Malaysia has been refusing to share the cargo manifest of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with Australian authorities involved in the search and rescue (SAR) operations for the jetliner, and an aviation expert says that will hamper joint efforts to locate the plane, which went missing more than two weeks ago on March 8, with 239 people on board.
Strategic Aviation Solutions chairman Neil Hansford said Malaysia’s continuing refusal to share the cargo manifest suggests that Malaysian authorities are not being fully transparent about what Flight MH370 was carrying.
“To me, there is no reason why they wouldn’t declare the cargo manifest unless you’ve got something to hide,” he said.
“There is no reason you wouldn’t have given it to AMSA (the Australian Maritime Safety Authority) on the first day of the search.”
AMSA has requested a cargo manifest for Flight M370 from Malaysia Airlines.
The cargo manifest should give SAR teams a better idea in identifying and screening objects they find in the Indian Ocean, and to determine whether they indeed originated from Floight MH370.
However, Malaysian authorities have refused to release that information, insisting the manifest is with the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), who are conducting their own investigation into the plane’s disappearance.
“There is certainly no reason why they shouldn’t share a cargo manifest with a legitimate search agency because it will only contribute to the search effort,” Professor Jason Middleton, the head of the school of aviation at the University of New South Wales, said.
“I would have viewed that (not sharing the information) as unusual.”
Professor Middleton said the only reason he could think of for not sharing the information was that something of “Malaysian national interest” was being carried on the aircraft.
“But in that case you could just redact that bit,” he said.
Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya on March 18 revealed the aircraft was carrying “three to four tonnes” of mangosteen.
Four days after that, he also confirmed press reports that the plane was carrying some small lithium-ion batteries but stressed they were transported according to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules.
Professor Middleton said a severe fire caused by lithium-ion batteries would require “gallons of fluid to put it out”, but said if this was the cause of the aircraft’s disappearance it would be unlikely it could have flown all the way to the southern Indian Ocean.
Story: News.com.au
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