Friday, July 18, 2014

Liow denies MAS tried to save fuel with risky route


Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai has denied that Malaysia Airlines was trying to save fuel when Flight MH17 took the route over south-eastern Ukraine.
"(It is) not true. As mentioned, it has been over many years MAS has taken the same route and there are many other countries taking the same route," he told a press conference at Sama-Sama Hotel, Sepang today.

He said 15 out of 16 Association of Asia Pacific Airlines countries were also using the route.

"In fact, during that period, many other aircraft were using the same route," he added.

It was declared safe

Liow was asked to respond to aDaily Telegraph report which quoted an expert as saying that many airliners continued to use the route despite risks as it was faster and more economical.

Despite the explanation, the minister was still bombarded with queries on whether it was a mistake to use the route even though it had been declared safe.

Liow stressed that the route was declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao) and MAS was never given any notice not to use the route.

He added that it was only after the incident that Icao declared the route closed.

"After this (incident), Icao has suggested a different route and they have closed this route," he said.

He added that Flight MH17 was on the correct path and did not veer from it.

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