MH370 Plane Search Region Infernos Close Int’l Airports

Emergency alerts are in place as thick haze from infernos believed deliberately set in the Malaysia Airlines plane search region closed Sumatra International Airport some 250 miles from Kuala Lumpur Airport and cancelled flights at other airports due to lack of visibility. Planes searching for what officials believe to be a hijacked MH370 prevented those aircraft from fighting the fires.

Police seized evidence of an excavator and chain saws used to set a fire that closed Sumatra’s International airport some 250 miles form Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport where MH370 departed. The major out-of-control inferno began four days before the Boeing 777-200ER departed Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, Saturday (Friday ET). 

Jambi police are holding three men on suspicion of setting fires in the People’s Forest Park (Tahura), in Muaro Jambi regency. The three are being detained at Jambi Police headquarters where chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Almansyah said they have been identified as Nofri, 39, a heavy vehicle operator from Kota Baru, Jambi city; Harjo Tamin, 63, a farmer, also from Kota Baru; and Sutrisno, 30, a farmer from Muara Sabak. The three suspects allegedly used heavy machinery to start the main blaze in Indonesia that closed its international airport, now thick in smoke. 

In Medan, North Sumatra, the Army’s military police arrested Sgt. Maj. Sudigdo, allegedly responsible for fires in Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu biosphere reserve in Bengkalis, Riau. Sudigdo hired individuals to cut down trees before setting fires, according to Riau Haze Disaster Mitigation Task Force commander Brig. Gen. Prihadi Agus Irianto.  

An emergency alert is in place. Hazardous air quality haze is impacting nearly half of West Sumatra’s cities and regencies, where visibility is restricted to less than 800 meters. Worsening haze from forest and brush fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra island forced closing the international airport, officials say, adding that some smoke is from Malaysian fires.

All flight arrivals and departures at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, have also been canceled. Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan confirmed cancelation of the flights, domestic and international routes, due to the lack of visibility because of the haze. Sixteen local and regional airlines serve the airport. Riau authorities ordered schools to close and urged residents to stay indoors. Pollution index screens in Pekanbaru display “Dangerous” in red.

“We won’t jeopardize people’s safety,” he said on the sidelines of an event at the Vice Presidential Office on Thursday, adding that he had urged local administrations to provide travel alternatives for the public.

“Flights early in the morning landed and departed as normal, but they were disrupted from 9 a.m. local time as visibility went down to 700 meters at 2:20 P.M., general manager for state-run airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura II, Rian Hadihito told The Jakarta Post about Sumatra flights.

There are no direct commercial flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sumatra. Their international airports are approximately 250 miles apart. 

Malaysia 370 Plane Search Halts Arial Fire Fight

“Attempts to extinguish the forest fires on Sumatra using aircraft water bombings and cloud seeding have not been successful,” reports SBS in Australia. There’s no cloud seeding operation because of aircraft being used to search for missing flight MH370, according to Azhar Ishak from the Meteorological Department..

Smog pollution reached hazardous levels in the island’s Riau province in the past few days, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency. Nugroho said the crisis links to 60,000 people with respiratory and skin problems.

“Some of the spots recorded hazardous air quality for 11 consecutive days,” Riau province official Abdul Latief said in Pekanbaru. Thus, the disaster response phase, which was scheduled to end on Wednesday, will be extended,” 

“Since the past week, pollution has been very bad and even colleges are closed,” said Syamsidar, a Pekanbaru resident. “People are still seen on the streets but they are all wearing masks.”

Nugroho said parts of West Sumatra were also severely affected by the haze, some of which came from Malaysia, he added. Tuesday hit a record in Malaysia, with 643 fires, statistics on the Fire and Rescue Department’s website show. Perak, Kedah, and Johor had the highest number of forest fires as of yesterday, according to the Malay Mail. The haze has also reached a hazardous level in Selangor at Port Klang and Banting, according to Air Pollutant Index (API) readings. 

Yusri Basri of Malaysia’s Fire and Rescue Department said a dry spell contributed to rising numbers of forest fires despite the department’s efforts to extinguish them. Open burning, usually on a small scale, by plantation workers across the country is possibly also contributing to the forest fires, he said.

“When they want to clear the land for planting season, they cut off all the trees and burn it on a small scale but the dry air and wind make the fires bigger and uncontrollable,” he said. “They have no intention to start a big fire. They want to clear the ground and the cheapest way is to burn.”

The drought is a very unusual phenomenon there. Usually there’s more rain at this time of the year, he said, adding that cloud seeding will start again when conditions are suitable.

West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Yazid Fadli said the emergency alert issued Wednesday would remain in place until further notice.

“We have told each city and regency to set up emergency response posts, distribute masks, monitor air quality every day and instruct schools to close if conditions become a health hazard,” stated Yazid. 

The BPBD ran out of masks, while those sold privately sold out, he said. The BPBD is getting more supplies, but many parties needed to be involved to replenish the masks. 

Almansyah said the three fire suspects were arrested at the park Tuesday by a joint team of personnel from Jambi Police, Muaro Jambi Police and the local Forestry Agency.

“The three men were apprehended in Tanjung village, Kumpeh Ilir district, Muaro Jambi, as they were clearing a 12-hectare plot within the Muarojambi Tahura,” Almansyah said Wednesday.

Five Hours Of Satellite Pings From MH370 Prompt U.S. Officials To Increase Search Area 

The needle-in-a-haystack hunt for missing Malaysian airliner 307 has spread to the vast Indian Ocean after the Obama administration cited “new information” that it possibly flew hours after vanishing seven days ago.

Multiple U.S. media reports Friday, citing U.S. officials, said Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777′s communication system continued to “ping” a satellite for five hours after disappearing off radar with 239 people aboard, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

“It’s my understanding that based on some new information that’s not necessarily conclusive, but new information, an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said about the pings in one of the first public statements the Obama administration has made about MH370. “We are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy.”

Malaysia’s government calls the search “unprecedented” in the annals of modern aviation history, covering a mind-boggling stretch of sea after flight MH370 vanished early Saturday with no distress indication distress.

Moving into the Indian Ocean is like going “from a chessboard to a football field”, Commander William Marks of the U.S. 7th Fleet told CNN.

Sources: Malay Mail, SBS, The Jakarta Post, CNN

Photo Credits: Google, U.S. Navy

Related articles by this author

Malaysia Plane Hijacked: Navy Nat’l Security Expert

You Won’t Believe What Spies On Malaysia Plane Were Doing!

Malaysia 370 Sound Of Life: Heard But Invisible, Police Reports Say

Malaysia Airlines 370 In New Location, Military Intel Adds Puzzle Piece 

Malaysia Plane CoverUp: Passengers’ Cell Phones Ringing, GPS Information Kept Secret 

Malaysia Plane Hidden With Electronic Weapon? 20 Hi-Tech EW Defense Passengers 

Missing Malaysia Plane: 20 All-Electric Car-Linked Passengers On Board, Names Released