Malaysian police are investigating a third case in 12 months of suspected sabotage involving a Malaysia Airlines plane, after wires were severed in an Airbus A330. Police said on Thursday the plane had been grounded at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Tuesday after ground crew found some electrical wires had been cut inside the aircraft, which was being prepared for a flight to Bangkok. Assistant Commissioner Abdul Rasman Hussin said police were not treating the sabotage as terrorism and suspected someone inside the airline was responsible, though he declined to speculate about a motive. "No, there's no connection with terrorism," he said. "We suspect an inside job and we're trying to narrow down (a list of suspects)," he said, adding that police were combing through lists of all the airline's staff with access to aircraft.
Malaysia Airlines said it had stepped up security again after the latest incident but declined to comment further. Assistant Commissioner Abdul Rasman declined to give details on the severed wiring. The Star newspaper said on Thursday it was found under an instrument panel below the flight captain's seat after flight systems indicated a malfunction. Two Malaysia Airlines planes were grounded late last year after wires were found to be tampered with -- an Airbus bound for Perth, Australia, in October and a Boeing jet bound for Bombay in November, local media reported. "It's not the same wiring (as in the previous cases) but is in the same location (of the plane)," Abdul Rasman said. Police detained and questioned 14 airline maintenance staff after the first incident late last year. But police said on Thursday they had yet to identify a suspect. |