23 April 2014 MH370 PRESS BRIEFING BY HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND ACTING MINISTER OF TRANSPORT Introductory Statement It has been 47 days since MH370 went missing. As stated by the Joint Agency Coordinating Centre in Perth earlier today, up to 10 military aircraft and 12 ships will assist in todays search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Today the Australian Maritime Safety Authority had planned a visual search area totaling approximately 37,948 square kilometres. The centre of the search area lies approximately 1584 kilometres north west of Perth. However, planned air search activities have been suspended for today due to poor weather conditions in the search area. Three aircraft had already departed for todays search area prior to the suspension taking effect. They have been recalled. Current weather conditions are resulting in heavy seas and poor visibility and are making air search activities ineffective and potentially hazardous. The 12 ships involved in todays search will continue with their planned activities. Bluefin-21 AUV is currently completing mission ten in the underwater search area. Bluefin-21 has now completed more than 80 per cent of the focused underwater search area. No contacts of interest have been found to date. The focused underwater search area is defined as a circle of 10km radius around the second Towed Pinger Locator detection which occurred on 8 April. International Investigation Team I will now update you on the International Investigation Team. Cabinet has deliberated and approved the appointment of an International Investigation Team to investigate the MH370 incident. The Ministry of Transport (MOT) has been tasked to draft the Terms of Reference for the investigation team. As I’ve announced previously, the sub committee, led by Aziz Kaprawi, Deputy Minister of Transport has been assigned the task to coordinate the formation of the International Investigation Team. On that note, Malaysia as the Contracting State and a Council Member 2 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will observe and comply with the standards and recommended practices of ICAO set mainly to look into the safety of international civil aviation. The main purpose of the International Investigation Team is to evaluate, investigate and determine the actual cause of the incident so similar incidents could be avoided in the future. I would also like to note that the investigation will not include criminal aspects which are under the purview of the Royal Malaysian Police. This investigation will be carried out in accordance with the Civil Aviation Regulation 1966 and the standards set under Annex 13 - Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, the Chicago Convention, which requires each party to investigate air accidents independently with full powers in their respective countries. The Aviation Accident Investigation Bereau (BSKU – Biro Siasatan Kemalangan Udara) which was established since December 2011 under the Ministry of Transport will act as the Secretariat for this investigation team. The investigation team will include three groups: a. an airworthiness group, to look into issues such as maintenance records, structures and systems; b. an operational group,to examine flight recorders,operations and meteorology; c. a medical and human factors group, to investigate issues such as psychology, pathology and survival factors. We are also discussing to appoint experts from other ASEAN countries in accordance with the ASEAN MoU on Cooperation Relating to Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation that was signed in 2008. We are in the process of identifying the members and the accreditated representatives and will be recruiting the members for the team in accordance with international standards. We will announce the name of the members next week. Indeed, it is imperative for the government to form an independent team of investigators which is not only competent and transparent but also highly credible. As I’ve consistently said since the beginning, we have nothing to hide. MH192 Updates Let me take this opportunity to also update all of you on the MH192 incident. On 20th of April 2014, MH192 bound for Bangalore departed KLIA at 10:20PM with 166 people on board including 7 crew members. Upon take off, the crew reported feeling heavy vibrations. At 10:22PM, MH2626 which was lining up for departure reported sighting tyre debris on the runway. Soon after, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Centre in Subang received a report from MH192 indicating that its tyre had burst. ATC KLIA Tower then informed Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad’s Airport Operation Control Center to relay messages to the MAS Operation Control Centre (MAS OCC) regarding the above matter and also to the pilot of MH192. Immediately after, MH192 made an air turnback towards KLIA. At 11:32PM, the aircraft made a low fly past over the runway as advised by MAS OCC then it continued to hold over until 1:20AM. At 1:31AM, the aircraft approached KLIA to make yet another low fly past the runway under the observation of MAS OCC representatives. At 1:57AM, MH192 landed safely on Runway 32 L. In the preliminary investigation findings, it has been identified that the No. 3 main wheel had burst during take off. The aircraft is currently grounded at the MAS Engineering facility in KLIA for further inspection and repair work. Further investigations by the relevant authorities are still ongoing. Concluding Remarks I would like to conclude by stressing that we will continue with the search operations until we have fully covered the search area. We will strive to explore all possible options in finding MH370. As I have said previously, the search will always continue.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 11:59:32 +0000
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