DAY 73
Latest developments:
- The Department of Civil Aviation is instructed to discuss with Inmarsat on family's request for raw data
Gov't, satellite company discuss release of data to families
10.58: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says he has instructed the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) to discuss with British satellite provider Inmarsat the next-of-kin's request for "raw" satellite data be released to the public.
"This is consistent with our stand for greater transparency and prioritising the interests of the family members of those on board MH370," he says.
He also says that a team in Canberra is poring through all satellite data, calculations and analysis made available by Inmarsat.
MAS denies cutting off families
8.01pm: MAS clarifies that it has ceased caregiver services and communication with families of MH370 crew members who had engaged foreign lawyers upon request by the lawyers themselves.
"(These) foreign lawyers have directed that MAS cease from any further direct communication with their clients, and that MAS direct all further communications regarding these crew member families to them," it says in a statement.
Those without legal representation still receive direct contact and support from the Family Support Centre, MAS says.
Yesterday, some next-of-kin of the crew aboard MH370 said MAS "abandoned" them after it found out they had engaged foreign lawyers.
Jaquita Gonzales (above right) , whose husband was an in-flight instructor on board, said they engaged a US firm to assist in clarifying documents which the next-of-kin are required to sign.
Capt Zaharie didn’t even buy life insurance
4.30pm: The family of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot of MH370, has rubbished claims that he was suicidal.
His brother-in-law Asuad Khan, says the 53-year-old pilot had “a good life, a lot of money and he loved his daughter very much”.
In the interview with Australia’s ABC News programme Four Corners , Asuad said that Zaharie would not have killed himself over life insurance either.
“If you are talking about life insurance he didn’t have one. Trust me, check. He didn’t have one. He didn’t believe in it so why would he want to [commit] suicide?” he said.
Four Corners understands police in Malaysia have interviewed Captain Zaharie’s wife and their maid, three or four times each.
Asuad questioned why Malaysia’s military could not have intercepted the plane.
“When I heard about this plane going missing I said, ‘What happened to our Air Force? Are they sleeping or are they working? Because as we know, even if you [turn] off the transponder, the primary radar still can detect the plane.
“I may be stupid but the primary radar will detect the flight object and MH370's flying so I became dumbfounded. I said, ‘Look, if this is how they say they are defending our country, man, I’m worried’.”
Chief Steward's daughter angered at MH370 movie
3.30pm: 'Kamasutra 3D' movie director Rupesh Paul is earning brickbats for his idea for a a MH370 movie.
Maira Elizabeth Nari, whose father, Andrew Nari was chief steward on MH370, reportedly condemns the effort and is lobbying Malaysia's top government leaders to completely ground the effort.
Indian director Rupesh presented 'The Vanishing Point', trailer at Cannes Film Festival last Thursday, which he says was based on a Malaysian journalist's idea.
"Please do something about this movie and it's director! Very insensitive!" the teenager says to PM Najib Abdul Razak and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in a Twitter posting.
Chinese ship to help survey ocean depth for next search phase
12noon: Malaysian, Australian and Chinese authorities have met over the weekend in Fremantle, Perth, to discuss the bathymetric survey, says the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC).
The bathymetric survey would measure the depth of the south Indian Ocean, as the search goes into a region previously unexplored by man or machine.
This decision indicates that the JACC's search is still focused on the same areas where four pings was heard last month, in absence of any further clues.
"It was agreed that the Chinese survey ship Zhu Kezhen will conduct the bathymetric survey of the areas provided by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)," JACC says in a statement.
"Zhu Kezhen is scheduled to sail for the survey area on Wednesday, weather permitting."
Meanwhile, Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield will dock at Geraldton port in Western Australia today for repairs to a transponder so that it can communicate well with the other primary asset used in MH370's search, the underwater robot, US-made Bluefin-21.
JACC says a problem became apparent during Bluefin-21's last mission on Tuesday.
Once refitted with proper equipment, Ocean Shield and Bluefin-21 are expected to head out again as nothing from MH370 has yet been found after over 10 weeks since going missing.
MH370 making good fodder for the 'entertainment' world
11.30am: At least two internationally-marketed books and low-budget movies now promise to tell the untold story or theories surrounding missing Flight MH370.
First off, British author Nigel Cawthorne, who claims to have written 150 published books, is due to release "MH370: The Mystery" which canvasses that the plane was downed in the South China Sea.
Cawthorne bases the theory on eyewitness account of New Zealand oil rig worker Mike McKay, who claims to have seen a ball of fire in the sky from the rig he was working on in the South China Sea in the early hours of March 8.
According to news.com.au, next up is the book by American aviation author Christine Negroni, who previously wrote "Deadly Departure on TWA Flight 800".
Her book on MH370, titled 'Crashed', will be published by Penguin.
Meanwhile, in Cannes Film Festival, a second movie about missing airplanes - 'A Dark Reflection' by Fact Not Fiction Films will be screened to potential buyers on Monday, on the sidelines of the festival, according to a full page advertisement in industry trade journal The Hollywood Reporter .
Last week, Indian film director Rupesh Paul promoted "The Vanishing Act" via a two-minute trailer starting off with MAS planes.
Rupesh, behind the erotic movie 'Kamasutra 3D,' tells Variety magazine that he took 20 days to write the screenplay based on a Malaysian journalist's theory. The journalists may also be an investor in the film project, now looking to raise US$3.5 million (RM11.3 million).
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter stated 'Deep Water', a follow-up to 'Bait 3D', had been put on hold because of “uncomfortable similarities” to the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
MAS shares fall to record low
11am: Shares in Malaysian Airlines (MAS) tumble by nearly a fifth to a record low on Bursa Malaysia today.
Reuters reports that MAS shares were traded to a low of 15 sen a share, after the airline tells analysts it is likely to miss its target of returning to profit this year.
The airline says the vanishing of flight MH370 had a "dramatic impact" on its first quarter earnings, for which it made a net loss of RM443.4 million.
But even before MH370 incident, MAS, which is majority owned by government-linked Khazanah Nasional Bhd, had seen its share prices severely battered as it had sought a cash injection.
MAS shares were trading at 70 sen/share in early 2013 before plummeting to 30 sen in July last year. After the MH370 incident, they traded only at about 20 sen/share.
Background:
- The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
