Failing to show the way in search for flight MH370
Posted by Kit in Airline, Najib Razak, Transport on Thursday, 13 March 2014, 7:15 am
The Malaysian Insider
March 13, 2014
Across the world, top newspapers and leading news agencies have started to rap Malaysia for the “mystery, confusion and disarray” in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
So far, government leaders from Datuk Seri Najib Razak down have failed in one critical aspect: inspiring confidence and assuring Malaysians and the international community that they know what they are saying and doing.
There have been inconsistencies and discrepancies that have even led to Vietnam suspending its air search operations until Putrajaya lets it know the latest direction of the massive hunt for the lost Boeing 777-200ER.
Then there is the irony of China asking Putrajaya to be more “forthcoming” in its information about the passenger jet where two-thirds of the 239 people on board are Chinese.
The thing is, government is only as good at the people on top and the cream of Malaysians politicians have either been hiding, waffling or in a stupor. Read the rest of this entry »
Missing MH370 may have strayed toward Andaman Sea, says air force
The Malaysian Insider
March 12, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Malaysia’s military has traced what could have been the jetliner missing for almost five days to an area near India’s Andaman and Nicobar islands, hundreds of miles from its last known position, the country’s air force chief said today.
After a series of at times conflicting statements, the latest revelation underlined that authorities remain uncertain even where to look for the plane, and no closer to explaining what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 or the 239 people on board.
The flight disappeared from civilian radar screens shortly before 1:30am on Saturday, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, as it flew northeast across the mouth of the Gulf of Thailand bound for Beijing. What happened next is one of the most baffling mysteries in modern aviation history.
Malaysian air force chief Tan Sri Rodzali Daud told a news conference that an aircraft was plotted on military radar at 2:15am, 320km northwest of Penang Island off Malaysia’s west coast.
It was not confirmed that the unidentified plane was Flight MH370, but Malaysia was sharing the data with international civilian and military authorities, Rodzali said. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia Airlines mystery: US issued warnings over Boeing 777 ‘weak spot’
By David Millward, US Correspondent
The Telegraph
11 Mar 2014
Potential weakness in fuselage of Boeing 777s was identified by the Federal Aviation Administration last year
American transport officials warned of a potential weak spot in Boeing 777s which could lead to the “loss of structural integrity of the aircraft” four months before the disappearance of Malaysia airlines Flight MH370.
The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington drew up an Airworthiness Directive in November. It was triggered by reports of cracking in the fuselage skin underneath a Boeing aircraft’s satellite antennae.
In its directive the FAA, which is responsible for supervising the safety of American-made aircraft such as Boeing, told airlines to look out for corrosion under the fuselage skin.
This, the FAA said, could lead to a situation where the fuselage was compromised leading to possible rapid decompression as well as the plane breaking up.
“We received a report of cracking and corrosion in the fuselage skin underneath the SATCOM antenna adapter,” the FAA warned. “During a maintenance planning data inspection, one operator reported a 16-inch crack under the 3-bay SATCOM antenna adapter plate in the crown skin of the fuselage on an aeroplane that was 14 years old with approximately 14,000 total flight cycles. Read the rest of this entry »
The search for MH370: Key areas of confusion
The Malaysian Insider
March 12, 2014
False alarms, swirling rumours and contradictory statements have made the wait all the more agonising for the families of the 239 people on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
As the search dragged into its fifth day, here are some of the key areas of confusion:
Did the plane veer off course?
Malaysia’s air force chief on Sunday raised the possibility that the plane inexplicably turned back after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing a day earlier.
RMAF’s Tan Sri General Rodzali Daud said the theory was “corroborated by civil radar”, without giving further details. Read the rest of this entry »
Aviation experts: MH370 could go dark if someone ‘forced’ pilots
The Malay Mail
March 12, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — An airplane’s transponders can be manually disabled from the cockpit to render the aircraft invisible to civilian radar, aviation experts said as authorities broaden the search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 further west.
After Malaysia’s military radar showed the Beijing-bound jumbo jet may have turned back west from where it came, the biggest question is how it completely vanished from sight of all tracking maps.
