Analysts said pressure on Malaysian authorities could derail complicated search and rescue efforts.
“Public pressure may result in the command structure and unity of the search to crack. This is not what we want,” said Gerry Soejatman, an independent aviation analyst based in Jakarta.
“Once that cracks, information and ability to verify becomes a problem and reckless speculation will overwhelm common sense.”
Vietnam, whose southern coast had been the focus of the recovery effort, said it had suspended its air search and scaled back sea operations as it waited for Malaysia to clarify the potential new direction of the multi-national hunt.
“We’ve decided to temporarily suspend some search and rescue activities, pending information from Malaysia,” deputy minister of transport Pham Quy Tieu said.
“We’ve asked Malaysian authorities twice, but so far they have not replied to us,” Tieu said, when asked about a media report that the plane had been detected over the Strait of Malacca.
“We informed Malaysia on the day we lost contact with the flight that we noticed the flight turned back west but Malaysia did not respond,” he added.
Malaysia’s air force reiterated on Wednesday it had not ruled out the possibility the Boeing 777 inexplicably changed course, but denied the report it had been detected in the Malacca Strait, far from its planned flight path. READ: Malaysia jet mystery deepens as oil, debris links ruled out.
“For the time being, it would not be appropriate… to issue any official conclusions as to the aircraft’s flight path until a high amount of certainty and verification is achieved,” Air Force chief General Rodzali Daud said in a statement.
“However all ongoing search operations are at the moment being conducted to cover all possible areas where the aircraft could have gone down in order to ensure no possibility is overlooked.”
Authorities have so far revealed no details on radar data they said indicated a possible “turn-back”.
The search zone shift is the latest twist in the mystery surrounding the plane. On Tuesday, Malaysian authorities said two men travelling on stolen passports appear to be Iranian illegal immigrants -easing fears of terrorism.
Malaysia’s national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has said his officers are not ruling anything out but were now focusing on a possible hijacking, sabotage, or psychological or personal problems among passengers or crew.
The search operation grew to involve 42 ships and 35 aircraft as of Tuesday, from Southeast Asian countries, Australia, China, New Zealand and the United States.
China, which had 153 of its nationals on board the plane, said it would harness 10 satellites equipped with high-resolution imaging to help in the search.
Boeing said it was joining a US government team to try to unravel the mystery of what happened to its 777-200 plane.
About The Author
