A statement about the statement is stated here in this statement:
I refer to the Berita Harian news article dated March 11, 2014, on the search and rescue operations in the Strait of Malacca which (in Bahasa Malaysia) referred to me as making the following statements:
"The RMAF Chief confirmed that RMAF Butterworth airbase detected the location signal of the airliner as indicating that it turned back from its original heading to the direction of Kota Baru, Kelantan, and was believed to have passed through the airspace of the east coast and the northern areas of the peninsula.
"The last time the plane was detected by the air control tower was in the vicinity of Pulau Perak in the Strait of Malacca at 2.40 in the morning before the signal disappeared without any trace", he said.
I wish to state that I did not make any such statements as above. What occurred was that the Berita Harian journalist asked me if such an incident occurred as detailed in their story. However, I did not give any answer to the question.
Instead what I said to the journalist was, “Please refer to the statement which I have already made on 9 March 2014, during the press conference with the Chief of Defence Force at the Sama-Sama Hotel, Kuala Lumpur International Airport”.
And what I stated during that press conference was:
The RMAF has not ruled out the possibility of an air turn-back on a reciprocal heading before the aircraft vanished from the radar, and this resulted in the search and rescue operations being widened to the vicinity of the waters off Penang.
I request this misreporting be amended and corrected to prevent further misinterpretation of what is clearly an inaccurate and incorrect report.
The RMAF is examining and analysing all possibilities as regards to the airliner’s flight paths subsequent to its disappearance. However, for the time being, it would not be appropriate for the RMAF to issue any official conclusion as to the aircraft’s flight path until a high amount of certainty and verification is achieved.
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.
In addition, I would like to state to the media that all information and developments will be released through official statements and press conferences as soon as possible and when appropriate. Our current efforts are focused upon on finding the aircraft as soon as possible.
Thank You. – March 12, 2014.
* General Tan Sri Rodzali Daud is the Chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).
* This is an official statement by the Chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force on the Berita Harian news articled dated March 11, 2014, on the search and rescue operations in the Strait of Malacca.