1 April
MALAYSIAN authorities have released a different account of the final words spoken by the pilots of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
More than two weeks ago, the Malaysian government claimed that the last words heard from the cockpit to air traffic control were "All right, good night".
The quote appeared to be among the few concrete details known about the final moments before the plane disappeared with 239 people on board. Minutes after the message, the Boeing 777's communications were cut off and it turned back across Malaysia, heading towards the Indian Ocean.
However, yesterday Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation released a conflicting account, claiming that the last words were "Goodnight, Malaysian three seven zero".
No explanation for the discrepancy between the two quotes was given and authorities are yet to determine who actually spoke the words.
The new quote is unlikely to shed any more light on the mysterious disappearance of the flight, says CNN, but it raises further questions about how the investigation is being handled in Malaysia.
CNN's aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said the change raises "credibility issues", while Michael Goldfarb, former chief of staff at the US Federal Aviation Administration, said "we haven't had a straight, clear word" from the authorities.
Metro adds: "Malaysian officials did nothing to dispel their reputation for giving misleading information yesterday, when they admitted getting the last words of MH370's cockpit wrong."
Relatives of the passengers onboard flight MH370 have repeatedly accused Malaysian officials of giving them confusing, conflicting information ever since the plane vanished on 8 March.
More than three weeks later, the international search effort continues hundreds of miles to the west of Perth, Australia, but the wreckage is yet to be found.
Yesterday's search ended without any significant finds. Four orange objects spotted by search crews turned out be nothing more than old fishing gear. Meanwhile, the family of Captain Zaharie Ahmed Shah has dismissed a report in the Mail on Sunday claiming that they were concerned about his state of mind before the flight.
No comments:
Post a Comment