Aussie minister says ‘not possible’ MH370 spotted in Maldives
KUALA LUMPUR — News reports of alleged sightings of the still missing flight MH370 in Maldives is not a “likely possibility,” Australia’s deputy prime minister Warren Truss said today (April 16).
KUALA LUMPUR — News reports of alleged sightings of the still missing flight MH370 in Maldives is not a “likely possibility,” Australia’s deputy prime minister Warren Truss said today (April 16).
Mr Truss, who is also Australia’s transport minister, noted that his country’s media had reported the alleged sighting again, despite it being a year-old report.
He said he was informed that the sighting in the Maldives was “not possible”.
“It’s also completely inconsistent with satellite data that’s available and inconsistent with the radar sightings that were available. It wasn’t picked up by the Maldives air traffic tower or other authorities in that area and so it’s not considered to be a likely possibility,” he told reporters here.
Malaysia’s transport minister Liow Tiong Lai and China’s transport minister Yang Chuantang were also present at the press conference.
A tripartite meeting was held earlier today between Malaysia, China and Australia, where all three nations agreed to expand the search area if the aircraft is not found within the current 60,000-square-kilometre search area.
A year-long search since flight MH370 disappeared in March last year has failed to yield any leads.
The commercial jet disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 last year with 239 people on board.
On January 29 this year, the Malaysian government declared the loss of flight MH370 as an accident under international aviation regulations.
Yesterday, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said in an operational update that more than 60 per cent of the priority search area has been scoured, adding that the current underwater search area may be largely completed around the search deadline of May if there are no delays.
The search is jointly funded by Australia and Malaysia, with both splitting the AUD$120 million (S$126.4 million) pledged so far. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE