The search for the missing Flight MH370 enters its 20th day today, bolstered by sightings of suspected debris by multiple satellites.
In the latest of these sightings, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced yesterday that a possible 122 objects was discovered in the Southern Indian Ocean.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa), too, reported the sighting of three objects by air search teams.
However, to date none of objects sighted have been located by searchers in the air and in the sea, despite a multinational search effort led by Australia.
Rescuers are racing against time to find debris on so as to narrow down the search area enough to bring in pinger locators and find the aircraft’s black box before its 30-day battery expires.
Below are updates and the latest coverage from various sources and news agencies:
Japan spots more possible debris
11.15pm: According to Japanese media NHK and Kyodo , a Japanese satellite has spotted about 10 "suspicious objects" about 2,500 km south-west of Perth in the vicinity of other similar sightings.
The objects were seen drifting in a roughly 10 kilometres radius, with one measuring about 8m long and 4m wide
According to government sources, the images were taken from 9am to 3pm Japanese local time on Wednesday.
It reports that the Japanese cabinet has passed the information to Malaysia.
US paper cast spotlight on pilot
7pm:
Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri clarifies his remarks in Parliament yesterday, stating that it was actually he who had "assumed" Flight MH370 was ordered to turn back by air traffic controllers, and not the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).Yesterday, he told the Dewan Rakyat that RMAF did not attempt to intercept Flight MH370 when it was detected on radar flying off the Straits of Malacca on March 8, the day it disappeared, as it "assumed" air traffic control ordered the plane to do so.
Read full story here .
Malaysia sending team to Australia to assist search
It also makes no mention of the latest sightings of a suspected debris field by a Thai satellite, revealed a few hours ago, although it is claimed that Malaysian authorities were informed of this on yesterday.
However, here are some of the highlights from a statement sent by the Transport Ministry:
- During a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, China special envoy to Malaysia Zhang Yesui received comprehensive technical briefing by Aircraft Accident Investigation Department (AAID) and on Inmarsat’s findings.
5.20pm: According to the BBC , Thailand's Geo Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency executive director Anond Snidvongs says 200 to 300 objects were detected on Monday and the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency (MRSA) was notified on Wednesday.
The objects range in size from two metres to 16metres.
MAS cans Friday KL-Beijing flights
4.50pm: Malaysia Airlines states that it already had plans to can the Friday night red-eye Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flights starting May, prior to disappearance of Flight MH370 on March 8.
The Rakyat Post reports the decision was made due to declining number of passengers. The Boeing 777-200ER could carry 282 passengers but MH370 left at 12.41am with only 227 passengers on board.
MAS says it will cut the number of flights to Beijing on an ad hoc basis from now until May. The airline has also discontinued the use of the flight code MH370.
300 objects sighted by Thai satellite
4.20pm: A Thai satellite has found 300 floating objects in the Indian Ocean, 200 kilometres southwest from the search area, Thai news outlet The Nation reports.
This makes it the fifth satellite to show images of floating objects in the same area, after Australian, French, Chinese and British sources.
Yesterday acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein revealed 122 floating objects were spotted by French satellites.
Read more here .
Queen accused of playing golf while nation mourns
4.15pm: UK’s Daily Mail seems to have taken royal offence at Malaysia’s Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah, accusing her of insensitivity by attending a golf event when the country mourns the fate of missing Flight MH370.
“Her country is mourning for the victims of missing airline… but that doesn't stop the queen of Malaysia from enjoying a round of golf,” screams the headline of the article published on its website yesterday.
The article features pictures of a smiling queen as she takes to the greens during a pro-am event at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur, ahead of the EurAsia Cup.
Daily Mail has been covering the case of the missing plane extensively, propositioning various theories and speculation as to the reason behind its sudden turn back and ultimate disappearance.
However, commenters do not seem to share the Daily Mail ’s sentiment, instead lambasting it for this “cheap shot”.
A reader, GoneN6T, comments: “What should she be doing? Rowing a boat around in the middle of the Indian Ocean, looking for debris nobody else can seem to find?”
