RMAF radar spotted mystery aircraft on west coast

Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) radar detected an unidentified aircraft northwest of Penang shortly after flight MH370 had gone missing, and is working to identify whether it is the ill-fated aircraft.

 

RMAF chief Rodzali Daud said the "unidentified plot" appeared intermittently on radar and its last known position is 200 miles (322km) northwest of the island, 45 minutes after MH370 had gone missing. 

 

It was flying 29,500 feet (almost 9 kilometres) above sea level

 

"I am not saying that this is MH370. We are still corroborating this. We are still working with the experts," he told a press conference today.

 

MH370 was last detected via air traffic controller radar on March 8 at 1.30am, off the coast of Kota Bharu before contact was lost.

 

Rodzali said this just several hours after denying a news report quoting him saying that military radar had detected flight MH370 in the northern part of the Malacca Straits.

Transponder switched off or malfunctioned
 

Throughout press conference, Rodzali repeatedly stressed that it is still unclear whether this is unidentified aircraft is MH370, and authorities are working to use radar tracks from neighbouring countries to determine this.

 

Department of Civil Aviation director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman added that at the time civilian radars lost contact with MH370, military radar did not have any contact with it.

 

He also explained that civilian radar rely on secondary search radars, which can use a transponder on board the aircraft to identify the airline, flight number and other information.

 

On the other hand, primary radar can only detect the aircraft’s position without any identifying information. However, it does not require the aircraft to have a working transponder to operate.

 

These statements gives rise to the possibility that the missing MH370’s transponder was switched off or malfunctioned, and then turned west.

 

Armed forces chief Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said after MH370 went missing, the military had reviewed its radar records and found this unidentified aircraft originating from the vicinity of MH370’s last known position.

 

“We sent some ships immediately from Lumut that particular night to where we suspected that aircraft would be.

 

“That morning at first light, we sent a C-130 (aircraft) immediately to scout the area. It is a possibility (that MH370 is there) and at the slightest possibility, I must respond for the sake passengers on MH370.

 

Might declasify raw data

 

Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein added that if the government was sure that MH370 had crashed in the Straits of Melaka, all search and rescue (SAR) teams would have been deployed there instead of also searching the South China Sea, near where MH370 was last seen on civilian radar.

 

He said search currently covers 12,425 square nautical miles (42,617 square kilometres) in the Straits of Malacca and 14,440 square nautical miles (49,528 square kilometres) in the South China Sea, involving SAR teams from 12 countries.

 

For comparison, the size of Pahang and Terengganu combined is 49,172 square kilometres.

 

To a question why fighters were not scrambled to intercept the unidentified aircraft, Rodzali said radar operators had recognised it as a civilian aircraft.

 

“It is not classified as hostile. We only do an intercept or respond when they are classified as hostile,” he said.

 

To a question whether the radar tracks would be released to public, Hishammuddin points out that the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and the US National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) are assisting investigations.

 

“If FAA and NTSB can confirm that this flight - from the military’s raw data – is the flight we are concerned (it), tomorrow I will release it," said Hishammuddin, stressing that he said "if".