MH370: French expertise put at Malaysia's disposal

According to Astro AWANI’s correspondent in France, Catherine Field, the meeting between France and Malaysia is more or less an assessment opportunity for both sides to agree on a path forward and the next phase in the investigation of Flight MH370.

“They are going to get around the table and on the Malaysian side, there’s the Department of Civil Aviation, the government investigation team and the Malaysian Airlines (MAS). Whilst on the French side, there is expected to be one of the three judges who are overseeing investigation.

"There will also be the Civil Air Safety Bureau representative as well as the Air Transport Division of the Gendarmerie, which is part of the French Ministry of Defense," she said.

Through the meeting, the representatives will try to discover the roles that will be undertaken by the French Air Safety team in this investigation.

“What they have to decide at this meeting is that who has what role, how can they all come together, and also what role representatives from the United States, China and Boeing can have as the investigation unfolds which will start on Wednesday," she said.

The French government has also made available at the disposal of the Malaysian authorities all of the technology and expertise at the Aeronautical Testing Centre in Toulouse and Paris to aid in the investigations.

Catherine added the public are in desperate need for answers 16 months after MH370 disappeared from radar screens.

“People want to know what actually happened and this is where the French say that they have the technology to be able to help the Malaysians, not just because they have a judicial set up, they also have experience in this sort of investigation.

“In 2009, there was an Air France crash on a Rio-Paris flight, and the French was involved in the search for wreckage at sea there,” she said.

Catherine said, the French have also a system in place following several plane crashes in the country over the past few years, and are willing to allow Malaysia to use that system to get further in the investigations.