Hisham gets thumbs up for economy class trip
Published: May 6, 2014 2:56 AM | Updated: May 6, 2014 10:33 AM
Latest developments:
Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:
Behaviour befitting a 'future prime minister'
6.23pm: Pictures of acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein travelling to Australia in economy earns him accolades from those on board and netizens.
Some laud his decision to ride with the people as behaviour befitting a "future prime minister".
Also seen in the pictures uploaded by Malaysians on board the same flight is Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri.
A picture of Hishammuddin and what is believed to be his staff members in the background sitting in the economy class section is also uploaded onto BN's Facebook page with a caption commending his humility.
Why give us 'second-rate' treatment?
5:51pm: A Taiwanese opposition lawmaker is fuming over the "second-rate" treatment given to family of the only Taiwanese national onboard MH370.
Democratic Progressive Party's Chao Tien-lin claims that instead of direct contact, Malaysian Airlines (MAS) forwarded a message to family via the Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in KL.
The message allegedly urged them to "give up their right to hold those responsible accountable and sue the two governments (Malaysia and Taiwan)", a report from Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) states.
Chao alleges that comfort services given by MAS to the Taiwanese after MH370 disappeared did not measure up to that given to citizens of other countries. Adding insult to injury, the airline also allegedly gave the family a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping, that was written to family members of the Chinese nationals.
"Being a Republic of China (Taiwan) national, I feel embarrassed and sad," the lawmaker is quoted saying. Chuang Hsiu-ling, who was onboard MH370, was the sister of Chao's aide, Chuang Ching-Chiang.
MAS officials has been contacted for comment.
Signalling end of surface search mission
5:20pm: Signalling the end of JACC's surface search mission, two Australian vessels - HMAS Toowoomba and MV Seahorse Standard - return to their home port of Fleet Base West.
According to navaltoday.com, the vessels were used as part of the search team comprising navies from China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States for over a month dutifully looking for traces of MH370 in the south Indian Ocean.
"The total amount of area searched, which includes surface and air, was approximately 1,088,448 square nautical miles,” the report said.
The 2,000-tonne multipurpose vessel Seahorse had a 16-person crew and had served well under rough weather conditions. The 170-strong company of HMAS Toowoomba meanwhile also had a guided helicopter frigate, a suite of sensors and trained lookouts.
Personnel from both ships will return to normal military duty after a few days break.
Pings frequency should have been higher
2:20pm: CNN experts casts doubt about 'ping' transmissions picked up from the south Indian Ocean.
Quoting acoustic experts, a CNN report says that pings from black box are emitted at 37.5 KHz and not the 34KHz that got JACC so excited last month.
Former US Transportation Department Inspector General Mary Schiavo tells CNN's Anderson Cooper that people guessed that it may have been a blackbox pinger anyway due to battery giving out or equipment degradation. But now, there were doubts.
"What they need to do is test it out. Put some pinger underwater there and see what happens in 30 days. They are saying this is a year-long search, find out and see if it goes to 33.5KHz," Schiavo tells Cooper.
CNN safety analyst and author of "Why Planes Crash" David Soucie says sonic experts told him that the frequency should be much higher and not lower, even if blackbox suffered some damage after a crash.
"I haven't found one that went lower yet," he says. He, however, adds that after reading the preliminary report on MH370 and its turnaround path, it made sense to conclude from satellite data to search in the Indian Ocean.
Early last month, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that there was high degree of certainty of finding MH370's blackbox.
This was after four "ping" signals were detected using a US Navy towed pinger locator. But after the US-made underwater robot Bluefin-21 searched over 400 square kilometre of the ocean floor and found nothing, a new and more expensive search phase has been called.
Search costs adding up
12pm: It all adds up. Two month's expenses in the search for MH370 are already surpassing what was spent over two years to find Air France flight AF447.
Defence experts tell news.com.au that Australia alone may have spent over A$1 million (RM3.02 million) a day from March 17 to April 28, bringing the tally to A$43 million (RM130 milliom).
