Director-general of DCA Azharuddin Abdul Rahman on January 29, 2015, officially declared Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 — Malaysia officially declared passengers and crew members of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 deceased today, just under 11 months after the ill-fated jetliner’s mysterious disappearance on March 8, 2014.
The declaration was made by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) today pursuant to International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Chicago Convention, allowing the family members of the 239 passengers onboard to proceed with their claim for damages.
“After 327 days (as of 28 Jan15) and based on all available data as well as circumstances mentioned earlier, survivability in the defined area is highly unlikely,” Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the director-general of DCA said in a statement here, referring to the southern Indian Ocean.
“It is therefore, with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that, on behalf of the Government of Malaysia, we officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident in accordance with the Standards of Annexes 12 and 13 to the Chicago Convention and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives.”
Yesterday, Voice370 - the self-styled support group for families of those on board the missing plane - addressed rumours that the Malaysian authorities’ would make a major announcement about the flight, saying they will not accept such declarations from Putrajaya without physical evidence of the plane’s fate.
On March 24 last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak confirmed that the missing MAS jetliner MH370 “ended” its journey in the southern Indian Ocean, but stopped short of saying that the Boeing 777 aircraft had crashed into the vast ocean.
He said fresh data gleaned from British satellite firm Inmarsat confirmed that the plane had continued its journey towards the southern Indian Ocean and not along the northern arc, which was one of the possible sites identified earlier.
“Its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth. This is a remote location... far from any possible landing site.
“It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” he said.
Yesterday, news agency Reuters reported Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Aziz Kaprawi as saying the DCA will release an interim report on the investigation into the missing plane on March 7, a day before the one-year anniversary of the plane’s disappearance.
Retired Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who had led Australia’s response to MH370 and downed flight MH17 in Ukraine, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday that it was possible that the missing plane might never be found in the deep waters of the vast ocean.
On March 8 last year, Beijing-bound Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 people on board and remains missing till today, with months of searching failing to yield any clues of its resting place or debris.
