马来西亚客机搜寻处理方式遭批评

Malaysia is better known for pristine beaches and palm oil plantations than air disaster management. But the loss of a jet airliner from its national fleet five days ago has thrust the country into the role of crisis manager in the full glare of global scrutiny. The sudden disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from commercial aviation radars – en route to Beijing with 239 passengers on board – has still not been solved, long after the airliner lost contact with air traffic control over the South China Sea.

马来西亚比较出名的是纯净的海滩以及棕榈油种植园，而不是空难应对管理。但该国主要航空公司的一架喷气式客机在五天前失踪，使该国在全球众目睽睽之下担当起危机管理者的角色。马来西亚航空公司(Malaysia Airlines)载有239名乘客和机组人员的MH370航班在飞往北京途中，在南中国海上空与航空交通管制中心失去联络，并突然从民航雷达系统上消失，这一离奇事件的谜底至今仍未找到。

Criticism has mounted that communications have been slow, information contradictory and co-ordination patchy. Aviation experts, frustrated relatives of those aboard and even China itself, home country of most of the passengers, have been increasingly vocal in making concerns known. Vietnam said yesterday it was reducing its involvement in the search for the aircraft because of “insufficient information” from the Malaysian side. It had been one of the first countries to send ships to the area being combed for signs of wreckage – an operation that involves 42 vessels and 39 aircraft from 12 countries.

有越来越多的批评声音指责马来西亚方面在沟通方面行动迟缓，公布的信息自相矛盾，且协调工作差强人意。航空专家、失望的乘客亲属、甚至中国官方（机上大部分乘客是中国公民）在表达各自的担忧时都变得越来越直言不讳。越南昨天表示，越方已降低搜寻这架飞机的力度，因为马来西亚方面提供的信息“不够充分”。越南是首个向拉网式搜寻飞机残片的海域派出舰船的国家之一。来自12个国家的42艘舰船和39架飞机参与了这项行动。

Qin Gang, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, said: “There’s too much information and confusion right now. It is very hard for us to decide whether a given piece of information is accurate,” adding: “We will not give it up as long as there’s still a shred of hope.’’

中国外交部发言人秦刚表示：“目前各种消息很多、很混乱，很难一一核实。但是我们也说了，只要有一线希望，就不能轻言放弃。”

David Learmount of Flightglobal magazine said: “It’s bad enough for a wide-body jet to go missing  . . . but then for the responsible country’s government and aviation agencies to handle the associated information with total incompetence is unforgivable.”

Flightglobal杂志的大卫•利尔蒙特(David Learmount)表示：“一架宽体喷气客机失踪已经够糟糕的了……但令人无法原谅的是，主要责任国的政府以及航空管理机构在处理相关信息方面完全无能。”

Malaysian officials belatedly tried to combat the criticism with a show of senior military brass yesterday, armed with the latest radar-tracking information.

马来西亚政府姗姗来迟地试图回应批评，该国军方高层昨日露面，带来了最新的雷达跟踪信息。

Rodzali Daud, air force chief, told a press conference the last “plot” of a suspected aircraft logged on the military’s “primary radar” systems came at 2.15am on Saturday. That was 45 minutes after flight MH370 disappeared from the civil aviation’s “secondary radar”, putting the aircraft 200 miles northwest of Penang, a port city on the west of Malaysia.

马来西亚空军司令罗扎里•达乌德(Rodzali Daud)在一个新闻发布会上表示，在军方的“初级雷达”系统上，一架疑似飞机的亮点最后一次出现是在周六凌晨2时15分。此时距离MH370航班从民航部门的“二级雷达”系统失踪已经过去了45分钟，那个亮点位于马来西亚西部港口城市——槟城西北方向200英里处。

Mr Rodzali sparked confusion earlier when he denied telling a Malaysian newspaper that an aircraft had been detected turning towards the Malacca Strait.

此前达乌德否认自己曾向一家马来西亚报社表示，一架飞机被发现转向马六甲海峡(Malacca Strait)方向飞行，引发外界困惑。

Hishamuddin Hussein, Malaysia’s defence and acting transport minister, said authorities were “still not sure” that what appeared on the military radar was flight MH370. “We need to clarify that to make sure the information that we have been saying in the last few days is consistent,” he said. “It is far from confusion. It is only confusion if you see it as confusion.”

马来西亚国防部长和代理交通部长希沙姆丁•侯赛因(Hishamuddin Hussein)表示，有关部门仍不确定出现在军方雷达上的亮点就是MH370航班。他说：“我们必须澄清这一点，以确保我们在过去几天所公布的信息是一致的。这绝不是混淆视听。只有在你把它看成困惑的时候，它才是困惑。”

Mr Hishamuddin said he would appear at daily press briefings as of today in an apparent move to tackle criticism that too many ministry and department heads have been weighing in on the disappearance. “There’s been a sense there’s no central voice, no leadership in this situation,” said Ooi Kee Beng, deputy director-general of the Institute of Southeast Asia Studies in Singapore.

侯赛因表示，他将从今天起出席每日的媒体情况通报会，此举明显是为了回应批评意见，即马来西亚太多部委和部门的主管在飞机失踪一事上发表意见。新加坡东南亚研究所的副总干事黄基明(Ooi Kee Beng)表示：“人们的感觉是，马来西亚政府缺乏核心声音，在当前的情况下看不到领导力。”

Experts have suggested various theories that might explain how the aircraft, which was at normal cruising altitude when Malaysian air traffic control lost touch with it, disappeared.

当马来西亚航空交通管制中心与这架飞机失去联络时，它正在正常巡航高度飞行。如今，专家们提出了多种可能解释这架飞机为何失踪的理论。