DAY 75

Latest developments:

Ministerial committee studying M'sian companies' role in search

Stupid to ask if RMAF must shoot plane down, says Anwar on Hishammuddin's statement

Anwar: RMAF SOP is to respond within three mins to unknown movements

Inmarsat, DCA to take one week to package data for release

Law firm denies telling MAS to cease contact with crew’s families

'Radar stations equipped with primary radars'

9.00pm: Malaysian civilian radar should have been able to detect MH370 even after its transponder stopped working, according to the MH370 victim’s families group Finding Philip Wood.

It said that the Department of Civil Aviation’s (DCA) radar stations in Kota Baru and Langkawi are both equipped with primary radars, which can track aircraft even without a transponder.

It would then be displayed on the radar screens of air traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur.

“Did Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre (KL-ATCC) overlook an unknown track passing through its airspace despite the face that contact had been lost with an aircraft?

“Could a query generated by the observation of an unknown track by DCA’s KL-ATCC to the military for verification on an unknown traffic have elicited a better response from the military?” it said in its analysis of the government’s preliminary report of the MH370 incident.

The 18-page analysis highlights supposed discrepancies and omissions in the preliminary report to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and urges a comprehensive interim report to fill the gap.

“We believe that eliminating wrong information and assumptions is as important as confirming correction information and assumptions,” the groups says in the preface of the analysis.

It also urged all those who can help the group via connections, access to data, scientific skills, or access to inside information to contact the group.

Previously, authorities said civilian secondary radars lost contact with MH370 when its transponder was switched off, and it was only tracked via military primary radar as an ‘unidentified plot’ from then on.

The fact that the DCA had primary radars near MH370’s flight path was not mentioned, but is listed in DCA’s Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) meant to advise pilots on radar services available in Malaysian airspace.

Other supposed omissions and issues highlighted in the lengthy analysis include:

The person who decided not to scramble jet fighters to intercept MH370 was not named.
In the early hours of the flight going missing, the MAS Flight Operations Centre erroneously told air traffic controllers that MH370 was in Cambodia, but the source of the information and software used is not disclosed.
There was confusion within the preliminary report on the exact time when MH370’s made last contact.

MH370 book author slammed by Today Show host

6.25pm: News anchor for Australia’s Today Show Karl Stefanovic slams the book Flight MH370: The Mystery as "insensitive", "too soon" and "disgusting" during a TV interview with its author Nigel Cawthorne.

In the interview, Cawthorne concedes that he knew nothing of the missing aircraft’s fate and was only compiling conspiracy theories in his book, which among others claimed MH370 was accidentally shot down during a military exercise.

At one point, Stefanovic questioned Cawthorne on a passage from the book that reads, “Did they die in terror in a flaming wreck, crashing from the sky in the hands of a madman?” deeming the paragraph "disgusting".

To this, UK-based author Cawthorne replies: “Well, it is colourful, certainly.”

The author also defends charges that the book is insensitive, telling Stefanovic, “You're giving me the oxygen of publicity... you're being insensitive by having me on (air).”

Asean defence ministers brought up to speed on search

5.45pm: Deputy navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin has briefed Asean defence ministers on the MH370 search efforts at the Asean Defence Ministers Meeting in Myanmar.

This is revealed by Malaysia’s Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in a Twitter posting earlier today.

“Now all (of) Asean up to speed and on same page regarding MH370 committee. Deputy navy chief @mykamarul (Ahmad Kamarulzaman is) briefing all Asean defence ministers on MH370,” tweets Hishammuddin this morning, along with a picture of Kamarulzaman speaking at the meeting.

M'sian companies' proposals being evaluated

5pm: The Committee for Assets Deployment has identified room for Malaysian companies to get involved in the MH370 search, Bernama reports this morning.

It has received several proposals from companies such as Petronas, Boustead Heavy Industries, Sapura Kencana and Deftech, and these assets include equipment related to side-scan sonars, multi-beam echo sounders and remotely operated underwater vehicles.

"The proposals are being evaluated based on suitability and costs that will arise," the committee is quoted as saying in a statement.

The companies will be coordinated by the Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), while the Malaysian auxiliary vessel Bunga Mas 6 ( above ) will serve as an administrative vessel to assist the Canberra-based agency.

Anwar lambasts Hisham's 'shoot plane down' response

4pm: It is “irresponsible and stupid” for Defence Minister and Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to ask whether Malaysia is being asked to shoot down MH370, says PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

In various interviews, the minister had responded to queries regarding the air force’s inaction by asking, “Even if we sent them (fighter jets) up, are you going to say that we're going to shoot it down?” and similar responses.

However, in an interview with ABC published on Monday, Anwar says: “There is no question of shooting (it) down. It is a question of guiding them in the direction that you want them to go. This is done all the time.”

The opposition leader says the air force’s standard operating procedures - which had never been done before - is to take off within three minutes of detecting “unauthorised movements” in Malaysian airspace to either guide the aircraft to land, or out of Malaysian airspace.

Second-guessing of Inmarsat calculations 'misguided'

11am: It will take about a week for British satellite communications company Inmarsat and the Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) to prepare an information “package” on raw data on MH370 and how the company arrived at its conclusions.

The information will be released to families of those onboard MH370 first, then members of the public, the New York Times reports.

Spokesperson for the company Jonathan Sinnatt says this is because only a small amount of data is available from MH370 – seven ‘handshakes’ between the aircraft and a satellite overhead, and seven corresponding transmissions to a ground station in Perth.

“It’s literally just 14 numbers. It won’t make sense to anybody who doesn’t understand the technology, which is why we are now working with the investigation to put together an explanation about how you use that data and what it means,” he is quoted in the New York Times yesterday as saying.

The company had previously declined to respond to doubts and criticism over its conclusion that MH370’s final resting place is somewhere in the South Indian Ocean, the report states.

However, that changed on Monday when the government caved in to requests from families of MH370 victims to release the data for independent analysis.

The report also cited unnamed investigators justifying the withholding of the data fearing that it could be used by intelligence services to track other aircraft.

Meanwhile, the daily also reported that Inmarsat engineers have privately expressed frustration over what they perceive as “misguided second-guessing” of their work.

“I think there are a lot of well-meaning people out there who have made some very flawed attempts at doing the analysis, but they unfortunately haven’t understood the basic elements,” a Inmarsat employee reportedly says on condition of anonymity.

'MAS not told to cease communicating with families'

10am: The US law firm Ribbeck Law Chartered denies instructing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to cut off communications with the families of MH370 crew members.

“Please be advised that at no time did Ribbeck Law Chartered contact Malaysia Airlines to stop providing information regarding the search for the missing MH370 plane or to stop providing any other kind of assistance to our clients,” says a lawyer at the firm, Monica R Kelly, in a statement today.

On Sunday, some of the next-of-kin ( above ) said they engaged Ribbeck Law to assist in clarifying documents that they are required to sign, and claims the airline had cut off communications between them and caregivers provided by MAS after it found out.

In response , MAS said: “foreign lawyers 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.”

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 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 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 is ceased.