“What a pathetic article and a cheap shot. I'm sure she wasn't the only one on the golf course and her game was probably scheduled long in advance....But then again, what are facts or details when you are trying to be controversial? Stay in school,” says a Gary French.
Press conferences cancelled
3.00pm: Today’s 5.30pm press conference on the MH370 crisis is cancelled, and a written press statement is to be issued instead.
The daily press conference and briefing on the status of the search operations are normally led by acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who is also defence minister.
Press officers queried on the matter say they do not know the reason for this.
Earlier, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) also cancelled a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport scheduled for 12.30pm.
Chinese insurance companies begin payout
2.50pm: Chinese insurance companies have begun paying families of MH370 passengers, Reuters reports.
Quoting China news agency Xinhua , it states China Life has paid out 4.17 million yuan (RM2.21 million) in compensation to families of seven passengers on Tuesday, while China Pacific Insurance Co Ltd paid 500,000 yuan (RM265,000) for a family of three on yesterday.
Sunshine Insurance reportedly paid 500,000 yuan, also to a family of three, while New China Life Insurance Co Ltd estimates its compensation would reach 1 million yuan (RM530,000) for its nine clients on board the flight.
Ships to remain at search site
2.15pm: The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) tweets that search and rescue ships will remain in the search area and continue searching, despite severe weather.
The bad weather is expected to last 24 hours, and aircraft involved in the search are recalled back to Perth due to "severe icing, severe turbulence and near zero visibility".
Earlier, Amsa had said that ships involved in the search are also leaving the search area because of the weather, but now reverses this decision.
The search today was to involve a multinational team of 11 aircraft and five ships.
China netizens attack Malaysian celebs
12.30pm: The Chinese continue to express anger at Malaysia over the MH370 disappearance, attacking several Malaysian celebrities in Weibo - China's version of Twitter - with some even calling them “beasts” and “rubbish”.
The netizens list stars like Fish Leong ( right ), Gary Chaw, Lee Sinje and Ah Niu - famous in mainland China for their pop songs and movies - and call for a boycott of all their performances in China.
Leong, who is expecting a child, is attacked after uploading a photograph of three candles to mourn for the MH370 victims, her gesture causing numerous Weibo users to curse her unborn child.
She has since removed the photo. Meanwhile Chaw has been called a "beast".
Malay diva Shila Hamzah ( left ), whose name is well known in China after joining the 'I am Singer' competition, tries to calm the backlash by uploading a photo in Instagram saying, “MH370 is not my fault...I'm very sorry, please.”
Pingers may run out of battery sooner
12.20pm: A CNN safety analyst David Soucie claims that pingers for MH370 may have been stored in a hot and humid environment, potentially cutting its 30-day battery life in half.
He claims to have spoken to an unnamed auditor who had examined pingers in the same warehouse where the pinger for MH370 had been stored.
“The manufacturer recommends they either be refrigerated or be in a room temperature of 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 29.5 degrees Celsius). Something like that.
“So what his concern was - he brought this to their attention - is that these needed to be taken out, put into refrigerators or proper storage areas. So they did that: They retired those ones that were out, and they put them in there.
Soucie expresses concern that the pinger for Flight MH370 may have been among those improperly stored, since the pingers are only tested on whether they ping and not on their battery life.
A pinger is a component attached to an aircraft’s black box that emits a sound signal when submerged in water to aid in its search.
Insurance payout over RM454 million
12:15pm: The Montreal Convention - officially called the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air - requires airlines to pay US$175,800 (approximately RM580,000) in damages per passenger upon death or injury on board.
However, families can claim more through litigation.
Already, the uncle of Indonesian passenger Firman Chandra Siregar has initiated legal action in Illinois against MAS.
Terry Rolfe, leader of aviation practice at Integro Insurane Brokers tells CNBC that any claim brought through the US system could see figures of at least US$8 million (RM26.34 million), while awards in China could be lower, at under US$1 million (RM3.29 million).
MAS has provided financial aid to families during the search period, but says this is not part of any insurance payout.
German daily Handelsblatt says that insurance payments on MH370 is expected to total around Euro$100 million (RM454 million).
MAS is insured with Allianz and Lloyd's.
