MH370: Lagi pelik jadi aneh!

MH370 ‘not sighted’ by Medan radar, says report

FMT Reporters

 | March 8, 2015

Govt releases interim report, no reason given for lack of information from Indonesia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines flight MH370′s final known position was at 2.22am on March 8 last year just off the coast of Sumatra — but it was not sighted by Medan’s radar, for unknown reasons, the MH370 investigation team said today.

The aircraft was last tracked by Malaysian military radar at 10 nautical miles after the aviation waypoint of MEKAR between Sumatra and Penang.

The Medan ATC Radar has a range of 240 Nm, but for unknown reasons, did not pick up any radar return bearing SSR transponder code A2157 of MH370. The military however admitted that they picked up MH370 earlier as it was heading towards waypoint IGARI (over the South China Sea”).

The aircraft had been observed on the military and civilian radar of four countries; Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Thai radar observers had paid no attention to the flight as it was outside its area of responsibility. But at its last known position, it should have registered on Indonesian military radar.

No reason was given for the lack of information from Medan. The government’s interim report into the MH370 mystery merely said: “No other information was made available.”

MH370, with 239 people on board was operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft, registration 9M-MRO. It was was tracked on radar until near waypoint IGARI over the South China Sea, midway between Terengganu and Vietnam, when it turned around and flew over the peninsula until south of Penang Island.

It continued over Pulau Perak in the Straits of Malacca and tracked northwest towards MEKAR waypoint.

“The tracking by the military continued as the radar return was observed to be heading towards waypoint MEKAR, a waypoint on Airways N571, when it disappeared abruptly at 1822:12 UTC [0222:12 MYT], 10 nautical miles (Nm) after waypoint MEKAR,” the report said.

The 584-page interim report did not reach any conclusions on the causes of the diversion from its scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing or its current whereabouts.

The interim report was issued under international civil aviation covenants which require that, in the absence of a final report, interim reports should be issued each year on the anniversary of the crash.

The MAS Boeing 777 aircraft, registration 9M-MRO, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared off air traffic control radar at about 1.20am over the South China Sea midway between Terengganu and Vietnam.

Today’s interim report consists of an Interim Statement and a separate Factual Information report. Both were made public on the transport ministry’s web site this afternoon and can be downloaded for viewing.

The team’s leader Kok Soo Chon said the team would analyse the data collected so far and make safety recommendations.

The government emphasised that the report was interim and would be changed to suit any new evidence that emerged.

“The Investigation Team expects that further factual information will be available from the wreckage and flight recorders if the aircraft is found,” he said.