Keep up to date with the search which now covers huge parts of the Indian Ocean
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Searching for missing Flight MH370 16th April
Today, April 21, marks the 45th day of the search for missing Flight MH370.
To date, no trace of the jetliner, which disappeared over the Indian Ocean with 239 people on board, has been found.
The Malaysian government has decided to issue death certificates for passengers of the missing Flight MH370 and offer financial assistance to relatives still hoping their loved ones will be found alive, NBC News reported.
Two-thirds of the missing plane's 227 passengers were Chinese, and many of their family members have been angered by Malaysia's handling of the search.
A relative of one of the passengers said: "We couldn't find it in the sea and we couldn't find it on a land.
"It's only logical that they're alive."
A former oil company executive turned author has suggested America could have shot down missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 - and is now trying to cover it up.
Writing on OpEdNews.com, John Chuckman, a former chief economist for a large Canadian oil company, asked: "Could it be that the United States shot down Flight MH370, either accidentally or deliberately, and now wants to keep it secret?
"The possibility of recovery of the full wreckage, even if its location were found, from four miles under the sea amongst underwater mountains is extremely remote at best, so the United States can remain confident that physical evidence will never emerge."
This is latest statement from Malaysia Airlines on tonight's events: "Malaysia Airlines flight MH192 that departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 10.09pm bound for Bangalore earlier had turned back and landed safely in KLIA at 1.56am, today.
"This was because one of the tyres on the right hand main landing gear burst during takeoff. The Captain was alerted by KualaLumpur Air Traffic Control that tyre debris were found on the runway and immediately contacted Malaysia Airlines Operations Control Centre (OCC) at 10:25pm. As safety is of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines, the aircraft was required to turn back to KLIA.
"The Airport Fire Rescue Services (AFRS) were deployed as soon as the pilot was instructed to turn back to KLIA by OCC.
"All 159 passengers and 7 crew members on board have disembarked from the aircraft. MH192 will be retimed to depart KLIA at 3.30pm on 21 April 2014 and arrive Bangalore at 5.00pm the same day.
"Meanwhile all passengers will be accommodated at nearby hotels."
"This was because one of the tyres on the right hand main landing gear burst during takeoff. The Captain was alerted by KualaLumpur Air Traffic Control that tyre debris were found on the runway and immediately contacted Malaysia Airlines Operations Control Centre (OCC) at 10:25pm. As safety is of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines, the aircraft was required to turn back to KLIA.
"The Airport Fire Rescue Services (AFRS) were deployed as soon as the pilot was instructed to turn back to KLIA by OCC.
"All 159 passengers and 7 crew members on board have disembarked from the aircraft. MH192 will be retimed to depart KLIA at 3.30pm on 21 April 2014 and arrive Bangalore at 5.00pm the same day.
"Meanwhile all passengers will be accommodated at nearby hotels."
The transport minister has met with MH192's crew and passengers tonight, after they landed safely at Kuala Lumpur airport.
Passengers, who were seen hugging the minister, praised the plane's pilot.
Malaysia Airlines said the flight, which was headed for Bangalore when it was forced to turn back, will be rescheduled for Monday afternoon.
Transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein has arrived at Kuala Lumpur airport following the safe emergency landing of flight MH192.
DS @HishammuddinH2O arrived at KLIA2 and getting briefed on #MH192 by Ahmad Jauhari of @MASpic.twitter.com/gnmx5EDUQn— H2O Comms (@H2OComms) April 20, 2014
Malaysia's transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein says he is on his way to Kuala Lumpur airport to greet the safely landed flight MH192.
The flight was forced to make an emergency landing this eveningafter its landing gear malfunctioned after take-off from Kuala Lumpur, en route to Bangalore.
Another Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur has found itself in trouble this evening, after a Bangalore-bound plane was forced to turn back.
A statement from the airline said: "Malaysia Airlines confirms that flight MH192 that departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 10.09pm bound for Bangalore has made an air turn back towards Kuala Lumpur.
"The aircraft’s right-hand landing gear malfunctioned upon takeoff and is expected to make an emergency landing at KLIA at around 2.00am, today.
"Flight MH192, operated on the B737-800 aircraft, was scheduled to arrive in Bangalore at 11.35pm the same day. The flight was carrying a total number of 166 people on board which include 159 passengers and 07 crew members.
"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the Airport Fire Rescue Services (AFRS) in anticipation of the landing."
The plane landed safely at 1:56am.
