Latest developments:

• White paper urged by Kluang MP
• Bluefin repaired after being damaged
• Australia budgets RM273 million for MH370 search
• ICAO backs industry initiative for global flight tracking 

Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:

Experts' meeting taking place in Canberra

4.30pm: To recap, today is Day 68 in the search for MH370 and 239 persons on board.

In Canberra, an expert’s meeting is taking place since Wednesday last week to review all data gathered so far, whether they are Inmarsat satellite handshakes, underwater pings, radar tracks, or aircraft performance data.

The meeting is also deciding on the type of equipment and assets needed for the continued search, and the Australian government is expected to tender future search efforts to civilian contractors.

In the meantime, the Australian vessel ADV Ocean Shield is back in the search area after resupplying at port to resume investigating pings it had detected on April 5, using the US-supplied Bluefin-21 underwater drone.

The Chinese survey vessel Zhukezhen is also in the 700 by 80-kilometre search area in preparation to carry out a bathymetric survey and assist future search operations.

Elsewhere, efforts are already under way to ensure that incidents like MH370 and the Air France Flight 447 crash in 2009 do not repeat.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is forming a taskforce to make short-term recommendations on global aircraft tracking with the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) backing, while the UN agency works on longer-term mandatory standards.

Another UN agency, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is slated to hold an expert dialogue on May 26 and 27 to discuss the need for real-time monitoring of flight data, including black box data.

Present white paper on MH370, gov't urged

3.30pm: Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong urges the government to present a white paper on MH370, detailing the cost involved in the search operations and future expenditure.

He says this in response to Australia’s allocation of A$89.9 million (RM272.7 million) for its contribution to the search effort, and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s tweet this morning that he is tabling a note on MH370 in the cabinet meeting today.

“I strongly urge Hishammuddin to release the Cabinet Note to the public via a White Paper to the Parliament with a full debate by the Members of Parliament.

“Hishammuddin and the government should also permit the formation of a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the MH370 crisis and remedies needed to ensure that there will not be a recurrence of such a devastating tragedy,” he says in a statement today.

US Navy: Bluefin now repaired after damage

3.15pm: The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) says the Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is back in the search area since yesterday afternoon to resume the search for MH370.

However, it has been recovered just two hours after being deployed due to communications problems.

“Work continues to rectify the issue and to date, Bluefin-21 has not redeployed,” it said in a statement today.

In the meantime, preparations are under way to chart the waters in the search area and pave the way for the next phase of underwater search, and a Chinese survey vessel is already in the search area for this purpose, the JACC says.

Meanwhile, CNN reported yesterday that the US Navy-supplied Bluefin-21 was damaged while being brought aboard the Australian vessel ADV Ocean Shield for inspection, amid strong winds and two-metre waves.

“They got the vehicle on deck, but in the process of doing so, the vehicle was damaged. They essentially had torn the propeller, the tail section had ripped away, and so there was some damage back aft (in the area of) the main electronics bay.

“There were quite a few components that we had to troubleshoot. The good news is the vehicle is repaired,” US Navy deputy director of ocean engineering Michael Dean told the broadcaster.

 

Several mistakes made

12.20pm: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak admits that Malaysia has made several mistakes in the search for MH370, and urged others to take lessons from the incident as well as the Air France 447 incident in 2009.

 

In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal  last night, he said these mistakes include botched communications whilst Malaysia tried to find the missing aircraft, and delays in alerting search and rescue teams of an emergency.

 

Najib also urged the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to push for improvements in global aircraft tracking.

Australia allocates RM272.7 million 

11am: Australia has allocated AU$89.9 million (RM272.7 million) over the next two years to pay for efforts to find MH370, according to its federal budget papers tabled yesterday.

 

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will receive a lion’s share of AU$60 million (RM182 million), while the Australian Department of Defence will receive AU27.9 million (RM84.6 million) to pay for its activities in the search up to June 30 this year.

 

The remaining AU$2 million (RM6.1 million) goes to the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), AFP reports.

 

The area in the South Indian Ocean where MH370 is believed to have gone down is in international waters, but falls well within Australia’s search and rescue region established by international treaties.

 

The new spending commitments comes amid large cuts in spending and public sector jobs, and increases in taxation, as Australia attempts to cut its deficit.

 

ICAO backs move for global aircraft tracking

 

2am: The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has given its backing for an industry taskforce to recommend solutions for global aircraft tracking.

 

The taskforce led by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), will make its recommendations by the end of September for its members to adopt voluntarily, while the ICAO takes its time drafting binding standards.

 

“In a UN body like this - with 191 member states - you have to be able to consult everybody (who have) different priorities, different specificities, in order to reach some conclusion.

 

“We cannot wait to go through all that process. That is why are encouraging the industry to take their own initiative… and then we will work from there,” said ICAO Council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu in a press conference today in Montreal, Canada.

 

This follows a two-day meeting on global aircraft tracking at the ICAO Headquarters there, which was convened in response to MH370’s disappearance.

 

While 22 vendors have submitted proposals - including the British satellite communications company Inmarsat, which played a major role in efforts to find the missing aircraft - the standards will be ‘performance-based’ rather than endorsing any of the vendors or tracking method.

 

This would allow airlines freedom to choose whichever tracking method that is suitable for them, as long as it meets the required performance standards such as accuracy and tamper-resistance.

 

“The carriers pay the bill, so it is important for them to have a say in how they comply with what is the ultimate requirement,” said ICAO air navigation bureau director Nancy Graham at the same press conference.

 

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. 
• Authorities have determined that the plane intentionally turned back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons and, based on satellite data, have estimated its last position to be in the south Indian Ocean. 
• Australia leads the search in the south Indian Ocean. As of March 30, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) is tasked with overseeing the operations, led by retired air marshal and former defence chief Angus Houston.
• The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21 was deployed on April 14 to conduct an undersea search where the Australia Defence Vessel Ocean Shield had picked up two pings similar to black boxes on April 5 and two more on April 8 but failed to reacquire them again with the pinger locator.
• However, by April 28, with no sign of the wreckage, authorities announced that the search will move on the next phase, which will focus on a larger and deeper area of the sea floor, while the aerial search will cease as it is highly unlikely any floating debris will be found at this stage.