MH370: Liow refutes JACC's statement on search operation to stop

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai denied that the search for missing Flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean would not be expanded beyond its current area without specific new leads.

Responding to the statement made by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) yesterday, Liow said the search for the Boeing aircraft which went missing on March 8 last year, would only be halted after the search area reaches 120,000 sq km.

He said if the search operation has reached the 120,000 mark without getting any fresh leads, then the governments of Australia, China and Malaysia will meet again to discuss the next course of action.

“We are continuing our search within the first 60,000 sq km perimeter and if nothing is found still, we will expand the search to another 60,000 sq km.

“If still no leads then, we will then refer to the search mission experts to decide on the next move,” Liow told a media conference after launching the new wi-fi service offered by Malindo Air at klia2 today.

In its statement, the JACC had said that the government had agreed that there would be no further expansion of the MH370 search area in the absence of credible new information that leads to the identification of a specific location of the aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing during a routine flight to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. It was carrying 239 people on board with Chinese passengers making up the majority.

No wreckage from the flight has ever been found and it has since been dubbed as the greatest mystery in aviation industry.