Wescom temporarily halts search ops for missing Malaysian plane

From the Daily Tribune (Mar 18): Wescom temporarily halts search ops for missing Malaysian plane

The military’s Western Command (Wescom) has temporarily stopped search operations for the Malaysian Airlines jet that went missing more than a week ago after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, in a telephone interview by members of the Defense Press Corps (DPC) yesterday, said that search teams from the Wescom has already scoured the country’s area in the West Philippine Sea but found no signs of the Boeing 777 jet.

“Temporary stop. They (Wescom) already went around our entire area,” Gazmin said. He stressed the stoppage is temporary until new clues are found.

“As of now, we have scoured the entire area, we flown C130 several times in wider coverage, nothing was found,” Gazmin added.

The Wescom launched search operations immediately after the Malaysian authorities informed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) about the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 with 239 passengers and crew on board.

“The Malaysian armed forces provided information...that started the search, we cooperated,” Gazmin said.

Lt. Cherryl Tindog, spokesman of Wescom, said that the last search operation was conducted last Saturday involving Islander aircraft. There was no activity on Sunday.

“We just temporarily stopped the search since Sunday but we are not totally suspending, depending on the developments,” Tindog said.

She maintained that Wescom is ready to resume search should there be new developments.

“Also, we have covered almost our entire exclusive economic zone and the Kalayaan Island Group but yielded negative results,” Tindog said.

The Wescom sent out several air and naval assets to conduct search operations in the West Philippine Sea, including two ships, multi-purpose attack craft, Islander aircraft and even C130. However, the Wescom reported no signs of the missing plane as of Sunday.

The Malaysian Airlines went off the radar screens after taking off from Kuala Lumpur last March 8 bound for Beijing. Earlier search focused along the waters of Vietnam but has since widened but up to now, there have been no signs of the jet.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/wescom-temporarily-halts-search-ops-for-missing-malaysian-plane