Posted by applejamestan > 2014-03-27 23:04 | Report Abuse

Assume? Is it always this way that our Air Force and military conduct themselves in protecting our shores from intruders?

What an excuse after almost three weeks of silence. It would have been better if the deputy defence minister had not opened his mouth.

Posted by savetheparty > 2014-03-27 23:05 | Report Abuse

If the military task force was informed of the turn around the next day, why did the government continue to concentrate the search in the wrong area?

Posted by savetheparty > 2014-03-27 23:06 | Report Abuse

They are better off not explaining anything. This just opened a can of worms.

Posted by alwong1111 > 2014-03-27 23:07 | Report Abuse

Hogwash! Still lying to cover up and treating Malaysians as idiots. If pressed further, they will say "national security".

It is amazing how many utterly stupid people have found their way into government. I have to conclude that this government feels that its primary responsibility is to employ the unemployable.

Posted by aaronlee9011 > 2014-03-27 23:08 | Report Abuse

Is RMAF suppose to work on assumption in defending the country? Did RMAF confirm the so-called 'assumption' with the civil aviation control tower immediately to confirm the assumption?

What time in the next day did RMAF informed the task force? Why were they informed only the next day?

If RMAF had acted promptly, at least RMAF personnel could have followed MH370 or even save the lives of 239?

These questions are in my mind, hopefully Abdul Rahim will have answers.

Posted by aaronlee9011 > 2014-03-27 23:10 | Report Abuse

A simple question: Why didn't RMAF check with DCA (Department of Civil Aviation) if that was the case, to verify and confirm that DCA has given such orders (for MH370 to turn back)?

Is it so hard to pick up the phone and give them a call? You would need at most 10-15 minutes to verify it with all the nearby control towers.

Posted by aaronlee9011 > 2014-03-27 23:11 | Report Abuse

To me, "assumption" here should read "negligence". Can we depend on our air defence system to keep us safe?

Posted by tjhldog > 2014-03-27 23:11 | Report Abuse

What a load of absolute rubbish from MOD (Ministry of Defence).

I have never heard that an unauthorised aircraft could be "assumed" to be friendly, without challenging it to identify itself.

The most tragic thing here is that had our fighters were sent up to confront MH370, there may have been a chance for the military jets to guide the plane safely down or as another Malaysiakini commenter stated earlier, tail it if it was disabled until it crashed, thereby giving exact location of the crash without having to waste time looking for it.

I wonder what would have happened if there was a ‘9-11' type scenario. The plane would have hit the Twin Towers without any difficulty, and without anyone in hot pursuit. This is sheer incompetence.

Posted by kheng > 2014-03-27 23:12 | Report Abuse

There r 2 types of bosses. The intelligent boss will employ capable employees as he's confident of handling them but on the other hand, stupid boss will stand out only if his subordinates r more stupid than him.

Posted by ChanKengChungKuantan > 2014-03-27 23:13 | Report Abuse

Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri said: “We noticed that the plane was heading towards the Straits of Malacca or the Andaman Sea. So we informed the task force responsible the next day,” he said.

Next day? My God! Are you meaning to say no immediate action was taken because it was sleeping time for all and none should be woken up?

Posted by curtlee1980 > 2014-03-27 23:13 | Report Abuse

The most stupid answer I’ve ever heard. Because of that the whole world have to waste millions of ringgit, if not billions, to look for the aircraft.

In fact, MH370 could have been safe if the Air Force did the job they were supposed to do in the first place. I think the whole government must resign for causing this catastrophic disaster.

Posted by wahidpenang > 2014-03-27 23:14 | Report Abuse

If the aircraft cannot be identified because the transponders were turned off, how can the RMAF (Royal Malaysian Air Force) know it is non-hostile or that it was even a civilian aircraft?

This culture of not admitting mistakes, not telling the truth and covering up mistakes or worse, crimes, has to change with the tragedy of MH370.

Our leaders are very fond of denying saying the very things which has become a controversy and blame the press for misreporting, and for quoting them out of context, etc.

The plain truth is they cannot be forthright and truthful when they make statements and for far too long Malaysians have come to accept that as normal when it is not.

Posted by Fortuneball > 2014-03-27 23:16 | Report Abuse

So does the Air Force operate on assumptions in protection of our nation? This explanation is making the situation worse. There is no possible excuse that is acceptable for the lack of initiative and investigation in the case of what has happened. Heads must roll.

