I know many of you have submitted questions, and I will try to answer some of those questions in my statement today.
Every day brings new angles, especially as we are refocusing and
expanding the search area – and as always, we have a responsibility to
release only information that has been corroborated and verified.
We cannot respond to every request immediately, so I ask you to bear with us.
1. Search area
As the Prime Minister said yesterday, the operation has entered a new
phase. The search was already a highly complex, multinational effort.
It has now become even more difficult.
The search area has been significantly expanded. And the nature of
the search has changed. From focusing mainly on shallow seas, we are now
looking at large tracts of land, crossing 11 countries, as well as deep
and remote oceans.
The number of countries involved in the search and rescue operation
has increased from 14 to 25, which brings new challenges of
co-ordination and diplomacy to the search effort.
This is a significant recalibration of the search. The search and
rescue operation continues to be a multi-national effort, one led and
co-ordinated by Malaysia.
In the last 24 hours, the Prime Minister has spoken to the Prime
Minister of Bangladesh, the President of Turkmenistan, the President of
Kazakhstan and Prime Minister of India.
Yesterday the Foreign Ministry of Malaysia briefed representatives from countries along the northern and southern corridors.
At 2pm today, the Foreign Ministry of Malaysia briefed
representatives from 22 countries, including those along the northern
and southern search corridors, as well other countries that may be able
to help. These include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand,
Indonesia and Australia.
Malaysian officials are requesting support from these countries – as
well as others. This support includes general satellite data, radar
playback – both primary and secondary – provisions for ground, sea and
aerial search, and assets as appropriate.
We are currently discussing with all partners how best to deploy
assets along the two search corridors. At this stage, both the northern
and southern corridors are being treated with equal importance.
We are asking countries that have satellite assets, including the US,
China and France amongst others, to provide further satellite data. And
we are contacting additional countries who may be able to contribute
specific assets relevant to the search and rescue operation.
Surveillance aircraft are required, and maritime vessels are needed,
particularly for the southern corridor.
2. Police investigation
As the Prime Minister said yesterday, up until the time the aircraft
left military primary radar coverage, its movements were consistent with
deliberate action by someone on the plane.
I cannot comment on speculative theories as to what might have caused
the deviation from the original flight path, as I do not wish to
prejudice the on-going investigation.
I understand the hunger for new details. But we do not want to jump
to conclusions. Out of respect to the families, and the process itself,
we must wait for the investigation to run its course.
The Malaysian authorities are refocusing their investigation on all
crew and passengers on board MH370, as well as all ground staff handling
the aircraft.
Yesterday, officers from the Royal Malaysia Police visited the home
of the pilot. They spoke to family members of the pilot and experts are
examining the pilot’s flight simulator. The police also visited the
home of the co-pilot. According to Malaysia Airlines, the pilot and
co-pilot did not ask to fly together on MH370.
I would like to stress that Malaysia has been working with international law enforcement agencies since day one.
3. Aircraft maintenance
Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that the aircraft was subjected to
the required maintenance program: the Boeing Maintenance Planning
Document. Checks are done according to this program. The aircraft had
been fully serviced and was fit to fly.
4. New involvement
The Inmarsat team arrived yesterday and will support the
investigations team, which includes the Malaysian authorities, and the
UK and US teams.
5. Concluding remarks
I would like to conclude by reiterating that the search for MH370 has entered a new phase.
The information released yesterday has provided new leads, and given new direction to the search process.
We will provide more detail on the redeployment of assets when it
becomes available. Facts must be corroborated and verified before being
released.
When possible, we will keep the media fully briefed, but our priority
remains the search and rescue operation. To that end, we have been
engaged in diplomatic and investigative efforts over the past 24 hours.
