The search for missing MAS flight MH370 continues its 49th day with no success to date.
Latest developments
- Najib tells CNN air force radars did spot a commercial plane over Malaysian airspace on Mar 8, but did not scramble jets
Malaysia not providing information needed
6.15pm: The partner of an MH370 passenger Philip Wood, Sarah Bajc, has rubbished Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s statement to CNN that Malaysia is doing its best to provide information to the families involved.
“Actions speak louder than words. The briefings, both in Malaysia and in China, have been a joke.
"In the beginning, the officials in those meetings who would sleep in the meetings. They would laugh at the questions produced by the families. They would not answer the questions.
“It has been a recurring theme and the patience level of the families group is just gone,” said Bajc, the partner of the US national on the missing MH370, Philip Wood, told CNN.
Bajc also claimed that Najib’s refusal to declare that those on-board MH370 have been lost is a sign of "political manoeuvring" to distance himself from his statement that the flight had "ended"’ in the South Indian Ocean, likely because he realised that there may have been a mistake.
Royal Navy withdraws submarine from search
4.45pm: The Royal Navy says it is withdrawing its nuclear submarine HMS Tireless from the search effort after scouring 7,000 square nautical miles (24,009 square kilometres).
In a statement, it says this is because there is no further prospect of its sonar finding signals from black box pingers that are designed to last 30 days.
The signals were last heard by the Australian vessel ADV Ocean Shield on April 8.
US spent RM37.3 million to date
3.25pm: The search for MH370 has cost the US government US$11.4 million (RM37.3 million) so far, according to a statement from its Department of Defence today.
This includes US$4,200 (RM13,755) per hour it costs to fly each of the two P-8 Poseidon aircraft in the search, as well as US$3.6 million (RM11.8 million) spent on underwater search equipment.
The Bluefin-21 that is now using sonar to search for signs of wreckage on the ocean floor, and the towed pinger locator used to detect pings consistent with aircraft black box pingers on April 7 and April 8, are both supplied by the US Navy.
The two pieces of equipment are operated from the Australian vessel ADV Ocean Shield.
'Search could take years'
3.05pm: The search for MH370 could drag on for years, according to a Reuters report quoting an unnamed US defence official.
“We went all in on this small area and didn't find anything. Now you've got to go back to the big area… and now you're talking years,” he was quoted saying. Full story
Chinese kin protest in Beijing
2.35pm: Relatives of Chinese passengers on-board MH370 have staged yet another protest outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing this morning, according to CNN.
The silent protest by “dozens” of relatives came after a daily briefing with MAS officials broke down last night.
This triggered an eight-hour confrontation ending with the relatives staging a midnight march to the embassy under the watchful eyes of the police.
According to an AFP report of the same briefing, the relatives have previously banned one embassy official from speaking at the briefing, but they now demand a replacement.
AFP also reports some relatives claiming to be on hunger strike, and an elderly man fainted during the stand-off. Police had also stepped in to keep the relatives away from the MAS staff.
The confrontation has also sparked rumours that surfaced on Twitter just past midnight, claiming that the airline staff has been held hostage by the next-of-kin for over eight hours at the hotel where the briefings are held.
Najib: Report on MH370 to be made public soon
11am: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak says that the preliminary report on the MH370 that has already been submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will be made public next week.
In an interview with CNN published this morning, he is asked about the delay and if there is anything embarrassing in the report, to which Najib replies, “I don’t think so, but I just want this (investigation) team to go through it.
"But in the name of transparency, we will release the report next week.”
He also says he had initially found information that MH370 had allegedly gone towards the South Indian Ocean difficult to believe and had repeatedly asked if investigators were sure. He says he got the reply, “We are as sure as we can possibly be.”
Although Najib admits that it is difficult to imagine how the passengers and crew of the missing aircraft could still be alive, he says he will not declare that they have been lost for now.
“At some point of time I would be (prepared to announce that they are lost). Right now I think I need to take account of the feelings of the next-of-kin.
“Some of them have said - publically - they are not willing to accept it until they find hard evidence,” he says.
Najib: RMAF did spot plane over airspace
When asked about the response of Malaysia’s air defence when the plane went missing, Najib says radar operators did track an unidentified aircraft flying over Malaysian airspace.
While they were unsure at the time whether it was MH370 or not, they were certain that it was not hostile because it was behaving like a commercial airline, so no fighters were scrambled to intercept it, says the PM.
Meanwhile in a separate interview with the Wall Street Journal, Najib says Malaysia’s economic reforms are still on track despite the MH370 incident, including the introduction of Goods and Services Tax in April next year.
Bluefin search 95pct complete
8.40am: Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) reports that 8 military aircraft and 10 ships will work on a visual search area totalling approximately 49,240 square kilometres.
The centre of the search area lies approximately 1584 kilometres north west of Perth.
The underwater search by the Bluefin-21 are 95 percent complete with no positive results to date.