KUALA LUMPUR: Hari Krismas adalah tarikh terakhir untuk melengkapkan pencarian pesawat MH370 di kawasan seluas 120,000km persegi di Arc 7 di selatan Lautan Hindi, barat daya Australia.

Dalam satu e-mel terbaharu daripada Biro Keselamatan Pengangkutan Australia (ATSB), cuaca buruk menyebabkan pencarian di baki 10,000km persegi terpaksa ditangguhkan.

Setakat ini, pencarian sudah meliputi 110,000km persegi, kata Pusat Penyelarasan Agensi Bersama dalam Kemas Kini Operasi Pencarian MH370 bertarikh hari ini.

Menurutnya, perkembangan utama minggu ini termasuk kapal Fugro Equator memasuki kawasan pencarian terbabit, manakala kapal Dong Hai Jiu 101 pula sedang berlabuh di luar Fremantle, bersiap sedia untuk misi seterusnya.

“Ia dijangkakan keadaan cuaca akan bertambah baik sekitar Oktober untuk membolehkan penggunaan kenderaan kawalan jauh (ROV) dari kapal itu.

“Peralatan itu juga akan menyiasat hubungan sonar,” menurut kemas kini daripada Pegawai Komunikasi Operasi Pencarian MH370, Daniel JT O’Malley.

ATSB juga bekerjasama dengan Organisasi Penyelidikan Industri dan Saintifik Komanwel (CSIRO) sejak 18 bulan lalu, bagi mencari lokasi serpihan MH370 hanyut.

Satu kajian intensif akan dijalankan tidak lama lagi.

Fasa pertama ialah melepaskan boya hanyut laut yang digunakan dalam Program Hanyut Global, bersama model flaperon dilengkapi pengesan satelit.

Model itu akan dikesan untuk mewujudkan kadar dan arah hayut berbanding boya hanyut di laut terbuka yang tertakluk kepada angin, arus dan ombak sama.

Program Hanyut Global sebenarnya selama 30 tahun akan digunakan untuk membentuk arah hanyut flaperon itu.

“Ia tidak akan dapat mengenal pasti lokasi pesawat itu secara tepat dengan sendirinya. Bagaimanapun, ia berharap dapat mengenal pasti lokasi spesifik pesawat itu berada, apabila ditambah dengan pengetahuan sedia ada dan sebarang pembelajaran masa depan.”

Pada Julai 2015, satu serpihan ditemui di La Réunion, Lautan Hindi berhampiran Madagascar. Ia kemudiannya dihantar ke Perancis.

Pada 3 September 2015, pihak berkuasa Perancis mengesahkan serpihan itu adalah bahagian sayap, satu flaperon daripada sebuah pesawat Boeing 777. Pengenal unik mengenal pasti serpihan berkenaan ialah sebahagian daripada pesawat MH370.

Flaperon itu amat penting. Ia adalah serpihan pertama MH370 yang dijumpai. Sumber

KULA LUMPUR: Malaysia menghormati keputusan Australia yang memutuskan untuk menamatkan misi pencarian pesawat Malaysia Airlines MH370 yang dilaporkan hilang sejak 8 Mac 2014.

Timbalan Menteri Pengangkutan, Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi berkata, keputusan menamatkan misi pencarian yang dibuat oleh Australia itu berikutan selepas merujuk nasihat daripada pakar yang terlibat.

“Keputusan Australia menerusi Biro Keselamatan Pengangkutan negara itu yang telah mengetuai misi pencarian pesawat tersebut selepas mendapatkan nasihat daripada pakar-pakar.

“Malaysia akan menghormati keputusan itu,” katanya kepada pemberita, hari ini.

Beliau berkata demikian sebagai mengulas kenyataan Ketua Biro Keselamatan Pengangkutan Australia, Martin Dolan berhubung jangkaan kegagalan dalam misi pencarian pesawat MH370 itu.

Ini berikutan kata Martin, lebih daripada 105,000 kilometer persegi dasar laut di selatan Lautan Hindi telah diteroka sehingga 11 Mei lalu, bagaimanapun hanya tinggal 15,000 kilometer persegi sahaja lagi yang belum diteroka sebelum pencarian itu berakhir.

“Semasa kami memulakan pencarian ini, nasihat yang terbaik diterima daripada pakar adalah terdapat kemungkinan tinggi, tetapi, tidak pasti sama ada pesawat itu akan ditemui di kawasan ini,” kata Martin.

Sebelum ini, Biro Keselamatan Pengangkutan Australia memaklumkan dua kepingan yang ditemui secara berasingan pada Mac lalu di Afrika Selatan dan pulau Mauritius hampir pasti milik MH370.