Australian PM Tony Abbott had last week shrugged away the cost and said that the search used national assets that would have to be maintained anyway.
Kym Bergmann, editor of Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter and a former government defence adviser, however, begs to differ. He says although Australia could afford the burden as part of international obligations, it is still a measurable cost.
Yesterday, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss detailed that 334 flights were conducted in the Indian Ocean search, using up a total of 3,137 man hours. So far, 10 civil aircraft,19 military aircraft and 14 ships have been engaged in the search for the missing plane, he said.
Search back to square one?
10:30am: As search for MH370 enters its third month, Malaysia, Australia and China government ministers meet in Canberra this week to hammer out what to do next and who and what is needed to get the job done.
A 26-nation effort have so far failed to nail down the final resting place of the Boeing 777, as acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (right, in picture) said in a press conference yesterday, that there was little to go on and experts had to work with the little information that was available.
Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC)'s Angus Houston which is leading the multi-nation hunt in the Indian Ocean also called for a scrutiny of all past satellite data to determine that no flaws were made as Australia-led 41 days search in the Indian Ocean, off Perth, have found nothing - no debris, no verifiable proof that MH370 landed there.
In the next phase, the ministers said that the expense, which had been borne by respective governments previously, may bubble up to A$60 million (RM181 million). More high-tech subsea scanner robots, in the hands of private companies, may need to be paid for to probe and map the ocean floor, an area previously unexplored by anyone.
Hishammuddin hopes the global community remains as keen to find MH370 as it will bring fame and rejected the idea of offering a finder's reward.
He also shot down rumours swirling on the Internet that the last recording between the cockpit and control tower were manipulated before its release last Thursday in a preliminary report.
Meetings on a plane for the new search phase - expected to kick off in 1-2 months - starts on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Ocean Shield and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21 are still being employed in the interim period.
Background:
-
MAS accused of treating family of sole Taiwan passenger poorly
-
Last of surface search vessel return
-
Experts express doubt over ping detections
-
Experts: Australia spent RM3mil a day on search
- Three month on, searchers revisit past satellite data
Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:
Behaviour befitting a 'future prime minister'
6.23pm: Pictures of acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein travelling to Australia in economy earns him accolades from those on board and netizens.
Some laud his decision to ride with the people as behaviour befitting a "future prime minister".
Also seen in the pictures uploaded by Malaysians on board the same flight is Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri.
A picture of Hishammuddin and what is believed to be his staff members in the background sitting in the economy class section is also uploaded onto BN's Facebook page with a caption commending his humility.
Why give us 'second-rate' treatment?
5:51pm: A Taiwanese opposition lawmaker is fuming over the "second-rate" treatment given to family of the only Taiwanese national onboard MH370.
Democratic Progressive Party's Chao Tien-lin claims that instead of direct contact, Malaysian Airlines (MAS) forwarded a message to family via the Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in KL.
The message allegedly urged them to "give up their right to hold those responsible accountable and sue the two governments (Malaysia and Taiwan)", a report from Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) states.
Chao alleges that comfort services given by MAS to the Taiwanese after MH370 disappeared did not measure up to that given to citizens of other countries. Adding insult to injury, the airline also allegedly gave the family a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping, that was written to family members of the Chinese nationals.
"Being a Republic of China (Taiwan) national, I feel embarrassed and sad," the lawmaker is quoted saying. Chuang Hsiu-ling, who was onboard MH370, was the sister of Chao's aide, Chuang Ching-Chiang.
MAS officials has been contacted for comment.
Signalling end of surface search mission
5:20pm: Signalling the end of JACC's surface search mission, two Australian vessels - HMAS Toowoomba and MV Seahorse Standard - return to their home port of Fleet Base West.
According to navaltoday.com, the vessels were used as part of the search team comprising navies from China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States for over a month dutifully looking for traces of MH370 in the south Indian Ocean.
