By Chan Kok Leong
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia Airlines on Tuesday sought to defend its use of SMS to inform relatives of those aboard missing Flight MH370 that the jetliner is likely lost at sea.
The airline's chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told media gathered at a press conference near Kuala Lumpur International Airport that it had only used the phone text service as a last resort.
“Wherever humanly possible, we did so (inform them of the plane's suspected plight) in person with the families or by telephone, using SMS only as an additional means of ensuring fully that the nearly 1,000 family heard the news from us and not from the media,” he said.
On Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had announced that Flight MH370 "flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth."
He went on to explain that the airline had already informed families of passengers and crew of this development.
After the news was announced to families in Beijing, one relative issued a statement saying that they would pursue legal action.
“From March 8 when they announced that MH370 had lost contact to today, 18 days have passed during which the Malaysian government and military constantly, tried to delay, deceive the passengers’ families and the whole world,” it said.
This behavior, he alleged, had misguided and delayed rescue operations, wasting a large quantity of resources and materials and lost valuable time for the rescue effort.
“We will take every possible means (to) pursue the unforgivable crimes and responsibility of all three (MAS, Malaysian government and military),” the statement said.
Angry relatives gathered outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing on Tuesday, where they tried to rush the gate, threw plastic water bottles at the building and chanted "Liars!"
The Chinese government has demanded Malaysia turn over data that has driven it to conclude that the plane crashed into the sea.
Earlier on Tuesday, the air and sea search was suspended in the southern Indian Ocean due to bad weather and rough seas.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the hunt had to be called off for the day due to rain, enormous waves and gale force winds.
Satellites from French, Australian, U.S. and Chinese authorities have all captured images of possible debris in the area.
It was hoped that wreckage could be retrieved after an Australian military plane spotted orange and green circular items suspected to belong to the plane Monday. A Chinese plane had also seen larger “white and square” objects in a nearby area over the weekend.
An airline representative told reporters Tuesday that it would fly the families to Australia once there was “definitive evidence” from the authorities.
“When MAS receives approvals from the investigating authorities, arrangements will be made to bring the families to the recovery areas if they so wish,” said MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.
“Until that time, we will continue to support the ongoing investigations,” he added.
Flight MH370 went missing after losing radio contact with Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control after leaving Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8. The Beijing-bound flight carried 239 passengers including 12 flight crew from 14 different countries.
After a week of searching in the South China Sea and Strait of Malacca, the search was expanded from 14 countries to 25 covering an area stretching from the south of the Indian Ocean to Central Asia.
Using satellite and radar images from other countries, the aircraft was believed to have turned back from its original flight path and followed a route between navigational waypoints (aviation corridors N571 and P628).
N571 or waypoint Vampi is used by commercial airplanes traveling to the Middle East while P628 or waypoint Igrex is used to fly to Europe.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