Pesawat MH370 dilaporkan hilang dari radar etika dalam perjalanan ke Beijing dari Kuala Lumpur bersama-sama 239 orang penumpang dan krew.

Policemen carry a piece of debris from an unidentified aircraft found in the coastal area of Saint-Andre de la Reunion, in the east of the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, on July 29. (Agence France-Presse)

A part number on aircraft wreckage recovered in the Indian Ocean confirms it came from a Boeing 777, a Malaysian official said Friday, expressing confidence that the mystery of flight MH370 was close to being solved.

"From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me," Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told AFP.

The wing component found on the French island of La Reunion bears the part number "657 BB", according to photos of the debris.

AFP was not immediately available to reach Malaysia Airlines for comment.

Abdul Aziz's remarks are the latest by officials involved in the hunt for MH370 to indicate the increasingly likelihood that the piece of wreckage came from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, a Boeing 777 aircraft.

Hopes are rising fast that the part can soon be conclusively identified to solve the mystery of MH370, which vanished 16 months ago with 239 people aboard.

The two-metre (six-foot) long piece of wreckage, known as a flaperon, has been sent to France for analysis.

Abdul Aziz said the most definitive confirmation of the part's origin would have to come from Boeing, saying the aircraft manufacturer performed modifications to the flaperon that would make it easy to identify.

The endeavour by Malaysia and the search team to widen the area of their search for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean shows that they are not ready to give up.

It has almost been 400 days since the disappearance of the flight which was reported to have ended in the Indian Ocean, yet there has been no clue or lead to its actual location.

Three countries, Malaysia, Australia and China are involved in the search.

Yesterday, Malaysia through Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai announced that the search team would be widening the search area to the second phase covering an additional 60,000 km if the search in the current location did not yield results.

Airline experts interviewed by Bernama said the joint effort was a clear indicator that the search team was not trying to raise the hopes of those affected, but was a firm commitment to resolve the biggest mystery in the history of global aviation.

Captain Abdul Rahmat Omar Tun Mohd Haniff said the move was a normal procedure in every search and rescue operation but it was not an easy process.

"Nobody has conducted a search in such an isolated location. To look for an object which is 1,400 sq metres in size in an area which is 60,000 sq km by 6,000 million sq metres, at a depth of about 6,000 metres is not an easy task.

"Even now, the search in its first phase has not covered 60,000 sq km. What I can say is that the government is very generous for extending the search area if the MH370 is still not found after the end of the first phase," said the former Royal Malaysian Air Force officer.

He said despite the harsh conditions such as huge waves, and the valleys and hills on the seabed of the Indian Ocean, the operations should be continued to ensure that all parties were satisfied.

"In the case of Air France, debris was found, but even then, it took two years for the aircraft to be discovered.

"In the case of MH370, we are only guided by the Inmarsat calculations, which may not be very accurate. So if a search has been conducted in an area and the aircraft is still not found, then the area needs to be widened," he said.

The Air France flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in Brazillian waters while on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, 2009 killing all 228 passengers and crew.

Meanwhile, Captain Datuk Nik Ahmad Huzlan Nik Hussain said it was appropriate for the first phase of the search operation concluding in May to continue with the second phase.

Asked about the condition of the aircraft if it indeed crashed or was last detected in the Indian Ocean, Nik Ahmad Huzlan clarified that it could still be intact and its interior free from water for the time being as the plane was still in its original condition.

"It could still be intact as the body metal of aircraft would not easily rust or disintegrate even in sea water.

"Look at the Titanic, despite being built of iron which was not as sophisticated as current aircrafts such as MH370 or Boeing 777-200ER, the structure was still strong after 100 years...its body is still there," said the former MAS chief pilot.

"An aircraft is made of aluminium composite which is far stronger," he said.

However, Dr Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian said an aircraft which had been in the ocean bed for 400 days, would deteriorate.

"The ocean pressure is very high and under continuous pressure, the aircraft structure would have crumbled and several components might have ripped apart from the fuselage.

"Salt water will corrode the aircraft, more so after such a long time," said the Universti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) Aircraft Research and Innovation head.

The first phase of the search mission which began in October last year is expected to end at the end of this month and phase two is expected to kick in till the end of the year.

The Boeing 777, flight MH370 carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers including two babies disappeared from the radar while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, about one hour after departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8 last year. It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30 am on the same day.