Mikael Robertsson, the co-founder of Flightradar24, a global communicating system for commercial aircraft, suggested that the transponder aboard MH370 may have been switched off by the pilots as the plane had not sent any signal to the ground receiver.
“I guess to me it sounds like they were turned off deliberately,” he was quoted saying by the New York Times (NYT) in a report yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
Aviation experts rap M’sian authorities
Malaysiakini
11:11AM Mar 12, 2014
Malaysian authorities have come under fire from aviation experts for fuelling what is believed to be misleading speculations about flight MH370, The Guardian reported.
“What is so mysterious here is the complete absence of any information, which to me tends to support a complete catastrophic failure at altitude. If the aircraft had come under control, it would have been picked up by some radar, or some radio communication.
“The complete absence of any information suggests there was a big failure and it was very sudden,” said Steve Marks, a lawyer at the US firm Podhurst Orseck, which represented relatives of victims of a SilkAir crash in Asia in 1997 and the Air France crash in 2009 (right).
Marks said he was suspicious of information being released by Malaysia.
“In my opinion terrorism and pilot suicide are very remote and farfetched. It can’t be ruled out 100 percent, but it certainly shouldn’t be the focus.
“That kind of speculation without proof is very damaging and hurtful to the families,” he said, adding that the most likely explanation for the plane’s disappearance was a sudden technical failure.
“It is not uncommon in plane crashes over water to have a very extended search.” Read the rest of this entry »
Failing to manage MH370 crisis exposes leadership limit
Posted by Kit in Airline, Hishammuddin, Najib Razak, Transport on Wednesday, 12 March 2014, 10:45 am
The Malay Mail Online
March 12, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Malaysia, aspiring to become a developed nation in six years, is finding that more than 50 years under one coalition and tight control over information is a mismatch for handling a rapidly growing crisis followed across the world.
China is calling on Malaysia to be more transparent as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak lets his cousin, Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, be the face of the investigation into why a Malaysian Airline System Bhd. plane vanished on March 8. It was en route to Beijing with 239 people on board. Investigators from at least nine countries are trying to locate the jet.
Najib’s United Malays National Organisation leads the coalition governing the Southeast Asian nation. Only in recent years has it seen a move toward competitive elections, in some districts, that put a premium on public speaking. The government’s lack of a clear message, compounded by a series of false leads on the plane’s whereabouts and questions on coordination, risks undermining its image internationally.
“They’re handling a huge global issue as if it was domestic politics,” said Clive Kessler, Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, who has analysed the nation’s politics for half a century.
“With the cause of the disappearance still unknown you can understand the need for discretion and caution but it’s being perceived in Malaysia and elsewhere in the region as a bid to hide the truth.” Read the rest of this entry »
After Anwar and Karpal, who’s next?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, DAP, Pakatan Rakyat, Parliament on Wednesday, 12 March 2014, 9:04 am
P Ramakrishnan
Free Malaysia Today
March 12, 2014
There seems to be a trend now to get rid of Pakatan leaders through the court process so that Umno can remain in power.
COMMENT
Malaysian courts have brought infamy to the justice system. The way justice has been dished out is nothing short of disgraceful and dishonourable.
What Karpal Singh did following the undemocratic overthrow of the duly elected Perak Pakatan Rakyat government was to express an opinion based on the Federal Constitution. The provision in the constitution provided for this opinion to be expressed.
At no time did Karpal Singh question His Royal Highness, the Sultan of Perak. At no time was Karpal offensive in expressing this opinion. No insult was meant.
The Sultan’s authority was not challenged. Karpal was not disrespectful to the royal personage.
The prevailing situation then needed a professional legal opinion on what had transpired. And Karpal Singh merely gave his professional legal opinion honestly, without fear or favour.
This is expected of an elected member of parliament and an experienced lawyer. Karpal was discharging his duty and responsibility by commenting on a matter of public interest.
It is a great national tragedy that the court is unable to differentiate an honest opinion from crass and gross verbal onslaught crudely expressed without any respect to the royal personage.
