MH370 Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail is currently in the UK to discuss who will have custody of MH370’s black box once it is found, said Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

“That will be announced in the very near future. The attorney-general is in the UK right now discussing exactly that.

“The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the experts involved are identifying based on international law and domestic law who actually does have custody over the black box, but I would like to address that when we actually do find the black box,” he said when asked about the matter today.

According to Bernama , the Boeing 777-200ER is registered in Malaysia and owned by MAS. And under the International Convention on Civil Aviation, the country of origin of the aircraft, which is Malaysia, is obliged to launch an investigation and secure the wreckage.

However, Malaysia has asked Australia to lead the search in the southern Indian Ocean.

On another matter, Hishammuddin also indicated that the suggestion by opposition parliamentarians to hold a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on the MH370 incident is still on.

“As I indicated yesterday, while (Joint Agency Coordination Centre chief) Angus Houston is confirming the signals that are coming out of the black box, we have been quite busy getting the ministerial committees, the expert panels, and getting the royal commission set up,” he said.

Previously, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang had questioned whether the government is abandoning plans to set up an RCI or parliamentary select committee to investigate the incident.

No knowledge of co-pilot call

Meanwhile, Hishammuddin reiterated that he has no knowledge of MH370 co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid ( below ) supposedly attempting to make a phone call while the aircraft flew low over Penang.

However, he stressed that this falls within investigations by the police and other law enforcement agencies and he does not want to speculate.

“One, for the respect for the family members of the pilot and the co-pilot.

“Secondly, I do not want to disrupt the investigations that are being done now, not only by the Malaysian police, but the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, British MI6, the Chinese intelligence, and other international intelligence agencies,” he said.

Malaysiakini attempted to contacted inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar yesterday to verify the New Straits Times report's claim, but has yet to receive a response.