Experts: Search for jet hampered by Malaysian government

The investigation into the mysterious disappearance of a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet has been hindered by the Malaysian government’s lack of technology and its reluctance to share critical information about the flight now the subject of an unprecedented search that stretches from the southern tip of the Indian Ocean to Kazakhstan, aviation experts said.

Government officials behind the search announced yesterday Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 — which took off March 8 bound for Beijing with 227 passengers — was deliberately diverted and continued flying for more than six hours after losing contact with the ground.

“The evidence is pretty sketchy, the electronic evidence. And the government doesn’t seem to be too technically savvy in terms of interpreting it,” said Vernon Grose, a veteran NTSB plane crash investigator.

Malaysia is not suited to handle an investigation of this scope, and the investigation has been compromised, he said.

“The fact is they’re not very well-equipped to head the investigation,” Grose said.

John Hansman, an aeronautics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said, “We probably could have been searching more efficiently if the Malaysian government had been more open with the information it had.”

He added, “It’s been hard to put all the pieces together. ... This is probably the biggest search area that I’ve seen. The possible search area is about two or three times the size of the United States.”

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is assisting in the investigation, but only has a supportive role, Hansman said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday the jet’s disappearance was no accident. The investigation is now focused on the flight’s 12-person crew and passengers. Authorities have previously said that whoever disabled the plane’s communication systems and then flew the jet must have had technical knowledge and experience with planes. The jet took off last week from Kuala Lumpur destined for Beijing at 12:40 a.m., and communication with civilian air controllers was severed about 40 minutes later.

The Chinese government, where the bulk of the passengers were from, has expressed frustrations over Malaysia’s foot-dragging in releasing information.

The mystery is something out of a novel, Grose said. “Whoever writes this one would get a Nobel Prize for creativity,” he said.


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