Wild weather suspends search for crashed Malaysia jet
26 March, 2014
PERTH: Wild weather halted the search on Tuesday for wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed into the Indian Ocean, frustrating attempts to determine why it veered off course and bring closure to grieving relatives.
The air and sea mission for MH370 was suspended for the day due to gale force winds, driving rain and huge waves, said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority which is coordinating the multinational hunt southwest of Perth.
It was another body blow for relatives, whose hopes were extinguished Monday when a sombre Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said new analysis of satellite data placed the flight's last position "far from any possible landing sites."
"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," Najib said. The plane went missing on March 8 with 239 people aboard — two thirds of them Chinese — dropping off air traffic control screens in what has become one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.
News that the plane was lost with no survivors, far from its intended route between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, touched off deep despair among relatives in both cities who had endured an agonising 17-day wait.
"What can I say? I had the belief that my son would return home safely. But what can be done?" asked Subramaniam Gurusamy, whose 34-year-old son was on board.
"This is fate. We must accept it," he said, his voice choking with emotion.
In Beijing, family members who had gathered in a hotel ballroom were crushed by the announcement. Many sobbed uncontrollably, while others collapsed and were taken away on stretchers. Some lashed out at reporters, and a group of 30 Chinese relatives later vented their anger, decrying Malaysian authorities as "murderers".
The national carrier said arrangements would be made to take relatives to the "recovery area", likely Perth from where the Indian Ocean search is being coordinated. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said they would be warmly welcomed in their "desperately difficult time" should they choose to make the trip. With detailed information still scarce, China's deputy foreign minister has demanded Malaysia hand over the satellite data that led to the announcement the plane was lost at sea.
"We demand the Malaysian side to state the detailed evidence that leads them to this judgement," Xie Hangsheng told Malaysia's Ambassador to China, Iskandar Bin Sarudin, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Najib said Monday's conclusions were based on new analysis of the data by Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, and the satellite telecommunications firm Inmarsat. He gave no specifics on where the plane may have been lost, but Inmarsat said it was able to work out which direction it flew by measuring hourly satellite "pings" which bounced from the plane despite its communication systems being switched off.
Numerous recent sightings of suspected debris, by satellites as well as aircraft criss-crossing the region, had raised hopes that wreckage would be found on Tuesday. Australian naval ship HMAS Success was sent to investigate the latest sighting about 2,500 kilometres (1,562 miles) southwest of Perth and to attempt to recover two objects — a green circular item and an orange rectangular one.
But AMSA said the Success was forced to leave the search area until heavy seas abate.
"The current weather conditions would make any air and sea search activities hazardous and pose a risk to crew," it said.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss warned the weather could remain poor for days and "it may be some time before we can get aircraft back into the search".
Abbott said the operation was now one of recovery and investigation. "It's a long way from anywhere but obviously it's closer to Australia than anywhere else and Australia has much of the capacity needed to get this done as best it can be," he said.
Efforts to locate wreckage, and the black box and flight data, will be crucial in determining what caused the Boeing 777 to deviate inexplicably off course and fly thousands of kilometres (miles) in the wrong direction.
MH370 relatives stage Beijing march against Malaysia
Irate relatives of Chinese passengers on crashed Flight MH370 scuffled with security personnel outside Malaysia's embassy on Tuesday, demanding answers about the plane's mysterious and lonely demise in the stormy Indian Ocean.
But gale-force winds and huge waves halted the ocean search for wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines plane, deferring relatives' quest for closure with physical proof of the plane's destruction and the loss of its 239 passengers and crew.
Malaysian authorities — decried as "murderers" by the Beijing protesters — defended their decision to release new analysis of satellite data that determined the plane had plunged into the southern seas far off western Australia.
Mark Binskin, vice chief of Australia's Defence Force, underscored the daunting size of the area under inspection by air crews flying exhausting sorties out of Perth.
"We're not trying to find a needle in a haystack, we're still trying to define where the haystack is," he told reporters.
The Boeing 777 went missing on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, dropping off air traffic control screens in what has become one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history. Ever since, relatives in China have accused Malaysia of being deceitful and callous.
Around 200 Chinese relatives, some in tears, linked arms and shouted slogans denouncing the handling of the slow-burning drama, a day after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced "with deep sadness and regret" that the plane had crashed in the ocean.
Scuffles broke out when uniformed security personnel tried to block some relatives from reaching reporters outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.
"Return our relatives," the family members shouted as uniformed police and plainclothes security protected the embassy's gates. Another slogan went: "The Malaysian government are murderers." "My son, my son, return my son!" screamed Wen Wancheng, 63, as relatives behind him chanted slogans, raising their fists. Behind him, others bowed their heads and sobbed.
Chinese authorities normally keep a tight rein on any protests in Beijing, but occasionally allow people to vent their feelings, especially against foreign targets such as Japan. The relatives delivered a written protest to the embassy before leaving.
Police had blocked traffic to allow the marchers through to the embassy, while at the mission itself scores of black-clad uniformed police officers kept the roads clear, their walkie-talkies abuzz.
Two-thirds of the passengers aboard the doomed flight were Chinese. China's government has demanded that Kuala Lumpur hand over the satellite data which lay behind Monday's sombre conclusion, provided by British company Inmarsat and verified by British air safety experts.
"We paid great attention to the Malaysian side's announcement of the conclusion, and we have called on the Malaysian side to provide us with evidence and information that can support their conclusion," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.
Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya defended the carrier against criticism that some relatives were given the devastating news via text message late Monday.
"Our sole motivation last night... was that the families heard the tragic news before the world did," he said. "There are no words which can ease that pain."
Ahmad Jauhari said the company had deployed more than 700 "dedicated caregivers" to support the next of kin, who have been given hotel accommodation as well as initial financial assistance of $5,000 per passenger with more on the way.
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