The Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 linking Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished from radar screens an hour after taking off from Malaysia. So far they are no certified information about the real cause to the vanishing aircraft. An act of terrorism has also been evocated but this is so far only a guessing from the authorities.
KUALA LUMPUR- It has been a sad day for world and Asian aviation following the vanishing of a Boeing 777 from Malaysia Airlines on Saturday early morning, which was linking Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. According to the information provided by Malaysia Airlines, MAS flight MH370 was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew. It went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing about an hour after taking off from the KL International Airport at 12.41 am Saturday. It should have landed in Beijing at 6.30 am.
Mystery is surrounding meanwhile the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight. Numerous theories were triggered by unusual details over passengers. Authorities have in fact revealed aircraft that four passengers who boarded the aircraft used fake passports belonging to citizens from Italy and Austria. Apart from focusing on the missing aircraft, foreign media reports have also not ruled out the possibility of the flight being hijacked or having exploded in midair. However, it has not yet been determined if the plane was downed by an attack, Malaysia transport minister Hishamuddin Hussein said on Sunday.
In a report, US TV channel CNN in its report revealed that two of the purchased tickets were emitted at China Southern Airlines office in South China. The passports of the two people had been reported missing several years ago in South East Asia and the authorities in Italy and Austria had confirmed none of their citizens were on the aircraft.
However, the theory of the aircraft exploding in midair may have to be ruled out after The New York Times, quoting an United States government officer today, as saying that the early monitoring data inspected by the Pentagon suggested that the MH370 aircraft had not explode over the South China Sea yesterday based on its explosion monitoring system.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when commenting on the possibility of terrorism threat, said the government would not come to any conclusion without strong evidence.“There is no evidence now, although numerous theories are thrown around. We are forced to find all the possible indicators and must investigate before making a firm conclusion,” Najib told reporters after opening the 2014 National Unity programme here.
Meanwhile, Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azaharuddin Abdul Rahman said DCA investigated numerous aspects, including whether the aircraft was hijacked but could not confirm it as long as it was not found.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Meteorological Department’s National Weather Centre meteorological officer Khairul Najib Ibrahim said there was no drastic weather change near Malaysian waters which could threaten the MH370 aircraft when it was reported missing. Some 34 aircraft and 40 ships from various governments in the region are now involved to find the MH370 aircraft.
MAS CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, opened a special support and caregiving centre which provides 24 hours support and information to those affected by the MH370 incident with regular updates on the search and rescue operations. The airline will also fly family members needing to be in Kuala Lumpur.
(Sources: Bernama, Reuters and MAS official Press Release)
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