BERNAMA

Malaysian Flight MH370 Has Been Located Through The Marciniak Theorem and Proof on the 9 month anniversary. The Arc Currently Being Searched and Strenuously Identified by Inmarsat 40 Degrees was only Part of the Much larger Equation. In Fact, Evidence Shows that Not only did MH370 send an alert through The Inmarsat Emergency System, The Signal was Transmitter through Every Satellite and GES Station of the Entire Eastern Hemisphere.

The Location of MH370 is N12.18 E94 next to7.4 Miles of the coast of Barren Island in the Adaman Sea.

Currently, Contact is attempting to be made to the SAR Team of this breakthrough and near completion of the modeling process of the Data.

Inmarsat, clearly did not understand what they had in their hands, and all measurements go into the Hyperbolic Method As part of the Marciniak Theorem matching each and Every measued point, and much more was needed, as each and every line of Data was need for computation of the Conversion as designed into a GPS Position as transmitted.

Additionally, The SDU {Satellite Data unit} Immediately Reconnected upon incident and Never Lost and time in transmission, and immediately was Transmitting on an Emergency signal with loads of Tracking information for GPS Conversion to Inmarsat 4f-1' 3F-1 and 3F-3 and all surrounding GES Stations.

The Position on the 40 degree Arc is Part of a much larger Dead Reckoning as part of the Required information for the FANS translation into GPS Coordinates. This same system could have been used in the AF447 flight in 2009 it has been part of our flight systems since 1969 embedded with the SDU Circuit Board.

There is much more to address as Marciniak and others are attempting to make contact with Malaysian and Authorities and The JACC.

Update will be provided upon progress and a portion of the Model under Construction as been posted o understand the process visually. Source: ireport

A handful of secret documents that contain confidential information and data regarding the investigation of the disappeared Malaysian flight MH370 have been hacked. The attack is reportedly a targeted phishing act and the perpetrators, who apparently are of Chinese origin, have gained access to a trove of secret material.

Around 30 computers got affected in this successful hacking attack. All the documents belong to the officials involved in the investigation of the Malaysian Airlines’ fateful flight, Civil Aviation dept., and the National Security Council.hackers-stole-secret-mh370-related-secret-data-from-investigators

Malaysian Newspaper The Star on Wednesday reported that the Malware acted as a PDF file attached to a new article, which was emailed on March 9 to the senior Malaysian officials. Seemingly, the attack was executed only a day after the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777, which was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Prior to the finding and closing of this breach by Malaysian CyberSecurity experts, the IP address was located to be funneled in China. The fact that the data was stolen by a malware which was sent via email alerted the Malaysian officials, reported CyberSecurity Chief Executive Amirudin Abdul Wahab. CyberSecurity is a governmental agency in Malaysia which falls within the Science, Technology and Innovation ministry.

Mr. Abdul Wahab stated in the newspaper that:

“Those email contained confidential data from the officials’ computer, including minutes of meetings and classified documents. Some of these were related to the MH370 investigation.”

According to the findings of the agency, the hack was directly related to the disappearance of MH370. It is understandable because 153 Chinese nationals were on board on that flight.

Cyber Security chief further asserts:

“At that time, there were some people accusing the government of not releasing crucial information,” and that the Malaysian government eventually had to release all the information it had about the incident.

It must be noted that the story is about the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8 while flying over the Indian Ocean. A high profile rescue operation, which so far is unprecedented both scope wise and cost wise, was launched by the government but even the debris from the plane could be found.

Lack of information over this incident sparked frustration among Chinese public and as a response occasional protests erupted. The Malaysian government was hugely criticized for offering insufficient efforts in finding their loved ones.

A number of conspiracy theories have also emerged regarding the disappearance of the plane. One claims that the plane was seized for a nefarious purpose by the government itself or by a highly-trained criminal group. The involvement of a dangerous perpetrator cannot also be overlooked.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 4. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has issued an open tender for conducting an intensified deep-water search of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 beginning August this year.

The bureau in a statement said the specialist company would engage as a prime contractor under ATSB's direction for the search which is expected to take up to 12 months depending on weather conditions.

"The company will provide the expertise, equipment and vessel(s) necessary to undertake an intensified underwater search for the missing Boeing 777 aircraft in the defined zone in the southern Indian Ocean," it said.

ATSB said the successful tenderer would be expected to search an area up to 60,000 square kilometres based on the 'seventh handshake' arc where the aircraft last communicated with the Inmarsat satellite.

It added that the precise search zone was currently being established by an international search strategy working group and would be finalised within two to three weeks.

"The successful tenderer will localise, positively identify and map the debris field of MH370 using specialist equipment such as towed and autonomous underwater vehicles with mounted sonar and/or optical imaging systems."