If they are demanding the resignation of the MAS CEO, the ones in charge of this sorry outfit calling itself the Air Force of the country must do the same. Your actions (or the lack of it) have led to serious and dire consequences.

Posted by FatFLOM > 2014-03-27 23:17 | Report Abuse

This is an obvious afterthought 'excuse/reason'. This so-called 'assumption' was not what the ministry had said on the first day, worse still, not during the press conferences.

As it is now, Malaysia is not only renowned for being incompetent in managing a crisis and worse still the nation, but it will also be renowned for cover-ups, lies, arrogance and stupidity.

We are on the internationally stage and we cannot fool the audiences like how we do back home.

With this crisis, Malaysians and the whole world can see how useless our Defence Ministry is. All this while, there was never a 'national security' in place. So what is this deputy minister talking about?

Posted by keithchan > 2014-03-27 23:18 | Report Abuse

If you must lie, come up with something credible. It's so glaring that MH370 was never detected making a turn back, otherwise on the morning MH370 was declared lost, RMAF will be ready with a statement.

But no, we have to wait several days before a turn back is announced. So minister, if you can't even lie properly, please hand in your resignation.

Posted by willc48 > 2014-03-27 23:19 | Report Abuse

MAS is going to be bankrupt. CEO also thinking of resigning from this MH370 mysterious missing. Another US40 million to hit MAS

Posted by kkanagasg > 2014-03-27 23:19 | Report Abuse

I remembered in an earlier military reply made in the earlier stages, the Air Force chief said that it was only a blip on his radar and doesn't know whether it was a Boeing 777 or for that matter MH370.

He had to ask the foreign aviation experts to determine it was actually MH370 and that took them several days wasting valuable time. Now he said he assumed that the control tower ordered the turn back.

Obviously, he is lying through his teeth. The real frightening truth is that mediocrity had permeated the whole military and that its time were spend in surveillance for BN rather than the country.

Posted by Naughtygirl > 2014-03-27 23:21 | Report Abuse

Tragic. This is the sort of shonky 'tidak apa' attitude that has become part and parcel of public institutions.

More lives will be lost unless meritocracy replaces the racist ‘ketuanan Melayu’ ideology that has resulted in not the best people being given the most responsible jobs.

Some day another fool is going to get more people killed. Wake up Malaysia.

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:22 | Report Abuse

The military should not make any assumptions, and if it indeed needs to make one then it must make the "worst case scenario" assumption considering the 9/11 attacks.

I hope the MH370 incident is an eye-opener to our government to make needed changes to the military and DCA SOPs (standard operating procedures) and upgrade our air and sea surveillance systems.

In light of the two other latest incidents involving MAS flights, an immediate comprehensive investigation of the maintenance and operation SOPs of MAS must be undertaken and shortcomings corrected to avert any further incidents.

Posted by SaturnY > 2014-03-27 23:31 | Report Abuse

they r still in denial

Posted by Stevecheahsw > 2014-03-27 23:50 | Report Abuse

　（吉隆坡26日訊）首相拿督斯里納吉週一宣佈馬航MH370客機墜毀后，保險公司已啟動理賠應急通道，馬航也將面臨巨額賠償。

　馬航是馬來西亞主要航空公司，但數年來一直遭遇虧損。2013年，馬航全年虧損11.7億令吉，接近2012年虧損額的3倍。馬航原盼望“2014旅遊馬來西亞年”能吸引中國遊客，盼望今年扭虧為盈，但MH370墜毀將此化為泡影。

　根據《蒙特利爾公約》，不論航空公司有無對錯，首先必須對旅客的人身傷亡承擔上限約17.58萬美元（約58萬令吉）的賠償；如果旅客的人身傷亡由承運人的過錯造成，則賠償無上限。

　從歷史案例看，不乏因空難賠償而破產的航空公司。如美國泛美航空公司1988年在蘇格蘭發生空難，3年后宣告破產。西班牙航空公司2008年發生事故，造成154人死亡，4年后停止運營。此次，馬航可能也難逃破產命運，賠償或許會用盡該公司最后一分錢。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:53 | Report Abuse

马航必倒

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:54 | Report Abuse

芝加哥一家律师事务所已经向美国法院提交了对马航370的制造商波音公司和承运公司马来西亚航空公司进行调查的申请，为提起赔偿诉讼作准备。

马来西亚总理纳吉布本周一宣布，根据卫星公司提供的分析结果，根据卫星公司提供的分析结果，失踪十多天的MH370航班已经坠落在南印度洋，机上无人幸存。

尽管马来西亚现在给出的“机上无人幸存”的结论是一个理论上的推论，目前还没有事实支持，但是根据《1999年蒙特利尔公约》，即使无法鉴定飞机失事原因，航空公司也必须赔偿每一名在空难中伤亡的乘客。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:55 | Report Abuse