Legal suit based on mechanical failure belief
12pm: Meanwhile according to Reuters Ribbeck Law, which is initiating legal action for MH370 passengers' next-of-kin clarifies their claim is based on the belief that the incident was caused by mechanical failure.
Clarifying a Reuters report yesterday, lawyer Monica Kelly says this it is based on the theory that mechanical failure "may have cause a fire that rendered the crew unconscious".
"Or perhaps because of the defects in the fuselage which had been reported before, there was some loss in the cabin pressure that also made the pilot and co-pilot unconscious," she says, describing what is dubbed the 'Ghost Plane' theory.
She says the action dismisses possibilities of hijacking or pilot suicide, and is based on previous incidents.
The suit seeks damages for all on board and demands that Boeing repairs its planes.
Chinese parents 'orphaned' by MH370 loss
11.13am: According to a report by The Telegraph , China’s controversial one-child policy could factor in the extensive agony faced by parents there following news the plane most likely crashed into the south Indian Ocean.
"... 'Orphaned' parents who, through accident or illness, lost the only child the Chinese government allowed them to have," the report states.
Air France mathematicians offer help
10.45am : Mathematicians who helped pinpoint the crash site of Air France Flight 447 in 2009 says they are ready to help find MH370 as well, although no one has asked, the AFP reports.
“We're trying to get our hands on all the publicly-available data so we can start doing an independent assessment,” says Van Gurley, who heads advanced mathematics applications division at the US-based scientific consultancy firm Metron Inc.
However, he points out the pieces of Flight 447 were found in a week that helped to narrow down the search area to a 130kilometre radius, while not a single piece of MH370 have been found so far.
NZ family rues Malaysia's poor handling of crisis
10.35am: Family of passengers in New Zealand are the latest to express anger over the handling of the MH370 crisis, AAP reports.
"Everyone is angry about it...The Malaysian government, the airline, it's just all been incredibly poor.
"Who's to say they couldn't have located the plane the day that it happened," Sara Weeks reportedly says.
Sara, sister to passenger Paul Weeks, received the news from their mother while Paul's wife was informed via a text message from Malaysia Airlines (MAS)
MAS has clarified that it resorted to SMS only as an additional measure , as it was unable to relay the news in time to the more then 1,000 next-of-kins in person or by telephone.
10am: Families and friends of those aboard the missing flight may have to face a challenging state called 'living loss' if the bodies are not recovered, psychologist Ken Druck tells CNN .
"It is grieving, except it's even more torturous in some ways, because we don't know whether they've died. Our minds are like computers going wild in search mode, and yet we don't know what happened.
"But at the same time, they're coming to some degree of resignation that they will most likely have to go on and spend the rest of their lives without someone they love," he says.
He adds that loved ones will have to somehow put their minds at peace and let go of the idea that the body will be recovered, which is difficult but achievable.
The same fate, the report says, was faced by families of those killed during the Sept 11 attack in 2001.
FBI to recover deleted simulator files 'in day or two'
9.15am: US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) director James B Comey ( left ) says he is "pleased" with Malaysia’s level of cooperation with its agents in Kuala Lumpur, who are helping to investigate MH370’s disappearance.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times , Comey says he expects his technical experts to recover deleted files from MH370 pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, in "a day or two" in hopes that it will provide clues for the investigation.
Meanwhile, according to Reuters , Comey also denies allegations that Malaysian authorities had not been open to assistance offered by the FBI.
10 days for black box battery to run out
9am: To recap- There is just 10 days for search teams to find the plane before the black box battery runs out and it ceases to emit 'pings'.
According to Australia's news.com.au , the black box emits one 'ping' per second for 30 days, which can be picked up by sonar and acoustic-locating equipment.
However, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has vowed that search for the missing plane will not stop even after the black box battery runs out after the 30-day mark.
He says there are other means investigators and search parties can employ to locate the black box.
Weather threatens to worsen
6am: Search and recovery operations in the south Indian Ocean commences today as search teams race against the weather, which is expected to worsen later today.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) reports that a total of six military aircraft, five civil aircraft and five ships are involved in today operations, covering an ocean span of 78,000 sq km.
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.