Chinese relatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are stopped and escorted away by Malaysian police from entering the media centre before the start of a press conference at a hotel near Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur on March 19, 2014. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN
By Terry Fredrickson
There was little new information on the possible whereabouts of the vanished Malaysia Airlines flight 370 yesterday, so the main focus was on the growing frustrations of the relatives of the passengers. There was also a development in the investigation into the pilot of the aircraft.
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MH370 relatives rage as Malaysia probes 'deleted' data
This picture taken on March 16, 2014 shows the home of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur. AFP PHOTO / MANAN VATSYAYANA
KUALA LUMPUR, AFP – Angry Chinese relatives tried to gatecrash Malaysia's tightly controlled daily media briefing on the missing plane Wednesday in chaotic scenes underlining the frustrations surrounding the 12-day search.
Shouting and crying, a handful of relatives of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight 370 unfurled a protest banner reading "Give us back our families". They accused Malaysian authorities of withholding information and doing too little to find the plane.
The dramatic protest unfolded just before Malaysian officials arrived for the briefing, in which they announced no progress in determining what befell the jet.
"They give different messages every day. Where's the flight now? We can't stand it anymore!" one woman wailed as reporters mobbed her and other relatives.
Shortly afterwards, Malaysia staged a shorter-than-usual press conference during which officials indicated the investigation was zooming in closer on the pilot.
Authorities said investigators had discovered that data had been deleted from the home flight simulator of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah about one month before the plane vanished early on March 8. But they cautioned against a rush to judgement.
"Some data had been deleted from the simulator, and forensic work to retrieve this data is ongoing," said Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
Officials gave no details on the simulator data.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Malaysia had asked the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to help recover the deleted data.
A senior US law enforcement official told the Times on condition of anonymity that FBI agents in Kuala Lumpur would likely make copies of the simulator' s hard drive and send the contents to the US for analysis.
Zaharie, a 33-year veteran of the airline, was highly regarded by his peers. But suspicion has clouded him since investigators concluded that the plane's communication systems were manually disabled and the Boeing 777 was deliberately diverted by a skilled aviator.
Hishammuddin said Malaysia's own investigations, and background checks received from other countries, had so far raised no indications that any of the plane's 227 passengers might have been responsible.
The aircraft also carried 12 crew.
Students stand next to a giant mural featuring missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 displayed on the grounds of their school in Manila's financial district of Makati on March 18, 2014, created as part of solidarity action by concerned artists for the passengers and crew of the missing plane. AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE
Wednesday stories
I've taken a break of several days from my continuing story on the missing Malaysian Boeing 777 jet, flight MH370, simply because not that much new has happened. You can read the full coverage here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/399096/missing-plane-mystery-continues
The Malaysian government continues to take criticism, fairly on not, for its slow, poorly coordinated and secretive response to the crisis. The lack of information given out has even caused some Chinese relatives of passengers onboard the ill-fated flight to threaten a hunger strike.
More information has also come out on the flight's chief pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah. We now know that he was extremely experienced, a flight simulator enthusiast and a harsh critic of the current government. But he was definitely not an Islamic extremist. He was also a strong family man and an avid cook and there is no convincing evidence he would deliberately hijack his own aircraft. For an interesting look at the man through his Facebook postings, see this story: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-370-zaharie-ahmad-shah-facebook-page
Meanwhile, the search has been expanded westward to an area estimated to be approximately 5.2 million square kilometres, an area roughly equal to that of the mainland USA.
Yesterday, a Thai connection to the story emerged. Here is our story from the Bangkok Post:
Air force says radar spotted missing jet
WASSANA NANUAM&PATSARA JIKKHAM
This undated handout photo released on March 17, 2014 by the Royal Australia Air Force shows a pilot of an AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft scanning the surface of the sea during a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 to the west of Peninsula Malaysia. AFP PHOTO / ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIRFORCE
The Royal Thai Air Force detected a radar signal of a plane turning and flying to the north of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur before disappearing early on March 8, around the same time Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was reported missing.
Air force chief Prajin Juntong said the radar signal was received from a plane around midnight of March 8, when the missing jet left Kuala Lumpur and headed northeast towards Vietnam.
