Last words from missing plane were routine

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP):

"ALL RIGHT, good night" were the final words heard by air traffic controllers from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight before it vanished over the South China Sea five days ago, relatives of the passengers were told Wednesday.

News of the last communication came as Malaysia defended its handling of the hunt for the missing Boeing 777 but acknowledged it is still unsure which direction the plane was headed when it disappeared, highlighting the massive task facing the international search.

Government officials said they asked India to join in the search near the Andaman Sea, suggesting they think the jetliner and the 239 people onboard might have reached those waters after crossing into the Strait of Malacca, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the flight's last known coordinates.

Confusing, conflicting statements

The mystery over the plane's whereabouts has been confounded by confusing and occasionally conflicting statements by Malaysian officials, which have led to allegations of incompetence or even cover-up, adding to the anguish of relatives of those onboard the flight, two-thirds of them Chinese.

"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," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing. "We will not give up as long as there's still a shred of hope."

Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein described the multinational search as unprecedented. Some 43 ships and 39 aircraft from at least eight nations were scouring an area of 92,600 square kilometres (35,800 square miles) to the east and west of Peninsular Malaysia.

"It's not something that is easy. We are looking at so many vessels and aircraft, so many countries to coordinate, and a vast area for us to search," he told a news conference. "But we will never give up. This we owe to the families of those onboard."

Malaysian officials met in Beijing on Wednesday with several hundred Chinese relatives of passengers to explain the search and investigation. They said the last words from the cockpit to Malaysian air traffic controllers before the plane entered Vietnamese airspace were, "All right, good night," according to a participant in the meeting. Vietnamese officials said they never heard from the plane.