MH370: No right time for declaration but it needs to be done - Liow

There is no right time to declare Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 which vanished in March last year, an accident but it needed to be done to enable the next-of-kin to move forward, said Malaysia's Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

"We understand it is a painful time for them. We understand some families cannot accept the fact, and we can understand that.

"However, we have to make things move forward so that the other next-of-kin who really need assistance, we can help them," he said at a media briefing in conjunction with the first anniversary of the missing plane here Friday.

Flight MH370, with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, disappeared from the radar screen while enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, about an hour after it departed from the KL International Airport on March 8. It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day.

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On Jan 29, the Malaysian Government officially declared it an accident under international aviation rules, and that all 239 people on board were presumed to have lost their lives.

Liow reiterated the declaration would not stop the search for the missing aircraft.

Together with the international community, he said Malaysia would stand in solidarity with the next-of-kin of MH370 to go through the difficult times and continue to engage with them.

"It has been painful for the past one year. We are with the families and we are committed to the search for MH370...since the fateful day, we spared no effort in searching for MH370.

"We understand the feelings of the next-of-kin on board MH370. We want to find the answer for them. I want to tell you that we are with the next-of-kin," added the minister.

Sharing some of the questions from the next-of-kin when engaging with them, Liow said they wanted the search team to locate the plane and liked to see the family members again.

"They want to know about Inmarsat data and the details of the search. We have given them a lot of details, however it is not enough, they want more. Some of them believe in theories of the missing flight.

"We have always been transparent on the search and try our best to keep them updated with the latest information. Families grieve differently and we respect that," he added.

Liow said he had also directed MAS to put more effort and priority to enhance engagements with the next-of-kin of MH370, following several hiccups in handling the families of passengers.

"Although some family members are not happy with our answers, we assure them that we are transparent. We still continue to explain to them and we hope they understand," he said, adding seven family communication and support centres had been set up in China.