MARCH 14 — It has been six days since the MH370 flight went missing and no breakthrough in the search and rescue (SAR) operation has been made so far.
In addition to searching the air and sea for the missing flight with the help of neighbouring countries, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) has also set up a team led by CID Director Comm Datuk Hadi Ho Abdullah, to investigate the disappearance of the flight from four angles: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems of the passengers and the crew, and personal problems among the passengers and the crew.
Although the aircraft is still missing, it is extremely necessary for the police to launch a multi-angle investigation. Every single possibility should not be ignored as all details and evidence could help in piecing up the causes and effects of the incident, which could contribute to identifying the reasons causing the flight's disappearance.
In any case, the PDRM is currently carrying out only an internal investigation and even though the Malaysian government has launched an investigation on aircraft maker Boeing with neighbouring country, the lack of legal authority under the United Nation rules and regulations will bring some problems to the international investigation in navigation safety. The legal authorities include taking statements from all witnesses, the power to disseminate information as the sole authority and controller, as well as the right to collect all evidence. In fact, the first problem has been encountered, that is, there is no enough evidence showing the exact location of the incident.
Vietnam had temporarily suspended its air search for MH370 yesterday morning as it waited for Malaysia to clarify the potential new direction of the hunt. The chaos with confusing information is very likely to be related to the uncertain legal authority. Such a situation has shown the need of a top-down organisation and management for the search and rescue operation. Crash experts said that if they do not launch a prompt investigation under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulations, the preliminary investigation might be hindered with disappearing clues and records.
Time is passing and thus, we must accelerate investigation, as well as the search and rescue work. Of course we believe that the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will do everything possible to speed up and perfect the work of collecting various records and data. After the Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, the airline promptly launched an official investigation, even before any debris was found. Therefore, we think that the Malaysian government should set up an official cross-unit investigation team consisting representatives from Boeing, engine makers, MAS, Malaysian Airline System Employee Union (Maseu), DCA, military and other aviation safety-related control units. The team should investigate other areas not including in the police's investigation, including auditing units responsible for technical problems and maintenance records of the aircraft. When the investigation results of the two teams are integrated, it could help in solving the mystery of the missing aircraft.
As experts said, the only purpose of investigation is to prevent similar incident, instead of to give sanctions. As families of those on board and the public are in deep anxiety, it is necessary to set up an official investigation team to unify statements, as it is the way to clarify doubts and improve the DCA' and MAS' disorder images in crisis management.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.
