A lie to cover-up another lie from RMAF

YOURSAY ‘How many airplanes were flying over Malaysia's airspace between 1am and 2.40am?’

RMAF 'assumed' control tower ordered turn-back

Onyourtoes: This is the most ridiculous answer I have ever heard.

You know what; Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri, I think it is time for Malaysia to face the world with dignity - just admit we did not monitor and we did not know what was going on until a giant plane has gone missing and when the Air Force was called upon to check the radar records.

I think the world will probably forgive us for our lapses than blaming us for our baloney. I think this was what happened: no one was watching the radar, and even if someone was watching it, that someone just did not care.

It is called “routinisation” - the boredom of doing the same mundane job over and over again (I said this from day one when news of “turn back” was first disclosed).

After all, who could have attacked or spied on us, right? The defence minister and the Air Force chief should have resigned yesterday.

Senior: The airliner not identified as flight MH370 was earlier “assumed” to be non-hostile. Now it is “assumed” that the plane was ordered to turn back by the civilian control tower.

Question: If it was not identified as MH370, how could you “assumed” it was ordered to turn back? Don't you think this is telling a lie to cover another?

Ferdtan: The cover-up now begins, even well before the whole mystery of the missing plane is over. One more lie to cover the earlier many lies and negligence. Excuses are abounding. It’s anything goes just to save their skin.

Fingers would be pointed everywhere, anywhere, between departments and agencies to deflect any blame attributed to them. It sure will get ugly.

Only the ‘fittest’, ie those close to the top Umno leaders, would escape the consequences. Let the blame game begins.

Unmasked: I wonder how many airplanes were flying over Malaysia's airspace between 1am and 2.40am?

Did RMAF (Royal Malaysian Air Force) notice it when it flew over land before it reached the Straits of Malacca? How many personnel were assigned to monitor the radar screen during that time and was the detection of MH370 spotted live or during playback?

Louis: The Air Force should not take chance and risk our country's defence. How could it assume that an aircraft, intruding into our airspace, was friendly?

Recently the Indian Air Force sent its fighter jets to intercept a weather balloon which appeared on its radar as a slow flying object. To them, nothing should be left to chance.

If only RMAF has the same attitude and competence as the Indian Air Force, the mystery of MH370 would be long solved.

Aries46: Is it because of goons such as deputy minister Abdul Rahim and his ilks that the international community accuses us of lying and concealing the truth behind the disappearance of MH370?

Isn't Abdul Rahim ashamed to give such a stupid and idiotic reply, that too in Parliament, which exposes his ignorance and incompetence and those under his watch which could have contributed to the loss of 239 innocent lives?

If this is the stuff of our cabinet ministers, any wonder why the world is criticising our atrocious handling of the MH370 crisis.

Daniel: A commercial aircraft (assuming that you somehow knew what it was) making an U-turn with its transponder off has either to be hostile or is in distress.

Letting it out of your sight is a mortal sin. The least you could have done was scrambling your jets to identify it and have visual contact to determine its location in the event that it was hijacked or crashed.

Versey: It is rather incredible and quite unbelievable to hear this "assuming" business come out of the horse’s mouth.

You are in the defence business and the nation's security is in very large part in your hands, how could you based your judgement upon "assumption" without verification with the civil aviation control tower?

It is not as if the 9/11 disaster in United States had never happened that RMAF can "assume" the object identified was "non-hostile".

Now, I'm really worried of how widely do the civil servants or any officers on duty in their respective fields of service adopt such "assumption" attitude in their work, such as immigration control, cargo inspections, maintenance work, etc.

Anonymous_3e86: Assume? Is it always this way that our Air Force and military conduct themselves in protecting our shores from intruders?

What an excuse after almost three weeks of silence. It would have been better if the deputy defence minister had not opened his mouth.

Aloysius Ting: If the military task force was informed of the turn around the next day, why did the government continue to concentrate the search in the wrong area?

Oracle: Hogwash! Still lying to cover up and treating Malaysians as idiots. If pressed further, they will say "national security".

It is amazing how many utterly stupid people have found their way into government. I have to conclude that this government feels that its primary responsibility is to employ the unemployable.

CiViC: They are better off not explaining anything. This just opened a can of worms.

RM40Million: Is RMAF suppose to work on assumption in defending the country? Did RMAF confirm the so-called 'assumption' with the civil aviation control tower immediately to confirm the assumption?

What time in the next day did RMAF informed the task force? Why were they informed only the next day?

If RMAF had acted promptly, at least RMAF personnel could have followed MH370 or even save the lives of 239?

These questions are in my mind, hopefully Abdul Rahim will have answers.

Single Malt: I am lost for words! - Mkini