Malaysia to release MH370 report, Prime Minister tells CNN

Malaysia to release MH370 report, Prime Minister tells CNN

By Josh Levs and Holly Yan, CNN
April 24, 2014 -- Updated 1816 GMT (0216 HKT)

Malaysian P.M. won't say plane is lost
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: The PM asked an investigation team to see what other information can be released
Families plan to bring questions to Boeing, the partner of a passenger tells CNN
Malaysia delivered a preliminary report to the U.N. but did not release it publicly
A metal object that washed ashore in Australia was not from missing plane
(CNN) -- Facing anger from families of Flight 370 passengers, Malaysia's Prime Minister said Thursday his government will release its preliminary report on the plane's disappearance.
In a TV exclusive, Najib Razak told CNN the report will be available to the public next week.

"I have directed an internal investigation team of experts to look at the report, and there is a likelihood that next week we could release the report," Najib said. Later in the interview with CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest, he gave a more definitive statement, saying the report will be released next week.

He also asked an internal investigation team to look into what other information may be released publicly next week, his office said.
In the CNN interview, Najib discussed why he is not yet officially declaring the flight -- and the 239 people on board -- lost.

The report has already been sent to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the U.N. body for global aviation, but not made available to the public.

Malaysian P.M.: MH 370 not deemed hostile 'We'd like the chance to sit down and talk' Bajc: There's no evidence MH370 crashed 'What's so confidential about the data?'

The ICAO told CNN about a safety recommendation in the report: Malaysia said the aviation world needs to look at real-time tracking of commercial aircraft. It's the same recommendation that was made after the Air France Flight 447 disaster in 2009.

Earlier Thursday, the partner of one of the passengers accused Malaysian authorities of seeming "to be choosing to treat us as if we are the enemy as opposed to an interested party in helping to solve this mystery."

"We need a fresh start here," Sarah Bajc, partner of passenger Philip Wood, said on CNN's "New Day."
"We've been sitting on opposite sides of the table. They have a briefing, they tell us what they know and we ask them questions. That's just kind of broken. I think we need to start from scratch and sit down and have a positive dialogue."

Families don't "necessarily believe" that the Malaysian authorities are "withholding any new information other than the facts that we've already asked for," she added.

A committee representing some of the Chinese families have posted 26 questions on the Chinese social media site Weibo.

Usually, such reports to the ICAO are public, Quest says.

"In most cases, the report is published because it's not a controversial document," he said. "It's a statement of facts -- what happened. And if there are any controversial or difficult facts, they can be redacted."

Malaysia has insisted it has nothing to hide and is working to find answers.

Families plan to demand answers from Boeing
While pushing Malaysian authorities for answers, "we're also extending our reach now," Bajc said. Some of the questions the families have, including technical questions, "we will be bringing directly to Boeing. Boeing has a shareholders meeting next week. And if we're not getting information directly from Malaysia Airlines and from the Malaysian government, we might as well try to go directly to the source.

"Boeing is a publicly traded company in the United States, and that puts them in a position of a little bit more fiduciary responsibility," she said.
The missing flight is a Boeing 777.

Asked for a response, Boeing sent CNN a written statement: "Our thoughts and deepest sympathies continue to be with the families and loved ones of those aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Boeing continues to serve as a technical adviser to the U.S. National Transportation (Safety) Board, and in that role we have been an active and engaged party to the investigation."

Ongoing search
MH370: Every piece of debris counts
Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Object in MH370 search not likely of use 'Object of interest' found in Australia Inside one of the few black box labs
As an underwater drone keeps going up and back down, so do hopes that evidence of the plane may be found.

A metal object that washed ashore in Western Australia and sparked the curiosity of investigators Wednesday turned out to be unrelated.

And while the Bluefin-21 plunged into the Indian Ocean for its 12th mission Thursday, no one was certain the drone would find anything new.

