KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — 6.20pm As the press conference was going on earlier, family members earlier holed up in the media secretariat were escorted out in separate directions at 5.40pm. The Rakyat Post’s reporter said shouting by the family members could be heard inside the media room where the press conference was being held. A minor scuffle had also broken out between reporters and the Police as the family members were ushered out. Police had threatened to arrest the mob of reporters who tried to breach the police-manned barricades at the Sama-Sama Hotel lobby to get better pictures. Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, at the press conference had also addressed the matter of emotions running high amongst family members of those on board MH370. He said that a high level team is currently being assembled to be sent to Beijing, which will include representatives from the Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, DCA and Malaysia Airlines (MAS). The team will be tasked to update those in Beijing with the current information on the search and rescue operation. He told reporters that the team will be led by Lt General Datuk Seri Ackbal Haji Abdul Samad, RMAF Air Operations Commander. 6.15pm Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, in the question and answer session at the press conference today, agreed that some priority is being given to the southern corridor, because it is a vast open sea. However he maintained that both corridors are equally important, adding that the southern corridor would simply prove to be more challenging. 6.00pm The inspector-general of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed what was earlier said by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that some data on Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s flight simulator was deleted. He also confirmed that the computer forensics expert is working to retrieve the deleted data. “The forensics experts are from Cybersecurity and MAS, as well as foreign experts. What is meant by deleted refers to the data log in the simulator,” he said. The simulator was taken from Zaharie’s house on March 16, Khalid said, adding that it contained three games; Flight Simulator X, Flight Simulator 9 and XFlight 10. He also told reporters that the police did not face any difficulties in dealing with the families of both the pilot and co-pilot, saying that they had given full cooperation. “The data was deleted on the 3rd of February,” Khalid told the press conference. 5.45pm At the daily press conference at Sama-Sama Hotel in Sepang which began at 5.30pm, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told members of the media that everyone on board MH370 remain innocent until proven otherwise. He urged the public to refrain from making unnecessary speculation. On the investigation, he said the team is working on narrowing the search corridor via four methods. The first is gathering satellite information, followed by analysing radar data as it becomes available, be it primary, secondary, military or civilian, the third is to increase air and surface assets and finally, to increase the number of technical experts. “The search and rescue operation for MH370 now involves diplomatic, logistical and technical challenges,” he said. Hishammuddin told reporters that the diplomatic team is being led by Foreign Affairs minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, the assets and logistical side is being led by the armed forces while the technical team is being led by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). He added that all the countries in the two, northern and southern corridors have agreed to assist in the search and rescue operation. He also said that while Malaysia still leads the operation, partners are increasingly taking the lead in certain sectors, and he thanked them for their continued assistance and support. “Indonesia and Australia have indicated they are leading the search and rescue in the southern corridor,” he said. On radar data from other countries, Hishammuddin said he has received the data but was not at liberty to reveal them. Meanwhile, on reports that a low fying jumbo jet was sighted in the Maldives on March 8, Hishammuddin said that the Malaysian chief of the defence force has contacted his counterpart there and this claim was proven untrue. He reiterated that the flight flew on a normal routine up until waypoint Igari, and added that there were no additional waypoints on the documented flight plan. On investigations into individuals, he repeated that all passengers, crew members and ground staff of MH370 is being investigated. “We have received the background checks of passengers from other countries except for Russia and Ukraine. So far we have found nothing significant,” he said. He also informed the media that he met with a delegation from France this morning, made up of those with experience in the Air France Airbus A330-203 flight AF447, which took two years to retrieve the blackbox. “They’re information and expertise will help us to make decisions from this point forward,” he said. 5.05pm Several family members of those on board MH370 turned up at the media centre at the Sama-Sama Hotel in Sepang without warning. Upon arriving and catching the security team off guard, they opened up a banner written in Mandarin, causing a commotion as the media attempted to photograph them. The security team escorted the family members to the media secretariat where the press were not allowed to enter. One of the family members who had been staying at the Cyberview Lodge Resort and Spa in Putrajaya claimed that she has not received any information in her 12 days stay here. Another broke down asking for her son back. 5.00pm The daughter of MH370′s chief steward Andrew Nari will not collect her SPM results tomorrow, as told to The Star by Nari’s family member. It was reported that Maira Elizabeth Nari’s family has called the school and requested for them to hold on to the transcript while they try to stay as private as possible. Via her Twitter account today, Maira wrote: “SPM results is coming out tomorrow, and was hoping that he’ll be back by then. But, that’s alright. He’s with me through my heart, & faith.” Maira’s previous tweet during a Liverpool match had also gained much attention, with the Liverpool FC (LFC) personally responding to her on Twitter saying: “Just to let you know that we are thinking of your father & all those still missing from flight #MH370 Be strong. YNWA.” (YNWA is Liverpool’s tagline You Never Walk Alone). The tweet was in response to Maira saying: “Daddy, Liverpool is winning the game. Come home, so you can watch the game! You never miss watching the game. It’s your very first time. :’)” 3.45pm Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters at a press conference in Putrajaya that several recent files in Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s flight simulator had been deleted. Cops had seized the simulator from his home recently as part of their probe into the missing MAS flight MH370. New Straits Times reported that Zahid had said computer forensics experts are currently working round-the-clock to retrieve the deleted files.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:42:08 +0000
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