Malaysia Says No Mid-Flight Phone Call from MH370 Cockpit
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Malaysia on Sunday rejected claims that phone calls were made from missing flight MH370 before it vanished, but refused to rule out any possibility in a so far fruitless investigation over the cause of the jet's disappearance.
The New Straits Times, quoting an anonymous source, had reported Saturday that co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid made a call which ended abruptly, possibly "because the aircraft was fast moving away from the (telecommunications) tower".
There had also been unconfirmed reports of calls by the Malaysia Airlines plane's captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah before or during the flight, AFP reported.
Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters Sunday that authorities had no knowledge of any calls made from the jet's cockpit.
"As far as I know, no," he said when asked if any calls had been made.
However, he added that he did not want to speculate on "the realm of the police and other international agencies" investigating the case.
"I do not want to disrupt the investigations that are being done now not only by the Malaysian police but the FBI, MI6, Chinese intelligence and other intelligence agencies," he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Hishammuddin also said no passenger on the plane had been cleared in the criminal investigation into the fate of the flight, clarifying an earlier indication from Malaysia's police chief.
"The Inspector-General of Police said at that particular point in time there is nothing to find suspicion with the passenger manifesto but ... unless we find more information, specifically the data in the black box, I don't think any chief of police will be in a position to say they have been cleared."
The police chief also clarified last week that passengers had not categorically been cleared as the investigation was ongoing.
Pilots Fariq and Zaharie have come under intense scrutiny since the plane vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board on March 8, with still no clue as to the cause of the disappearance.