"I think the chances are one out of 10," said Jules Jaffe, research oceanographer for the Marine Physical Laboratory.

The underwater probe has already scanned 90% of the designated search area, with no significant results.

Thursday marks day 48 of the search for the plane, which disappeared on March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing with 239 people on board.

What's next?
Malaysian and Australian authorities are mapping out a long-term strategy for the search, which could go on for months or years.

An expanded search area might include the last 370 miles (595 kilometers) of the plane's flight path, ocean search specialist Rob McCallum said.
"If the idea is to go more strategic and investigate the entire aircraft flight path, maybe 15 miles or so either side, then you need a more strategic tool, and something like a deep-towed sonar that can provide a very large range indeed -- at the expense of resolution."

The use of a deep-towed submersible device called the Orion is overdue, said Geoffrey Thomas, managing director of AirlineRatings.com.
"That should be brought in as quickly as possible, again, from the United States."

He said it may be time to go back and revisit the calculations of where the plane may be, although officials have already been doing that.
"This is not an exact science," Thomas said. "We have to understand that."

Why so private?
Malaysia has not been known as a model of transparency. The same political party has ruled the country for the past 50 years, and the media is not completely free.

For its part, the Malaysian Cabinet has agreed to have an international team investigate the disappearance of Flight 370, the country's acting transportation minister said.
Hishammuddin Hussein said the names of the members will be announced next week. He also said the team will not be looking into the criminal aspects of the investigation, which remain under the Royal Malaysian Police.

"The main purpose is to evaluate and determine the cause of the accident," Hishammuddin said.

MH370 search: Images of debris mistaken for missing plane parts released

MH370 search: Images of debris mistaken for missing plane parts released
Date
April 24, 2014 - 9:41PM

Tasha Campbell, Jemillah Bickerton and Aleisha Orr

MH370 search: Debris found on WA beach is 'not part of a Boeing'
Police measuring the debris. Photo: Mat Franklin

Fairfax Media has received photos of the debris found near Augusta which investigators have since confirmed is not linked to the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

Mat Franklin and his son discovered the debris on Easter Monday four kilometres from Augusta. 

Mr Franklin went to work on Tuesday before trying to report his findings.

"It looked pretty distinctly like a piece of aircraft. I didn't want to raise any alarms, I just wanted to get an opinion," he said.

Mr Franklin decided to get advice from the Busselton Aero Club on Wednesday who then passed it on the Busselton police.

Senior Sergeant Steve Principe said the Busselton station received the object between 2.30 and 3pm on Wednesday afternoon.

It was from there that the possible link to the MH370 arose.

Information was then passed on to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) for further investigation.

The bureau announced on Thursday morning that there was no link to the missing MH370 aircraft but investigations were still ongoing.

"They've had the top forensics examining it and should have been able to tell what it is by now," Mr Franklin said.

"I still believe it is a piece of aircraft because they won't give it back to me."

Whilst the debris have been confirmed as unrelated to MH370, ocean experts say it is likely that debris from aircrafts could wash up on the WA coast if it's caught up in the Leeuwin Current.

This isn't the first time unusual objects have washed up on the shore at a beach at, or near, Augusta.

Last year the navy investigated after an object initially believed to be a bomb wasreported found at a beach in Augusta.

Augusta abalone diver Joel Veitch also came across a blue marlin approximately 2.5 metres long and weighing 250 kilograms dead in the water 100m south of the new marine wall in Augusta.

Malaysia Airlines: Pilots of the missing plane; suspected in 'deliberate action?'

Malaysia Airlines: Pilots of the missing plane; suspected in 'deliberate action?'

By Ben Brumfield and Pamela Brown, CNN
March 17, 2014 -- Updated 1318 GMT (2118 HKT)

Who were the men who flew flight 370
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: By the time of last voice contact, something was likely already awry
U.S. officials indicated the jet may have flown for hours after last contact with the pilots
Pilot's duties: Aviate, navigate, communicate; communication cut off
Was a third person with them in the cockpit? One pilot has let visitors in before
(CNN) -- "All right, good night."