Some of the volunteers performing a vital role as SES air search observers from the planes scouring the Indian Ocean for signs of MH370 have been speaking about their daunting task.
Talking to The Guardian, volunteer Jim Maclean said: "You might have a second or a second and a half between seeing something and it disappearing from your view."
"It's quite intense, you've got to be really concentrating all the time."
Although the search is mainly focused below the waves on the seabed, planes are still flying over the ocean to look for signs of debris.
RECAP
Here's a roundup of how events have unfolded on this, the 44th day of the hunt for MH370.
- The underwater search drone, Bluefin-21 completed its seventh search mission but has yet to find any sign of the plane, despite having covered about half of the search area. Its eighth mission is now underway.
- A Chinese aircraft reportedly spotted several objects in the Indian Ocean that match the colours of the missing plane.
- Malaysia's acting transport minister denied reports that the co-pilot of the jet made a phone call while it was flying low near Penang.
- Deputy foreign minister Hamzah Zainuddin said the government were considering issuing death certificates to the families of passengers on the missing airliner. He also said Malaysia Airlines would be providing financial compensation to the families.
- Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said 260 people have given statements to help the criminal investigation into the plane's disappearance, which is being investigated under laws covering terrorism and hijacking.
Malaysian authorities are considering issuing death certificates for the missing passengers of MH370.
It's part of the plan to provide financial assistance to the families of passengers.
But Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainudin, head of the next of kin committee, said no decision had been made on how much each family might receive.
Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police says statements have been taken from 260 people in the ongoing criminal investigation into the disappearance of MH370.
Speaking to reporters today, Khalid Abu Bakar said investigations into the missing plane had been classified as a criminal case underSection 130(c) of the Malaysian Penal Code which covers investigations into acts of terrorism, sabotage and hijacking.
"I am sorry because I cannot give you anything on the recovery of the plane so far," he said. "First, because it is related to a criminal investigation.
"Secondly, when we say something, people will resort to speculation. So, it is best we continue our investigations until we are ready to make announcements to the public."
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has demanded prime minister Najib Razak disclose the full cargo being carried by MH370, claiming government are trying to 'hide' the full cargo manifest from the public.
"The government of Malaysia and [Malaysia Airlines] have still yet to reveal the information" he said. "What are they afraid of? What will happen to the 'stolen' items? What was the plane really carrying to China? Najib, please tell us."
Malaysia Airlines say the plane was carrying three or four tonnes of Mangosteen, an Indonesian fruit and some small lithium-ion batteries, but they have not released the full cargo manifest.
The underwater drone hunting for MH370 has completed its seventh mission and has covered about half the search area without finding any sign of the missing plane.
Bluefin-21, the $4m unmanned submarine that has been scouring the waters for a week started its eighth mission almost immediately after resurfacing.
Malaysia Airlines have pledged to give financial assistance to the families of the passengers and crew of MH370.
During a briefing with families this morning, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin said: "Some of the families have lost their breadwinners and may be facing financial difficulties.
"Those affected will all receive some form of financial assistance from Malaysia Airlines
"However, when the assistance will be given will be determined at a later date as we have recipients from 15 different countries."
Malaysia's Acting Transport Minister has denied reports that the co-pilot of missing aircraft MH370 made a phone call while it was flying low near Penang.
Hishammuddin Hussein said if the reports were true he would have heard about it.
"I cannot comment [on the newspaper report] because if it is true, we would have known about it much earlier" he told reporters.
He said he had taken the approach of not confirming anything without verification since the beginning of the search, and that it was irresponsible for anyone to take the opportunity to make baseless claims.
"We received numerous leads and we followed them but unfortunately, it was a roller-coaster ride, whereby we received information and investigated (them) but they were baseless," he added.
A Chinese aircraft has spotted several objects in the Indian Ocean that match the colours of the missing plane.
However, it is not known if they are related to the investigation.
Xinhua News Agency saw the objects in a new area for the search nearer to mainland Australia.
Australian search officials said a crucial series of sonar scans of the Indian Ocean floor could be completed within a week.
The air, surface and underwater search is now focused on footage taken by a U.S. Navy deep sea drone, which has narrowed its target range to a tight 10-km (6.2-mile) circle of sea floor.
The Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) has spent the past week scouring the remote and largely unmapped stretch of ocean floor some 2,000 km (1,200 miles) northwest of the Australian city of Perth for signs of the plane, which disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
The remote controlled submarine is now in its eighth deep sea mission with no sign of wreckage so far.
