DCA chief does it again, media livid
"Are you hiding something?"
This was the question thrown at DCA director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman by a foreign journalist as he left without entertaining several queries from the media.
Seeing red, another foreign media representative had earlier exclaimed: "If you are not going to answer our questions, why bother calling a press conference?"
This is the second time in 24 hours that Azharuddin has left the media vexed.
Yesterday, he told journalists to leave an aviation conference midway during his speech.
This was first reported by the Star Online but the article was later removed from the website and did not appear in the print version either.
Today, reporters had hoped to quiz Azharuddin at a press conference held after leading a briefing with relatives of Chinese passengers aboard MH370.
This was the question thrown at DCA director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman by a foreign journalist as he left without entertaining several queries from the media.
Seeing red, another foreign media representative had earlier exclaimed: "If you are not going to answer our questions, why bother calling a press conference?"
This is the second time in 24 hours that Azharuddin has left the media vexed.Yesterday, he told journalists to leave an aviation conference midway during his speech.
This was first reported by the Star Online but the article was later removed from the website and did not appear in the print version either.
Today, reporters had hoped to quiz Azharuddin at a press conference held after leading a briefing with relatives of Chinese passengers aboard MH370.
He was asked about the details of the briefing and whether the families were told that the direction of the probe has changed.
Azharuddin dismissed the question as "technical" and refused to answer.
Despite the reporter’s protest, he ignored the question and answered five other queries before leaving in a hurry, with reporters shouting questions behind him.
Report taken down
Meanwhile, sources confirmed that the Star Online report was taken off the news website last night.
"The report was retracted, but further queries should be directed to the editor," one source told Malaysiakini.
It is unclear if the story was retracted due to a factual error or instructions from regulators.
However, the retracted report is consistent with newspaper The Sun's report on the same incident.
Malaysiakini contacted the Star Online but was told to call back tomorrow when the editor on duty last night is available to speak.
The Star Online had yesterday reported that participants at the aviation conference were stunned when Azharuddin s told the media to leave the room.
He later told Malaysiakini that he did so as he was told that the session is "closed-door".
Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) Director General Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (pic) said the ejection of the media from an international aviation conference was not because he was hiding any information about the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said today he had kicked out journalists from covering an international aviation conference here as it was a private affair.
He explained the ejection was not because he was hiding any information about the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that has been missing for 24 days without trace, news broadcaster Astro Awani reported on its website.
“I am not hiding anything. It has been agreed that it is a closed-door event.
“However, my speech did not contain any information that is new or different from our daily press conferences,” he was quoted saying by Astro Awani.
Azharuddin was halfway through providing the timeline for the mysterious disappearance of MH370 on March 8 and the subsequent multi-nation hunt when he broke off his speech.
“I’m sorry, is there any media here? I didn’t know there are media here,” Azharuddin was quoted saying by The Star daily.
“I’m sorry, can I ask the media to stay out please?” he added.
According to The Star, Azharuddin refused to continue with his speech until the media left the hall and declined to take questions from reporters as he was leaving the conference a short while later.
The Malay Mail Online understands that reporters given full-access to the three-day conference were allowed back in right after Azharuddin delivered his keynote address.
The conference is organised by International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade association for more than 240 airlines around the world.
IN THE GALLERY
A relative of a passenger on board MAS flight MH370 cries as she watches a slide show dedicated to passengers at the Lido Hotel in Beijing April 1, 2014. — Reuters pic
IATA’s annual Ops Conference, which began yesterday, deals with all issues related to safety, operations and infrastructure of the aviation industry.
Joining Azharuddin as speakers at the conference today were IATA director-general and chief executive officer Tony Tyler, Airports Council International (ACI) director-general Angela Gittens, Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA) director-general Andrew Herdman and Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) director-general Jeff Poole.
The DCA director-general has come under fire in the past for his handling of media conferences over the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crisis.
The Boeing 777-200ER jetliner ferrying 239 people departed from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Beijing in the early hours of March 8, before it fell off the grid.
According to satellite data and security radar readings, MH370 veered westwards after it lost contact with ground control and is now believed to be in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Perth, Australia.
The international search for the missing aircraft has not been fruitful as searchers have yet to recover any plane debris since Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, citing satellite data, announced on March 24 that MH370 had ended somewhere in the vast compass of the southern Indian Ocean.
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