Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia is investigating five people who checked in to fly on the missing Malaysia Airlines 3786.KU -4.00% flight but didn't show up at the gate to board, an official said Monday.
Malaysia hasn't disclosed details about the five people, who haven't contacted media with their stories about why they skipped Flight MH370 to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
The five people checked in individually, a Malaysia government official told The Wall Street Journal. He declined to be named because the matter is under investigation.
The official said the individuals aren't under custody. The investigation is part of a routine exercise to check everybody who was on the plane or was supposed to be on it, he added.
"It happens all the time, and I've seen even more than five passengers missing their plane," said Martin Eran Tasker, an aviation safety expert with the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.
Mr. Tasker said if bags aren't loaded on the aircraft for some reason, they typically undergo additional security checks, and the passenger has to wait for the bags to arrive if he or she has a connecting flight.
As per rules set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the checked-in bags of such passengers have to be removed from the plane.
10/03/14 Gaurav Raghuvanshi/Wall Street Journal
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Malaysia hasn't disclosed details about the five people, who haven't contacted media with their stories about why they skipped Flight MH370 to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
The five people checked in individually, a Malaysia government official told The Wall Street Journal. He declined to be named because the matter is under investigation.
The official said the individuals aren't under custody. The investigation is part of a routine exercise to check everybody who was on the plane or was supposed to be on it, he added.
"It happens all the time, and I've seen even more than five passengers missing their plane," said Martin Eran Tasker, an aviation safety expert with the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.
Mr. Tasker said if bags aren't loaded on the aircraft for some reason, they typically undergo additional security checks, and the passenger has to wait for the bags to arrive if he or she has a connecting flight.
As per rules set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the checked-in bags of such passengers have to be removed from the plane.
10/03/14 Gaurav Raghuvanshi/Wall Street Journal
