http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10718181/Malaysia-Airlines-MH370-live.html
Todays 5:30am press conference.
11.04 More from Jonathan Pearlman in Kuala Lumpur:
Malaysia has now started to defend itself – in fairly blunt terms - after coming under intense criticism for its handling of the MH370 crash.
At today’s press briefing, Hishammuddin Hussein - the acting transport minister who has become the face of the Malaysian effort to find the plane – said Malaysia deserved credit for arranging a joint search involving the world’s most sophisticated equipment from 26 countries.
Some of these countries, he noted, have not had particularly friendly relations of late.
Referring to recent squabbles and territorial claims over tiny islands in south-east Asia – including the dispute between Japan and China over the disputed Sekaku islands – he said: “In south-east Asia, where we are fighting for rocks in the middle of the sea, we are working together.”
Malaysian authorities and Malaysia Airlines have faced severe criticism over the apparent failure to release and respond to information, particularly during the early days after the plane went missing on March 8. Critics in China and elsewhere accused authorities of a cover-up and of mishandling the search.
11.03 Crew members of Chinese icebreaker Xuelong scan the sea to search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the area where Chinese aircraft spotted some suspicious objects in the southern Indian Ocean:
10.51 This from our reporter Jonathan Pearlman in Kuala Lumpur:
"Malaysian authorities have just revealed that new satellite images have found "122 potential objects" ranging in size from 3 to 75 feet across an area of 154 square miles in the south Indian Ocean. Aircraft have been sent out to scour the area. The images were taken by Airbus Defence and Space in France and were about 1,589 miles from Perth in an area that tallies with previous images captured by US and Chinese
Malaysian authorities are about to release new maps which show the apparent debris field.
“It must be emphasized that we cannot tell whether the potential objects are from MH370,” said Hishammuddin Hussein, the acting transport minister. “Nevertheless, this is another new lead that will help direct the search operation”.
10.49 He does, however, suggest that the Chinese families should stop blaming Malaysia and adopt a more "rational" response.
"Chinese families must understand that we in Malaysia have also lost loved ones. They have lost relatives all over the world. I have seen images from Australia that are very rational."
10.42 Hishammuddin Hussein is asked about the Chinese families who are unwilling to accept their loved ones have died. "It is very difficult for me because I am a father and a brother and I know what they are going through. Until we find the debris, the very answer they want we cannot provide."
"We are going to continue to engage, time will heal emotions that are running high."
10.29 The news that 122 objects have been spotted by French satellite images has only recently been relayed to the Australian authorities who have inputed them into their calculations.
10.21 Hishammuddin Hussein says that "god willing" the black box will be located within the 30 day period that it emits a locator beacon.
He references the Air France crash when it took two years to find the black box. If it passes the 30 day threshold there will be a "different focus on technology".
10.18 Asked if tensions with China during the search would affect the relationship between the countries, Hishammuddin Hussein says that there have been "unprecedented levels of cooperation" which will actually work in Malaysia's favour.
He says that the Malaysian prime minister will travel to China in May and Barack Obama will visit Malaysia next month. The "Unprecedented cooperation for MH370 is going to be an asset in those visits"
10.10 The search area has been divided into two sectors, East and West. 12 planes wil travel to the search area, 6 in the East section, 6 in the West.
09.59 Hishammuddin Hussein says that Malaysia Airlines will be having their own press conference tomorrow.
09.54 A disaster movie about a jet that mysteriously crashes into the ocean has been put on hold because of its similarities to the missing Malaysian plane.
Arclight Films, the production company behind "Deep Water," said that preproduction has been halted for the time being.
Managing Director Gary Hamilton said, "we're delaying it out of respect for what's going on."
According to the company's website, the film is about a flight from Sydney to Beijing that goes down in the ocean, leaving the surviving passengers and crew to fight off sharks and other dangers.
09.46 Hishammuddin Hussein says that some objects in the new satellite images appear small but one object is as big as 23 metres in length. Some objects appear to be bright, possibly indicating solid material. He adds that they cannot tell for certain that the objects are from the missing plane.
09.44 Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says that the chairman of Malindo Air has joined him. One of their planes had to turn back earlier today after one of their engines caught on fire.
09.42 The press conference is underway. Malaysian authorities say that new satellite images from France have emerged that identify 122 potential objects within a 400 square km area which could be from flight MH370. The satellite photos were taken on March 23.
9.33 Reuters reports that a U.S.-based law firm said it expects to represent families of more than half of the passengers on board the missing flight in a lawsuit against the carriers and Boeing Co ,
alleging the plane had crashed due to mechanical failure. ------------
how can you bring a lawsuit with no proof of the allegation?
Ribbeck Law has filed a petition for discovery against Boeing and Malaysian Airlines.The focus of the case will be on Boeing, as they believe that the incident was caused by mechanical failure.
"Our theory of the case is that there was a failure of the equipment in the cockpit that may have caused a fire that rendered the crew unconscious, or perhaps because of the defects in the fuselage which had been reported before there was some loss in the cabin pressure that also made the pilot and co-pilot unconscious," Monica Kelly, head of Global Aviation Litigation at Ribbeck Law, said
"That plane was actually a ghost plane for several hours until it ran out of fuel." --
Again how can this speculative statement be put forward in litigation at this stage when they have no current means of proving it???
Kelly said the conclusion was made based on experience on previous incidents, dismissing the possibilities of hijacking or pilot suicide.
The lawsuit, soon to be filed, would seek millions of dollars of compensation for each passenger and ask Boeing to repair its entire 777 fleet.
