International Investigation Team On MH370 To Advance Security In Air Travel - Minister

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, April 20 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 which vanished on March 8 last year is constantly striving to improve the quality and safety standards of the aviation industry. Malaysia's Transport Deputy Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said although the team was currently conducting investigations into the disappearance of Flight MH370, the sole objective of the investigation was the prevention of future accidents or incidents. "It is not the purpose of this activity to apportion blame or liability with regards to the incident," he said. He was speaking to Bernama in a telephone interview after a Ministerial Tripartite Meeting involving Malaysia, Australia and China to review search efforts for the missing Boeing aircraft. The meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday (April 16). Abdul Aziz said: "Based on the factual information gathered by the investigation team, we will be able to formulate strategic plans to further enhance the security of air travel, thus restoring the confidence of the flying public that air travel is the safest mode of transportation." He said no other form of transportation was as scrutinised, investigated and monitored as commercial aviation. The Malaysia-led 19-member international investigation team is headed by Kok Soo Chon. Kok was formerly Department of Civil Aviation director-general and a former permanent representative to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council in Montreal. The team comprises three committees, namely Operations, Airworthiness and Medical/Human Factors, each headed by a chairman. Also participating in the team are accredited representatives from seven international air accident and incident investigation organisations. They are from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau; Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the United Kingdom (UK); Air Accident Investigation Bureau of Singapore; Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation civile of France; Civil Aviation Administration of China; National Transportation Safety Board of the United States of America (USA); and, the National Transportation Safety Committee of Indonesia. Included in the team are also Boeing, which is under the USA-accredited representative and Rolls Royce and Inmarsat, which are under the UK accredited representative. Abdul Aziz, who chairs the technical committee said: "Soon after the disappearance of the MAS Flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft registered 9M-MRO, we gathered qualified personnel from the industry to carry out the investigation." He said the investigation was carried out in accordance with the standards set under the Annex 13 to the Convention of International Civil Aviation (The Chicago Convention) to ensure competency, transparent and credibility. The Beijing-bound international scheduled passenger flight, with a total of 239 people (227 passengers and 12 crew) on board, departed the KL International Airport at 12.42am on March 8, 2014. Less than 40 minutes after take-off, air traffic controllers lost radar contact with the aircraft after passing waypoint IGARI. --BERNAMA