Who is responsible for the MH370- search? Is it Australia or is it Malaysia? That is the question from some of our viewers and readers.
We put the question to Richard Godfrey who has perfected the WSPR technology around which the new proposed Mh370 search is based and this is his reply.
“The Hamburg convention 1979 relates to Search and Rescue operations and not aircraft accident and incident investigations.
“International law is based on a number of Conventions, Declarations, Protocols and Cases. These include inter alia the Paris Convention 1919, the Warsaw Convention 1929, the Chicago Convention 1944, the Rome Convention 1952, the Tokyo Convention 1963, the Hague Convention 1970 and the Montreal Convention 1971. Each convention defines the rights and responsibilities of the signatories to that convention.
“The Chicago Convention established the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which became a UN agency in 1947. Aircraft accident and incident investigation is covered by Annex 13 of the ICAO International Standards and Recommended Practices.
“International law differentiates between the state of occurrence of an accident and the state of registration of the aircraft involved in the accident.
“MH370 is either known to have passed through or possibly passed through the airspace of a number of states including Malaysia, Singapore (delegated to Malaysia), Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. At which point the accident or incident occurred is unknown and the final location is unknown. The occurrence was after MH370 left Malaysian airspace and the final location is highly likely in Australian airspace. In any event MH370 crashed in international waters. In the event that the state of occurrence is unknown, then the state of registration (Malaysia) must take responsibility for the investigation.
“MH370 was possibly subject to an act of hijacking or terrorism and the 239 passengers and crew were victims of the possible hijacking or terrorism. The passengers came from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, India, France, US, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, Iran, Netherlands, Russia and Taiwan. All these countries have a legitimate interest in the investigation and can issue legal criminal proceedings if a hijacking or terrorism is suspected.
“The cause of the accident is not known. Anyone may search in international waters for MH370, but no one can disturb, interfere or remove any of the wreckage without the agreement of the state of registration. Malaysia may ask other countries to help with the investigation and this is already the case with the US (FBI, NTSB and Boeing), Australia (ATSB and DSTG), France (BEA and Thales) and UK (AAIB and Inmarsat).
“Any attempt to remove MH370 wreckage without the agreement of the state of registration would be illegal under international law.”
So there you have it. It’s Malaysia’s responsibility. Pure and simple.