Those are the last words heard from the cockpit of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Who said them? Was it the captain or his first mate? Or someone else in the cockpit with them?
Officials in Washington suspect it was either of the pilots -- and that one or both was involved in MH370's disappearance on March 8.

And according to the Malaysian Prime Minister's account of events, by the time those words were spoken, someone had likely already taken steps to alter the flight's path -- intentionally.

Malaysian investigators are not ruling out a hijacking by other actors. But they have searched the homes of the pilot and co-pilot.

Information from international and Malaysian officials indicate that the Boeing 777-200ER passenger jet may have flown for hours after that last voice contact with the pilots.

Who are the missing Flight 370 pilots? Police search pilot's home Did the pilot have a plan? What happened in the cockpit of MH370?

The duty of all pilots is to aviate, navigate and communicate, in that order, an aviation expert has told CNN.

Someone may have kept aviating, but either they couldn't -- or wouldn't -- communicate.
This is what we know about the 53-year-old pilot captain and his 27-year-old first mate.

Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah

Police had been outside his Malaysia home every day since the plane vanished, a source told CNN. But had not gone inside until recently.

When they did, they probably found a flight simulator there. In a YouTube video he apparently posted, Zaharie can be seen sitting in front of one.
And in a German online forum for simulator enthusiasts, X-Sim.de, there is a post from November 2012 in his name that says he built it himself.

"About a month ago I finish assembly of FSX and FS9 with 6 monitors." The message was signed Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah BOEING 777 MALAYSIA AIRLINES.

FSX and FS9 are over-the-counter flight simulator games made by Microsoft.

On Friday, the CEO of Malaysia Airlines said that everyone is allowed to pursue their hobbies.
Zaharie, a pilot with 18,365 flight hours under his belt, is reportedly also a flight instructor.
On the same YouTube channel, Zaharie gives workman's tips on tinkering with a refrigerator and an air conditioner.

CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the social media posts.

1st Officer Fariq Ab Hamid

CNN's aviation correspondent Richard Quest once visited MH370's 1st Officer Fariq Ab Hamid in a Malaysia Airlines cockpit, when he was training. Quest watched him land the plane under supervision of a senior pilot in February.
The captain described Fariq's landing as textbook perfect.

Fariq joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007. He has 2,763 flying hours behind him and was transitioning to the Boeing 777-200 after finishing training in a flight simulator.

As with Zaharie, not much is known to the public about Fariq. But Quest was not the only guest who had joined him in the cockpit.

Passenger Jonti Roos got an invitation to check out the cockpit during a flight from Thailand to Malaysia -- one that Fariq was flying with another pilot.

She took photos and said Farid and his colleague smoked in the cockpit. After MH 370's disappearance, she reported her experience to journalists.

Was MH370 stolen? 'Significant likelihood' plane in ocean Officials: MH370 may have flew for hours Expert: Mechanical failure not a factor
Malaysia Airlines was aghast. "We are shocked by these allegations," the airline said.

Such a practice would be illegal on U.S. carriers after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, but not necessarily so on international ones, Quest said.

Exploring the possibilities
Does Roos' story open up the possibility that a third or fourth person could have joined Zaharie and Fariq in the cockpit?

Like the exact whereabouts of Flight 370, that's yet unknown. But investigators believe that somebody must have done something.

Not long after the flight took off from Kuala Lumpur communications systems were disabled, the plane's transponder was turned off, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Saturday.

That last device is situated between the pilots and can be shut off with a twist of the wrist. For a pilot to turn it off would seem reckless because the information it transmits gives the plane vital protection. It helps people on the ground locate the plane.