The successful tenderer will use the data from a bathymetric survey, which was already underway, to navigate the search zone that has water depth between 1000 and 6000 metres, it said.

ATSB notified that the search vessel(s) used by the prime contractor may also be coordinated with other vessels also undertaking search activities in the search zone on behalf of other countries.

A copy of the request for tender is available on the AusTender website at www.tenders.gov.au. and submissions are due by 5.30pm AEST (3.30 pm Malaysia time) on 30 June 2014.

The statement also said at the request of the Malaysian Government, the ATSB is leading the search for missing MH370 flight. NEW STRAITS TIMES

PETALING JAYA. May 18. After months of silence, the next of kin of crew members on board flight MH370 said Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has abandoned them after they sought legal advice from an American law firm.

About one and a half weeks ago the services of caregivers assigned to the families was abruptly stopped. However the official notice of termination only arrived last Friday.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 1. Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will shut down its MH370 Family Assistance Centres worldwide by May 7, as the company adjusts to the mode of services and support.

MAS Group Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said this was in line with the company's commitment to continue its support to the families of the passengers and crew of the missing MAS Flight MH370 aircraft.

"From past experience, we understand the continuing search and investigation will be a prolonged process.

"Instead of staying in hotels, the families of MH370 passengers are advised to receive information updates on the progress of the search and investigation and other support by MAS, within the comfort of their home, with the support and care of their families and friends," he said in a statement here today.

The MH370 Family Assistance Centres were established by MAS as the focal point for all activities which were planned for the families of the passengers and crew of Flight MH370, including briefings, religious activities and prayer services.

Ahmad Jauhari said MAS would keep in close touch with the families on news updates through telephone calls, messages, the internet and face-to-face meetings.

He said family support centres would be established in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing and the detailed plan of follow-up support and services would be relayed in person to the affected families.

He added, MAS would make advanced compensation payments at the soonest possible date to the nominated next-of-kin entitled to claim compesation, in order to meet their immediate economic needs.

He said the payment would not affect the rights of the next-of-kin to claim compesation, according to the law at a later stage and would be calculated as part of the final compensation.

"Immediately after the next-of-kin have returned home, our representatives will be in touch with them at the earliest opportunity to initiate the advanced compensation payment process."

The hunt for the missing Boeing 777-200ER aircraft has entered the second month since its disappearance on March 8.

The airliner carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew went missing while on its flight to Beijing about an hour after departing from the KL International Airport at 12.41am.

It was to have landed in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.

Seventeen days later, the flight path of MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean. The search for the aircraft continues.

Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin, who is chairman of the next-of-kin committee, in a separate statement said on behalf of the Malaysian Government, he supported and reaffirmed MAS' decision.

He expressed confidence with MAS' commitment to continuing their support to the families of those on board Flight MH370.

He also reaffirmed that the Malaysian Government would ensure that MAS keep in close touch with the families through the airline's Family Support Centres, which would be established immediately in Kuala Lumpur and in Beijing.

Hamzah also said that after weeks of an intensive search, involving 26 countries scanning land, sea and air operations for the past 55 days, "we are still continuing with the search operation."

"This is an excruciating time for the families and friends of those on board MH370, and I empathise with the pain and suffering they are going through.

"I can assure that we have done everything in our capacity to ensure that the families' best interests are kept close to our hearts," he added. Bernama

1. I am very upset over MAS employees being held hostage in Beijing by the relatives of the passengers of MH 370. I am upset because they are blaming the wrong people. The loss of the plane is due to the makers Boeing.

2. How can Boeing produce a plane that is so easily disabled? Normally it is entirely possible for the crew, the pilots and co-pilots to communicate even with KLIA. Maybe the captain did not want to. But surely the co-pilot would want to inform ground stations that the plane was not flying according to the scheduled route.

3. The passengers may not notice but the co-pilot would. So would the cabin crew. They are all trained to deal with emergencies if not immediately, at least later.

4. But none of them seemed to have tried. It must be because the whole communication system has been disabled. It must take some effort if the pilot tried to disable the system. The co-pilot would notice and for his own life he would have tried to do something. Was he disabled? Were all the crew members and the passengers disabled?

5. The flight of all passenger planes can be tracked even on a personal mobile phone. I can do it on my phone. If the plane landed I can watch it landing and taxiing. I can even get information on any plane anywhere – what make and model, who it belongs to and where it is flying from and its destination.

6. I believe there are equipments on the plane which allows it to be tracked – probably by Global Positioning System.

7. Sophisticated cameras on the spy-satellites operated by some countries can actually photograph a man on the ground and even identify him. Surely the cameras can see and photograph a 63-metre aircraft.

