Malaysia air force denies tracking missing jet to Strait of Malacca

[brooklynite]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Malaysia's air force chief denied a media report that the military last tracked a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner over the Strait of Malacca, far from where it last made contact with civilian air traffic control when it disappeared four days ago.

"I wish to state that I did not make any such statements," air force chief Rodzali Daud said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping channels, runs along Malaysia's west coast. The airline said on Saturday the flight, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, last had contact off the northeast Malaysian coastal town of Kota Bharu.

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/malaysia-airlines-military-idINDEEA2B00F20140312

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Why the hell then has Malaysia opened the Malacca Straits as a search zone?

[Beacool]

1. This whole search is a hot mess.

Everybody is contradicting each other.

[SoapBox]

2. Weirder and weirder.

And all the while, 200+ people are missing.

[complain jane]

3. Couldn't this just mean

that this guy specifically is denying that he was the one who made the statement? This whole thing is bizarre.

[longship]

4. Reuters was the first reporters on this.

And they did zero to confirm what their source was saying.

Others in the media picked it up, sourcing Reuters, again without confirmation or second source.

This is not journalism. It was a fishy story to begin with, but people believed it because it was Reuters. Or that they wanted new information. Now the story is collapsing. So now what do you do?

I guess one waits for it all to pan out. Patience is golden. Get it right before you worry about getting it quickly.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. It was Malaysian media that quoted the air force chief

Malaysiakini – Tue, Mar 11, 2014

A Berita Harian report today quoted the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) as saying the plane may have reversed course further than expected while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Air Force chief Rodzali Daud ( left ) is quoted as saying that based on military radar readings from its station in Butterworth, MH370 may have turned west after Kota Bahru and flew past the east coast and Kedah.

"The last time the plane was detected was near Pulau Perak, in the Straits of Malacca, at 2.40am," Berita Harian quotes Rodzali as saying.

http://my.news.yahoo.com/mh370-detected-above-malacca-straits-2-40am-062617741.html

The Berita Harian site: http://www.bharian.com.my/ (all in Malay)

[longship]

6. Okay. The first one I saw was Reuters.

And the others quoted Reuters.

[LiberalEsto]

7. Here's my theory, but I hope I'm wrong

I wonder whether the Malaysian military might have shot down the plane because it was flying in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and was perceived as a threat.

This might explain the days of searching in the wrong places, followed by a switch to searching different areas, i.e. the Malacca Strait.

It might also explain why the air force chief took the step of denying something that was reported a couple of days ago, namely the detection of the plane by military radar more than an hour after the last official contact at 1:30 am. This, along with the revelation that military radar showed the plane headed in a different direction than the flight plan.

[bigdarryl]

8. These motherfuckers sound like there incompetent

[Blue_Tires]

9. I think it's finally starting to be evident

that the Malaysian government and Air Force's handling of the media and search operations has been less-than-optimal...

[jsr]

10. Malaysia defends search for missing jet as cooperation falters

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-malaysia-defends-plane-search-20140312,0,2091352.story

Malaysia defends search for missing jet as cooperation falters
By Barbara Demick
March 12, 2014, 4:17 a.m

BEIJING -- Malaysian officials are defending their handling of the frustrating search for the Boeing 777 that vanished without a trace on Saturday morning on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"We have nothing to hide," said acting transportation minister Hishamuddin Hussein at a stormy televised news conference late Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur. "We have been very transparent with the media and the public."

The statement came as the rare spirit of international cooperation in the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 seemed to be unraveling. Chinese state media earlier Wednesday accused Malaysia of concealing information, and Vietnam suspended its assistance in the multinational effort.

[bullwinkle428]

11. Sounds like Dick Cheney was in charge of their air force that day.