Latest developments
- Search for MH370 most expensive in history
8.50pm: The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) says some objects have been sighted in today's search, but so far none are related to MH370.
A multinational team of 14 aircraft and 11 ships are involved in today's search, amid good visibility exceeding 10 kilometres.
Report: RM160.7 million after 28 days of search
7.24pm: Australian-based Fairfax Media estimates the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 to be the most expensive effort in aviation history, at AU$53 million (RM160.7 million) after 28 days of search.
Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reports this is based on known figures that have been made public and is only a fraction of the total cost as other countries have not revealed their figures.
The reports says this exceeds previous estimated cost of US$50 million (RM164 million) spent on finding the ill-fated Air France Flight 447 in 2009.
Part of the estimate spending to date as follow:
- HMAS Success - AU$7.7 million (RM23.3 million)- AU$550,000 a day for two weeks;
"This would be only a small fraction of the expenditure so far given 26 nations have been involved in the search.
"Then there is the cost of the intelligence analysts, police and air crash investigators from Malaysia, the US, Britain and France, among others," says the report.
There’s still hope after 30-day mark
7.10pm: In a news report today, CNN explores the possible search methods that can be used should the flight recorder data not be found by Sunday, when it will no longer emit pings.
It says depending on conditions, the back box could continue pinging for 15 more days, during which towed pinger locators can still be deployed in an attempt to find the plane.
However, should that method prove futile, the search could continue using Automated Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), which helped locate the black box of Air France Flight 447.
Also, Australian vessel Ocean Sheld has an underwater robot called Bluefin-21 which can scour the ocean bed, and yet to be deployed.
However, the report warns that even if the flight recorder is found, it only stores data for the last two hours of the flight, thus it might not fully explain the mystery of what happened to the plane during the seven hours it reportedly continued to fly after disappearing from civilian radar.
Object sightings turn up nothing
7pm: The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) reports that once more, sightings of objects reported by ships in the search area turned out not to be associated with MH370.
However, it says the Royal Australian Navy, using the US Navy’s towed pinger locator on board Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield, and the Royal Navy’s HMS Echo, are continuing its underwater search for emissions from the black-box pinger.
Mass MH370 prayer to be streamed live
6:18pm: MCA announces that the mass prayer session for the families and passengers on board missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on Sunday will be streamed live.
The prayer will take place Dewan San Choon, Wisma MCA on Sunday at 10am.
MAS halves daily KL to Beijing flights
6.06pm: KiniBiz reports that Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has cancelled one out of two daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing route, effective May 1, presumably due to a drop in demand for flights in the wake of the MH370 tragedy.
The daily flight number MH318, departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.25am, has been removed from MAS’ online booking engine for departures May 1 onwards.
Flight number MH370, originally used for the KL-Beijing route was retired by the airlines after the disappearance of the March 8 flight.
Read full story here .
Kit Siang: Discuss MH370 in Parliament's last day
4.15pm: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang calls for the last day of Parliament next week to be reserved for debates on MH370.
"I suggest that Parliament should reserve next Thursday for a special debate on the MH370 disaster and what MPs should do to help restore national and international confidence in transparency, good governance and reputation of Malaysia," he says in a statement.
Lim urges Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to move the motion for the special debates, where the creation of a parliamentary select committee and a global parliamentary inquiry into the incident can also be discussed.
"It will be a disgrace and shame if the Malaysian Parliament is less concerned than other Parliaments or legislatures about the missing MH370 disaster," he says.
It has been noted that while the Australian parliament has discussed the missing plane, the present sitting in KL has seen motions on the subject rejected .
Pinger search slow and painstaking
3.57pm: The Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Ocean Shield now equipped with US' pinger locater hydrophone and the HMS Echo, with similar capabilities, are beginning search but it is a slow and painstaking process, warns the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC).
This is because both vessels must operate at reduced speeds for the pinger locater, which will attempt to pick up signals from MH370's blackbox, to work effectively.
"The equipment on ADV Ocean Shield and HMS Echo can only operate effectively at reduced speed, around three knots.
"The search using subsurface equipment needs to be methodical and carefully executed in order to effectively detect the faint signal of the pinger," says commodore Peter Leavy, commander of Joint Task Force 658.
The black box's beacon only has a battery life of approximately 30 days, so the vessels have only about two more days to locate the black box before the battery runs out, rendering the pinger locaters useless in the search effort.
Murderer tag 'illogical' says some
3.30pm: Some Malaysians have reportedly started to voice their dissatisfaction over the accusations levelled against Malaysia over missing Flight MH370 by the foreign media as well as by families of Chinese national on board the plane, Bernama reports.
Among those quoted by the news agency is blogger Ibnu Khusairy who points out that theories postulated by foreign news organisations are not official statements.
A Universiti Malaya lecturer at the International and Strategic Studies Department Prof Mohamad Abu Bakar, meanwhile, is quoted saying that it is illogical for the Chinese to label the Malaysian government as murderers, and adds: “When did we kill passengers flying using our national airlines?”
PM thanks Vietnam for aiding search
2.39pm: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today expresses the country's "sincere appreciation" towards Vietnam for help rendered in the search for flight MH370, dpa reports.
He says this during a press briefing with Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung.
This is Najib’s first official visit to Vietnam.
