Malaysia, China, Australia still committed to locate MH370, says DCA D-G

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BEIJING: Malaysia, China and Australia are still very much committed to locating Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 aircraft which vanished in the southern Indian Ocean last year, says Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.

He said the three countries had a meeting in China yesterday, to discuss the ongoing search operations for the Boeing 777 aircraft, following a meeting in Canberra earlier this month.

The meeting started as early as 8.30am and finished at 6pm, attended by officials from China’s Ministry of Transport and Foreign Affairs, officials from Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) and Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), as well as representatives from Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport, DCA and MH370’s next-of-kin (NOK) committee.

“I am happy to report that the three countries are still very much committed to the search. As you know, the flaperon found on July 29 (in the French territory of Reunion Island) has been confirmed as coming from MH370.

“This confirms the drift modelling by the experts that we are looking in the right place,” he told Bernama here yesterday.

In addition, Azharuddin said tests were currently being conducted to determine if it could yield any other information over what happened to the plane.

“Even the barnacles (on the flaperon) are being examined by marine biologists for clues,” he added.

Azharuddin said based on advice from the experts, options would continue to be explored for the search, taking into account the available resources
including funds, equipment and vessels.

“As always, we are hopeful that the mystery of MH370 will be solved and the families can find closure,” he added.

On March 8 last year, the aircraft carrying 239 passengers and crew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished from the radar. — Bernama