Family members and international media waited with bated breath this afternoon, as investigators gathered to announce the release of a new report on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Very little new information was shared, barring the fact that officials confirmed that the Boeing 777 was intentionally taken off course, manually turning off the autopilot, though they could not determine who was responsible, nor why, nor where the plane ultimately went.
MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers on board, traveling between Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. It’s called the world’s greatest modern aviation mystery, as no clues as to why the plane diverted so sharply off course have allowed investigators to reach any kind of conclusion.
Kok Soo Chon, tasked with being the head of the NH370 safety investigation team told reporters that answers were only likely to come if and when the wreckage is ever found.
Search teams called off their latest endeavor, a three-month search lead by an American firm called Ocean Infinity. It covered over 112,000 sq km of the southern Indian Ocean, and turned up no new findings.
This is the second search that investigators have attempted in recovering any wreckage, the last being a joint effort between Australian, Chinese and Malaysian authorities last year. Costing nearly RM600 million (US$150 million), it spanned an area of 120,000 sq km, and also proved fruitless.
Experts believe that the Boeing’s transponder was deliberately turned off, before it was flown towards the Indian Ocean. However, they cannot confirm who turned it off, or why.
Veering thousands of miles off course, investigators believe that the plane eventually plunged into the Indian Ocean.
The last communication from the plane was from the Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah who signed off with “Good night, Malaysian three seven zero”, while leaving Malaysian airspace.
Relatives of people aboard Flight MH370 said on July 30 they hoped a long-awaited report into the plane’s disappearance might give them answers about one of the world’s most enduring aviation mysteries. / AFP PHOTO / Mohd RASFAN
A 440-page final report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) last year showed that Zaharie had flown a route on his home flight simulator six weeks earlier that was “initially similar” to the one actually taken by MH370, something that many have been keen to point out when the topic of a premeditated flight path deviation comes up.
Kok says that investigators were satisfied with the mental health and training of both the pilot, and his first officer.
Although saying that the transponders could only have been turned off manually, Ko stopped short of assigning blame to the pilots, saying that they are not of the opinion that the events would have been perpetrated by the crew. However, that possibility is not being ruled out, nor is that of an unlawful interference by a third party.
Passengers were also screened, and none raised the suspicions of the authorities.
Relatives of people aboard Flight MH370 said on July 30 they hoped a long-awaited report into the plane’s disappearance might give them answers about one of the world’s most enduring aviation mysteries. / AFP PHOTO / Mohd RASFAN
Voice 370, a group representing the relatives of the passengers on the flight, had called on the newly formed Malaysian government to review the flight, including looking at any fudging of records related to MH370, or its maintenance.
They asked not for blame to be assigned, but for the cause of the disappearance to be determined so that there was no re-occurrence in the future.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying they hope that investigators will follow-up on their work, although they did not explain exactly what that referred to.
Only three wing fragments from the plane have been recovered, after washing up along the coasts of the Indian Ocean.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said Malaysia would only consider resuming the search for MH370 if new clues were to come to light.
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