In Karpal Singh’s case, this is clearly a travesty of justice which is most unfair and undeserved. Read the rest of this entry »
Panglima Udara nafi pesawat MH370 di Pulau Perak
Astro Awani
Mac 12, 2014 07:08 (MYT)
KUALA LUMPUR: Panglima Tentera Udara, Jeneral Tan Sri Rodzali Daud menafikan membuat pengesahan bahawa pangkalan udara Tentera Di-Raja Malaysia di Butterworth mengesan pesawat MH370 berada dekat kawasan Pulau Perak di Selat Melaka pada pukul 2.40 pagi Sabtu lepas sebelum isyaratnya hilang tanpa sebarang petunjuk.
Kata beliau, laporan akhbar Berita Harian pada Selasa yang memetik kenyataannya itu telah tersalah lapor.
“Saya minta laporan itu dibetulkan bagi mengelak sebarang salah tafsir yang seterusnya tentang apa yang jelas tidak tepat dan salah lapor,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan yang dikeluarkan lewat malam tadi.
Berita Harian melaporkan Rodzali berkata pada malam kejadian, pangkalan udara di Butterworth mengesan isyarat kedudukan pesawat berkenaan yang berpatah balik menghala ke laluan asalnya ke Kota Bharu, Kelantan sebelum dipercayai melalui ruang udara Pantai Timur dan Utara tanah air. Read the rest of this entry »
As more clues surface, MH370 mystery only deepens
By Justin Ong
The Malay Mail Online
March 12, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — With the clock ticking away on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, efforts to locate the inexplicably missing plane appear to be going farther astray with each new clue.
What was first thought to be a clear-cut search and rescue mission has now become a conundrum that has “puzzled” investigators with the inability of the nearly 100 air and sea vessels from 10 countries to locate a shred of evidence of the plane’s whereabouts.
At over 63 metres long and weighing nearly 140 tonnes unladen, the Boeing 777-200ER should have left debris all over miles of ocean, but four days after its disappearance, not a single piece of the aircraft or its contents has been recovered.
“The lack of debris is more perplexing than anything else … the floating pieces should be there, and they’re not,” Bill Waldock, a safety expert and crash investigator from the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told US daily Wall Street Journal Read the rest of this entry »
Flight MH370 sent engine data before vanishing, says magazine
BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
March 12, 2014
The missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER sent at least two bursts of technical data back to the airline before it disappeared, according to the New Scientist magazine.
The data may help investigators understand what went wrong with the aircraft, no trace of which has yet been found since it disappeared early Saturday morning, the magazine reported yesterday.
“Malaysia Airlines has not revealed if it has learned anything from ACARS data, or if it has any,” it said, referring to the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), which automatically collates and files four technical reports during every flight so that engineers can spot problems.
These reports are sent via VHF radio or satellite at take-off, during the climb, at some point while cruising, and on landing. Read the rest of this entry »
From patience to anger over MH370 search and rescue boo-boos
The Malaysian Insider
March 12, 2014
The mood among Malaysians now is moving from patience in the search for the 239 people aboard the missing flight MH370 to embarrassment and anger over discrepancies about passengers, offloaded baggage and concealed information about its last known position.
First, the discrepancy over whether five passengers did go onboard the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER bound for Beijing early Saturday but had their baggage offloaded when they did not turn up in the plane.
Up to Monday, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) said it did happen and the bags were offloaded and passed security checks.
Yesterday, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said it did not happen. And Malaysia Airlines confirmed his version of events later in the evening.
Why didn’t Malaysia Airlines officials clarify the matter immediately when the director-general of Civil Aviation, Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (pic), disclosed the matter earlier?
And now this – the revelation that the passenger jet could have actually turned back and flown to the Strait of Malacca where it then disappeared from radar.
Why did it take the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) so long to share that key information with their counterparts and the public? The initial information has got everyone searching in the wrong area. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia Airlines struggling with press
Grant Bradley
The New Zealand Herald
Mar 12, 2014
Malaysia Airlines faces an uphill public relations battle as it struggles to get on the front foot after the disappearance of MH370.
The airline’s response to the loss of its aircraft in the first three days was described as a mess, partly because of inexperience in dealing with Western journalists, said veteran aviation industry commentator Geoffrey Thomas.
Furious relatives among the 227 passengers reportedly complained they had been “treated worse than dogs”, at one point storming out of a hotel room where they had been taken in Beijing and starting a petition to demand more information.
