Malaysia PM says no trace of missing plane
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at a press conference at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the late afternoon of March 8 confirmed that no wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight that went missing was found so far. He said search and rescue operation area will be extended further in the South China Sea.
However, Kyoto News Service earlier reported that Vietnamese troops have found oil traces in the sea where the plane is supposed to have crashed, running across 20 kilometers. The reports remained unconfirmed so far.
Najib, who met with affected family members, said that authorities have increased the number of Royal Malaysia Air Force aircraft to 15 to search for the plane.
“We are working with other countries namely Vietnam and China to create a greater impact on the search and rescue efforts. Vietnam will carry out operation on their waters,” he said.
Najib also said he had spoken to China’s prime minister Li Keqiang and Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.
China would be helping in their operations as 153 passengers were Chinese nationals. Singapore also has deployed a Charlie C130 aircraft to help out in the mission. Najib added the US Navy would also be deploying their assets for the mission.
“Malaysia Airlines will make travel arrangements for family members who want to travel to Beijing,” he said.
When asked about speculations on the missing plane, Najib said they would wait until the theories are well substantiated.
Civil Aviation Department Director-General Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the pilot had contacted the Subang air traffic controller before the plane entered the Vietnam airspace.
“This is a usual procedure, where traffic controllers would contact pilots before entering the following country’s airspace.”
Flight MH370 on a Boeing 777-200ER departed from Kuala Lumpur 12:41am local time on March 8 with 227 passengers and 12 crew members and was scheduled to land in Beijing at 6:30am, Malaysia Airlines said in a statement.
Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told a news conference that the airline lost contact with the aircraft between Malaysian and Vietnamese airspace and that there were no reports of bad weather along the route. He said the missing plane didn’t send a distress signal and had enough fuel to fly an extra two hours.
The official passenger manifest of Malaysian Airlines can be seen here.
[caption id="attachment_21439" align="alignleft" width="238"] This person missed the MH370 flight[/caption] Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at a press conference at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the late afternoon of March 8 confirmed that no wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight that went missing was found so far. He said search and rescue operation area will be extended further in the South China Sea. However, Kyoto News Service earlier reported that Vietnamese troops have found oil traces in the sea where the plane is supposed to have crashed, running across 20 kilometers. The reports remained unconfirmed so far....
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at a press conference at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the late afternoon of March 8 confirmed that no wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight that went missing was found so far. He said search and rescue operation area will be extended further in the South China Sea.
However, Kyoto News Service earlier reported that Vietnamese troops have found oil traces in the sea where the plane is supposed to have crashed, running across 20 kilometers. The reports remained unconfirmed so far.
Najib, who met with affected family members, said that authorities have increased the number of Royal Malaysia Air Force aircraft to 15 to search for the plane.
“We are working with other countries namely Vietnam and China to create a greater impact on the search and rescue efforts. Vietnam will carry out operation on their waters,” he said.
Najib also said he had spoken to China’s prime minister Li Keqiang and Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.
China would be helping in their operations as 153 passengers were Chinese nationals. Singapore also has deployed a Charlie C130 aircraft to help out in the mission. Najib added the US Navy would also be deploying their assets for the mission.
“Malaysia Airlines will make travel arrangements for family members who want to travel to Beijing,” he said.
When asked about speculations on the missing plane, Najib said they would wait until the theories are well substantiated.
Civil Aviation Department Director-General Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the pilot had contacted the Subang air traffic controller before the plane entered the Vietnam airspace.
“This is a usual procedure, where traffic controllers would contact pilots before entering the following country’s airspace.”
Flight MH370 on a Boeing 777-200ER departed from Kuala Lumpur 12:41am local time on March 8 with 227 passengers and 12 crew members and was scheduled to land in Beijing at 6:30am, Malaysia Airlines said in a statement.
Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told a news conference that the airline lost contact with the aircraft between Malaysian and Vietnamese airspace and that there were no reports of bad weather along the route. He said the missing plane didn’t send a distress signal and had enough fuel to fly an extra two hours.
The official passenger manifest of Malaysian Airlines can be seen here.
