PREFACE

On March 8 2014, a Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing has been
reported missing. Two days before the flight took off, An Iranian man named Kazem Ali
purchases plane tickets for two men on this flight. These travelers board the flight with stolen
Austrian and Italian passports. The passports were stolen in Thailand. Both tickets were one-
way, paid for with cash and had itineraries continuing on from Beijing to Amsterdam. One
ticket's final destination was Frankfurt, Germany; the other's was Copenhagen, Denmark.
Interpol identified the men using the stolen passports as Pouri Nourmohammadi, 18, and
Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, 29, both Iranians. Malaysian police believe the former was
trying to immigrate to Germany using the stolen Austrian passport. The men entered Malaysia
on February 28 using valid Iranian passports. 12:41 a.m. (Saturday, 8/3/2014) : Malaysia
Airlines Flight 370 departs Kuala Lumpur International Airport en route to Beijing. The weather is
good.
The plane is carrying 239 people: 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Five passengers are
under age 5. There are 13 nationalities represented on board. More than half (154) are
Chinese/Taiwanese. Other passengers were from Malaysia (38), India (5), Indonesia, Australia,
the United States (3), France, New Zealand, Ukraine, Canada, Russia, Italy (see above),
Austria (see above), and the Netherlands.
The plane is a Boeing 777-200 ER. This aircraft has an excellent safety record. Malaysia
Airlines has 15 of the 777-200 planes in its fleet. The airline operates in Southeast Asia, East
Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and on the route between Europe and Australasia. The
expected trip length was roughly 2,700 miles (4,350 kilometers). It was expected to land in
Beijing at 6:30 a.m. There was some initial confusion over the distance. The length of 2,300
miles (3700 kilometers) refers to nautical mileage.The crew members are Malaysian. The pilot is
Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old veteran with 18,365 flying hours who joined Malaysia
Airlines in 1981. The first officer, Fariq Ab Hamid, has 2,763 flying hours. Hamid, 27, started at
the airline in 2007. He had been flying another jet and was transitioning to the Boeing 777-200
after having completed training in a flight simulator.
Around 1:30 a.m. (8/3/2014) : About 45 minutes after takeoff, air traffic controllers in Subang
(outside Kuala Lumpur) said they lost contact with the plane over the sea between Malaysia and
Vietnam at coordinates 06 55 15n 103 34 43e.
Further reporting and information has shown that this is when the aircraft's transponder was
either turned off or stopped working. At the time the aircraft transponder stopped working, the
plane was carrying about 7½ hours of fuel.
Around 2:40 a.m. (8/3/2014) : According to a senior Malaysian Air Forceofficial, radar tracking
shows MH370's last known location was over the very small island of Pulau Perak in the Strait
of Malacca. This is hundreds of miles from the flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. At this
time, civilian and military radar lost all contact with the aircraft. If this data is correct, the aircraft
was flying in the opposite direction from its scheduled destination and on the opposite side of
the Malay Peninsula from its scheduled route.

INDONESIA AS THE FIRST HELPING COUNTRY

 There were 26 countries that involved, in search of the missing plane. Indonesia was the
first country that offered a help, for searching the plane. Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Marty Natalegawa on Monday requested that Indonesian authorities in Malaysia provide support
to the families of Indonesians who were on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared
over the Gulf of Thailand in the early hours of Saturday with 239 people on board. “I have asked
our representatives in Kuala Lumpur to provide support for the families and to ensure that they
will get what they need,” Marty said.

The Embassy of Indonesia in Kuala Lumpur said the country will be sending five ships to help
Malaysian authorities in the search and rescue mission to locate the missing Malaysia Airlines
MH370. Its ambassador Herman Prayitno said Indonesian Navy has been communicating with
the Malaysian counterparts.

“The Jakarta office has informed me Indonesia will be sending five ships to help Malaysia
authorities as the search area will be further widened.
“Our navy has been communicating with the Malaysian Navy, they will coordinate us on where
our ships will be placed for the mission. Herman said they have placed three Indonesian
embassy staff at Kuala Lumpur International Airport to monitor developments closely. He also
added that the embassy has contacted all families of the passengers on board of the MH370,
where one family member has already flown to Kuala Lumpur while others have chosen to wait
it out in Indonesia.
“Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also informed me that he was also
monitoring developments of the missing aircraft closely.
“He has asked all Indonesians worldwide to pray for the 239 people on board, where Indonesia
will continue giving the full support needed,” he said.

TONY ABBOTT’S PRAISES THE COOPERATION

Tony Abbott has praised international efforts in the search for the missing Malaysia
Airlines plane after a joint agency co-ordination centre was appointed to oversee the operation.
Since the plane’s flight paths were identified and satellite images have picked up what could be
debris, searches have focused on the southern Indian Ocean west and south-west of
Perth. Malaysian authorities announced last week that it was believed the plane had been lost in
the ocean, claiming the lives of all passengers on board. Speaking at a joint press conference in
Perth on Monday with the deputy prime minister, Warren Truss, the defence minister, David
Johnston, and the joint agency co-ordinator, Angus Houston, the prime minister said a
significant international task force was focusing on the search operations.
“It’s been tremendous to see the international co-operation here. We have regular military co-
operation with the United States, New Zealand and Malaysia, but to see also the co-operation
with us from China, from Japan, from Korea is really heartening and it demonstrates that in a
humanitarian cause the nations of this region can come together for the betterment of
humanity,” he said. Houston, a retired air chief marshal, stressed that the role of the co-
ordination centre was not to run “detailed operational” matters, but to oversee national and
international events.
“My job will be to head up the joint agency co-ordination centre. I will be co-ordinating at the
international level, at the national level and of course, most importantly, with the families and the
media,” he said.
“I will obviously be focused very much on co-ordination. I’m not here to run the search. I’m not
here to do the detailed operational stuff that is being taken care of very professionally by the
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the defence force”, Houston said.
More than 100 people were in the air over the site, Johnston said. An update from AMSA on
Monday said there were 10 aircraft involved in the search and 10 ships.
Despite satellite images and multiple visual sightings of objects that could be debris, authorities
have yet to confirm any are related to the plane. Poor weather conditions have continued to
disrupt the search operations.