Video
Media briefings by Malaysia Airlines had initially been fleeting, with spokesmen not taking questions.
Thomas, the editor-in-chief of AirlineRatings.com, said the lack of international experience among Malaysia Airlines’ public relations was a problem. “Their PR department has been missing in action. It’s when something like this happens you really need them,” he said.
The airline’s representatives were accustomed to dealing with a more compliant local media, not journalists from around the world who were more demanding. Read the rest of this entry »
Legal limbo hampers probe into missing MAS jet
Siva Govindasamy, Alwyn Scott and Tim Hepher, Reuters
Malaysiakini
Mar 11, 2014
Investigators trying to solve the disappearance without trace of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner face an extremely rare challenge that could hinder their efforts: they lack the powers of a formal air safety investigation.
Four days after Flight MH370 went missing in mid-air with 239 people on board, no nation has stepped forward to initiate and lead an official probe, leaving a formal leadership vacuum that industry experts say appears unprecedented.
Malaysian officials are conducting their own informal investigations, in cooperation with other governments and foreign agencies, but they lack the legal powers that would come with a formal international probe under UN-sanctioned rules.
Those powers include the legal rights to take testimony from all witnesses and other parties, the right to have exclusive control over the release of information and the ability to centralise a vast amount of fragmentary evidence.
A senior official familiar with the preliminary Malaysian probe said Malaysian authorities could not yet convene a formal investigation due to a lack of evidence on where – namely, in which national jurisdiction – the Boeing 777-200ER jet crashed.
He said this was not hampering their work, that preliminary investigations had begun and that they were working with their neighbours, US officials and the jet’s maker Boeing. Read the rest of this entry »
As leads fail to pan out, search for MH370 stretches from Sumatra to Hong Kong
The Malaysian Insider
March 11, 2014
Searchers are scouring more than 500,000 square nautical miles from the shores of Sumatra to Hong Kong to look for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 today as lead after lead failed to pan out over the past three days since the passenger jet vanished.
The flotilla of naval ships and some three dozen aircraft will comb both sea and the jungle-clad Malaysian-Thai border for the lost Boeing 777-200ER jet with 239 people onboard.
One thing the search and rescue team know is that the twin-engine aircraft is not in the air as it had only 7½ hours of fuel left when it vanished 40 minutes into the six-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on Saturday.
The teams trying to find the passenger jet, which has a 61m wingspan, will scour data for radar signatures while seeking to detect pinging from black boxes as the search for visible wreckage proves elusive, Bloomberg reported last night.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) said yesterday that none of the debris found were linked to the plane while an oil slick close the flight path proved to be bunker fuel, not jet fuel.
American experts said the first 72 hours was crucial for anyone to survive a plane crash but authorities are hopeful as nothing has turned up to suggest MH370 has met a watery end. Read the rest of this entry »
Former NST editor laments ‘lax’ security at KLIA, blaming ‘third world mentality’
Posted by Kit in Airline, Corruption, Transport on Tuesday, 11 March 2014, 7:03 am
The Malaysian Insider
March 10, 2014
Has Malaysia paid a high price with its Third World standards and attitude towards security and asset management issues, was the question posed by a veteran newsman when commenting on the missing Malaysia Airlines Beijing-bound flight MH370.
Former New Straits Times editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said that while waiting for news on the missing MH370, it cannot be denied that the control and security checks at Malaysian airports, including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport can be said to be “relaxed” compared with those in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
He noted that even the mammoth Dubai airport had tighter control and security checks.
“Have we paid a high price for the attitude and third-world mentality towards security and asset management?
“Is this the repercussion for the corruption, abuse of power and negligence which have reportedly happened repeatedly in KLIA?” he asked in his latest blog posting, adding his voice to the growing criticism over poor airport security at the country’s main gateway. Read the rest of this entry »
A nation responds to loss of MH370
Posted by Kit in Airline, nation building, Religion, Transport on Tuesday, 11 March 2014, 7:00 am
by Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
March 10, 2014
COMMENT The loss of MH370 will be a defining moment in the country’s history. While attention rightly focuses on comforting families, finding the plane and what has caused this tragedy, the event has shown the depth of caring among Malaysians.
