MH370: Officials to meet next week to discuss how search will continue

KUALA LUMPUR — Senior officials from Malaysia, Australia and China will meet early next week to decide on the next step in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) jet, which could take up to a year.

At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he would travel to Canberra for the meeting on Monday on the approach forward regarding deployment of assets, engagement with victims’ families and expert and technical advice.

Although no wreckage from the plane has been found, Mr Hishammuddin, who is also Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister, said while the challenges were huge, “I believe we will find MH370 sooner or later”.

The Boeing-777 disappeared on March 8 with 239 people while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. More than two-thirds of the passengers were from China.

Mr Angus Houston, the Australian head of the search operation, said the ministerial meeting was crucial to “formalise the way ahead to ensure the search continues with urgency and that it doesn’t stop at any stage”.

“The search will take probably in the order of eight months, maybe eight to 12 months if we have bad weather or other issues ... I’m confident that, with an effective search, we will eventually find the aircraft,” Mr Houston said.

On Thursday, Malaysia released its most comprehensive account yet of what happened to Flight MH370, detailing the route the plane probably took as it veered off course and the confusion that followed.

The report showed four hours elapsed between the first sign that the plane had failed to report and the decision to mount a search.

Mr Hishammuddin defended the four-hour time gap, which has come under criticism, and said it was up to a panel of independent investigators to look into the delay.

Comparing the Flight MH370 response with the case of an Air France plane that vanished over the Atlantic in 2009, Mr Hishammuddin said: “Each case is different. In this case, we took four hours to respond to the disappearance. I was informed that, in the Air France case, it was six to seven hours before any response. We leave it to the independent panel to judge the four-hour gap.

“We created the independent body with experts from around the world,” he added. “There were things that Malaysia has done well and there were things we could have done better. If that’s something the panel says, we won’t be reluctant to take the relevant action.”

Maps showing the aircraft’s probable flight path suggest the plane turned back from the South China Sea and flew across the Malaysian Peninsula. Investigators believe it then turned south and headed for the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean.

The preliminary report, however, left many questions unanswered, including whether the aircraft was deliberately diverted after communications were disabled.

The first funerals for passengers on board Flight MH370 will be held this weekend as Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainudin urged relatives to face “reality” and leave support centres.

Family and friends of Rod and Mary Burrows, two of six Australians on board the flight, would hold a memorial service in Brisbane tomorrow, said a statement on behalf of the family released by the police yesterday.

Said Mr Hamzah: “We have been waiting to come up with a statement and all of us, be it the family members or the whole world, are actually looking for the answer.

“The MAS has been keeping and supporting the family members in Beijing for the last 55 days ... It’s about time for us to actually accept the reality that the family members should go back and wait for the answer in their hometowns,’’ he added.

The MAS said on Thursday that it would no longer provide hotel accommodation for the families in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, and would close assistance centres set up at the hotels. Families, Malaysian officials said, would be told of developments in the search and those who qualify would receive prompt compensation.

Some families in Beijing have left for home, but others were resisting. “Do you think I will leave? How many things do we need to do if we go home? What will life be like after returning home?” said Mr Wang Bao’an, the father of a passenger. “Our life has been ruined by this. We are not able to face our relatives if we go back.” AGENCIES