The drone has searched about half its targeted area, the authorities said on Sunday.
The hunt for missing MH370 is now into its 44th day and for some, hopes of finding the missing jetliner are slim.
Twitter user Nick Cooper wrote: "Not sure if we will be finding an answer any time soon to #MH370 disappearance.
"Maybe in a couple of years someone somewhere will."
The search for missing Flight MH370 entered its 44th day on Sunday as Australian search officials said a crucial series of sonar scans of the Indian Ocean floor could be completed within a week.
The air, surface and underwater search is now focused on footage taken by a U.S. Navy deep sea drone, which has narrowed its target range to a tight 10-km (6.2-mile) circle of sea floor.
The Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) has spent the past week scouring the remote and largely unmapped stretch of ocean floor some 2,000 km (1,200 miles) northwest of the Australian city of Perth for signs of the plane, which disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
The remote controlled submarine is now in its eighth deep sea mission with no sign of wreckage so far.
Up to 11 military aircraft and 12 ships will be involved in today's search for MH370.
The submersible craft Bluefin-21 is now on its eighth underwater mission.
The weather forecast is for scattered showers in the search area.
Malaysia's Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein insists the search for Flight MH370 will continue.
"The search will always continue," he said.
"It is just a matter of approach."
China has hit back at US media that accused Beijing of dragging its feet in the search for missing Flight MH370.
The Beijing-based Global Times defended the nation's stance, after foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called a report in The New York Times an irresponsible and pointless provocation.
The report said: "The mission has clearly been a prime opportunity for the Chinese government to demonstrate its determination and technological abilities to its domestic audience and to improve on its response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines last year, which was widely criticised as late and tepid."
Malaysia's acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein has rubbished an opinion poll showing only a quarter of Malaysians believe their government is being truthful about missing Flight MH370.
Hishammuddin Hussein said: "That is purely speculative.
Hishammuddin Hussein said: "That is purely speculative.
"It is irresponsible and it does not represent the majority of the views out there.
"People want us to continue and we have done so with friends from all over the world.
"There is a small group of people who may be cynical about how we are going to move forward, but the truth will always prevail.
"People want us to continue and we have done so with friends from all over the world.
"There is a small group of people who may be cynical about how we are going to move forward, but the truth will always prevail.
"We have nothing to hide."
He was asked to comment on a survey by pollster Merdeka Centre, which found that only 26 percent of respondents believe that the government is being truthfu.
Hishammuddin said on the contrary, support is "pouring in" from all over the world, including from leaders he met at the Defence Services Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur over the past week.
"They are saying that this is an unprecedented situation and they believe that what we have done is something that no country out there has actually experienced," he said.
"So how are you going to benchmark that as far as our performance is concerned?"
He was asked to comment on a survey by pollster Merdeka Centre, which found that only 26 percent of respondents believe that the government is being truthfu.
Hishammuddin said on the contrary, support is "pouring in" from all over the world, including from leaders he met at the Defence Services Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur over the past week.
"They are saying that this is an unprecedented situation and they believe that what we have done is something that no country out there has actually experienced," he said.
"So how are you going to benchmark that as far as our performance is concerned?"
To recap on developments over the last 24 hours - the search for missing Flight MH370 is now said to be at a 'very critical juncture'.
Malaysia's acting transport minister said the area officials believe the wreckage could be in is expected to narrow significantly over the next two days.
The search of a 6.2 mile circle of the sea floor by a US Navy underwater drone could be completed within a week.
The area has been determined based on underwater pings believed to be from the plane's black box recorders, meaning if analysis has been correct and the signal’s were coming from the boxes, remnants from the doomed flight should be located.
Malaysia's transport minister today thanked all those countries around the world who have so far offered their assistance in the search for MH370.
He said: "As we move on to the next phase of the search, I am humbled that more friends from other nations have expressed their willingness to assist and support our efforts to locate MH370."
We are now at the end of the sixth week of the search for Malaysia Airline's flight MH370.
The search is now focused on the seabed of the Indian Ocean, but over the last month and a half it has included air and land searches over a huge area.
Take a look back at how the hunt unfolded from March 8 on our timeline.
To recap the main developments from today - Malaysia's transport minister has said the next 48 hours will be crucial in the underwater search for MH370.
After that time, he said those in charge of the operation will "regroup and discuss our next move".
He said the "search will always continue, it's just a matter of time".
The mapping of the seabed would be completed by next week, he added, but no signs of the plane's wreckage has been found so far.
An expert on underwater searches says he is certain the search to find MH370 will be successful, and that the biggest challenges have been overcome.
Oceanographer Chari Pattiaratchi told CBC News "I have absolute confidence it will be found. It will take time, but it will be found."
Pattiaratchi is a researcher at University of Western Australia, and has been involved in a number of deep-water explorations.
"The important thing to remember is that the depth is a challenge, but the biggest challenge has been overcome," he said. "We have found the pings … that is proof beyond doubt that the plane is there."
Meanwhile, the underwater search drone looking for wreckage of MH370 has gone deeper than ever.
The $4m Bluefin-21 mini-submarine's search was initially frustrated by an automatic safety mechanism which returns it to the seurface when it exceeds a depth of 14,763 feet.
Authorities have now adjusted the mechanism, sending it as deep as 15,403 feet, a record for the sub.
It continues to sweep a city-sized area of the sea bed 2,000km north west of Perth.
Hishammuddin Hussein, the acting Malaysian transport minister, says plans to "regroup and reconsider" if the current underwater search isn't successful within seven days does not mean the end of the hunt to find MH370.
He said at a press conference: "We will regroup and reconsider the SAR operations if there are no new updates in the given time.
"This is not to stop the operations, but to consider other approaches which may include widening the scope of the search and using other assets that could be relevant to the search operations.
"The search will always continue, it's just a matter of approach"
Malaysia’s acting transport minister has said that the next 48 hours are crucial in the underwater search for the missing plane.
He said: “It is my understanding that the search effort is entering a critical stage in the next 48 hours.
“Whatever happens in that period, we will then regroup and discuss our next move.”
He also denied that mapping of the seabed could take months.
He told a press conference today: “That is not true. It should be completed by next week.”
Australian officials said today that the underwater search could be completed within a week.
A U.S. Navy deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle is scouring a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean for signs of the plane after nearly two months without a sign of the wreckage.
The Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a statement: "Provided the weather is favourable for launch and recovery of the AUV and we have a good run with the serviceability of the AUV, we should complete the search of the focused underwater area in five to seven days."
"They've been looking for 40 days and haven't found anything floating yet," Geoffrey Dell, Associate Professor of Accident Investigation and Forensics at Central Queensland University, told Reuters.
"You'd have to start saying there's either nothing to find or let's move elsewhere," he said.
The analysis from the Bluefin submarine is still be analysed.
A separate lead in the search, a sample taken from an oil slick picked up in the area, had been analysed and was found not to be aircraft engine oil or hydraulic fluid, the JACC said, suggesting it was not related to an aircraft.
A series of "pings" recorded this month have led searchers to the remote stretch of ocean in the belief that the signals may have come from the plane's black box recorders.
However, with no pings received in more than a week and the black box's battery now 10 days past its approximate expiry date, authorities are relying on the Bluefin drone.
Malaysia's defence minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, vowed that the search would continue even if there could be a pause to regroup and reconsider the best area to scour.
"The search will always continue. It's just a matter of approach," he told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.
On Monday, the search coordinator, retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said the air and surface search for debris would likely end in three days as the operation shifted its focus to the largely unmapped area of ocean floor.
On April 15, a U.S. Naval spokesman said the drone would take up to two months to search its designated area, but on Thursday the Australian Joint Agency Coordination Centre said that was now incorrect.
"Since the US Navy provided comment some days ago, the underwater search has been significantly narrowed through detailed acoustic analysis conducted on the four signal detections made by the Towed Pinger Locator," the JACC said in a statement.
The analysis had created a "reduced and more focused underwater search area".
A series of "pings" recorded this month have led searchers to the remote stretch of ocean in the belief that the signals may have come from the plane's black box recorders.
However, with no pings received in more than a week and the black box's battery now 10 days past its approximate expiry date, authorities are relying on the Bluefin drone.
After the U.S. Navy robot submarine Bluefin-21 completed its first full scan of the seabed some 2,000 km (1,240 miles) west of the Australian city of Perth, authorities said they had reduced the search area based on further analysis of what they believe may be signals from the plane's black box.
Footage taken by a deep-sea drone should determine sooner than previously thought whether a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean is the final resting place of a missing Malaysian jetliner, Australian search authorities said on Thursday.
As well as the Bluefin-21 underwater drone, authorities searching for MH370 are relying on daily modelling of ocean currents provided by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) Marine and Atmospheric Research unit.
This could give clues about how any surface debris may have dispersed.