Someone would have to knowû how to do it and also know the plane would lose that protection.
Then someone in the cockpit said good night.
And the apparent lack of visibility on radar? "Airline pilots are not trained for radar avoidance," said aviation expert Keith Wolzinger, a former 777 pilot. They like to stay on the radar, because -- again -- it protects their plane.

Only military pilots, he said, are usually keen on avoiding radar.

The father of a passenger on the missing plane is hoping for an outcome that would sound shocking under normal circumstances.

"I hope the plane was hijacked, because then, at least, there is hope," Li from Hebei Province said. He did not give his full name.

Li is waiting at a Beijing hotel with dozens of other passengers' family members awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones.

"But if the worst happened then I will have no meaning in my life. This is my only son," Li said.
As he walked away, he bent his head and cried.
READ: Missing Malaysia airliner: Questions and answers

READ: Transponder's fate may prove key to solving Malaysia Airlines puzzle
MAPS: What happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?

Missing flight MH370: Robotic sub first mission cut short

Missing flight MH370: Robotic sub first mission cut short

The robotic submersible Bluefin-21 exceeded its depth safety limit, as Phil Mercer reports from Perth

A robotic submarine deployed to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in the southern Indian Ocean has had its first mission cut short.

The Bluefin-21 was sent to search the sea floor for wreckage after signals believed to be consistent with "black box" flight recorders were detected.

But the drone exceeded its operating limit of 4,500m (15,000ft) and was brought back to the surface.

It was due to return later on Tuesday if weather conditions permitted.

"To account for inconsistencies with the sea floor, the search profile is being adjusted to extend the sonar search for as long as possible," an update from the US Navy - which operates the Bluefin-21 - said.

Flight MH370 went missing on 8 March with 239 people on board. It was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost contact with air traffic controllers over the South China Sea.

Malaysian officials believe, based on satellite data, that it ended its flight thousands of kilometres off course, in seas west of the Australian city of Perth.

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US Navy Captain Mark Matthews says the search had to be aborted due to a programming "oversight"
'Operating depth'
Amid a major international search, an Australian navy vessel last week detected four acoustic signals using a US Navy towed pinger locator. Officials believe these could come from the missing plane's flight recorders.

No signals have been detected since 8 April, however, leading to fears that the recorders' batteries - which last about a month - have run out.

On Monday, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who heads the agency co-ordinating the search, said it was time to deploy the Bluefin-21 to begin its search of the sea floor. It set off on its first mission on Monday night.

"After completing around six hours of its mission, Bluefin-21 exceeded its operating depth limit of 4,500m and its built in safety feature returned it to the surface," the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre said in a statement.

"Bluefin-21 is planned to redeploy later today when weather conditions permit."

The US Navy said in a later update that no objects of interest were found when the six hours of data were downloaded and analysed.

Continue reading the main story
MH370 - Facts at a glance

8 March: Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
Plane's transponder, which communicates with ground radar, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
24 March: Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors
What we know
Deep sea challenge
Bluefin-21 is an almost 5m-long vehicle that can create a sonar map of the sea floor. On Monday officials said each mission was expected to last 24 hours, with 16 hours spent on the ocean floor, four hours' diving and resurfacing time, and four hours to download data.

The submersible has a safety feature that brings it to the surface if it exceeds its performance capabilities, however.

The sea where the Bluefin-21 is searching is estimated to be about 4,500m deep, but experts say there could be variations on the sea floor.

Australian officials have said previously that they are confident they are searching in the right area for the missing plane.

But ACM Houston warned on Monday that the search of the sea floor could be a long, painstaking process that might not yield results.

He said that other, larger vehicles that could go deeper than the Bluefin-21 were being looked into, but it depended on "the outcome of what we find when we go down and take a look".

Officials have no idea yet why the plane diverted so far from its intended flight path. Investigators are looking at options including hijacking, mechanical failure, sabotage and pilot action.

Recovering the flight recorders is seen as key to understanding what happened to the plane.

