Statement on misleading article

Malaysia Airlines refers to the article “Malaysia Airlines Flight Forced Into Emergency Landing After Flying Over Icelandic” published by a web portal – worldnewsdaily.com.

The airline is deeply troubled that such irresponsible articles and amateurish “reporting” was allowed by the editors of the news portal to be published, and it calls on the public to not to be fooled by such blatant lies.

Whilst not wishing to dignify the full content of the article to any extent, due to the malicious absurdity of the author's claims, it was reported that “flight MH131 from Paris to New York was forced to land in Iceland when its pilots flew the B777 aircraft almost directly over the active Bardarbunga volcano”. MAS feels compelled to bring such glaring falsehoods to the attention of the public.

It is widely known that MAS operates the Kuala Lumpur/Paris/Kuala Lumpur sector utilizing its A380 aircraft. The airline does not fly onwards to New York, or any other American destinations.

Given recent tragedies, and despite the suffering of all, we believe that such stories only serve one purpose, that is to fuel conjecture, misunderstanding and instill fear amongst the travelling public. Whatever the motive behind the story, it does not represent the ethos of ethical and factual journalism.

The airline condemns not only the story, but the existence of irresponsible “news portals”, in this instance worldnewsdaily.com and urges authorities to block this site and hold all those responsible for the publication of the article to account.

On another note, MAS is also aware of news articles that have surfaced surrounding the publishing of a book claiming to offer the 'scoop' on MH370 by so-called experts, journalist Geoff Taylor and the disgraced former CEO of the short lived and long defunct Kiwi Travel International Airlines, Ewan Wilson, a convicted New Zealand criminal fraudster.

MAS is appalled by their claims that “the pilot of MH370 intentionally turned off the oxygen supply in the cabin and activated the auto-pilot feature” which led to the disappearance of MH370.

There is no evidence to support any of the claims made in the book which is a product of pure conjecture for the purposes of profit by the authors and publishers. It must be noted that the duo are not involved in the investigation of MH370, yet they stray into the fields of science and medicine as self-described 'experts' offering an analysis beyond their knowledge and abilities.

Ongoing investigations into the disappearance of MH370 is being conducted by a strong international team led by Malaysia with accredited representatives from the US, UK, Australia, China, France and Singapore. Also included are representatives from relevant international organisations and the civil aviation industry – all individuals being widely acknowledged technically trained experts in their respective fields.

Set against a painstaking and methodical ongoing investigation based on scientific data, an independent assessment by self-proclaimed experts with no access to reliable data is hearsay at its most extreme, or fantasy at its most benign. The authors and publishers should quite simply be ashamed of themselves for what is nothing more than a cheap and maligned publicity stunt, seeking to simply cash in on the suffering of the families and undermining the dignity of all of those onboard.

MAS has and will always be an airline with integrity and it will not tolerate baseless allegations against the national icon. Those that publish, distribute disseminate and perpetuate misinformation and falsehoods should be aware that the airline will not hesitate to take legal action to protect its position.

Thank you.

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