Nick Hardman-Mountford, the CSIRO’s principal marine scientist, said: "People are spending a lot of their time at the moment looking at the daily models to provide updates."
"The winds, ocean currents, the time and cyclones passing through, they can all have an influence on what the ocean currents are doing and the model has to be able to capture all of this."
Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre says up to 10 military aircraft, two civil aircraft and 11 ships have been involved in today's search of around 40,349 square kilometres of the Indian Ocean.
The search zone lies 2,170km north west of Perth
The oil sample collected by Ocean Shield has now arrived in Perth, and is undergoing tests.
That's the end of transport minister Hishamuddin Hussein's latest press conference.
No major developments to report, but he reiterated once again that the search "will always continue".
He said relationships with the families of Chinese passengers on board MH370 - which have previously been extremely strained - are improving. And that the cost of the search was, at the moment, not something he was focused on.
However he stressed that the cost of any salvage operation at the bottom of the Indian Ocean would be "huge".
He said he had been approached with offers of funds from a number of countries who, so far, have not been able to assist with the hunt in other ways.
The minister is asked about the financial cost of the search.
He says: "Take it from me, as the person in charge, that is the last thing I have been faced with."
"I am cautiously optimistic in that there are many friends of Malaysia out there... that have not come on board just yet because of geographical reasons... who have been wanting to come forward to assist us.
"As we look into the deep water search... and salvaging at the depth of 4.5km... we have to look at contractors and the cost of that will be huge.
"Many friends have come to me quietly who have said if we cannot send assets... we have funds."
He says there has been an improvement in relations between officials and the relatives of Chinese passengers on board MH370, which have been very tense.
Malaysia is working closely with the Chinese government, he says, and the relatives are to be briefed on the next stage of the search to stop any "speculation".
He adds that the most difficult part of any investigation of this nature is having to deal with the families, and they must also consider the relatives of those passengers of other nationalities.
Malaysian Transport and Defence Minister Hishammudin Hussein has just begun giving a press conference - the first for a number of days.
He tells gathered journalists that "there will come a time we need to regroup and reconsider, but the search will always continue."
He adds: "It's just a matter of approach."
A deep-sea drone has now completed its first full scan of the seabed in the Indian Ocean in the search for MH370.
The Bluefin-21 drone finished its 16-hour deployment at a depth of 4.5km late yesterday, after its first two attempts were scuppered by technical problems.
The Joint Agency Coordination Centre, the body running the search, said this morning: "Bluefin-21 has searched approximately 90 square kilometres to date and the data from its latest mission is being analysed,"
The Straits Times reports this morning that the hunt for MH370 has so far cost around $100 million.
Yesterday, Malaysia's transport minister insisted that the bill for the search operation was not one of his primary concerns.
But he warned that once they do find wreckage, the costs of salvaging it from the bottom of the Indian Ocean would be "huge".
Despite the huge amount of effort being made to track down the missing plane - we appear to be no closer to any evidence being found.
Malaysian authorities have still not ruled out mechanical problems as causing the Boeing 777's disappearance, but say evidence suggests it was deliberately diverted from its scheduled route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
An aircraft's black box records data from the cockpit and conversations among flight crew and may provide answers about what happened to the missing plane.
Authorities have targeted the remote stretch of ocean based on four acoustic signals they believe are from the plane's black box recorders.
But they have not heard a "ping" for a week and with the batteries on the locator beacons now 10 days past their 30-day expected life, authorities have decided to stop searching using a Towed Pinger Locator and to use the Bluefin instead.
Youngsters from the Blue Mountain community got a close up look at glamorous Kate, as she crouched to speak to them.
It could be argued that her eye catching dress was even a little upstaged by the bright colours of the outfits worn by some of the kids.
The little girl in orange looks keen to be seen!
RT@britishroyals:William and Kate delight Blue Mountains community #RoyalVisitAus http://t.co/lUkwev25lH via@SBSNews pic.twitter.com/7NeAuznmAg
— Yankee Royalist (@YankRoyalBlog) April 17, 2014
Kate and William have now left the Girl Guides hut according to our Royal reporter Victoria Murphy.
The sea floor is likely covered in "foraminiferal ooze", a sludge formed by microscopic marine organisms, which would show up any large metallic object clearly, James Cook University marine geologist Robin Beaman said.
"A sidescan is very good at detecting the difference in the acoustic return of a hard object versus a soft, muddy sea floor," he said. "This is quite a good environment for looking for wreck debris, albeit deep."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/flight-mh370-live-updates-after-3219331#ixzz2zTpDJAel
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