MH370 is now a ‘criminal investigation’

The transcript of communications between the crew of Flight MH370 and ground control has been released.

A South Korean P-3 Orion plane takes off from RAAF Pearce air base, to help the international search effort trying to locate missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Picture: Richard Wainwright Source: AP

THE investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been classified as a criminal investigation, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal citing Malaysia's police chief.

As the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER continues into its 25th day, a series of updates linked to The Wall Street Journal's Twitter feed quoted police chief Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar as saying police had taken more than 170 statements for the ongoing probe, and would interview more people.

"Investigations may go on and on and on. We have to clear every little thing,'' Abu Bakar told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

"At the end of the investigations, we may not even know the real cause. We may not even know the reason for this incident."

IS THIS THE REAL REASON NO-ONE CAN FIND FLIGHT MH370

Abu Bakar said the backgrounds of the 227 passengers, two-thirds of whom were from China, had been checked by local and international investigators and "cleared" of the four possible scenarios: Sabotage, hijacking personal or psychological problems.

Abu Bakar said police were also investigating the cargo and food served on the plane to eliminate the possibility of poisoning of passengers and crew.

Even the aircraft's cargo of four tonnes of mangosteens are under investigation, he said, after having previously been held up as evidence that nothing untoward was being carried in the hold.

"Investigators are looking into who ordered them, paid for them and plucked and packed them from an orchard in Muar," he said

It follows comments from Malaysia's Defence and acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein this week that the plane's "movements were consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane."

Investigators have been trawling through the backgrounds of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, along with examining whether a passenger could have hijacked the plane and flown it to the remote southern Indian Ocean.

However, an accident has also not been fully ruled out.

Mr Abu Bakar said some details could not be revealed at the moment because it could impact on a future prosecution.

"You have to understand that there are things we cannot share as it is a criminal investigation but we are investigating based on the four areas of focus," he said.

According to the Journal, Abu Bakar said the investigation into Captain Ahmad Shah's home-made flight simulator remained inconclusive, and that they were awaiting expert's reports.

Malaysian authorities handed over flight simulator hard drives to US authorities, including the FBI, after discovering information had been deleted.

The plane disappeared March 8 on a flight to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur after its transponders, which make the plane visible to commercial radar, were shut off. Military radar picked it up the jet just under an hour later, on the other side of the Malay peninsula. Authorities say until then its "movements were consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane'' but have not ruled out anything, including mechanical error.

Malaysia Police Inspector General, Khalid Abu Bakar speaks during a press conference at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Source: AP

'WE CAN'T LET ANOTHER FLIGHT VANISH'

As the so-far fruitless search for the missing plane continues, the aviation industry has announced it will create a taskforce to make recommendations for continuously tracking commercial airliners because "we cannot let another aircraft simply vanish''.

The first of nine planes headed out to the search zone about 1,500km west of Perth this morning and another nine ships continue to scour the area, with authorities warning the 25-day hunt for the Malaysia Airlines plane "could drag on for a long time".

Last night, Malaysian investigators said they were scrutinising the last-known conversation between the Boeing 777 and ground control could not find nothing suspicious.

READ MORE: MH370 OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT RELEASED

With searchers still unable to locate any sign of the airliner, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, the aviation industry has begun to examine exactly how such an incident could have happened.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade group for the world's airlines meeting in Kuala Lumpur, said the jet's mysterious disappearance had highlighted the need for improvements in tracking aircraft and security.

"In a world where our every move seems to be tracked, there is disbelief that an aircraft could simply disappear," said Tony Tyler, the director general of the group whose 240 member airlines carry 84 per cent of all passengers and cargo worldwide.

"We cannot let another aircraft simply vanish," he said in announcing the high-level task force to make recommendations on tracking commercial aircraft.

But the Airline Pilots Association, the world's biggest pilot union, warned that live-streaming of information from the flight data recorder, as an alternative to the current black boxes, could lead to the release or leak of clues that could make pilots look bad before all the facts about an accident are known.

"That data is there for safety analysis," said Sean Cassidy, an ALPA officer and a pilot with Alaska Airlines.

READ MORE: MH370 SEARCH GETS HOLLYWOOD HELP

"Unfortunately, if you have this massive wave of data that's getting out there — if it's not safeguarded and protected — there's going to be a real rush to judgment, especially towards the pilots in event of an accident.''

ALPA said if the goal is to better track aeroplanes, the answer is a beefed-up, satellite-based navigation system called NextGen.

Joining the hunt ... HMS Tireless will assist with the search for MH370. Source: Supplied

NUCLEAR SUB JOINS THE SEARCH

A British nuclear submarine is set to join the search for MH370.

Malaysia's Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein revealed the news via Twitter, saying he had just received word from the UK's secretary of state for Defence, Philip Hammond, that HMS Tireless will join in the search effort.

The Ministry of Defence said the Trafalgar class submarine had arrived in the southern Indian Ocean and would soon be joined by the survey vessel HMS Echo.

Both ships carry advanced underwater search capabilities which will be applied in the search for the ultrasonic "pings" being emitted by the missing aircraft's black box flight recorders.

It may prove to be one of the last missions for HMS Tireless, which had originally been scheduled to be scrapped in 2013.

The nuclear-powered submarine was launched in 1984. It carries a crew of 130 and 18 officers.

OFF THE RADAR

The Australian-operated support vessels Ocean Shield and Seahorse Standard have both vanished from ship tracking services as they steam to the search area.

The bright red Ocean Shield was purchased as part of an emergency program to replace the failed Landing Platform (Dock) vessels HMAS Kanimbla and Manoora. These ships, bought second-hand off the United States Navy, were discovered to be in a far worse structural condition than anticipated and were deemed unsafe for operations.