BBC中文网电话采访了被称为“中国航空案第一律师”的北京蓝鹏律师事务所主任张起淮，请他介绍对马航370航班的中国乘客家属最有利的索赔途径。

兼任北京律师协会航空法专业委员会主任的张起淮告诉BBC中文网，虽然目前还没有任何马航370航班的中国乘客向任何法院提出赔偿诉讼，但是已经有人向律师咨询，也有美国和中国的律师联系乘客家属，表示愿意代理。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:55 | Report Abuse

在空难调查还没有任何事实结论的情况下，被推断为遇难者的家属提起赔偿诉讼的话，他们的权益能不能得到完全的维护呢？

张起淮律师表示，按照国际惯例，任何国家对于空难都要组成专门由政府有关部门牵头的专家小组，对事故进行鉴定调查后，才会宣布结论，而在没有事故结论的情况下提起诉讼，在审理时会有一定困难。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:56 | Report Abuse

法院通常首先会审理航空公司是否对事故负有责任过错，如果负有责任过错，会是一个赔偿标准；如果没有责任过错，就会是另一个赔偿标准。

在此次马航空难中，虽然给出的是推断性结论，但无论这个推断的结论正确与否，已经推进了善后工作的进行，所以张起淮律师认为，现在完全可以开始提起赔偿诉讼，如果现在不提，家属将在精力、经费和时间上受到更大的损失。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:57 | Report Abuse

张起淮律师还大致解释了《蒙特利尔公约》中第一和第二梯度赔偿的定义。所谓的第一梯度，就是按照公约，无论被诉方有无责任，乘客家属都有第一梯度特别取款权，限额为11.3万SDR。

第二梯度是如果航空公司没有证据证明自己对空难发生没有责任，那么赔偿金就不受11.3万SDR（约175000美元，1085000人民币）的限额限制。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:57 | Report Abuse

中国乘客的家属在两方面可以选择，一是选择不同的准据法，即可以按照国际公约，也可以按照不同国家的法律来主张自己的权利；另一个选择是选择不同的诉讼地（国家），这在某种程度上会决定赔偿金的数额。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:58 | Report Abuse

在美国英国提出诉讼

张起淮律师举例说，在美国，个人生命价值为6百万美元，按照他的看法，如果在美国起诉，每名乘客可以赔到5百万美元；在马来西亚是大约50万美元；而按照中国的法律，在中国则可能是150万人民币。

但是从另一方面来说，如果计算时间和成本的话，可能就不是这样的顺序排列。在中国，这样案件的诉讼时间一年就能完成，在马来西亚是两年，在美国至少三年。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:58 | Report Abuse

在这起空难事故中，管辖地有马来西亚、中国、美国、英国和可能的澳大利亚，而张起淮律师认为，对乘客家属最有利的做法，应该是在美国和英国提出赔偿诉讼。

Posted by robertl > 2014-03-27 23:59 | Report Abuse

马来西亚是航空公司所属的国家，中国是航班的目的地，而MH370客机的制造商是在美国的波音公司，发动机的制造商则是英国公司，如果最终证实飞机是在南太平洋澳大利亚海域坠毁的话，澳大利亚也可以是管辖地。

按照国际法，空难家属可以向航空公司或飞机制造商提起赔偿诉讼，所以MH370的乘客家属可以在马来西亚或中国提出赔偿诉讼，也可以在美国或英国提起诉讼。

Posted by connot2323 > 2014-03-28 00:37 | Report Abuse

"The Malaysian government has offended the world!"

That's what Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi wrote in her Weibo microblog, lashing out against Malaysia's management of the MH370 crisis. Other Chinese celebs have also voiced their dissatisfaction, with some calling for a boycott of Malaysian celebrities like Fish Leong and Lee Sinje: http://bit.ly/1pb8Q9T


A number of big-name celebrities in China, including award-winning actress Zhang Ziyi, have hit out at Malaysia's handling of the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Several celebrities took to Weibo - a Shanghai-based Twitter-like microblogging service – to condemn Malaysia and urge a boycott of Malaysian products.

"The Malaysian government has offended the world! We are looking for the airplane but you are more concerned about timing.