8. But the aircraft disappeared completely. I think on everyone’s mobile it has disappeared. Some equipment on the aircraft must have been disabled. Even the backup must have been disabled

9. Boeing built this aircraft. Boeing must explain how all these means of tracking the plane can be disabled, can fail. Either Boeing technology is poor or it is not fail-safe. I would not like to fly in Boeing aircraft unless Boeing can explain how all its system can fail or be disabled.

10. Remote control technology is now very sophisticated and powerful. Is it true that Boeing has installed remote control equipment on the aircraft to prevent hijacking? If it did why did it not direct the aircraft to land safely? Is it possible for third parties to take control of the aircraft remotely?

11. When a plane crashes on land or sea there would be debris or oil slick. None has been found so far. Can it be that the plane remained intact on crashing and sank with no trace and no one launching the lifeboat doors as we are told all these aircrafts are equipped with?

12. Can one believe this plane quietly floated down into the raging sea and sank conveniently in the deepest part (7miles deep) of the Indian Ocean?

13. It is standard practice that when a plane crashes, a team of experts would arrive at the scene soonest so as to find the cause of the crash. Boeing and the authorities in the manufacturing country should be looking out for the plane. Maybe the plane type should be grounded. But Boeing has shown no interest and had said practically nothing.

14. MAS has been flying numerous kinds of aircrafts and has a good record. The pilots are well-trained. Even if the pilot wants to commit suicide the co-pilot and the cabin crew would not allow him to do so without trying something. But no one, not even the passengers did anything. Maybe it is because they have been somehow incapacitated.

15. Boeing must answer all these questions. Boeing must demonstrate possible ways for the communications system to be disabled. Boeing must accept responsibility for building an aircraft that can disappear in mid-air so completely.

16. MAS is not at fault, lax security or not. MAS flew a plane fully expecting it to perform the task. But the plane has somehow behaved differently. Who is responsible? Not MAS but certainly the makers of the plane – Boeing Aircraft Corporation.

Authorities decided to deploy an autonomous underwater vehicle, Bluefin-21.

Bluefin-21 AUV Deployed in Search for Missing Flight MH370
With the lack of further signal detections, the Authorities believe that the batteries on the black box recorders have expired, BBC reports.

The previously detected signals by the Australia Ocean Shield vessel helped in narrowing the search area in the Southern Indian Ocean.

As Reuters reports, officials are currently focusing on an area of approximately 600 sq km (230 sq miles).

The Bluefin-21, a highly modular autonomous underwater vehicle able to carry multiple sensors and payloads at once, will search the area relying on side-scan sonar and cameras to capture an acoustic image of the seafloor.

According to the report from CNN, the Ocean Shield found an oil slick that could relate to the missing jet, and samples of oil have been collected for the examination.

The Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777 went missing on March 08 with 239 people on board. The jet was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Subsea World News

KUALA LUMPUR: The co-pilot of missing Malaysian airliner MH370 attempted to make a mid-flight call from his mobile phone just before the plane vanished from radar screens, a report said Saturday citing unnamed investigators.

The call ended abruptly possibly "because the aircraft was fast moving away from the (telecommunications) tower", a local English daily quoted a source as saying.

But it also quoted another source saying that while Fariq Abdul Hamid's "line was reattached", there was no certainty that a call was made from the Boeing 777 that vanished on March 8.

The report - titled a "desperate call for help" - did not say who he was trying to contact.

Fariq and Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah have come under intense scrutiny after the plane mysteriously vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Investigators last month indicated that the flight was deliberately diverted and its communication systems manually switched off as it was leaving Malaysian airspace, triggering a criminal investigation by police that has revealed little so far.

The fate of flight MH370 has been shrouded in mystery, with a number of theories put forward including a hijacking or terrorist attack and a pilot gone rogue.

There have been unconfirmed previous reports in the Malaysian media of calls by the captain before or during the flight but no details have been released.

The local English daily report said that Flight 370 flew low enough near Penang island on Malaysia's west coast - after turning off course - for a telecommunications tower to pick up the co-pilot's phone signal.

The phone line was "reattached" between the time the plane veered off course and blipped off the radar, the government-controlled paper quoted the second source as saying.

"A 'reattachment' does not necessarily mean that a call was made. It can also be the result of the phone being switched on again."

Malaysia's transport ministry told AFP that it was examining the report and will issue a response.

The Malaysian government and media have repeatedly contradicted each other and themselves over details of the search and criminal investigation.  AFP