[Peetwo]

From 'that man' Higgins courtesy the Oz:

New MH370 report today as debris sent for inspection

• Ean Higgins
  
• The Australian
  
• March 8, 2016 12:00AM
  

Reporter


Reunion Island resident Johny Begue shows a piece of debris he believes may be a part of the missing plane.

The Malaysian government today will mark the second anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 with a much anticipated further interim report on the mystery.

The move comes as the man who found the one confirmed piece of the Boeing 777, on a beach on the French Indian Ocean ­island of Reunion, says he has found another piece of debris that could be from the aircraft.

The plane disappeared with 239 people on board on March 8, 2014, during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Radar and satellite data showed the aircraft reversing course about an hour into the flight and tracking back over ­Malaysia, with its transponder turned off and no further radio contact, before turning south on a long final leg to the southern ­Indian Ocean.

The Malaysian government produced a long interim report that stuck to a description of ­assembled facts — such as radar contacts, satellite tracking data and details of the pilots — without making any assessment of the cause of the disappearance.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is running the search for MH370, has based its strategy on the flight being a “ghost flight”, with pilots unresponsive by the time it fell into the ocean after running out of fuel.

Critics have attacked the ATSB’s assumptions, with Australian veteran pilot Bryon Bailey claiming assumptions may be designed to avoid saying the aircraft’s captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, might have hijacked his own plane, a scenario that could embarrass Malaysia.

At the weekend, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said a further interim statement on the loss of the aircraft would be delivered today, while the Speaker of the Malaysian parliament would make a speech to commemorate the second anniversary of the tragedy.

Mr Liow said a team of Malaysian and Australian aviation officials were in Mozambique to arrange the transfer of a piece of debris thought to be part of MH370’s tail. He said it would be sent to Australia for inspection but remain in Malaysia’s custody.

The developments came as Johny Begue, the Reunion man who in July found the movable control surface of a wing known as a “flaperon” — later confirmed as being part of MH370 — said he had found another, smaller piece of debris.

The newly discovered item is about 40cm square, grey on one side with a blue border consistent with the Malaysia Airlines livery, with a honeycomb construction.

Mr Begue said the new piece was found in almost the same place as the flaperon, and he had handed it to the local gen­dar­merie.

“I was running. After, when I stopped to rest, that’s when I found the piece,” Mr Begue told the Associated Press. “The same beach and nearly the same place.”

Also courtesy of Darren Chester's You Tube account:

Second anniversary of the disappearance of MH370

Media Release
DC009/2016
08 March 2016




It is today two years since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

“I do not think it possible to fully understand how difficult the past two years have been for the friends and families of those on board the aircraft. The sense of loss is something they live with on a daily basis,” Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said.

“A tragedy such as MH370 touches people from all over the world and today we are united in remembering all 239 people who were on the flight.

“We owe it to their memory, and to the loved ones who mourn them, to honour the undertaking to complete the search of the area experts have determined as most likely to contain the missing aircraft.

“Finding the aircraft would give answers to the world, in particular the families of missing loved ones, about what happened.

“We have completed around 90,000 square kilometres of the 120,000 square kilometre search zone. Our vessels are at sea for a month at a time in the search zone using sonar and underwater technologies to search the ocean floor reaching depths of 6000 metres.

“As we search the remaining 30,000 square kilometre zone in the days and months ahead, Australia, Malaysia and the People's Republic of China remain hopeful the aircraft will be found.

I assure the family and friends of those on board that their loved ones have not been forgotten and continue to be in our thoughts.”

More information about the search can be found on the Joint Agency Coordination Centre website at www.jacc.gov.au.

And also from ABC AM today:

MH370: two years on and still no answers

Bill Birtles reported this story on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 08:22:00
 MP3 download

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: It's one of the great aviation mysteries of all time.

Malaysia Airlines 370 vanished while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and while a piece of debris found last year seems to confirm that it went down in the Indian Ocean, the reasons are still unclear.

China correspondent Bill Birtles reports.

BILL BIRTLES: Outside an office building in Beijing a group of eight mainly elderly people are holding dozens upon dozens of hand written letters.

They've been going to Malaysia Airlines office almost every day for two years, submitting letters and demanding answers.

MRS HU (translation): I had three family members on board. Whenever I think of my children, I can barely see because of all the tears.

BILL BIRTLES: This woman, Mrs Hu, is among dozens of Chinese relatives taking legal action.

MRS HU (translated): It has been two years and I hope the Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines tell the truth about the investigation to our families. We want to know and we have a right to know. We need to find our families.

BILL BIRTLES: One-hundred and fifty-three of the 239 people onboard MH370 were Chinese citizens.

Ahead of a two-year deadline to take legal action over international air accidents, relatives here have sued for compensation in a Chinese court.

Some others have opted to seek compensation in Malaysian and American courts.

Dai Shuqin lost her sister and five members of her extended family on the flight.

DAI SHUQIN (translated): I chose an in international lawyer so that he could be more objective. He is neither Chinese or Malaysian, so he is more neutral.

I just want to find out exactly what happened to the aircraft, and where are the five lives of my sister's family.

If there are alive or dead, if they are going well or suffering, I have to find it out. I can't let it be mystery.

BILL BIRTLES: Many of the group protesting at the Malaysia airlines office have been left lonely in old age after losing family members on the flight.

They are all sceptical of the explanation offered up by Australian, Malaysian and other international experts: that the plane crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

Mr Zhang lost his daughter on the flight.

MR ZHANG (translated): We will sue Malaysia airline in Malaysia and sue Boeing in the US. We're suing Boeing to find out the truth, not for any other purpose. Money is not important to us, all we want are our families back.

BILL BIRTLES: Two years on the Australian-led search effort continues to trawl the depths of the southern Indian Ocean.

Malaysian authorities say they'll update their interim report on what happened to the plane.

But relatives such as Dai Shuqin says her biggest fear is that others will give up seeking answers.

DAI SHUQIN (translated): I know it's useless coming to the office each day. I know they don't deal with us seriously when we come here.

When we hand them our letters, they just don't bother to pay any attention. But I still need to come. As an ordinary person, I am so small, but that's all I can do.

BILL BIRTLES: This is Bill Birtles in Beijing reporting for AM.

MTF...P2