Missing MH370: Plane carried batteries as cargo, nothing unusual, says MAS chief

SEPANG: The investigation team is going through record of a call made by flight captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah from the cockpit, reportedly minutes before the flight took off.

MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya (pix) said the phone call record had been submitted to the investigation team, together with information on the cargo manifest.


On the cargo manifest, Ahmad Jauhari said the aircraft carried lithium ion batteries, but they had been approved and up to par with safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

"They were not dangerous goods and had been packed as recommended by ICAO.

"We checked them several times to make sure the packing was right and were done in accordance with ICAO's guidelines," he told a daily media briefing.

Ahmad Jauhari said it was not unusual for airlines to carry such goods as cargo, stressing that: "The goods have been flown by many airlines cargo. Airlines do this all the time, not only MAS."

Asked whether MH370 was equipped with Uninterruptible Autopilot System that can prevent hijacking manually from inside, he said: "The aircraft is equipped as standard. There is nothing additional on the aircraft."

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the investigation by international intelligence agencies on passengers and crews, including Zaharie and co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, came back with nothing unusual.

Hishammuddin said they had no information on a housewife's claim that she spotted an aircraft partly submerged in the water off Andaman Islands when returning to Kuala Lumpur after a pilgrimage to Makkah on the same day MH370 was reported missing.