Najib: Focus is now on search for MH370 debris

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said today the government's focus now is to search for objects and debris from flight MH370 that went down in the Indian Ocean.
He said this was to confirm unequivocally that the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight "ended in the Indian Ocean", though it might take a long time besides having to overcome severe challenges.
"What we have to do in the coming weeks and, perhaps, months is to search for all debris and objects belonging to flight MH370.
"Undeniably, the area (of the search) is most difficult and challenging, meaning we will have to face unexpected and extraordinary challenges in looking for the debris and objects," he said when tabling a special motion in the Dewan Rakyat on the tragedy.
Najib said the government was committed to carrying on with the search in that area to locate the black box of the aircraft which would provide the real answer to what happened to the aircraft.
Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea.
It was to have landed in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day. A multinational search was mounted for the aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then over a large tract of land and sea west of Malaysia, including the Indian Ocean, when it was learned that the plane had veered off course and flown for seven hours after someone deliberately switched off the communication system on board.
The search then focused on two corridors, namely the northern corridor which stretches from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, and the southern corridor which stretches from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.
After satellite imagery showed objects which looked like debris, military aircraft and ships of the multinational search team proceeded to the area in the southern Indian Ocean.
Following an unprecedented type of analysis of satellite data, United Kingdom company Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) informed Najib that they had concluded that flight MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.
Najib said it would be unable to confirm any theory whatsoever put forward at this juncture on the disappearance of the flight until the black box, which contained the flight data recorder and voice data recorder, was found.
It took two years to find the black box following the Air France tragedy when it was known where the aircraft had crashed, he said. "This time, the situation is more challenging. Despite taking a long time, the government is committed to continuing with the search to find the black box of MH370," he said.
Najib said the government expressed its highest appreciation to the international organisations and the many countries which had extended their co-operation in the search for the missing aircraft.
"What we are witnessing today has no precedence in aviation history. I express my thanks to the international organisations which have co-operated very well and appreciate the support of the many countries and our friends, which would not have been possible without Malaysia's cordial ties with these nations," he said. – Bernama