KUALA LUMPUR:Rolls-Royce has been urged to issue an official statement regarding the report on the data transmission it had received from the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370.

Former MAS senior pilot Datuk Captain Nik Ahmad Huzlan Nik Hussain said this would put the speculation made by foreign media to rest once and for all.

“Issue a statement saying the transmission it had received from the aircraft was at 1.07am on March 8. End of story,” he said.

Captain Nik was referring to several reports made by foreign news media including the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) saying that US aviation investigators and national security officials believed the plane flew for a total of five hours, based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing 777’s Rolls-Royce engines as part of a standard monitoring programme.

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said on Thursday that the reports were not true.

In a statement, Rolls-Royce said: “Rolls-Royce concurs with the statement made on Thursday by Malaysia’s Transport Datuk Seri Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein regarding engine health monitoring data received from the aircraft.

“Rolls-Royce continues to provide its full support to the authorities and Malaysia Airlines.”


The Wall Street Journal meanwhile admitted its initial story, claiming that investigators had based their suspicions on signals from monitoring systems embedded in the plane's Rolls-Royce engines, was incorrect.

Captain Nik said he was also unsure whether the “ping” system has the technology to determine the plot, location, direction, height and speed of the aircraft.

He also raised the possibility that flight MH370 could have flown off the radar heading towards Kota Kinabalu or Ho Chi Minh City. Still, he said, the radar in the Philippines could’ve picked up the plane’s signal.

“If the plane had indeed flown in that direction, the radar at Igari Waypoint would have picked up its signal.

There is a possibility the plane could have flown in that direction but no Search and Rescue (SAR) operations are currently being conducted in that area,” he said.

Flight MH370, which was fitted with two Derby-built Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines, has been missing for more than a week now.

For the past week, teams have been searching the waters on both sides of the Malaysian peninsula for any sign of the plane.

On Friday the search was extended to the Indian Ocean.

Since going missing, speculation has been rife about what may have caused the Malaysia Airlines aircraft’s sudden disappearance.

Experts believe it could be down to an onboard explosion, engine failure, extreme turbulence, pilot error or even suicide.