Concert now is 'insensitive'
2:18pm: PKR critcises Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) and Istana Budaya for going ahead with a concert amid the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 tragedy.
Penang PKR Youth secretary Mohd Izad Buqhary Mohd Kamri says the event entitled "Konsert Stanza Cinta" (Love Stanza Concert), set for April 4 and 5 at Istana Budaya, is insensitive to recent events.
"I ask that UUM and Istana Budaya reconsider their plan to organise the concern out of respect to the familiees and crew of MH370 who still do not know the fate of their loved ones," he says.
Malaysia's MH370 handling defended
11.20am: Asean leaders have risen to Malaysia's defence on the country's handling of the MH370 search operation, reports Bernama .
"We believe that Malaysia has done its level best in its response to this unprecedented predicament given the sheer scale of the search and rescue (SAR) operation, the biggest and most complex we've ever seen," they say in a joint statement of defence ministers.
The Asean group comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
JACC: We will not stop surface search
11.15am: Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who heads the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), gives a briefing on ongoing search operations. Here are some of the highlights:
- Malaysia has invited Australia to take a more official and enhanced status in the investigations on the missing plane.
However, he thinks “we are at the end of that process” and maintains that the analysis is the best evidence in search and recovery operations and “gives hope” of eventually locating the downed aircraft.
10.40am: Department of Information director-general Ibrahim Abdul Rahman defends Malaysia's handling of the MH370 crisis and tells foreign media not to "spin" news as tensions between families and the government continues to mount.
"We just hope that the foreign media [do] not overly spin this incident, so much so, it becomes negative and it will hurt the feelings of the next of kin... so just straight facts, for example," he is quoted as saying by Australian-based ABC News .
Contradictory information from the government has angered frustrated family members, the most recent after authorities release the full cockpit transcript before Flight MH370 went missing, which showed initial information released on the communication with tower controllers to be erroneous.
Ibrahim stressed that the incident is unprecedented with little concrete evidence for Malaysia to fall back on on except theories.
Ocean Shield arrives
10am: The towed pinger locator, which was on board Australian vessel Ocean Shield is now in the water, tweets CNN .
The pinger locator, loaned by the US Navy, is needed to locate the black box on Flight MH370.
It must do so fast, for the black box is only expected to function for another two days before its battery runs out, after which it will cease to release ping signals to help searchers locate the wreckage.
Meanwhile, ABC correspondent David Wright tweets that the Royal Navy coastal survey ship HMS Echo is also streaming underwater equipment to seek out the black box.
"HMS Echo also streaming similar array. This is the first time (we know of) that vessels will be searching under the H2O (water) #MH370,” reads his tweet.
Without wreckage, MAS open to suits
9:36am: Brisbane-based aviation lawyer Joseph Wheeler ( right ) says Malaysia Airlines (MAS) may be open to lawsuits involving significantly higher sums if the wreckage of Flight MH370 is not found.
He says under the Montreal Convention 1999, an airline is strictly liable to loss damages of up to XDR113,100 (about RM572,000) per passenger if it can prove that the loss was not due to its own negligence.
However, he argued that Malaysia Airlines cannot prove this without the wreckage and therefore can't fend off suits amounting to over RM572,000.
Read full story here .
Anwar believes gov't knows more on MH370
9.02am: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is accusing the government of hiding information.
“Unfortunately the manner in which this was handled after the first few days was clearly suspect... One fact remains. Clearly information critical to our understanding is deemed missing.
“I believe the government knows more than us. They have the authority to instruct the air force … or Malaysia Airlines. They are privy to most of these missing bits of information critical to our understanding of this mysterious disappearance of MH370," he was quoted as saying in an interview with UK-based The Telegraph .
Anwar reiterates that Malaysia's radar system which was purchased when he was deputy prime minister would have picked up Flight MH370 but the government failed to act.
He also criticises the government for allowing Vietnam and China to search in the wrong area in the early stages of search when attention was in the South China Sea.
JACC chief to hold news conference
8.30am: CNN quotes unnamed sources saying that JACC chief Angus Houston will be holding a "big" operations news conference later today.
It is unclear what would be announced at the press event.
At present several countries are involved in the search effort led by Australia, including Malaysia, US, UK, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Search persists
6am: Search in the Indian Ocean resumes with 10 military planes, four civil jets and nine ships, says the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), tasked with overseeing the search and recovery operations.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) has determined a search area of about 217,000km square kilometres, 1,700km north west of Perth.
Weather today is predicted to be fair with visibility of approximately 10km.
Meanwhile, CNN reports that according to the Australian Defence Force, the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Echo will be conducting a specific search today, while Ocean Shield, fitted with a towed pinger locator, is due to arrive.
Four weeks and nothing to show for
5am: Exactly four weeks have passed since the search of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 began but there remains no trace of the plane.
Searchers are hoping for a breakthrough as the plane's approximately 30-day black box battery, which allows it to emit signals, may soon die.
Once the deadline reaches, the US-loaned pinger locator hydrophones on board the ADV Ocean Shield will be rendered useless and searchers will need to look at bringing in new equipment that rely on the old fashioned sonar signals.
Background
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
Authorities have determined the plane intentionally turned back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons.
Its whereabouts have now been narrowed to the southern Indian Ocean after employing "new analysis" methods to deduce the location based on six pings the aircraft sent out to British satellite communications provider Inmarsat.
