Report fails to determine cause of missing MH370 flight

A report on the missing MH370 flight released by the Malaysian authorities has not been able to provide a concrete conclusion on the disappearance of the flight.

However, the authorities offered a number of possibilities that could have caused the Boeing 777 aircraft operated by Malaysia Airlines to disappear in March 2014 with 239 people onboard.

The safety investigation report highlighted protocols and guidelines that were not followed by the air traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

According to lead investigator of the MH370 safety investigation Kok Soo Chon, the MH370 flight used manual control to turn back towards Malaysia, but it is not clear whether the pilot flew the aircraft on his own or under any illicit interference.

Chon, however, dismissed speculation over the pilot’s mental state, the failure of the aircraft, or remote control of the operation systems, which some believe led to the disappearance of the flight.

The safety investigation report said: “The disappearance of MH370 and the search effort are unprecedented in commercial aviation history.

“Improvements must be undertaken to ensure that this type of event is identified as soon as possible, and mechanisms are in place to track an aircraft that is not following its filed flight plan for any reason.”

In addition, the report did not provide any information on the location of the plane’s wreckage.

The Malaysian authorities expressed its willingness to resume investigation if it finds any debris from the plane in the future.

In January last year, an initial search for the aircraft, jointly conducted by the Malaysian and Australian authorities, was aborted after investigators failed to trace the plane within a 710,000km² area of the Indian Ocean.

Another search carried out by a private company under an agreement with the Malaysian Government was also called off in May.