In a new
twist in the continuing saga of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a
towelette that was washed up on a Western Australia beach is now being
examined to try and find out if it could have come from the disappeared
plane.
Read more...
The
small pre-moistened paper towel that was in a Malaysia Airlines sealed
packet has been sent to Canberra for testing and verification after
being found by a couple walking along a beach in Cervantes in July last
year, Nine News reported.
The news comes just days after the one year anniversary of the plane's disappearance, with 239 people on board.
In a new
twist in the continuing saga of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a
towelette that was washed up on a Western Australia beach is now being
examined to try and find out if it could have come from the disappeared
plane.
The
small pre-moistened paper towel that was in a Malaysia Airlines sealed
packet has been sent to Canberra for testing and verification after
being found by a couple walking along a beach in Cervantes in July last
year, Nine News reported.
The news comes just days after the one year anniversary of the plane's disappearance, with 239 people on board.
Kingsley
and Vicki Miller discovered the unopened packet at Cervantes, 200
kilometres north of Perth, and said it was ‘unopened, which was very
unusual’.
If it had of been opened and found lying there it would have been completely different,' Mr Miller said.
The Daily Telegraph reported
that experts believe it's possible for a small package such as the
towelette to travel long distances without sustaining damage.
However, experts believe that the package may not provide any helpful information as to the disappearance of the plane.
'A
6cm x 8cm moist towelette in wrapping branded with the Malaysia
Airlines logo was found at Thirsty Point on 2 July 2014. It was handed
in to the WA police,' said a spokesperson for the Australian Transport
Safety Bureau.
'It is unlikely, however, that such a common item with no unique identifier could be conclusively linked with MH370,' reported.
The
plane dropped off the civilian radar after its transponder and other
equipment were switched off shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur. It
was then tracked by Malaysia’s military radar heading towards the Indian
Ocean.
The
anniversary of the plane's disappearance was matched by a report which
revealed that the battery of an underwater locator beacon on the flight
had expired more than a year before the incident.
The
update on the progress of the probe surrounding the Malaysia Airlines
plane indicates those looking for the aircraft would have had less
chance of finding it.
Apart from
the anomaly of the beacon, the report devoted many of its 584 pages to
describe the complete normality of the flight - shedding little light on
one of aviation's biggest mysteries.
The
significance of the expired battery was not immediately apparent,
except indicating that searchers would have had lesser chance of
locating the plane, even if they were in its vicinity.
The
report said: ‘The sole objective of the investigation is the prevention
of future accidents or incidents, and not for the purpose to apportion
blame or liability.’
Whilst
the battery had expired on the beacon of the Flight Data Recorder, the
report said that the battery on the locator beacon of the cockpit voice
recorder was working.
However,
in a statement on Monday, Malaysia Airlines said that a similar beacon
was also installed with the solid state cockpit voice recorder and its
battery life was still good.
Relatives of passengers and crew marked the anniversary of the day the plane went missing, under a heavy police presence.
Chinese
relatives had planned to commemorate the disappearance of the Boeing
777 at a number of sites in Beijing, including the Malaysian embassy,
the airport and the Lama Temple, a popular Tibetan Buddhist place of
worship and tourist site.
Dozens of
uniformed security sealed the street around the diplomatic mission,
while relatives said they had opted to avoid the airport as police were
out in force.
About
30 visited the Lama Temple, with around 10 entering the site in groups
of two or three to pay their personal respects, as if attempting to keep
a low profile.
The
remainder waited outside the temple in a group, wearing T-shirts saying
‘Pray for MH370’, and waving placards to photographers reading ‘Keep
searching for MH370’.
Meanwhile,
Voice 370 - a support group for the relatives - hosted a ‘Day of
Remembrance’ at a shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur with songs, poems and
prayers.
Grace
Subathirai Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy was on the plane, said: ‘It
is important to highlight to the public that we still don't have any
answers and that we must pursue the search.’
The Malaysian prime minister said he still is hopeful the plane will be found.
Najib Razak said: ‘The lack of answers and definitive proof - such as aircraft wreckage - has made this more difficult to bear.
‘Together
with our international partners, we have followed the little evidence
that exists. Malaysia remains committed to the search, and hopeful that
MH370 will be found.’
While
the country's government has already formally declared the
disappearance of the plane as an accident, and said all those on board
are presumed dead, relatives of those on the flight have said they are
frustrated by the lack of answers.
Ministers
from Australia, China and Malaysia are expected to meet next month to
decide on the next course of action for the wide-ranging search.
Chinese
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his government would provide ‘all needed
service to every next of kin’ and help uphold their ‘legitimate and
lawful rights and interests’.
Most of the plane's passengers were Chinese.
‘A
year has passed, the plane has not been located, but the search effort
will continue,’ Mr Wang told a news conference in Beijing. ‘Today must
be a difficult day for the next of kin. Our hearts are with you.’
As
his country said prayers on Sunday for those who were on board the
missing flight, Malaysia's Prime Minister said no words could describe
their pain.
'The
lack of answers and definitive proof - such as aircraft wreckage - has
made this more difficult to bear,' said Mr Najib Razak.
'No words can describe the pain the families of those on board are going through.'
China's
Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, said in Beijing that the search for the
Malaysia Airlines flight which vanished one year ago today will not
stop.
'The search
for MH370 will continue,' said Mr Wang, echoing the previously-spoken
commitment of the countries involved in the hunt for the aircraft -
Australia, Malaysia and China - in the southern Indian Ocean.
In
Kuala Lumpur, Mr Najib spoke of the joint effort, adding in his
official statement that 'together with our international partners, we
have followed the little evidence that exists.
'Malaysia remains committed to the search and hopeful that MH370 will be found.'
Although
Mr Abbott said he was confident the aircraft would be found as 40 per
cent of 60,000 square kilometres of deep ocean off the coast of Western
Australian had been scrutinised and another 60,000sq km to be covered if
necessary, he added that the search had to end at some stage.
'It
is one of the great mysteries of the 21st century and I know that there
will be a nagging doubt in the minds of billions of people until such
time as we can find that plane,' he told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
'It can't go on forever but, as long as there are reasonable leads, the search will go on.'
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