MH370: Two C-130 Hercules returns home

Two Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) C-130 Hercules aircraft involved in the search and rescue efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 arrived at the Subang RMAF base today.

The two aircraft which had left for the Royal Australian Air Force's Base Pearce on March 28, arrived carrying 54 air, ground and support crew, including 19 officers at 10.50 am and 11 am.

Another C-130 aircraft carrying the remaining 24 RMAF personnel is scheduled to arrive at the air force base this Saturday.

RMAF First Air Division Commander Mejar Jeneral Datuk Azizool Arif Abdul Ghani said all the 78 RMAF personnel were commissioned in 43 search and rescue missions for the MH370 covering 382 hours in the southwest Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.

"I think our crew have been able to gain infinite in-depth experience in these operations," he told reporters after welcoming the 54 crew members here, today.

Flight MH370, with 239 people aboard, left the KL International Airport at 12.41 am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea. It was to have arrived in Beijing at 6.30 am on the same day.

A multinational search was mounted for the Boeing 777-200 aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learnt that the plane had veered off course, in the southern Indian Ocean.

After an analysis of satellite data indicated that the plane's last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced on March 24 that Flight MH370 "ended in the southern Indian Ocean".

Azizool also expressed pride when the RMAF was honoured by the Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC) to drop the 'sonar bouys' or directional signs in the Indian Ocean to track the plane.