DCA confirms only two passengers with 'false passports'

The Department of Civil Aviation in a press conference at 1 pm on Sunday confirmed only two passengers on the passenger manifest list had ‘false passports’, not four as reported earlier.

Director-General Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said they have closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings of the two passengers from check in right up to departure point.

The recordings are being used in an investigation.

‘Possibility of air turn back’

Meanwhile, Royal Malaysian Air Force chief Tan Sri Rozali Daud who was also at the media briefing addressed the possibility of flight MH370 making an ‘air turn back’.

‘We are baffled that we received no signal from the Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT) or the emergency beacons. We re-looked at recordings on the radar and realised there is a possibility the plane made a turn,’

‘Air turn back’ meant the plane might have tried to return to base point, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

‘At this juncture, we are collaborating with other international agencies and civil radars,’ Rozali said, adding that because of this development, search and rescues has been widen into the South China Sea. Indonesia search and rescue team is also assisting in the mission.

When asked by reporters on the standard operating procedures (SOP) of an ‘air turn back’, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the plane should report to base and the air traffic control.

‘From what we know, air traffic control recording did not receive a distress signal. We are equally puzzled,’ said Ahmad Jauhari.

‘40 ships, 22 aircrafts deployed for search and rescue’

Meanwhile, forty ships and 22 aircrafts are currently participating in the search and rescue efforts.

The search areas have been widened from the South China Sea to the Straits of Malacca and west coast of Penang.

"Forty ships are doing search and rescue operations in both areas. We have one helicopter from the Royal Malaysian Navy, 11 aircrafts from the Royal Malaysian Air Force, 5 aircrafts from Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) and one from the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM)," Army chief Gen Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin briefed the media.

The United States and Royal Thai Air Force each deployed one aircraft, in addition to two Charlie C-130 deployed by Singapore.

"On the waters, we have 14 ships from Royal Malaysian Navy and 13 from APMM".

13 more are from neighbouring countries (Indonesia- 5; Singapore- 3 ; China -3; Thailand -1, United States -1), in addition to search and rescue operations deployed by Vietnam in their waters.