The chief of Malaysia’s civil aviation authority, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, resigned on Tuesday after a report on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 showed lapses by the air traffic control centre in Kuala Lumpur.
“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 effective 14 days from the date of the resignation notice which I have served today [Tuesday],” said Rahman, according to Reuters.
Rahman said the report highlighted failures by the air traffic control to comply with standard operating procedures, but had not suggested the aviation authority was to blame for the loss of the aircraft.
Rahman said that over the past four years he had tried his best to assist in the search for the flight, reported Channel News Asia. “I am ever resolute in finding answers we all seek towards this unfortunate tragedy as we owe it to the families and loved ones,” he said. “I am saddened to have to leave under these circumstances.”
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said an internal committee would be formed to come up with recommendations and action that could be taken against the air traffic controllers who were on duty at the time.
The aircraft vanished on March 8, 2014, when it was on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board. Malaysia called off its search for MH370 on May 29. It is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles away from its scheduled route.
According to the report, which was tabled in the Parliament on Tuesday, investigators said the controls of the aircraft were likely to have been manipulated, but they were unable to determine who was responsible.
The report criticised Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control, saying both failed to act properly when the Boeing jet passed from Malaysian to Vietnamese airspace and disappeared from radars. Air traffic controllers did not initiate emergency procedures, delaying search and rescue operation, it said.
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