Across faiths, ethnic groups and borders, Malaysians have reached out to each other and to friends. Pride has been put aside in accepting international help and social media on the whole has shared more messages of hope than division. In the shared sadness of loss, the tragedy had revealed and reinforced a strong sense of community.
The image of an interfaith prayer led by former PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was perhaps the most powerful moment over the weekend, as it reflected what had been happening in society itself as Malaysians from all walks of life reached across their differences for those affected by the missing plane. It did not matter what word was being used, as the sentiment was the same.
Crises like these reveal character. They tell us who can handle pressure, test leaders and what are the real priorities. The character that was revealed is a society that cares for each other.
Despite all of the anger and stupidity surrounding recent events – from red paint throwing to unjust legal decisions – the ties among Malaysians are strong and resilient.
The silent majority of people who go about their lives, take planes, go on vacation and work, came out this weekend in the phone calls made to each other, recollections of classmates and on Facebook. This same silent majority is the one who is fed up with politicians abusing power and attacking each other, and wants more emphasis on solving the country’s problems and more dignity in political engagement.
They put Malaysia, its citizens and visitors first. If anything, this is a silver lining of the tragedy. Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar Ibrahim’s conviction: A travesty of justice
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Judiciary on Tuesday, 11 March 2014, 6:54 am
– Jose Mario Dolor De Vega
The Malaysian Insider
March 10, 2014
I refer to “Judicial process and timing in Anwar’s case implies persecution not prosecution, says Bar Council”, The Malaysian Insider, March 9 concerning the latest conviction of the Malaysian opposition leader.
I overwhelmingly concur with the charge of the Malaysian Bar Council that “the charge against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the manner in which his appeal was handled fuels the perception that the opposition leader was persecuted and not prosecuted”.
It is undeniable that because of the grave fear and extreme paranoia of the powers that be to the natural and charismatic power and genuine popularity of Anwar to the Malaysian public, they have used all the resources and arsenal of the government even to the point of compromising the integrity and independence of the courts.
Why? For the simple reason that they do not want Anwar to win in Kajang and subsequently be the Selangor menteri besar.
I am wondering, is it all worth it? Yes, they successfully blocked Anwar from contesting in the coming by-election. In fact, he is in danger once again of going back to prison, yet do they know the repercussions and consequences of what they did? Read the rest of this entry »
Caucasian Names … Asian Faces … No, They’re Blacks! What’s Going On?
by Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
11.3.2014
The Government is being hit by criticism again, and this time not just from Malaysians but foreigners as well.
Its handling of the case of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 bound for China from Kuala Lumpur is appalling. Instead of answering questions, it is provoking people to ask even more. Is it being cagey to cover up its own embarrassment for carelessly allowing the two men using stolen passports to board the plane? Or perhaps even more?
At a press conference held last Sunday, a New York Times reporter asked the Director-General of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, what the Malaysian authorities saw on a CCTV recording of the two impostors and the D-G replied he couldn’t disclose this because of “security reasons”. Was it really just that?
As it turned out, we were told the next day that although the stolen passports carried Italian and Austrian names, the impostors looked Asian!
It even prompted Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to hit out at immigration officers in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for what appears a stupid blunder. “I am still puzzled how come (immigration officers) cannot think, an Italian and Austrian (passengers) but with Asian facial features,” he reportedly said.
Frankly, I was surprised he said that because it only made his own side, i.e. the Government, look awful. Read the rest of this entry »
Timeline: The search for MH370
Malaysiakini/Reuters
Mar 10, 2014
Here is a timeline of events in the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner which vanished from radar screens on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early on Saturday:
Saturday, March 8
– Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Flight departs at 12.21am (1421 GMT Friday), and is due to land in Beijing at 6.30am (2230 GMT) the same day. On board the Boeing 777-200ER are 227 passengers and 12 crew.
– Airline loses contact with plane between 1-2 hours after takeoff. No distress signal and weather is clear at the time.
– Missing plane last has contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.
– Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam says plane failed to check in as scheduled at 1721 GMT while flying over sea between Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh City.
– Flight tracking website flightaware.com shows plane flew northeast over Malaysia after takeoff and climbed to altitude of 35,000 feet. The flight vanished from website’s tracking records a minute later while still climbing. Read the rest of this entry »