MH370 UPDATES

Families of passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have been informed
that the plane ended its journey in the Indian Ocean, effectively ending their hopes of a
miraculous survival. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak gave the information “with deep
sadness and regret” in a televised press conference at 15:00C ET . The presser came after
three new sightings of possible debris, with France as well announcing yesterday that its
satellite sighted possible wreckage from the plane in the southern Indian Ocean.
The last known location of the plane was in remote Indian Ocean waters off the coast of Perth
on Australia’s west coast, with the information on its last whereabouts coming from the UK’s Air
accidents investigation branch. Malaysian authorities briefed the families of the missing
passengers ahead of the Prime Minister’s press conference.

Australian authorities spotted at least two new floating objects in the Southern Indian
Sea where a US Navy P-8 Poseidon, the most advanced search aircraft in the world, had been
unable to find objects spotted earlier on Monday by a Chinese aircraft hunting for clues to the
missing Malaysia jet. The Australian Prime Minister said the country’s Maritime Safety Authority
had advised him the search jet P-3 Orion crew had seen a grey or green circular object as well
as an orange rectangular object, both of which are separate to the objects spotted by a Chinese
aircraft, in the Indian ocean.
The Australian Prime Minister said the country’s Maritime Safety Authority had advised him the
search jet P-3 Orion crew had seen a grey or green circular object as well as an orange
rectangular object, both of which are separate to the objects spotted by a Chinese aircraft, in the
Indian ocean.

The Australian media quote a different version coming from a member of the P-3 Orion crew,
saying he saw at least 4 different objects: “The first object was rectangular, slightly below the
ocean, the second object was circular, also slightly below the ocean”, “We came across a
cylindrical object that was 2m long about 30cm across, and we came across another item that
was also cylindrical and shaped in a rough fish hook”. The new objects were spotted in the
search area about 2,500 kilometres southwest of Perth at about 2.45pm Australian time.

The Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft spotted two “relatively big” floating objects and several
smaller white ones dispersed over several kilometers, the Xinhua news agency reported earlier.
Beijing announced later that there was no confirmation yet that the objects belong to the missing
flight.

An Australian vessel leading the hunt for missing Malaysian jet MH370 will deploy a mini-sub,
the Bluefin-21, on Monday, according to Joint Agency Coordination Centre head Angus
Houston.

"Ocean Shield will cease searching with the towed pinger locator later today (Monday,
14/4/2014) and deploy the autonomous underwater vehicle Bluefin-21 as soon as possible,"
said Houston. Houston also said that in the hunt for the plane's black box transmissions, the last
signal was logged six days ago. "We haven't had a single detection in six days so I guess it's
time to go underwater," he said at a press conference in Perth. He also said that the
deployment would be on a 24-hour cycle and would cover a search area of 40 sq km. An oil
slick had also been spotted in the search area, Houston said, with around two litres of fuel
collected for testing.
"I stress the source of the oil is yet to be determined but the oil slick is approximately 5,500m
downwind... from the vicinity of the detections picked up by the towed pinger locator on Ocean
Shield," he said. It would be a number of days before the oil could be conclusively tested
ashore, but Houston said he did not think it was from a search vessel. He emphasised that it
was 38 days since the Boeing 777 vanished on March 8 and the black box batteries had a shelf
life of only 30 days. The US-made Bluefin-21, a 4.93-metre (16.2 feet) long sonar device will
now scour the seabed. The sonar device, which weighs 750kg, can operate at a depth of up to
4,500m - roughly the depth of the ocean floor where the pings were detected. MH370
disappeared soon after taking off on March 8 from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 227
passengers and 12 crew on board, triggering a multinational search that is now focused on the
Indian Ocean. Search aircraft and vessels have been scouring an area north-west of Perth, after
picking up four acoustic signals that they believe are from the plane's black box recorders. Up to
12 aircraft and 15 ships are involved in Monday's search for the missing plane
CONCLUSION

In my personal point of view, as an Indonesian. It is the best way to have such a

worldwide participation, in search of the missing plane. Specially thanks to Australia, China,
and Indonesia for the best effort and cooperation with Malaysian authorities. I am very sorry to
the passenger’s family, for the lost of their relatives inside the plane. Miracles do happen,
because anything could happen for a reason. Just keep praying and be patience for the family,
and be optimistic that the plane is find out sooner or later. Just don’t lose hope to Almighty God.

REFERENCES

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/11/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-timeline/

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-indonesia-helps-in-search-for-
airliner-1.504168

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesia-assets-help-in-malaysia-airlines-mh370-search/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/31/tony-abbott-praises-international-co-operation-
in-search-for-missing-mh370

http://www.euronews.com/2014/03/24/live-mh370-us-search-plane-unable-to-find-objects-
spotted-by-chinese-on-south-/

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/04/14/MH370-search-Australia-to-deploy-
Bluefin21/