“The air force’s radar stations in Surat Thani, Phuket and Songkhla’s Hat Yai received some signals that need to be verified by both the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Co and Malaysian radars to check whether they are the same,” ACM Prajin said.
“A plane made a U-turn before flying to the north of Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth army base in Malaysia before vanishing,’’ the air force chief said.
ACM Prajin said it was possible the plane could have headed to the Straits of Malacca.
He said the plane’s direction was consistent with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s comments the plane made a U-turn and flew over an area of the southern border of Thailand and then headed northwest to the Strait of Malacca.
He said he would send the radar information to Malaysia to verify whether it was consistent with information they have about flight MH370.
He also said Thailand was assessing the possibility that its radar stations lost the plane’s signal because it had already flown out of radar range. Thailand would also have to find out whether the signals picked up by other radar stations were from the same plane.
When asked why it took so long to release the information, air force spokesman Air Vice Marshal Montol Suchookorn said, ‘’Because we did not pay any attention to it. The Royal Thai Air Force only looks after any threats against our country, so anything that did not look like a threat to us, we simply look at it without taking actions.’’
ACM Prajin said the incident should prompt air forces in the region to discuss ways of improving radar coordination.
Vocabulary
accuse: to say that someone has done something wrong or committed a crime - กล่าวหา
aeronautical: relating to the study of flight - เกี่ยวกับการศึกษาเกี่ยวกับการออกแบบหรือสร้างเครื่องบิน
approximately: used to show that something is almost, but not completely, accurate or correct - โดยประมาณ
attention: interest, especially interest that the public has in a person, event, situation etc - ความสนใจ
authority: a person who has the power to make decisions or enforce the law - เจ้าหน้าที่ผู้มีอำนาจ
avid: extremely eager or interested - กระตือรือร้น
banner: a wide piece of cloth with a message on it - แถบผ้า ป้าย
briefing: a meeting in which people receive information or instruction - คำแถลงการณ์สั้น,สรุปแบบสั้นๆ
chaotic: happening in a confused way and without any order or organisation - ยุ่งเหยิง วุ่นวาย
concerned: worried about something - มีความกังวล
connection: something that connects two facts, ideas, etc. - การเชื่อมต่อ การเชื่อมโยง
consistent with: similar to or the same - สอดคล้องกับ, ตรงกับ
convincing: in a way in which someone is able to make you believe that something is true or right - อย่างโน้มน้าว
coordinate: to organise the different parts of a job or plan so that the people involved work together effectively - ประสานงานกัน
coordination: the act of making all the people involved in a plan or activity work together in an organised way - การประสานกัน
crew: the people who work on a ship, aircraft, etc. - ลูกเรือ
crisis: an urgent, difficult or dangerous situation - วิกฤตการณ์
critic: a person who expresses disapproval of somebody/something and talks about their bad qualities, especially publicly - ผู้วิจารณ์, ผู้จับผิด, ผู้วิเคราะห์
criticism: comments that show that you think something is wrong or bad - การวิจารณ์
current: of the present time - ปัจจุบัน
definitely: certain; having no doubts about something - อย่างแน่นอน
deliberately: done intentionally; done on purpose - จงใจ ตั้งใจ
detect: to notice, to discover or find out - พบได้, สังเกต
dramatic: sudden, very great and often surprising; exciting and impressive - น่าทึ่งใจ, ตื่นเต้นเร้าใจ
emerged: appeared - ปรากฏออกมา
enthusiast: a person who is very interested in something and spends a lot of time doing it - คนที่กระตือรือร้น
escort: to go with someone - คุ้ม
estimated: thought to be a particular amount, size, etc. based on a guess or the best information available - ประมาณการ
evidence: facts, signs or objects that make you believe that something is true - หลักฐาน,ข้อแสดง
expand: to make or become larger - ขยาย
extremist: a person or group whose opinions, especially about religion or politics, are extreme, and who may do things that are violent, illegal, etc. for what they believe - พวกหัวรุนแรง,ผู้นิยม
financial: involving money - เกี่ยวกับเงิน, ทางการเงิน
