The head of Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia has resigned in the wake of the report into missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Reports in Malaysian media say CAAM chairman Azharuddin Abd Rahman resigned over findings that air traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur did not follow standard operating procedures.
The move ended a 40-year career in the aviation industry.
“While the Report does not suggest that the accident is caused by the Department of Civil Aviation (‘DCA’) then, nevertheless, there are some very apparent findings with regards to the operations of the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre (KLATSC); where it was stated that the Air Traffic Controller did not comply with certain Standard Operating Procedures,’’ Azharuddin said in a statement quoted by online newspaper Malay Mail.
“Therefore, it is with regret and after much thought and contemplation that I have decided to resign as the Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (‘CAAM’) effective fourteen (14) days from the date of the resignation notice which I have served today.”
READ MH370 report continues to draw fire.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke later confirmed he had received the resignation, according to the Mail.
Loke said in a statement issued on Monday that the Ministry of Transport would review the safety recommendations and l take appropriate improvement measures to prevent similar future air accidents.
“At the same time, we will also conduct a thorough investigation and take action against any misconduct committed based on the findings under the existing provisions of the law,’’ he said.
The report by the Annex 13 investigation team was unable to determine the cause of the disappearance and caused a controversy by suggesting human intervention at the start of the flight could have been caused by “unlawful interference” from a third party.
READ: MH370 report does not rule out “unlawful interference”.
The report found procedural lapses by both Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic controllers during the handover of MH370.
It found controllers in Ho Chi Minh City did not notify their counterparts in Kuala Lumpur when they failed to establish two-way communication with MH370 within five minutes of the handover.
The Kuala Lumpur air traffic controllers should likewise have taken action to contact the Vietnamese controllers but instead relied on position information for the aircraft supplied by Malaysia Airlines flight operations, it said.
By this time, the aircraft was no longer visible on the Kuala Lumpur air traffic control radar.
“The air traffic controllers of both centers did not initiate the various emergency phases as required then, thereby delaying the activation of the alerting and search and rescue operations,’’ it said.
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