Missing plane MH370 : Abbott syas signal rapidly fading

Missing plane MH370: Abbott says signal 'rapidly fading'

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Prime Minister Abbott said officials want to narrow the search area before deploying a submersible drone
Continue reading the main story
MH370 mystery

Ocean maps problem
Costs of the search
Recovery hope boost
Searchers hear signals
Signals in remote seas thought to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are "rapidly fading" and finding the jet will be a "massive, massive task", Australia's PM says.

Tony Abbott said he was confident "pings" detected by search teams were from the aircraft's black boxes.

But no new signals have been confirmed in the search area since Tuesday.

"No one should underestimate the difficulties of the task still ahead of us," Mr Abbott warned.

Up to 10 planes and 14 ships were searching the area in the Indian Ocean on Saturday

A woman shows a photo of her father, who was on board. MH370 was carrying 239 people when it vanished
Correspondents say Mr Abbott appeared to be couching his comments from Friday, in which he said he was "very confident" that signals heard by an Australian search ship were from the missing Boeing 777.

Continue reading the main story
MH370 - Facts at a glance

8 March: Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
Plane's transponder, which communicates with ground radar, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
24 March: Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors
What we know
The search for flight MH370
Speaking during a visit to China, Australia's leader said teams were hoping to track further signals in a section of the southern Indian Ocean before shifting the search operation to the seabed.

"Trying to locate anything 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) beneath the surface of the ocean, about a 1,000km (620 miles) from land is a massive, massive task," he said.

"Given that the signal from the black box is rapidly fading, what we are now doing is trying to get as many detections as we can so that we can narrow the search area down to as small an area as possible."

Mr Abbott said a submersible drone would be sent to conduct a sonar search of the seabed once search teams were confident with the area identified - but he refused to say when that might be.

After analysing satellite data, officials believe the plane with 239 people aboard flew off course for an unknown reason and went down in the southern Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia.

Those leading the search fear that time is running out because the batteries that power the pings from the black box only last about a month, and that window has already passed.

Chinese planes assisting in the search are operating out of Australian airports

Despite the technology at the search teams' disposal, the naked eye is also crucial in the hunt for wreckage
Two sounds heard a week ago by the Australian ship Ocean Shield, towing the ping locator, were determined to be consistent with the signals emitted from the black boxes. Two more pings were detected in the same general area on Tuesday.

On Thursday an Australian aircraft picked up an audio signal in the same area as the four previous detections but officials now believe it is unlikely to be related to the black boxes

The underwater search zone is currently a 1,300 sq km (500 miles) patch of the seabed, about the size of Los Angeles.

The submersible drone, Bluefin 21, takes six times longer to cover the same area as the ping locator and it would take about six weeks to two months for it to search the current zone.

Complicating matters is the depth of the seabed in that area. The signals are emanating from 4,500m (15,000 ft) below the surface, which is the deepest the Bluefin can dive. The search coordination centre said it was considering options in case a deeper-diving sub was needed.

Faltering search
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March when it lost contact with air traffic controllers and vanished from radar.

Of the 239 people on board, 153 were Chinese. Many relatives have been angered by what they perceive to be the Malaysian authorities' early misguided response to the flight's disappearance.

The plane disappeared over the South China Sea, between Malaysia and Vietnam, but it was a week before the search was widened based on evidence taken from radar and satellite tracking.

Officials are still no clearer as to why the plane strayed so far off course.

The backgrounds of both passengers and crew have been scrutinised as officials consider hijacking, sabotage, pilot action or mechanical failure as possible causes.

Malaysia Airlines MH370 : New possible pings detected in jet search confirmed, underwater signal is 5th pickup up during Indian Ocean hunt for jet

Malaysia Airlines MH370: New possible 'pings' detected in jet searchIf confirmed, underwater signal is 5th picked up during Indian Ocean hunt for jet
Apr 10, 2014 11:15 AM ET
The Associated Press

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 search continues
PHOTOS

An Australian aircraft Thursday detected what may be the fifth signal coming from a man-made device deep in the Indian Ocean, adding to hopes that searchers will soon pinpoint the object's location and send down a robotic vehicle to confirm if it is a black box from the missing Malaysian jet.

