest ever Chinese rescue fleet to join search for Malaysia Airlines plane

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 12:24am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 6:38am

Minnie Chan [email protected]

Rescue teams prepare to enter the search zone to look for signs of missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Photos: Xinhua

The largest rescue flotilla in Chinese naval history - four warships and five civilian and commercial vessels - was speeding overnight to waters between Malaysia and Vietnam where missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 may have crashed.

Three of the four warships were dispatched by the People's Liberation Army South Sea Fleet, including two of its biggest and most advanced amphibious dock landing ships, the 20,000-tonne Jinggangshan and Kunlunshan, as well as the missile destroyer Haikou.

Rescue teams prepare to enter the search zone.

The Haikou sailed from Sanya , Hainan , on Sunday afternoon and was due to arrive in the search zone last night. The Kunlunshan departed Zhanjiang , Guangdong, at 5pm on Sunday and was expected to arrive this morning.

The flotilla will join other Chinese ships already at the scene, including a coastguard vessel, three search and rescue ships from the Ministry of Transport and a commercial container ship operated by state-owned shipping giant Cosco, which was sailing in nearby waters and voluntarily joined the search mission. They all form part of a larger operation of more than 50 ships and dozens of search and rescue aircraft from at least 11 nations.

Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the reinforcements had indicated that the Central Military Commission, which oversees the PLA and is chaired by President Xi Jinping , was anxious to establish the fate of the Beijing-bound plane carrying 239 passengers and crew, including 153 mainlanders, that disappeared about an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"So far the rescue flotilla in the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam has failed to locate the plane, so it is necessary for China to send more ships as the search zone area is expanding," Li said.

"Dispatching the Jinggangshan and Kunlunshan means our navy is prepared for a longer and more wide-reaching search operation."

The landing dock ships are each carrying more than 100 marines, four helicopters, medical teams, life-saving equipment, underwater detection devices and stores of food and water.

Rescue teams prepare to enter the search zone.

Among the four warships, the 7,000-tonne Haikou is a fast long-range destroyer designed for air defence. It is equipped with the PLA's most advanced type 348 active phased array radar, air defence missiles and anti-ship missiles. The 2,400-tonne missile frigate Mianyang, which was sent by the North Sea Fleet, is capable of finding objects in deep water.

"Its active phased array radar systems can help locate objects underwater quickly and accurately," Li said, adding that anti-submarine helicopters on board the Mianyang and Haikou were also suitable for ocean search and rescue operations.

Zhang Junshe , a researcher at the Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told The Beijing News that the search would involve helicopters, marines and navy divers. The helicopters can each search up to 100 square kilometres of ocean around the ship, while the marines and navy divers would carry out underwater missions.

Separately, Taipei's defence ministry yesterday said it had also dispatched a frigate and a C-130 transport plane to join the search mission, the Central News Agency reported, joining two other patrol vessels from Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration.

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

China pushing insurers to quickly settle claims in Malaysian plane case

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 12:13am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 6:38am

Enoch Yiu [email protected]

Ping An Insurance could be the hardest hit as it confirmed it had 38 customers on the missing plane and was trying to confirm if there were 15 more. Photo: Reuters

Beijing is pushing domestic insurers to fast-track compensation to relatives of the missing passengers.

The government's pressure comes as a double whammy to Malaysia Airlines, which is already staring at a costly legal battle if the passengers' kin decide to sue for alleged shortcomings in its security procedures.

Security has come under the spotlight after officials confirmed at least two passengers used stolen passports to board the plane even though they feature in an Interpol database.

With the likelihood of heavy payouts by insurers and airlines increasing, investors were quick to dump related stocks. Kuala Lumpur-listed Malaysia Airlines plunged 10 per cent at one point in yesterday's trading, while the Hong Kong-listed China Southern Airlines, which has a code-sharing arrangement with Malaysia Airlines, fell 3.85 per cent.

Cathay Pacific slipped 0.38 per cent, China Insurance 2.28 per cent and Ping An Insurance dropped 1.68 per cent, on a day that the Hang Seng Index fell 1.75 per cent.

Major mainland insurers have contacted families of some of the 153 Chinese passengers on the missing plane after an urgent notice issued by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission on its website that stipulated all insurance companies should take urgent measures to make their staff work around the clock to check if their policyholders were among the passengers. All insurers should contact the families of the insured victims to provide assistance or compensation, the notice said.

Ping An Insurance could be the hardest hit as it confirmed it had 38 customers on the plane and was trying to confirm if there were 15 more.

PICC said 15 of its policyholders were on the plane. China Life Insurance also said it has contacted the families of its policyholders on the flight but did not give the number of them.

Bernard Chan, a member of the Hong Kong Executive Council and president of insurer Asia Financial Holdings, said once the missing plane was confirmed to have crashed, insurers would start paying compensation to the families even if no bodies are ever found.

"However, if it's confirmed to be a terrorist attack, certain travel insurance policies may not apply. But families of those who purchased life or accident policies would get compensation under all circumstances."

Chan said there could also be liability insurance payouts if airlines with liability insurance were sued. "It is always possible for airlines to face class-action lawsuits, as past experience shows," he said.

There were three American passengers, including two children, on the plane, which could trigger lawsuits from the US that other passengers could join.

A group of 83 passengers aboard an Asiana Airlines flight that crash-landed in San Francisco in July last year filed a class-action lawsuit. Three Chinese students died in the incident.

 

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Vietnamese search for missing jet draws blank after suspected sighting of debris

Planes scoured the waters off Vung Tau on Monday night but no debris was found

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 2:10pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 4:21pm

Phila Siu in Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam [email protected]

Vietnamese Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu attends a press conference on the missing Malaysian jet. Photo: Felix Wong

A search for debris in waters off southern Vietnam failed to turn up any clue to the missing Malaysian Airlines flight, a senior transport official said Tuesday, after reports from Hong Kong that a flight crew had spotted objects in the water.

Vietnam’s vice transport minister Pham Quy Tieu said at a press conference that vessels had been sent to scour the waters off the southern province of Vung Tau on Monday night after a Cathay Pacific crew said may have spotted debris.

“Last night, the naval vessels approached the area in Vung Tau where Hong Kong spotted suspected fragments of the plane. But we found nothing,” he said.

Pham said on Tuesday morning that vessels were now on their way to return to the waters near Vung Tau to continue the search. He said authorities would soon widen the search to the eastern and western parts of the country.

The Vietnamese authorities have also informed fishermen near Vung Tau to keep an eye on possible debris.

But Pham was not optimistic about finding any survivors.

“Up to this moment, I am sorry to say that there has been no hope for positive information about the ill-fated plane,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chinese businessmen in Vietnam are aiding efforts to help families desperate for any news of loved ones onboard Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

The China Business Association’s Ho Chi Minh branch said that it could provide 132 translators and 72 cars that can carry a total of 510 people to help with the rescue mission.

“Everyone at the business association and all of our volunteers will offer any necessary help that the (Chinese) embassy has instructed,” the association said in a statement posted on its website.