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Angry MH370 relatives demand data for independent analysis, says CNN

Families wage citizen campaign to solve MH370 mystery

Relatives angry over reports that debris found in the Indian Ocean were not from the missing flight MH370 have demanded that the authorities release the data so external experts can analyse them, reported CNN.

Steve Wang's mother was on the plane that vanished March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.

He and other relatives have rejected the announcement by Malaysian authorities that the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean.

Wang told CNN that the relatives were doubtful that "they (the authorities) are searching the right place."

He and others want independent experts to crunch the data available.

A committee representing some of the Chinese families have posted 26 questions on the Chinese social media site, Weibo.

Among their requests are access to the flight's logbook and recording of air traffic control on the night the plane carrying 239 people on board vanished.

"It's astounding to me that they haven't been willing to release that data," said Sarah Bajc, partner of American passenger Philip Wood. She appeared on CNN on Tuesday.

Malaysian authorities have shared with families the full transcript of communications between the plane and air traffic control before releasing it to the public.

On Weibo, the families also demanded vital, yet sensitive information, such as the flight's maintenance and voice records.

"What's so confidential about those data sets that a third-party set of people couldn't come in and make some new calculations on them?" Bajc asked.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said on March 15: "We understand the desperate need for information on behalf of the families and those watching around the world. But we have a responsibility to the investigation and the families to only release information that has been corroborated."

Yesterday, acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said that authorities would not provide information unless it is "verified and corroborated" by investigators.

"As I've said from the beginning, we have nothing to hide," he said.

In the list posted on Weibo, family members also asked for the personal contact of those involved in the search.

John Goglia, a former member of the US National Transportation Safety Board, told CNN the log usually was on the plane. But even if it was not, investigators likely wouldn't reveal specific information from it.

The families' request for phone numbers probably would be denied as well, Goglia said.

Wang and Bajc said some relatives felt that the Malaysian authorities had treated them callously.

More than two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese, and many of their relatives were distrustful of Malaysian authorities' assertion that the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean.

"We just want to tell them, 'Stop lying!'" Wang reportedly said.

"They are telling to the whole world that they have good communication with the relatives," he said, explaining that questions family members have tried to pose were met with opposition from officials.

"...They just said, 'Oh, stop asking the questions and face the fact," he continued. "What is the fact? What kind of fact (do) they want us to face? Do they have the fact(s)? So they are lying to the whole world again."

Bajc, meanwhile, has been continuously posting intimate and anguished Facebook messages to Wood.

In the past 24 hours, Bajc wrote: "good morning baby. its been a while since i posted to you publicly despite the many message i send to you daily. it takes energy to make my thoughts fit for others to see. i hope you can feel that piece of OUR world that is waiting and wanting right where you left it too long ago. i miss you so much. SJ."

Wang and Bajc said they're not interested in filing lawsuits for the money. But if a lawsuit applies more pressure on authorities to release information they are asking for, they're open to that.

"I am not sure whether (a) lawsuit could bring us the truth," Wang said.

The Australian authorities coordinating the search for the Boeing 777-200ER (9M-MRO) in the Indian Ocean said in a statement that up to 11 military aircraft and 11 ships would take part in today’s search for MH370.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has planned a visual search area totalling about 49,567 sq km.

The centre of the search area lies about 1,500km from Perth.

But the weather would likely hamper today’s search with forecast of heavy rain and low cloud.

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre also said the Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle had completed its 12th mission in the underwater search area.

It has now completed more than 90% of the focused underwater search area but has not discovered anything of interest, the JACC said. – April 24, 2014.