Premier urges Malaysia to continue search for MH370 wreckage

Intan Maizura Othman, wife of flight attendant Mohd Hazrin Hasnan aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, carries their son Mohamed at news conference in Putrajaya January 29, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Official announcement

Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) officially declared on Thursday that the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was an accident.

"We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident ... and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives," DCA director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said in a statement.

The announcement is in accordance with standards of annexes 12 and 13 in the International Civil Aviation, said Azharuddin. It will allow families of the passengers to obtain assistance through compensation, he said.

Malaysia Airlines was ready to proceed immediately with the compensation process to the next-of-kin of the passengers on the flight, he said.

The Boeing 777 aircraft left Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 am local time on March 8, 2014, and was due to land in Beijing at 6:30 am on the same day.

Carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese citizens, the flight lost contact with air traffic controllers about an hour after taking off. Months of searches have failed to turn up any trace.

The last-known position of the plane was 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.

"This declaration is by no means the end," said Azharuddin, adding that it will continue with the search for the missing plane with assistance from China and Australia.

International investigators are looking into why the jet veered thousands of miles off course from its scheduled route before eventually plunging into the Indian Ocean.

Malaysia is also conducting a criminal investigation.

"Both investigations are limited by the lack of physical evidence at this time, particularly the flight recorders," said Azharuddin.

"Therefore, at this juncture, there is no evidence to substantiate any speculations as to the cause of the accident."

The DCA will conduct a technical briefing on Friday to provide a further update on the ongoing MH370 search mission.

Malaysia's deputy transport minister Aziz Kaprawi said on Wednesday that the DCA will release an interim report on the investigation into the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on March 7, a day before the one-year anniversary of the disappearance.