MARCH 18 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said at the first press conference after the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight went missing that a breakthrough had been made, while clarifying a number of doubts based on the latest information from the investigation team, which includes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), and Acting Minister of Transport Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

The Prime Minister also confirmed that the aircraft shown in the primary radar data was Flight MH370. It had deviated from its original path and flew in a westerly direction back over Peninsula Malaysia before turning northwest.

Since the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was deliberately disabled and the air traffic control, the aircraft’s transponder, was also deliberately switched off, the possibility that the aircraft was hijacked is high. The authorities have also refocused their investigation on the crew and passengers on board.

More importantly, according to the latest satellite data, the last confirmed communication between the aircraft and the satellite was at 8.11am Malaysian time on March 8, and it was in one of two possible corridors: a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, or a southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean, ruling out the worst-case predicted earlier that the aircraft might have “disintegrated” in the air or crashed into the South China Sea after losing contact at 1.20am.

The latest development might have brought new hope to families of those on board, who have been in severe anxiety and worry. Meanwhile, the multinational search operations are required to be re-planned and redeployed.

If the aircraft is in one of the two corridors, it covers several hundreds of kilometres. The northern corridor is a vast land while the southern corridor is the vast Indian Ocean. It is even harder to find the aircraft if it ran out of fuel and crashed into the sea. As the new corridors involve many countries, it requires active assistance from these countries and it takes time for diplomatic negotiations. It might further delay the search operations.

Since the possibility of hijack is significantly increasing, who has hijacked the aircraft? What is the motive behind it? Is it due to personal psychological problems or does it involve foreign terrorist organisations and terrorist attack? Where has the aircraft been hiding after being hijacked? A variety of questions need to be answered but before the investigation reports are released, all kinds of speculation and false assertions are unfair to the crew, as well as the passengers on board. The focus will also be blurred if it is politicised.

The aircraft has been missing for over 200 hours and the long wait is suffering for the those on board and their families. Everyone wishes that the aircraft can be found as soon as possible. However, many foreign media covering the incident have made various impractical, speculative and biased reporting, confusing the masses. It cannot help in solving the problems and is unfair to Malaysia. Therefore, we hope that these foreign media can perform their tasks more professionally. — Sin Chew Daily

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.