The Malaysian airliner incident worries all CPPCC members attending the meetings in Beijing. Many either sent out their prayers to the families or tried to help through relevant aviation knowledge. [Xinhua photo]

As the second annual session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) draws to an end, the Malaysian airliner incident has worried all CPPCC members attending the meetings in Beijing. Many either sent out their prayers to the families or tried to help through relevant aviation knowledge.

China, joined by the international community, on Tuesday upped the presence of its rescue and search forces in search of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, but no substantial clues have been retrieved so far. The aircraft was headed from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it suddenly vanished off the radar in the earliest hours on March 8 while carrying on board 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Among the passengers, 154 are Chinese.

Taoist master Huang Xinyang, vice president of the China Taoist Association, told China.org.cn yesterday, "I'm extremely worried about the fate of my fellow citizens, just like their families and the entire nation. I'm hoping to hear good news and my heart is with them always."

Yu Wenliang, a Christian priest from Yunnan Province, is appealing to China's society, religious groups and civil groups, together with several other CPPCC members, to offer the passengers' families comfort and help. He said he wanted to send the following words to them, "For those who love us, we must live on."

CPPCC expert members analyze the incident

Song Jiahui, former safety director with the Ministry of Transport, said with a heavy heart that if the plane had disintegrated in the air, the pilots would not have had the time to issue any signal, "We hope they are safe, but from what we know, it is not good; at this point, a terrorist attack also remains a possibility."

Chief designer for Y-20 and Transport-20 Tang Changhong denied the suggestion that the plane might have been too old. "It is still young since it has served for only 11.8 years. Nowadays, the average life span of a plane is designed to be 25 to 30 years." Tang added a malfunction may have possibly occurred while in the air, which would have brought on a power cut and, as the result, no signal was sent out. He still holds hopes that the plane was forced to make an emergency landing somewhere.

Ye Peijian, chief designer of Chang'e-1, the country's first moon probe, and chief commander of the Chang'e-2 and Chang'e-3 missions, was asked about China urgently mobilizing 10 satellites to help the search and rescue efforts. Ye replied that even though the satellites are very helpful, the search would only be successful if the plane has a digital signal, the satellites are traveling through the right areas and the satellites carry with a sufficiently high enough image resolution.

"The seas are a vast place," he said, "It is very of limited power for one country to do so. If the whole world united, there would be a sound number of satellites which could do the job. Then the hopes of finding the missing jet might be bigger," he said.

Wu Renbiao, a CPPCC member and vice president of the Civil Aviation University of China, said it is still too early to pass any judgment before the plane is eventually located. "Don't resort to speculation; everything relies on data, including the data from Malaysian Airlines, monitors, radar, authorities and the black box of the plane -- if this can be retrieved in the future."

Urgent need to establish a rescue port

Yin Zhuo, a CPPCC member and China's PLA Navy's rear admiral, said that China's submersible and salvage technologies are among the top of the world. "Our divers can go down to 300 meters in the ocean, while the suspected water areas where the missing plane may have crashed are just 50-60 meters deep. So if we locate the plane, we can do the salvage," he stated confidently.

However, he said, China's search and rescue capabilities are not strong enough at the South China Sea. During the CPPCC session last year, Yin actually submitted a proposal to ask the Chinese government to strengthen the construction of rescue infrastructure and rescue teams, as well as the rescue wharf and airport.

"As we can see from the Malaysia airliner incident, China's ships are slower to arrive at the actual rescue areas. It is one day later than both Vietnam and Malaysia. And the navy vessels are even two days late. This is not good. If we have a rescue wharf and airport at Nansha Island, we could dispatch aircrafts and ships immediately."

Yin added that China should establish a permanent mechanism together with other neighboring nations to coordinate any future rescue missions.

Song Jiahui, who once oversaw Yantai, Dalian and Hainan rescue missions, said China's rescue teams are very good after decades of development. Yet the capabilities and approaches remain a little weak. She agreed that China should establish a complex rescue base near the South China Sea, which would provide good service and a strategic meaning in the international waters. "I hope the government will consider this," she said.

Artists send out their prayers

As one previous report stated, a 20-strong group of Chinese painting and calligraphy artists were also on board flight MH370, to the great concern and sadness of China's cultural world.

Feng Yuan, vice president of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said that as far as the passengers are concerned, no matter which countries or industries they stem from, the hopes for their safety and survival remain in the people's hearts. "I pray they can survive," he said.

Mei Baojiu, a famous Peking Opera master, said he hoped the plane could be located and the reason behind its vanishing could be uncovered as soon as possible, "It is heartbreaking [for the families] not knowing where their beloved ones are. Please find them and let the families know." He also hoped the aviation department could strengthen future safety checks.

Painter Wang Guoxin also voiced the current concerns in his heart and mind, and said he was hoping for a "good result." "This incident also tells people that you have to be cautious even when you are living safely. And that you should achieve as many things as possible, in a life with limited time, to let your life shine. "