The Department of Civil Aviation has clarified that only two passengers with allegedly false passports were on board MAS flight MH370 and not four as previously reported.
 
"We have the CCTV recordings of the passengers from check-in to departure point. It is now being used in investigations on this matter," said the department’s director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman at a press conference today.
 
Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had said earlier today that four passengers are believed to have flown on fraudulent passports on the flight that has been missing since yesterday.
 
The fact that some passengers have flown under false passports have fuelled speculation of a terrorist link in the MH370’s disappearance, and Hishammuddin said international counter-terrorist intelligence agencies are assisting investigations.

As for five passengers who did not board the aircraft, Azharuddin said their belongings had already been removed from the aircraft prior to departure, as per standard procedures.
 
Meanwhile, MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya (right) told the same press conference that there are no plans to ground its Boeing 777-200ER fleet because it has a good record of reliability.
 
Boeing 777-200ER was the aircraft type used for the MH370 flight when it went missing.
 
To a question, Ahmad Jauhari confirmed media reports that the missing aircraft had been involved in a ground collision with another aircraft.
 
A metre of its right wingtip was clipped off in the Aug 2012 accident, but he said the plane is airworthy.
 
“That was repaired by Boeing, cleared by Boeing, and the repair was approved by various authorities that it is safe to fly,” he said.