frustration: an annoyed or discouraged feeling because you cannot do or have what you want - ความผิดหวัง, ความไม่พอใจ
gatecrash: to go to a party, social event or other event without being invited -
handful: a small number or amount - จำนวนน้อย
harsh: strict, unkind and often unfair - อย่างรุนแรง
hijack: to illegally take control of a vehicle or ship - ปล้น จี้
hunger strike: a refusal to eat by a person or group of people until a demand is met - การอดอาหารประท้วง
ill-fated: unlucky and unsuccessful, often resulting in death - โชคร้าย
incident: something that happens, usually something bad - เหตุการณ์
lack of: when there is not enough of something - ขาด
mainland: a large mass of land that forms the main part of a country but does not include any islands belonging to the country - แผ่นดินใหญ่
maritime: connected with human activity at sea; near the sea or coast - ทางทะเล, เกี่ยวกับทะเล
meanwhile: at the same time - ในเวลาเดียวกัน
media: radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group - สื่อ
mob: (of a crowd) to gather round someone/something, often in order to gain attention - ห้อมล้อม, รุมล้อม
mural: a painting, usually a large one, done on a wall, sometimes on an outside wall of a building - จิตรกรรมฝาผนัง
operation: a planned activity involving a lot of people, especially soldiers or police officers - การปฏิบัติการ
patrol: to move regularly around a place in order to prevent trouble or crime - ลาดตระเวน
peninsula: a long piece of land that is mostly surrounded with water, but is joined at one end to a larger area of land - คาบสมุทร
press conference: an official meeting where someone makes a formal statement about a particular issue or event to journalists and answers their questions about it - การแถลงข่าว
progress: the process of developing or of getting nearer to achieving or completing something - ความคืบหน้า
prompt: to cause someone to take action - กระตุ้น
protest: a strong complaint or disagreement - การประท้วง
radar: a system that uses radio waves to find the position and movement of objects, for example planes and ships, when they cannot be seen - เรดาร์, อุปกรณ์ตรวจจับวัตถุเคลื่อนที่
rage: to show that you are very angry about something or with somebody, especially by shouting - แสดงความเดือดดาล
range: the distance over which something can be seen or heard; the distance over which something can be used effectively - ช่องระยะ
region: a large area of land, usually without exact limits or borders - ภูมิภาค, ขอบเขต, แถบ, บริเวณ
relative: a member of your family - ญาติพี่น้อง
release: to allow something to be shown or known to the public or to be available for use - เปิดเผย, ปล่อยข่าว
reporter: someone whose job is to write articles or make broadcasts about events in the news - ผู้สื่อข่าว, นักข่าว
response: a reaction to something that has happened or been said - การตอบสนอง
roughly: approximately but not exactly - โดยประมาณ, อย่างคร่าวๆ
search: looking somewhere or through something carefully in order to find something - การค้นหา
secretive: deliberately not telling people things - ซึ่งปิดปาก
simulator: a piece of equipment that artificially creates a particular set of conditions in order to train somebody to deal with a situation that they may experience in reality - เครื่องจำลอง
solidarity: agreement between and support for the members of a group - ความเป็นน้ำหนึ่งใจเดียว ความสามัคคี
spotted: seen; noticed - ปรากฏให้เห็น
stage: to arrange - จัดตั้ง
strait: a narrow passage of water that connects two seas or large areas of water - ช่องแคบ
surface: the outside or top layer of something - ผิวหน้า, ผิวภายนอก, ด้านนอก
threat: a danger - อันตราย
threaten: to say that you might do something bad or harmful, especially in order to make someone do something - ขู่เข็ญ คุกคาม ทำให้กลัว
underline: to show clearly that something is important or true - เน้น ย้ำความสำคัญ
unfold: to happen, or to develop - ปรากฏออกมา
unfurl: to open something that is curled or rolled tightly - คลี่ออก, ทำให้กางออก, คลี่ออกจากที่ม้วนอยู่
vanish: to disappear or stop being present or existing, especially in a sudden, surprising way - หายไป
verify: to prove that something is true, or to make certain that something is correct - พิสูจน์ว่าเป็นความจริง
withhold: to deliberately not give something to someone - ระงับ, ถอนกลับ
zoom in: to focus more closely on something; to look very closely at a particular person, event, item, etc. - ซูมเข้า, ปรับภาพให้ใกล้เข้ามา
