Day 7: It's still 'all possibilities' for MH370

As the search and rescue mission for MH370 entered its seventh day, investigators are still looking into "all possibilities" amid mounting frustration and threats of lawsuits from the relatives of the passengers on board the China-bound flight.

However, Day 7 saw two fresh possibilities emerge.
                  
The first from China, where experts suggested that the plane may have triggered a seismic event when it impacted the sea some 150km off the southern tip of Vietnam.

As for the second possibility, it lent further credence to the speculation of sabotage or hijacking.

Sources close to the investigation had told Reuters that military radar-tracking evidence suggested that the Boeing 777-200ER carrying 239 people was deliberately flown across the Malaysian peninsula towards the Andaman Islands.

US team checking satellite data

When asked on the second possibility however, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he has no information on the seismic event and could not confirm it.

 

On the first possibility, Hishammuddin maintained that radar information is still being analysed and will not be released until an unidentified aircraft tracked on military radar is confirmed to be MH370.

 

At the press conference, questions were also raised regarding reports that the aircraft had sent "pings" to communications satellites for hours after it was last seen, possibly indicating that its on-board troubleshooting systems are functional and ready to communicate.

 

"What the US team are doing is that they are trying their best to get whatever sources from their satellite system to come up with possibilities of where the aircraft should be," Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman replied.

 

The US team is comprised of experts from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and National Transport Safety Board (NTSB).

 

This could suggest that the US team were the sources of the Reuters report on the satellite "ping".

 

Natural progression

Azharuddin added that a team of experts from the UK Aircraft Accident Investigation Board and aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce have also arrived this evening to study the possibility of MH370 having made satellite communication.

 

"We are now sharing information that we don’t normally share due to national security (interests) with agencies that could assist us.

 

"The information we have in our hands is being shared with to these experts and are now being digested. I hope within a couple of days that they can come to some conclusive position on what you asked earlier," Hishammuddin explained.

 

However, he also described the expansion of the search area into the Andaman Sea as a "natural progression" since searching the existing search areas did not yield any results, and the South China Sea search area have been expanded too.

 

Previously, authorities and Rolls-Royce have dismissed similar claims published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the missing jet had been flying for hours after it had gone missing based on continued transmissions from Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (Acars).

 

The report claimed that the last Acars transmission was when the aircraft had contact with air traffic controllers, but WSJ has since amended their article to state that the transmission came from its "satellite-communication link designed to automatically transmit the status of on-board systems".

M'sia: We're still in charge

Meanwhile, Azharuddin also dismissed suggestions that other countries should lead the search operations.

He added that it is based on the protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

"We still categorise the incident as missing aircraft. It says in Annex 13 (of the protocol) that if the location of the missing aircraft cannot be determined, the state of registration will have to carry out the investigation to find the whereabouts of the aircraft.

"In this case, the state of registration (of the missing aircraft) is Malaysia, and we are following strictly to the protocols of ICAO," he added when asked if other nations should be allowed to take the lead.

The search now involves 57 ships and 48 aircraft from 13 countries, covering a vast expanse of ocean in the Andaman Sea northwest of Peninsular Malaysia, and South China Sea to the northeast of the peninsula.