The Australian air force P-3 Orion, which has been dropping sound-locating buoys into the water near where the original sounds were heard, picked up a "possible signal" that may be from a man-made source, said Angus Houston, who is coordinating the search off Australia's west coast.

"The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight," Houston said in a statement.

Malaysia plane MH370 : Possible new signal in search

Malaysia plane MH370: Possible new signal in search

The possible signal was detected by an Australia P-3 Orion searching the southern Indian Ocean
Continue reading the main story
MH370 mystery

Ocean maps problem
Costs of the search
Recovery hope boost
Searchers hear signals
A plane searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has detected a possible new signal in the southern Indian Ocean, Australian officials say.

An Australian P-3 Orion aircraft picked up the signal in the same area where an Australian vessel detected audio pings earlier this week, officials said.

The signal would require further analysis, but could have been from a "man-made source", officials said.

Flight MH370 vanished on 8 March, with 239 people on board.

The search zone was tightened on Thursday after a US navy "towed pinger locator" picked up audio signals in the area, sparking hopes that the plane's black box was in the area.

Australian vessel Ocean Shield picked up four acoustic signals in the area, twice over the weekend and twice on Tuesday.

Speaking after the latest possible signal was detected, retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is leading search efforts, said: "The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight but shows potential of being from a man-made source."

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Hishammuddin Hussein: "I know there will be answers - I know we will find the plane - it's just a matter of when"
Up to 14 planes and 13 ships are involved in Thursday's search, scouring an area of 57,923 sq km (22 300 sq miles), around 2,280km (1,400 miles) north-west of Perth. It is the smallest designated area in the hunt to date.

Planes have dropped buoys equipped with hydrophone listening devices into the water to help pick up signals.

The batteries on the black box only last about a month, so teams need to work quickly to track the audio signals before they stop broadcasting.

'Nothing to hide'
Malaysia's acting transport minister has defended the investigation in an interview for BBC News, his first with a major Western broadcaster.

Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia had "nothing to hide", and he was "cautious" over the audio signals picked up by search teams.

"We've been following all sorts of leads from the South China Sea to the Straits of Malacca to the Andaman Sea," he said. "We have to be cautious because the families' emotions are still very raw and I've been through this rollercoaster ride."

Continue reading the main story
MH370 - Facts at a glance

8 March: Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
Plane's transponder, which communicates with ground radar, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
24 March: Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors
What we know
The search for flight MH370
Malaysia has come under criticism for its handling of the search, with families of the passengers on the plane accusing the authorities of a lack of transparency.

The investigation came under further scrutiny after it emerged that the final words from the plane were "good night Malaysian three seven zero", and not "all right, good night", as previously reported by the government.

However, Hishammuddin Hussein defended his handling of the search, saying the transcript had been released and the discrepancy in the words didn't "really matter".

"We have formed the committees, international experts are on board, we've got panels of inquiries [on the search]," he said. "Malaysia has got nothing to hide."

He added that the full cost of the search for the plane, and which countries would bear the cost, were not yet clear, but that the search cost was "peanuts" compared to the costs of other international crises.

"How much is Ukraine costing everybody?" he asked. "How much has it been for Syria and it's still unfolding? How much does it cost the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq? Not only in dollars and cents but in lives. Here it is peanuts."

Officials say satellite data show the plane, which was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, ended up in the southern Indian Ocean, far from its original flight path.

Investigators still do not know why MH370 strayed so far off course, after disappearing over the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam.

The backgrounds of both passengers and crew have been scrutinised as officials consider hijacking, sabotage, pilot action or mechanical failure as possible causes.