Malaysia's civil aviation chief quits over MH370 lapses
July 31, 2018
A report on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight had shown failures by the air traffic control center in Kuala Lumpur. The jet carrying 239 people from the Malaysian capital to Beijing disappeared in 2014.
Image: picture-alliance/AP
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The Malaysian civil aviation authority's chief resigned on Tuesday, a day after an independent report on the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 found lapses by air traffic controllers working at the control center in Kuala Lumpur.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said although the report released on Monday did not blame his department for the plane's disappearance, it found that air traffic controllers had failed to comply with standard operating procedures.
"Therefore, it is with regret and after much thought and contemplation that I have decided to resign as the Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia effective 14 days from the date of the resignation notice which I have served today," he said in the statement.
The investigators said the controls of the aircraft were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course but they could not determine who was responsible.
According to the report, air traffic control failed to swiftly initiate an emergency response and monitor radar continuously. The controllers also failed to alert the air force and relied heavily on information from Malaysia Airlines.
'Easy way out'
Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the government had formed a committee to investigate the lapses and suggest possible action against the air traffic controllers on duty at the time.
Grace Subathirai Nathan, whose mother was aboard the plane, said had the air traffic controllers not committed "horrible mistakes," the outcome could have been different.
She said Azharuddin had "taken the easy way out" by quitting.
"He has not explained the failings of the controllers, why it happened, what caused it? Was (it) incompetence? Was it neglect? What was it?" she wrote on Facebook.
Relatives of the passengers have not given up hope, even 1,000 days after the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane. They themselves are going to look for more pieces of wreckage along the Madagascan coast.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Paul
Until the plane is found
The search for the wreckage mustn't be called off, said Grace Nathan (left) shortly before she flew to Madagascar. Her mother was on board flight MH370. The official search is due to be abandoned in February 2017 if nothing is found before then. Relatives of those on board are protesting. "We'll pay for it ourselves," Nathan said. "The search must go on."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Vatsyayana
Where did the plane crash?
In March 2014, for reasons that are still unclear, MH370 deviated from its course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and flew south for hours without making radio contact. Investigators believe that the Boeing with 239 people on board went down over the Indian Ocean when its fuel ran out. Experts disagree as to the precise location of the crash.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Ismail
The voice of MH370
Some of the passengers' relatives have formed a group called "Voice370." They are critical of the official proceedings. They say "no systematic, organized search" is taking place in the western Indian Ocean, although pieces of wreckage thought to be part of the plane have been found there. Seven of the relatives are now heading to Madagascar, where they themselves plan to search until December 11.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Ismail
120,000 square kilometers and still no sign
The official search is concentrating on an area of 120,000 kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean. Australia, Malaysia and China are taking part in what is one of the biggest search operations in aviation history. There's been talk of calling it off since the middle of 2016.
Image: Reuters/Australian Defence Force
Concrete evidence
On 29 July 2015, a wing flap about two meters long washed up on the tropical French island of La Reunion. The wreckage was subsequently identified as part of the missing Boeing 777. Other possible pieces of wreckage have been found in Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa and on the island of Mauritius.
Image: Reuters/Zinfos974/P. Bigot
Passengers declared dead
At the end of January 2015, Malaysia's civil aviation authority officially classified the unresolved incident an "accident" and declared all 239 people on board dead. But many people don't believe it really was an accident. Relatives have been demonstrating publicly - as here, in China - because they don't feel they're being given all the information.
Image: Reuters/J.Lee
Pilot suicide?
In July 2015 the New York Magazine reported that a few weeks before the disaster the captain had practiced - on a flight simulator - the route the passenger jet is believed to have taken over the southern Indian Ocean. The magazine cited confidential records from the Malaysian police probe. Despite this discovery, the plane's disappearance remains one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.