"The total amount of area searched, which includes surface and air, was approximately 1,088,448 square nautical miles,” the report said.
The 2,000-tonne multipurpose vessel Seahorse had a 16-person crew and had served well under rough weather conditions. The 170-strong company of HMAS Toowoomba meanwhile also had a guided helicopter frigate, a suite of sensors and trained lookouts.
Personnel from both ships will return to normal military duty after a few days break.
Pings frequency should have been higher
2:20pm: CNN experts casts doubt about 'ping' transmissions picked up from the south Indian Ocean.
Quoting acoustic experts, a CNN report says that pings from black box are emitted at 37.5 KHz and not the 34KHz that got JACC so excited last month.Former US Transportation Department Inspector General Mary Schiavo tells CNN's Anderson Cooper that people guessed that it may have been a blackbox pinger anyway due to battery giving out or equipment degradation. But now, there were doubts.
"What they need to do is test it out. Put some pinger underwater there and see what happens in 30 days. They are saying this is a year-long search, find out and see if it goes to 33.5KHz," Schiavo tells Cooper.
CNN safety analyst and author of "Why Planes Crash" David Soucie says sonic experts told him that the frequency should be much higher and not lower, even if blackbox suffered some damage after a crash.
"I haven't found one that went lower yet," he says. He, however, adds that after reading the preliminary report on MH370 and its turnaround path, it made sense to conclude from satellite data to search in the Indian Ocean.
Early last month, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that there was high degree of certainty of finding MH370's blackbox.This was after four "ping" signals were detected using a US Navy towed pinger locator. But after the US-made underwater robot Bluefin-21 searched over 400 square kilometre of the ocean floor and found nothing, a new and more expensive search phase has been called.
Search costs adding up
12pm: It all adds up. Two month's expenses in the search for MH370 are already surpassing what was spent over two years to find Air France flight AF447.
Defence experts tell news.com.au that Australia alone may have spent over A$1 million (RM3.02 million) a day from March 17 to April 28, bringing the tally to A$43 million (RM130 milliom).Australian PM Tony Abbott had last week shrugged away the cost and said that the search used national assets that would have to be maintained anyway.
Kym Bergmann, editor of Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter and a former government defence adviser, however, begs to differ. He says although Australia could afford the burden as part of international obligations, it is still a measurable cost.
Yesterday, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss detailed that 334 flights were conducted in the Indian Ocean search, using up a total of 3,137 man hours. So far, 10 civil aircraft,19 military aircraft and 14 ships have been engaged in the search for the missing plane, he said.
Search back to square one?
10:30am: As search for MH370 enters its third month, Malaysia, Australia and China government ministers meet in Canberra this week to hammer out what to do next and who and what is needed to get the job done.
A 26-nation effort have so far failed to nail down the final resting place of the Boeing 777, as acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (right, in picture) said in a press conference yesterday, that there was little to go on and experts had to work with the little information that was available.Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC)'s Angus Houston which is leading the multi-nation hunt in the Indian Ocean also called for a scrutiny of all past satellite data to determine that no flaws were made as Australia-led 41 days search in the Indian Ocean, off Perth, have found nothing - no debris, no verifiable proof that MH370 landed there.
In the next phase, the ministers said that the expense, which had been borne by respective governments previously, may bubble up to A$60 million (RM181 million). More high-tech subsea scanner robots, in the hands of private companies, may need to be paid for to probe and map the ocean floor, an area previously unexplored by anyone.
Hishammuddin hopes the global community remains as keen to find MH370 as it will bring fame and rejected the idea of offering a finder's reward.He also shot down rumours swirling on the Internet that the last recording between the cockpit and control tower were manipulated before its release last Thursday in a preliminary report.
Meetings on a plane for the new search phase - expected to kick off in 1-2 months - starts on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Ocean Shield and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21 are still being employed in the interim period.
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.
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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.
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