Malaysian plane still missing; questions over false IDs

Kuala Lumpur/Beijing: Malaysia Airlines on Sunday said it was "fearing the worst" for its missing plane carrying  239 people and was working with a US company that specialises  in disaster recovery to locate the ill-fated aircraft.   The plane had 227 passengers on board, including five  Indians and one Indian-origin Canadian, and 12 crew members.   Officials from Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation on Sunday said they have dispatched three jets to join the massive  search by six countries for Boeing 777-200 Flight MH370.   They said the search effort continued overnight to locate  the missing plane. But the mission made little progress as  they have not traced any wreckage or debris afloat.  

"The search and rescue teams are still unable to detect  the whereabouts of the missing aircraft" en route to Beijing  from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines said in a statement.   "The airline is continuously working with the authorities  in providing assistance. In fearing for the worst, a disaster  recovery management specialist from Atlanta, United States,  will be assisting Malaysia Airlines in this crucial time.   "Malaysia Airlines reiterates that it will continue to be  transparent in communicating with the general public in all  matters affecting MH370," it said.  

A command centre would be set up either in Kota Baru, in  Kelantan state or in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, as soon as it could  establish the location of the missing aircraft, it added.   "The Boeing 777-200 did not transmit any abnormalities  before the ground control centre in Subang lost contact with  it," Department of Civil Aviation Director-general Azharuddin  Abdul Rahman said, adding that reports of the sightings of the  fuel slicks out at the South China Sea was unverified.   Azharuddin said the plane had disappeared from radar  detection at about 1.30am, roughly an hour after it took off  from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.  

Commenting on how the names of the Austrian and Italian  passengers, whose passports had reportedly been stolen, were  on the passenger list, Azharuddin said: "We are aware of the  stolen passport issue and are carrying out an investigation."   Italian Luigi Maraldi and Austrian Christian Kozel  appeared on the passenger manifest list for Flight MH370. Both  had reported they had lost their passport and both are safe.   Singapore has sent two warships and a naval helicopter to  help in the search for the missing plane.   China dispatched two rescue ships to join the multi-  national teams to locate the flight.  

The stolen passports issue has sparked off concern  whether there was possibility of a sabotage.   The US officials told NBC News that they were "aware of  the reporting on the two stolen passports" and have found no  clear link to terrorism, but they were checking into passenger  manifests and going back through intelligence.   A senior US official was quoted as saying that "we have  not determined a nexus to terrorism yet, although it's still  very early, and that's by no means definitive."   Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today  said his country's intelligence agencies were in contact with  their international counterparts, including the FBI.   He said authorities were looking at four possible cases  of suspect identities. "We do not want to target only the  four; we are investigating the whole passenger manifest. We  are looking at all possibilities," he added.  

The list of passengers on board comprised 154 Chinese, 38  Malaysians, 7 Indonesians, 6 Australians, 5 Indians, 4  Americans, 3 French, 2 New Zealanders, 2 Ukrainians, 2  Canadians, 1 each from Russian, Italy, Dutch and Austria.   The five Indians, including three from one family, were  identified as Chetna Kolekar, 55, Swanand Kolekar,23, Vinod  Kolekar, 59, Chandrika Sharma, 51, and Kranti Shirsatha, 44.   Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday declared  that the area of search for the plane will be expanded from  the point of its last contact.

Malaysia Airlines has said the  last point of contact with the plane was approximately 120  nautical miles east of Kota Baru in South China Sea.   Meanwhile, China's emergency response team sent by the  Ministry of Transport set out early this morning from south  China's Sanya Port in Hainan Province to sea area where  missing plane may have crashed into the sea.   After a fruitless search last night rescue teams are  hopeful of success today. The only leads so far were the two  oil slicks reported off Vietnamese coast. The slicks were each  between 10 km and 15 km long. The slicks were consistent with  the kinds that would be left by fuel from a crashed plane.   Two Chinese warships - Jinggangshan and Mianyang - are  already on their way to the possible site of the missing jet,  navy sources said.  

The amphibious landing ship 'Jinggangshan', loaded with  life-saving equipments, underwater detection facilities and  supplies of oil, water and food, set out from the Zhanjiang  port in wee hours today for search and rescue mission.   Another navy frigate 'Mianyang', which was on a mission  in the Nansha waters, left for the suspected area last night.   The MOT has urged all Chinese ships passing the sea area  to pay close attention and make timely reports.   "The rescue work remains challenging as there is no exact  location of the possible crash site and it will take about two  days for the rescue ship to reach the water," said Zeng Ying,  leader of the emergency team. "But we will try our best."  

Meanwhile, around 120 relatives and friends of passengers  on the missing jet including Indian national Samved Kolekar,  whose parents and brother were on the flight, were currently  accommodated at a hotel in Beijing near the airport.