Plane may have made 'air turn back', counter terrorism units activated

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in a press conference at 11.30am on Sunday said that there is a possibility that the missing MH370 aircraft made an 'air turn back' (the return of an aircraft to air port origin as a result of suspected malfunction).

He confirmed the search and rescue area has been extended to wider areas.

He also confirmed media reports on the discovery of an oil slick in the Vietnamese waters but no debris were found.

‘Vietnamese aircrafts are on the site right now to verify what exactly is on the surface of the waters,’ said Hishammuddin adding that Singapore, China, United States, Philippines and Indonesia teams are on their way to the respective search sites to assist in the efforts.

Singapore has also deployed three vessels to aid in search and rescue. Hishamuddin added that no Malaysian submarines will be deployed as they are not 'equipped for search and rescue'.

‘Intelligence agencies, counter terrorism units activated’

On the speculation that ‘stolen passports’ were used by passengers on the flight, he said that Malaysian authorities are working closely with international intelligence agencies and counter terrorism units.

‘Our own intelligence agencies have been activated. The CTIs (counter-terrorism intelligence) and CTUs (counter terrorism unit) from all relevant countries have been informed,’ adding that he has met adding that he has met with officers from the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI), who have arrived in Malaysia.

When asked on reports that four people on the passenger’s manifest list used ‘wrong passports’, he said they are ‘investigating the whole manifest list of passengers on board’.