MH370: 'Malaysia wouldn't have done anything differently' - Hishammuddin

This comes amid continued criticisms of Malaysia, especially from China, the country with the most number of passengers on board the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane, with some claiming that they were being lied to.

Aside from discontent at the way information was being handed out, another controversial point of criticism was the alleged failure of armed forces to intercept the diverted plane when it appeared on military radar.

Yesterday, Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri was forced to retract a statement he made saying that the air force assumed that flight MH370 had been ordered to turn-back by the civilian air traffic controllers, saying that his initial assumption was incorrect.

Opposition leader DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang today even called for Abdul Rahim to either be sacked or resign over this inconsistency, the latest among others that have drawn flak from international media.

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein insisted today: “I don’t think we would have done anything different than what we had already done.”

The Defence Minister said he believed that history will judge the country as a “responsible” one, and the effort so far has been “transparent”.

“What have been thrown at us…we made sure no stones unturned. We make sure evidence is corroborated. It has not distracted us from the main mission, which is to find the plane,” he said.

Despite initial red herrings in the search for the Boeing 777-200ER including reports about the plane landing in Naning, alleged sightings in the Straits of Malacca, and reported oil slicks, Hishammuddin said that the search effort has been consistent and was never side tracked.

“I genuinely believe that the three gentleman here have conducted ourselves fairly,” he said, referring to himself and Department of Civil Aviation chief Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and MAS CEO Datuk Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, the usual crew in charge of giving the daily press briefing.

Hishammuddin today confirmed that the search for MH370 has been “further refined” and is being continually narrowed.

Earlier today, Australian authorities confirmed that the search area in the southern Indian Ocean has shifted to a new area, approximately 1,680 kilometres west of Perth.

This, the DCA said today, was based on calculations by Boeing, the plane-maker, that indicated that the aircraft was travelling faster than previously estimated. This resulted in increased fuel usage and reducing the possible distance the aircraft travelled.

However, Hishammuddin admitted that the new search area was “although more focused than before, remains considerable; and that the search conditions, although easier than before, remain challenging.”

On March 24, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that based on new data analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB had concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

For the past week, the search has been based off Australia, which is leading the current search after the northern corridor was abandoned.

Since then, the Malaysian investigation team has also set up an international working group, comprising agencies with expertise in satellite communications and aircraft performance. The group included representatives from the UK, namely Inmarsat, AAIB, and Rolls Royce; from China, namely the CAAC and AAID; from the US, namely the NTSB, FAA, and Boeing.

“The group has been working to refine the Inmarsat data, and to analyse it – together with other information, including radar data and aircraft performance assumptions – to narrow the search area,” said Hishammuddin.

Last night, Japanese authorities announced they had satellite images which showed a number of floating objects pproximately 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth.

Early this morning, Malaysia also received separate satellite imagery from the Thai authorities which also showed potential objects.

These new satellite images join those released by Australia, China, France, and Malaysia, all of which are with RCC Australia.

“The range of potential objects, and the difficulty in re-identifying them shows just how complex this investigation is,” said Hishammuddin