Malaysian Press Conference, 2014-03-16 17:30
- 25 countries now involved
- Police visited home of pilot, checked flight sim. Pilot and co-pilot didn't ask to fly together.
<A lot of reiterated stuff from yesterday's conference, I left out>
Q&A Local Media
- location of jet at 8:11 - (Malay answer) There were 6 pings total the last of which was at 8:11
- Fuel was 7 hours? did it land and refuel? - Jet was fuelled for flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing for flight time of 6 hours. We always have reserve fuel of 45min-1hour in case of diversion. Total fuel could have been up to 8 hours
- What moves to rectify security in response to situation? - Immediate focus is to find plane. There was no breach of SOP, this was an unprecedented case which may change aviation history across the world
- What leads from investigation? - 4 focus: Hijacking, sabotage, personal problem, psychological problem, includes ground staff.
- Status on background check on passengers? - Refocus due to information that equipment was deliberately turned off. This doesn't mean didn't check manifest beforehand. Investigation into offences of hijacking/sabotage/terrorism and aviation offences act. This means we are intensifying efforts.
- (Malay answer) same as above
- (Malay answer) As of right now I'm not sure of assets. But since yesterday we are discussing with everyone about how these assets will be allocated to northern and southern corridor. This needs very close coordination and we need some time to discuss this.
- comment if Malaysian Government knows SECRETS? - No. Lol.
- Are there any people on board with flight training? - Not received reply of background checks on ALL passengers. Some countries haven't responded. Some foreign intelligence agencies have cleared all passengers
- Is turnback pre-programmed? - Air turnback was not pre-determined
- (Malay answer) Clarification: <Seems he's saying "all passengers" cleared meaning all from the particular country related to specific intelligence agency?> Includes China and India clearing all passengers.
- Reports that Interpol was denied along with FBI - Not true, we worked with all agencies.
- Immediate financial assistance to families. Not looking at compensation till we know what happened to aircraft
Q&A International
- Reiterates, everyone being investigated
- Reiteration in English, SOP on fuel, no extra fuel
- Family moved out? - Personally not aware of this. No, nobody moved out (laughter)
- What was taken from pilot's home(s)? - Took possession of flight simulator and dismantled it (NOOOOOOOOO) and assembled at office. experts looking at it.
- Possible for aircraft to have been transmitting from the ground? - as long as electrical power to aircraft systems, yes
- No one has demanded ransom. Difficult to verify it as a hijack. This is why 4 areas are not being taken for granted
- Why did authorities wait 8 days to search pilot's stuff - Everyone was being investigated including pilot and co-pilot. In light of new dev, we went into their house. We didn't see the necessity in the earlier stage
- What is the altitude of the plane after it went missing. - We are talking to the service provider if the height of the plane can be verified due to calibration.
- 600 airstrips. Will you search them all? - We have identified two areas (talking about two corridors) All of it will be checked by maritime vessels and aircraft. Large tract of land involving 11 countries and deep sea. Will take coordination which was our effort yesterday
- Can't make any associations (e.g. political) at the moment
- Possibility of 9/11 style attack - Anyone can say anything. Our focus remains in those 4 areas. Security offenses special measures act is in effect
- Did you re-enact flight? - On a simulator, yes.
- Cargo on plane? - No hazardous goods
- Clarification - passengers cleared. What does that mean? Nothing negative. We cannot clarify on which intelligence agencies. Regarding Iranian false passport holders, nothing points to terrorist links
- was ACARS disabled before or after pilot said "All right, Good night" - Yes, it was disabled before
- Can southern area be searched? - Yes, we are still getting information of assets required to sweep the entire area. Getting expert advice at the moment. The support is overwhelming
- Can you confirm Malaysia requested military radar - Can confirm satellite data and radar request. We cannot divulge who agreed to military radar. Even Malaysian military data was sensitive. We cannot reveal it to media/public re: others
- The US team and UK team have time and coordinates. We narrowed it via checking minimum and maximum speed from the last point of contact. US and UK teams did their separate deduction and came to the same conclusion
END
FALKRANT (keyword for thread search, ignore)