MH370: Batteries of pingers due to be replaced in June - MAS CEO

Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer (CEO) Ahmad Jauhari Yahya confirmed that the batteries of the black box pingers of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 were due for replacement in June.

"And as far as the batteries are concerned, we confirm that there is a maintenance programme whereby the batteries are replaced prior to its expiry.

"We do know that the batteries are due for replacement only in June 2014," he said at a briefing on the search operation for MH370, here Saturday.

Ahmad Jauhari said this in respond to a question from the floor whether the pinger batteries were due for replacement in 2012, as claimed by its US based manufacturer Dukane Seacom Inc.

On Friday, Dukane Seacom Inc president Anish Patel told CNN that the recorders were scheduled for battery replacements in 2012, but they were never returned for the overhaul.

All commercial aircraft are required to carry pingers, known as underwater locator beacons, to help investigators locate them should they crash into water.

One is attached to the flight data recorder (FDR) and another to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR).

The FDR and CVR make up the flight recorders, also known as the black box. The pings sound about once per second, and can be detected from two nautical miles away by towed pinger locators (TPLs).

Asked about the MAS avionic workshop, Ahmad Jauhari said the workshop conducted repair and service avionic equipment on board all aircraft, and were certified to do so.

Commenting on the fuel capacity of flight MH370 on March 8, Ahmad Jauhari said he knew the aircraft was filled with eight hours of fuel.

However, the exact figure is still with the investigation team.

"In terms of the weight of the fuel, when we correlate that versus the last known signal, which is about 8.11 am, is about 8 hours of flight. So we do not have any more (information) after that.

"I know that they are looking for some more (information), but that's it. The aircraft just ran out of fuel," he added.

MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, went off radar on March 8 just one hour after taking off from KL International Airport at 12.41 am.

The flight was supposed to land at Beijing International Airport at 6.30 am on the same day.