Ocean Shield's last position, as recorded on marinetraffic.com Source: Supplied

Seahorse Standard has been contracted by the Australian Defence Force for this search mission.

Both have been tasked with carrying towed sensors intended to find MH370's black box flight recorders.

The unarmed Ocean Shield is not part of the Royal Australian Navy. It has instead been given the designation "Australian Defence Vessel" instead of "Her Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS)".

Its purpose is to assist in disaster relief and defence logistics operations.

Seahorse Standard, which is under lease and has not been given any form of military designation, departed for the search area yesterday.

Search zone ... an AMSA chart showing the target area for today, Day 16. Source: Supplied

Ocean Shield is expected to reach the search zone on Friday. Seahorse Standard is likely to arrive shortly after.

China's government has been less secretive about the movements of its unarmed survey vessel Xue Long. The ship has been observable since it entered the search early last week. It is currently returning to Chinese waters.

Combat vessels are not tracked by civilian maritime movements services.

The several naval vessels China has committed to the search remain unseen. HMAS Success and HMAS Toowoomba are also not visible on the ship-location websites.

The two Australian support vessels will join the flotilla of three other Australian vessels and more than six Chinese ships in the search zone.

The Malaysian frigate KD Lekiu is also en route.

Civil service ... Ocean Shield is heading to the search zone. Pic: Rob Griffith. Source: AP

HOUSTON TAKES ON THE CHALLENGE

Head of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston, has stressed the search for MH370 is one of a kind, but he isn't putting a time frame on how long it will continue.

"I can't think of a set of circumstances in a search and rescue or a search and recovery as demanding and as complex as this," he told ABC Radio from Perth this morning.

"The reality is it's the most complex and challenging search and recovery operation now that I've ever seen. We have to keep searching and searching with vigour."

He said it was vital to find debris on the surface of the ocean, to then narrow the search underwater.

Air Chief Marshall Houston claimed there wasn't a "precise" aircraft location for six hours before the plane went down somewhere.

READ MORE: FINAL HORRIFYING HOURS OF MH370

"So we have a very large search area which has to be scoured by aircraft and ships," he added.

He said the use of visual search techniques take a long time and have been hindered by the weather.

"There is nothing more demanding than trying to find things in a sea with lots of white caps." he said.

But he refused to put a time on how long the search effort will continue.

"Clearly it's vitally important for the families, it's vitally important for the governments involved that we find this. I'm just pointing out it won't be easy," he said.

He praised the "truly impressive" work of those conducting the search.

With Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak heading to Perth, Air Chief Marshall Houston argued cooperation with the country has been "absolutely first class".

Task master ... Angus Houston talks to the press. Pic: Greg Wood. Source: Getty Images

MALAYSIA ON THE ATTACK

This morning Malaysia revealed it would gather "false'' media reports over the crisis and consider filing lawsuits.

Mr Hishammuddin said on his Twitter feed the country's attorney general had been instructed to "compile evidence and advise'' on possible legal action.

Earlier in the day he was quoted by the Malay Mail newspaper as saying: "We have been compiling all the false reports since day one. When the time is right, the government should sue them.''

The MH370 saga and resulting world attention has put Malaysia's long-ruling authoritarian government — which muzzles its own pliant mainstream press — in the unaccustomed position of having to answer tough questions from reporters.

The potential lawsuits emerged as Malaysian officials released the official transcript of the last conversation between the cockpit of MH370 and air traffic controllers before it vanished.

However, Mr Hishammuddin said the transcript showed nothing awry before the pilot or copilot delivered the final words: "Good night, Malaysian three seven zero."

Australian and International Pilots Association president Nathan Safe agreed the transcript appeared "completely benign".

"There is absolutely nothing in the transcript that even hints at being unusual to me," he said.

"It all looks normal to me. The whole 'goodnight' part is totally innocuous. I've said it a hundred times myself. Not even one per cent of its contents would raise suspicion for me."

The search is ongoing in the southern Indian Ocean with a number of countries, including Australia, still involved in trying to locate where MH370 ended up.

Still searching ... a Japan Coast Guard Gulfstream aircraft scours the waters. Source: AFP

Mr Hishammuddin, who has run the government's near-daily briefings on the situation, was also forced to deny various anonymously-sourced reports revealing details of Malaysia's investigation into the March 8 disappearance of MH370 with 239 people aboard.

He took particular aim on Monday against British tabloid the Daily Mail, which at the weekend quoted a "source close to the family'' of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah as saying police had learned he was emotionally unstable before the flight amid alleged marital trouble.

READ MORE: MH370 SEARCH COULD GO ON FOR WEEKS

"I can confirm to you that the information did not come from the police and you should ask Daily Mail how they get the information,'' Mr Hishammuddin said tersely when asked about the report.

In a Facebook comment reported by local media, Zaharie's daughter Aishah Zaharie accused the newspaper of "making up'' the report.

Power of prayer ... Buddhist monks offer prayers for those on board. Source: AP

The Daily Mail also reported earlier that Zaharie was said to be a fanatical supporter of Malaysia's political opposition. Friends and acquaintances have denied that.

Suspicions have fallen on Zaharie, 53, and his copilot Fariq Abdul Hamid after Malaysian officials said the plane was believed to have been deliberately diverted by someone with flying knowledge. But nothing has emerged to suggest either had any motive to go rogue.

The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition — in power since independence in 1957 — has a poor record of transparency, routinely sweeping corruption scandals and other embarrassments under the rug.

Malaysia's independent web-based news organisations are largely unfettered due to a promise by the government in the 1990s not to censor the internet, but their reporters say they are routinely harassed or blocked from government press briefings.

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