MH370: Electrical power outage claim not verified, says Hisham

KUALA LUMPUR: Claims by Australian air crash investigators that a mysterious power outage was involved in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 are mere speculations, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein. 

He said the Malaysian Government would only rely on reports released by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) when it involves MH370. 

"Any issues, we have panel experts to verify it. The report is not from JACC .... JACC is Australia's counterpart to the Malaysian Government linked up with China. 

"Anyway, I will treat any latest information the same way as I have done in the past, let it be verified by JACC. All this while, we have not stopped our search for the black box and any new information on the flight," he told reporters after a special Cabinet briefing with regard to Flight MH370 in Parliament, here, on Tuesday. 

Also present was Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. 

According to the report, the plane's satellite data unit made an unexpected "log-on" request to a satellite less than 90 minutes into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The report says the log-on request - known as a "handshake" - appears likely to have been caused by an interruption of electrical power on board the plane.   

"A log-on request in the middle of a flight is not common," said a report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. 

"An analysis was performed which determined that the characteristics and timing of the log-on requests were best matched as resulting from power interruption," it said. 

Beijing-bound Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radars on March 8, slightly more than an hour after departing from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. 

Malaysian authorities had later said that radar data indicated that the plane with 239 people on board had diverted from its intended path and headed towards the southern Indian Ocean, which is where the Boeing 777 is believed to have ended its flight.

However, an international air, sea and underwater search has failed to find any wreckage. - Bernama