Malaysia's air force chief has thrown the investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 into murkiness again, by denying that he ever said the missing plane had been tracked by military radar to the Strait of Malacca, far from its planned route.

General Rodzali Daud was quoted by local media as saying that the flight was last detected by military radar at the Strait of Malacca, off Malaysia's west coast.  Similar reports on international media such as CNN were attributed to an unnamed Malaysian official.

But now, General Daud says he “did not make any such statements,” but rather the air force merely had “not ruled out the possibility of an air turn-back.”

In a sign the constant flow of misinformation is wearing on Malaysia’s neighbors, Vietnam is now scaling back its involvement in the search.

“We still have plans to search with a few flights today, while other activities are suspended,” Vietnam’s Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu told reporters.  He said Vietnam had asked Malaysian authorities for information about reports that the plane had changed direction after its last known contact on Saturday but it had yet to receive any response.

Flight MH 370 carried 239 passengers and crew, including six Australians.