"Malaysian government, today you have done wrong. You are wrong failing to take responsibility. You are wrong for prioritising political manoeuvres instead of respecting life.

"You are wrong for failing to respect the universal.. quest for truth," wrote Zhang on March 25, 17 days MH370 went missing and a day after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak revealed that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean.

Among the 239 people on board MH370 were 152 Chinese nationals. One of them was Jo Kun, who was once Zhang's fight choreographer.

Actor Chen Kun (right), another famous Chinese celebritry, accused the Malaysian government and MAS of "clownish prevarication and lies", also on March 25.

He added that he would boycott all Malaysian products and avoid coming to Malaysia indefinitely.

Posts by Zhang, Chen and other Chinese celebrities have been widely shared online by Chinese netizens.

Some Chinese netizens have also urged a boycott of Malaysian artistes such as Fish Leong (right), Gary Chaw, Lee Sinje and Ah Niu, who are popular for their music and movies.

Bahau-born Leong, who is an expectant mother, drew scorn from Weibo users after uploading a photograph of three candles as a mark of respect for MH370 victims.

Numerous Chinese netizens responded by cursing her and her unborn child. The photograph has since been removed.

In an apparent attempt to stem the anger and distrust in China, Malaysian officials have also met the Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang to ask for the Chinese government to engage and help clarify the situation to the bereaved relatives and the public.

“Malaysia is working hard to try and make the briefings to the Chinese relatives in Beijing more productive,” read a statement sent out by the Transport Ministry today.

Posted by connot2323 > 2014-03-28 00:46 | Report Abuse

Today being Friday, MAS price koyak again because of this???

MAS receives copy of petition filed in US court over missing plane

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) said today it has received a copy of the petition filed in a court in the United States on behalf of one of the passengers on board the missing MH370 flight against the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing Company, and the national carrier.

MAS said its lawyers have been briefed and are on standby to deal with the case "although it has not yet been formally served."

"We understand that this is not a lawsuit but a request through the courts for information," MAS said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, left the KL International Airport at 12.41 am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while flying over the South China Sea.

It was to have landed in Beijing at 6:30 am on the same day.

A multinational search for the ill-fated aircraft is underway at the southern corridor of the Indian Ocean. – Bernama, March 27, 2014

Posted by connot2323 > 2014-03-28 00:48 | Report Abuse

Zhang Ziyi
Please dont blame us for the missing MH370.We dont even know where is the plane now.26 countries are involve in the SAR but no debris have been found yet.If USA and britain with the most advance submarine rescue,planes and satelites could not find it,how can you blame us? Remember that we have 50 Malaysians on board MH370 too.

Posted by connot2323 > 2014-03-28 00:53 | Report Abuse

OMG, not again!!!

Raja Bomoh at it again


KUALA LUMPUR, March 27:

The infamous Raja Bomoh was up to his antics again in a personal attempt to search for the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

In his latest move, the shaman, Ibrahim Mat Zin, performed a ritual at a beach on Pulau Sembilan in the Straits of Malacca with his followers.

A video of the ritual was posted by Suara TV on March 26, along with an interview with Ibrahim.

Armed with his bamboo telescope and bamboo sticks, Ibrahim was seen using his telescope while submerged in the water, apparently to locate the passengers, while his followers stood by.

In Suara TV’s report, it was stated that Ibrahim and his followers performed a special ritual to call on “dead passengers” to emerge from the sea to help facilitate the search operations being conducted by the government.

“According to my premonition, the plane crashed into the Indian Ocean,” Ibrahim was quoted by Suara TV.

“The Indian Ocean is among the deepest in the world and that will definitely make it difficult to find the passengers’ bodies.”

When explaining the ritual done, Ibrahim said it was carried out to call and pray to Allah to bring the bodies to the surface.

Ibrahim’s “rituals” have become all too familiar of late and drew much criticism from politicians, religious groups and netizens alike after his stint at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport almost 2 weeks ago.

Images of Ibrahim’s “flying carpet” performance and coconut rituals at KLIA flooded social media and sparked heated commentary, some calling for his arrest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxuVDs1hc64

Posted by connot2323 > 2014-03-28 00:59 | Report Abuse

2014: The 10 Best Airports In The World

Skytrax has just released the results of its annual World Airport Awards, and once again, Singapore’s Changi Airport has taken the top spot.

It’s no surprise that Changi took the number one spot. The international transit hub has incredible amenities, like a butterfly garden, rooftop pool, movie theaters, hotels, spas, and showers, and even a four-story slide.

