THE FIRST detailed report on MH370 has raised questions about 221kg of lithium ion batteries that were not screened before being loaded onto the aircraft.

Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation released its interim report on Sunday, a year to the day after the Malaysia Airlines’ jet disappeared shortly after leaving Kuala Lumpur to fly to Beijing.

More than 120 people were interviewed by investigators, including family and friends of the flight crew.

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media_camera Search for truth ... relatives of MH370 passengers leave Yonghegong Lama Temple after a gathering in Beijiung last week.

The 584-page report provided a list of facts relating to the flight, including detailed information about the pilot and first officer, and a breakdown of the cargo being carried by the Boeing 777.

That included lithium-ion batteries, that were inspected physically by Malaysia Airlines’ cargo officers but did not go through security screening in Penang.

Because they were packed according to International Civil Aviation Organisation standards, the batteries were not regulated as “dangerous goods”, the report said.

American carriers United Airlines and Delta announced just last week they would no longer carry bulk shipments of lithium-ion batteries after Federal Aviation Administration tests found overheating batteries could cause major fires.

A US aviation safety expert has described lithium batteries as a rising threat to aviation, but has dismissed suggestions they may have led to MH370’s disappearance.

media_camera Last image ... the report confirmed it was Captain Zaharie who uttered the words “Goodnight Malaysia three-seven-zero” as MH370 left Kuala Lumpur

Captain John Cox who runs Safety Operating Systems in Washington DC, said the Royal Aeronautical Society recently published an update to their document “Smoke and fire in Transport Aircraft” with a good section devoted to lithium battery risks.

“Is there a link to MH370? Probably not,” said Capt Cox.

“Never before in history had a fire onboard disabled an aircraft in a similar manner to MH370.

“Furthermore, a fire has never lasted seven-plus hours. In every previous case the flight crew was able to, and did, notify Air Traffic Control of the fire.”

Capt Cox believes it is far more likely a deliberate act by someone on board with extensive knowledge of aircraft computer systems was responsible for flying MH370 off course and into a watery grave in the remote southern Indian Ocean.

media_camera Devastation .... relatives take part in a remembrance event in Kuala Lumpur.

The report pointed out Malaysia Airlines carried 99 shipments of the batteries to Beijing from January to May last year.

Another issue highlighted by the report, was the expiry of the battery in an underwater locator beacon (ULB), that may have helped searchers locate the aircraft.

The ULB on the aircraft’s flight data recorder may have been out of action for more than a year, after its battery was due to expire in December 2012.

However the cockpit voice recorder’s underwater locator beacon should have been operational. Its battery had a use by date of June 2014, the report noted.

In relation to Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the report found nothing out of the ordinary about his behaviour on the evening of the flight, and no “motive” in his personal life.

Most experts have concluded that the captain was the most likely cause of MH370’s bizarre disappearance suggesting he deliberately decompressed the cabin before flying the aircraft to a remote watery grave in the southern Indian Ocean.

media_camera Search efforts ... Flight MH370 vanished without trace a year ago.

Closed circuit television recordings were examined to compare his behaviour and that of First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid on the day of the flight and before other flights.

“On all the CCTV recordings the appearance was similar, that is, well groomed and attired,” said the report in relation to the captain.

“The gait, posture, facial expressions and mannerism were his normal characteristics.”

Voice experts were used to analyse the few messages exchanged by Air Traffic Control officers with the aircraft, but the findings were not stated.

The report confirmed it was Captain Zaharie who uttered the words “Goodnight Malaysia three-seven-zero” as MH370 left Kuala Lumpur airspace, 38 minutes after takeoff.

To date, no trace of the Boeing 777 has been found by searchers, despite extensive air searches, and since October, an exhaustive underwater search.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said a new search would be launched for MH370 if the current mission in the southern Indian Ocean failed to find the aircraft.

“If we don’t succeed in this search, there is another search we intend to make,” Mr Abbott said.

“We owe it to the families of the dead, we owe it to the travelling public to do whatever we possibly can to resolve this mystery.

“It is one of the great mysteries of the 21st century and I know that there will be a nagging doubt in the minds of billions of people until such time as we can find that plane.”

The Federal Government allocated $89.9 million in last year’s budget for the search.

Originally published as MH370: batteries were not screened