NewsContent:2014/Day 073 RAW

Monday, 19 May 2014

Media Statements

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PRESS STATEMENT Y.B. DATO’ SERI HISHAMMUDDIN TUN HUSSEIN MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND ACTING MINISTER OF TRANSPORT

Media Statement 32 - MH370 Incident

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19 MAY 2014 PRESS STATEMENT Y.B. DATO’ SERI HISHAMMUDDIN TUN HUSSEIN MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND ACTING MINISTER OF TRANSPORT

It has been 73 days since MH370 went missing. As we enter the tenth week of the search operations, we have now started moving into a new phase, which involves deep-sea search requiring specialized expertise and assets. As deliberated in the Tripartite meeting in Canberra, a team of hydrographic experts from Malaysia, China and Australia, met over the weekend and agreed that an extensive bathymetric survey of the areas provided by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will be carried out in the Southern Indian Ocean. This survey will be conducted by the Chinese navy vessel, Zhu Kezhen (872). The vessel is scheduled to sail for the survey area on Wednesday, 21 May 2014, weather permitting.

On a similar note, a team of technical experts had convened in Canberra to discuss and refine the satellite data, calculations and analysis which have been made available by Inmarsat.

In light of the recent demands by the Next of Kin (NOK) for the Inmarsat “raw data”, I have instructed the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) to discuss with Inmarsat on the release of the aforementioned data for public consumption. This is consistent with our stand for greater transparency and prioritizing the interests of the family members of those on board MH370.

 

ENDS

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Monday, May 19, 06:45 PM GMT +0800 Media Statement 32 - MH370 Incident

MAS HAS NOT ‘ABANDONED’ FAMILIES OF MH370 CREW WHO SEEK LEGAL HELP

MAS wishes to respond to media reports circulated yesterday stating that MAS ‘abandons’ families of MH370 crew who seek legal help.

MAS clarifies that certain crew member families have retained foreign lawyers to represent their interests, and these foreign lawyers have directed that MAS cease from any further direct communication with their clients, and that MAS direct all further communications regarding these crew member families to them.

As for family members without legal representation, the airline has been in contact with them via the Family Support Centre (FSC) and have been providing these family members updates from JACC and the Malaysian Government.

MAS would like to reiterate that it will continue to offer the same assistance to all crew member families but communications with families represented by foreign lawyers will be through their appointed lawyers as they have directed.

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Disclaimer

Media Statements and Transcripts are an important component of the story of Flight MH370, revealing how an understanding developed over time.

Unfortunately few of these documents are available from their original sources, although some are included on the MH370 Official Site.

The inclusion of Media Statements in this website thus provides background information and facilitates direct linking to relevant articles.

Ownership of the original content by the copyright holder is acknowledged, and links to a current source are provided if available.

All times are Malaysia Time (MYT) or UTC +8:00 unless otherwise stated

Shared by or involving three parties. Tripartite meetings that make decisions with regard to MH370 involve the governments of Australia, Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China. (Source: ATSB)

Next-of-kin

Department of Civil Aviation (Malaysia)

Greenwich Mean Time

Greenwich Mean Time. Superseded by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

Malaysia Airline Systems

Joint Agency Coordination Centre (Australia)

Malaysian Time (MYT) is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) + 8 hours

Coordinated Universal Time