Malaysian, Aussie officials to meet on MH370 updates

PETALING JAYA: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) officials are scheduled to attend a bilateral meeting here in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday and Friday to discuss with government officials the updates on the search for missing Flight MH370.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said in a press statement today that the Transport Ministry, Civil Aviation Department (DCA), JACC and ATSB will reveal the latest updates and technical elements to the public after discussions at a later date.
He said since June, more than 130,000 sq km of the seabed in the Southern Indian Ocean had been mapped in the search for the aircraft which was missing since March 8, and the mapping is expected to continue until the end of this month.
On Oct 6, the search moved to the next phase, namely the underwater search, when the vessel GO Phoenix, supplied by the Malaysian government, arrived in the vicinity of the search area, he said.
Liow added that Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein will be in Perth tomorrow for GO Phoenix's first port call in Australia.
"We would like to assure the families of the passengers that MH370 remains a top priority, and the Malaysian government is fully dedicated to continue the search," he added.
Liow said in order to keep the next-of-kin apprised of the ongoing search, the MH370 website (http://www.mh370.gov.my) will be updated accordingly in both English and Chinese.
"We have also received the raw data from Inmarsat, which will be uploaded to the website in due course," he added.