Skytrax bases its rankings on 12.85 million customer nominations across 110 nationalities, and includes 410 airports worldwide. It incorporates passenger satisfaction across nearly 40 categories, from service and shopping to security and immigration.

All of the airports that were commended last year made the 2014 list, but in a slightly different order.

http://www.businessinsider.my/worlds-best-airport-awards-2014-3/?op=1#.UzUAw0obm_l

Posted by connot2323 > 2014-03-28 01:13 | Report Abuse

In 2013, Malaysia Airlines was one of the world’s few unprofitable carriers, returning a negative 4 percent operating margin—worse than every airline in the world save two in India..Malaysia Airlines has lost more than $1.2 billion over the past three years..

To reduce costs, the airline has sporadically battled its unions and dropped several long-haul routes, including its final U.S. flight, which is ending next month..

China accounts for only 7 percent of the carrier’s capacity, compared with 24 percent for Europe, the enormous growth in Chinese tourism could spell trouble for the Malaysian carrier if Chinese travelers choose other airlines for their international trips..

Last month the Business Times of Singapore urged Khazanah to put the airline into bankruptcy court to rectify its enormous cost burdens: a bloated headcount and “lopsided procurement contracts in a range of services from maintenance to catering..

BUT DESPITE ALL..the airline added 21 new planes last year and boosted its system capacity by 19 percent. It also acquired the massive Airbus A380 superjumbo..WHY?

source:bloomberg

Posted by xenolover > 2014-03-28 03:18 | Report Abuse

All airliner should put the pilot under psychologist supervision, because their burden is huge, and any wrongdoing will cause disaster to the death and to the alive.

Posted by xenolover > 2014-03-28 03:27 |

Post removed.Why?

Posted by AliAbu > 2014-03-28 08:32 | Report Abuse

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/malaysia-airlines-mh370-lloyd-s-ready-to-pay-insurance-claims-1.2587234

Lloyd's of London, the world's oldest insurance market, says it stands ready to pay out claims for the loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, even as searchers continue to scour the Indian Ocean for wreckage.

It's still far too early to speculate about the cost of the disaster, which will depend in part on what happened to the plane, said Lloyd's Chairman John Nelson. By way of example, he said it took two to three years to sort out what led to the crash of an Air France plane in 2009.

Posted by AhSook AhKou > 2014-03-28 08:38 | Report Abuse

MH370 sadly is a International saga and why our Govt refused to invite the International Expertise to the Press Conf !!! Hence, we brought it upon ourselves of our poor performance & incompetence , as viewed by the International community ..................... We depend on China's trade and they have more option than we have to trade !!!

Posted by xenolover > 2014-03-28 08:56 | Report Abuse

Don't forget when poison milk powder discovered, China officer denied the event, thousand of their children current suffer some degree of renal impairment but all China web site just keep quiet. China people just vent out their anger toward their useless China government to us only. U said something bad about China, they jailed u.

Posted by adrian0229 > 2014-03-28 09:02 | Report Abuse

dying...

Posted by hornydog > 2014-03-28 09:05 | Report Abuse

Going on life support soon. And your tax money is being used to pay for the specialist doctors to treat it. This is like cancer - you can throw all your money at it, but you can't cure it. Just have to wait till the patient dies

Posted by xenolover > 2014-03-28 09:09 | Report Abuse

Then, what is your option between 1. dying without throwing any money 2. throwing every money to slowing the dying process .

Posted by wolf515 > 2014-03-28 09:14 | Report Abuse

While watching this MAS share price fall, I'm listening "Skyfall" - Adele LOL.......

Posted by hornydog > 2014-03-28 09:17 | Report Abuse

@xeno, just don't throw any more money. Like cancer - just let the patient die. Don't waste any more. Like cancer, this is untreat-able.

Posted by xenolover > 2014-03-28 09:17 | Report Abuse

MAS fall trigger yellow disaster

Posted by BEAMAN > 2014-03-28 09:20 | Report Abuse

BUY more and you will be OKB next year..99% sure

Posted by xenolover > 2014-03-28 09:28 | Report Abuse

hornydog... i didn't throw a single sen in all airliner companies. Malindo fly with flaming engine; MAS fly with presumed mentally unstable pilot; Airasia fly with all cost saving methods.... Airport operated with all easy go lucky strategy, control towel operate based on "wait till morning then do something" protocol. Our SAR team search in wrong place.