Where the hell is that plane? That question is officially baffling the Malaysian authorities although surely the question is much more simple to answer than it might appear.
The Aviation Minister and Police Chief here in KL have both managed to make themselves look increasingly more silly as each day goes by and have left fascinated observers like me. Much more importantly the relatives of the missing feel that they are being let down. I mean how difficult can it be to find a 250 tonne aeroplane?
The answer is probably not easy, it is a lot easier though if you look in the right place. The picture is changing by the hour but it now seems that the plane did change course from where it was last officially sighted. How do we know this? All thanks to various satellites and American classified information. And herein, surely, lies the second biggest problem of the whole sorry mystery. The US and Chinese doubtless do know the route of MH370 but can't officially reveal what they know because by doing that they would have to explain to the world exactly how they came to know that. The Malaysian Air Force probably also know parts of the route too especially, as seems likely, that the plane did fly over Penang, on the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia. Surely Penang Air Traffic Controllers would have noticed a rogue plane heading across their skies?
What now needs to happen is that all the known information needs to be made public as well as go into the hands of a trusted investigator with a no blame guarantee attached. There appears to be a culture of 'cover your arse first before doing anything' here in Malaysia (in order to have RM55, about £10, refunded to me at school four separate approval signatures were required) so with that in play officials who know stuff are doubtless fearful about speaking out in case they are then held responsible. This is too serious a matter to mess around with such sensibilities. The authorities already look incompetent but would actually enhance their much battered reputation if they went for an information amnesty.
However the biggest problem was what happened immediately after MH370 was officially lost. Why did the Malaysian authorities wait for five hours before announcing that it was missing? Surely the quicker a matter is dealt with the better. The longer this mystery drags on the more the repercussions.
Some people have started to suggest that there is another reason why Malaysia has few breweries.