There is no other way than to rely on Inmarsat information - Nik Huzlan

The data from British satellite firm Inmarsat plays an important role in the search mission of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft MH370 that went missing since March 8.

Former MAS chief pilot, Datuk Captain Nik Ahmad Huzlan Nik Hussain said at this moment, there was no other way than to fully rely on the information from Inmarsat.

He was commenting on the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) May 29 report, which concluded that MH370 did not go missing in the area where four 'pings' were detected.

Nik Ahmad Huzlan, who has more than 30 years of aviation experience, said with the data from Inmarsat, investigators could at least confirm that the aircraft went off radar at 2.15am and it was still flying until 8.19am on March 8.

“When an in-depth study is made on the data, certain parties were using the Doppler effect to find the direction of MH370 after it went off the effects of the radar. It has also been agreed by independent experts who examined the shared data within days.

(According to Wikipedia, the Doppler effect is a change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to its source.)

"Hence, the Inmarsat data is very important," he told Astro AWANI.

He also felt that the next search should be done at the earlier location which was identified by the Inmarsat data.

He was not convinced of rumours that the aircraft went missing not in the location that was analysed from the data.

"The SAR (search and rescue) team before this had made a detailed study of MH370 being in the Bay of Bengal or the South China Sea and taking the facts into account, I agree that we do not waste our time searching in those areas," he said.

Meanwhile, Nik Ahmad Huzlan hoped that the families of MH370 passengers will be strong and move on with their lives. He hoped that the authorities will be more sensitive and sensible when giving information to the families.