More than 500 killed on Malaysia Airlines flights this year

At first glance, nothing at Kuala Lumpur’s impressive-looking airport seemed out of place. The planes and their passengers came and went – some journeys starting, others ended.

But there was a heavy feeling in the air.

A Malaysian with a full-laden trolley, fresh off flight from Hong Kong, made a bee-line for me and my cameraman and there was something he just had to say.

“It is a hard time for us. I really hard time for us (Malaysians). I am really sad, for the people, for the families, for the crew members – for the Dutch who were on the plane. I really feel bad for everybody.”

The loss of MH17 is a serious setback for Malaysia Airways, a company struggling to recover from the disappearance of MH370 over the Indian Ocean. More than 500 people have died on its aircraft in the last four months.

Unsurprisingly, the crash has also shocked the nation and those who govern it. Once again, representatives from the airline and relevant government ministries trooped down to the airport hotel to deal with difficult questions at a press conference.

Why, asked several journalists – including myself – was the Boeing 777 allowed to fly over an area which constitutes a war zone?

The Minister of Transport Liow Tiong Lai offered up a standard response; “15 out of 16 airlines from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines were flying the same route,” he argued.

“There were no last minute instructions given to the pilots of MH17 to change the route of the flight.” Mr Lai was absolutely not prepared to entertain the thought that someone from the airline – or the government itself – should have issued such an instruction.

If Malaysia Airlines is going to survive in its present form, the men giving these press conferences have to get it right. They have to offer a vision of aviation in Malaysia that people are going to have confidence in – and they have a lot of work to do.

In the departures area at the international airport, I caught up with a young man called Liew just off a Malaysia Airlines flight from Bangkok.

“Do you have confidence in the company?” I asked. “I wouldn’t say confidence – I am on the fence,” he replied.

I followed up. “What went through your mind of the flight today?”

He paused. “Er, hopefully I will get here in one piece.”      ​

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