Missing MH370: There’s still hope, says Hisham

A member of the public writing a message for the missing flight MH370 at the viewing gallery in KLIA on Monday.

KUALA LUMPUR: The fact that there was no distress call, demand for ransom or any group claiming responsibility for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has given hope that the plane could be found. 

"There is still hope for MH370 since there was no distress call, ransom or any group claiming responsibility," said Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein at a press briefing on the search for the missing aircraft here on Monday.

The search and rescue multi-national operations involving 26 countries have begun, focusing in the so-called southern corridor, involving the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. 

Australia and Indonesia have also agreed to lead the search in the two sectors of the 'southern corridor' in their respective regions. 

In the last 24 hours, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had spoken to his counterpart from Australia and the Premier of China. 

In response, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the country stood by Malaysia at this very difficult time and would be pleased to take on additional responsibilities.

Vietnam Ambassador to Malaysia, Nguyen Hong Thao said his government was committed to continue the co-operation with Malaysia in the search operation. 

Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, disappeared about an hour after leaving the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8. It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day.

The plane had deviated from its original path and Malaysian authorities believed the plane could have taken one of the two flight corridors, which was a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, or a southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean. 

Entering the 10th day, the fate of the passengers on the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft is unknown as the multi-national search for the aircraft has drawn a blank so far. 

Following the incident, Hishammuddin, who is also the Defence Minister, pledged to review the nation's radar system after the search and rescue operation for the plane was completed. - Bernama