KUALA LUMPUR: Following is the updated chronology of missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370:
* March 8 – A search and rescue (SAR) operation for the missing aircraft was launched at 5.30am, involving 15 Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) aircraft, including four Hercules C130, a CN 235, four EC 725 and two Augusta helicopters, and nine ships comprising six from the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and three from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
– MAS group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya confirms disappearance of the aircraft at 7.30am. The passengers comprise 38 Malaysians, Chinese (153), Indonesians (12), Australians (seven), French (three), Americans (three), New Zealanders (two), Ukrainians (two), Canadians (two), Russian (one), Italian (one), Taiwanese (one), Dutch (one), and Austrian (one).
* March 9 – Armed Forces Chief Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin says search area is extended from the South China Sea to the Melaka Strait. Several countries including Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, China and the United States deploy their men and assets to aid the search.
– The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) radar records the plane, as later confirmed, heading towards the west coast of the peninsula through the Melaka Strait before it went missing 200 nautical miles off Penang’s northwest at 2.15am.
– DCA director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman confirms two passengers boarded the aircraft with fake passports under the guise of an Italian and Austrian who had earlier reported their passports were stolen.
* March 10 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak pledges the government will do its best in the SAR operation for Flight MH370.
– MMEA receives test results from the oil slick spotted off Vietnam’s coast, which came back negative for jet fuel. The oil was used as fuel for cargo ships.
* March 11 – Malaysian police and Interpol disclose the two men travelling on stolen passports were Iranian nationals Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, 19, and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Erza, 29, with no apparent links to terrorist groups.
They were believed to be trying to migrate to Europe.
* March 12 – Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein clarifies a number of issues: the possibility of Flight MH370 flying pass the Melaka Strait, cooperation of foreign aviation experts and Flight MH370 manifest.
Four passengers who did not check-in were replaced by four passengers from the waiting list. All passengers boarded the aircraft. No luggage was removed from the plane.
The two Iranian men entered and left Malaysia by Flight MH370, using the same passports.
* March 13 – Hishammuddin dismisses claims the missing aircraft may have flown for about four hours past the time it disappeared from tracking systems.
– No link in satellite images: China’s civil aviation chief says there is no proof that floating objects in the South China Sea captured in satellite images on Sunday are connected to the missing MAS plane. Chinese authorities also say the satellite images were mistakenly issued.
* March 14 – International search expands westwards towards the Indian Ocean.
The United States (US) Navy Seventh Fleet’s USS Kidd arrives in the northwestern section of the Melaka Strait to assist in the search efforts.
– The authorities are looking at four to five possibilities on how a missing Malaysian airliner’s transponders could possibly shut down, says Hishammuddin.
* March 15 – The prime minister says he cannot confirm reports of a hijacking and maintains all possible causes for the plane’s disappearance are under investigation.
– Najib says the FAA, NTSB, AAIB and the Malaysian authorities are working separately on the same primary radar data that was obtained from the data service provider, and the last confirmed communication between the plane and the satellite was at 8.11am on Saturday, March 8.
The prime minister says Flight MH370’s communication system and transponder were switched off when the plane reached east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and at between the Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control, respectively.
Najib announces the plane was flown for hours in a manner “consistent with deliberate action” after dropping off primary radar.
He says the plane’s last communication with the satellite is in one of two possible corridors; a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkenistan to northern Thailand or southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to southern Indian Ocean.
Najib says SAR mission enters a new phase, in the northern and southern corridors. Australia and Indonesia lead search in their own regions. A total of 26 countries are involved in the search.
Najib discloses SAR ending operations in the South China Sea.
* March 16 – Hishammuddin says no ransom demanded over the missing Flight MH370. Hence, the police are looking into four aspects of investigation.
On the SAR, he says Malaysian officials are liaising with 15 countries along the northern and southern corridors for assistance, in relation to the missing aircraft.
All MAS ground staff, engineers involved in handling the MH370 aircraft are under investigation by the police.
– Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar says missing MH370 is
investigated under Section 130 (C) Penal Code for hijacking, terrorism and sabotage offences, Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and Aviation Offences Act 2003.
Police seize flight simulator from the house of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot of the missing MH370.
* March 17 – Hishammuddin says the SAR multinational operations involving 26 countries have begun in Southern and Northern corridor.
– The defence minister pledges to review the nation’s radar system after the SAR operation for the plane is completed.
* March 18 – Hishammuddin says the SAR operation area for the missing MH370 covers the so-called southern and northern corridors – a total of 2.24 million square nautical miles.
– He says the search operation focuses on four tasks; gathering information from satellite surveillance; analysis of surveillance radar data; increasing air and surface assets; and, increasing the number of technical and subject matter experts.
– Three million people join in one of the largest crowd sourcing efforts led by satellite operator DigitalGlobe to scour 24,000km for MH370 SAR area as more images are added daily, including areas in the Indian Ocean.
* March 19 – Hishammuddin dismisses a reported claim that a missing Malaysian airliner was sighted flying low over the Maldives.
– Five relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the missing flight cause a commotion when they try twice to gatecrash the media centre at the Sama-Sama Hotel.
* March 20 – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot calls Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at 10am, to say that objects possibily related to MH370, spotted in the southern Indian Ocean, located about 2,500km southwest of Perth.
– Hishammuddin says the SAR operation continues despite the Australian finding, until further verification can be made.– BERNAMA