Missing MH370: Search expanded beyond plane’s flight path

Search and rescue teams looking for the missing MH370 plane have expanded their scope to beyond the flight path, says MAS group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

He said the focus was now on the West Peninsula of Malaysia at the Straits of Malacca.

“The authorities are looking at a possibility of an attempt made by MH370 to turn back to Subang. 

“The last known position of MH370 before it disappeared off the radar was 065515 North (longitude) and 1033443 East (latitude),” Ahmad Jauhari said in a statement on Tuesday.

On Saturday, the MH370 flight carrying 239 passengers and crew, which departed from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, mysteriously vanished without any distress calls made.

Ahmad Jauhari said the mission to locate the airline and the people on board were aided by various countries namely Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and the USA. 

“The assets deployed to cover the search and rescue is extensive. In total, there are nine aircraft and 24 vessels deployed on this mission.

“Apart from the search in the sea, search on land in between these areas is also conducted,” he said.

He also confirmed that the debris and oil slick found in the South China Sea do not belong to the MH370 based on the analysis conducted by the search and rescue teams.

“The B777-200 aircraft that operated MH370 underwent maintenance on Feb 23 this year - 10 days before its flight on March 8. The next check is due on June 19. 

“The maintenance was conducted at the KLIA hangar and there were no issues on the health of the aircraft,” Ahmad Jauhari said. 

He said the aircraft was delivered to MAS in 2002 and has since recorded 53,465.21 hours with a total of 7525 cycles.