Report gives little clue on fate of missing Malaysian plane

Kuala Lumpur finally released a report on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, but the document did not offer any new or groundbreaking information on the missing plane. The 5-page document submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), was mostly a recap of information that had already been released over time – a chronicle of the government’s slow-footed response to the airliner’s disappearance. “Over a month after the aircraft departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport, its location is still unknown,” said the report, which was emailed to news organizations. But the information indicated it took authorities four hours from the time the Malaysia Airlines jet was first noticed missing at around 1:38 am on March 8 to initiate an official emergency response. The air force, meanwhile, took eight hours to formally notify civilian authorities that it had tracked a plane believed to be MH370 moving back across Malaysian airspace and out toward the Indian Ocean. On the same day the report was released to the media on May 1, the airline announced that it would be closing its family assistance centers worldwide starting May 7. Families of victims will be sent home from hotels, mostly in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.

Read the latest on MH370 here.