Photo by Terry CHAW
The Malaysian government has indicated its agreement in principle to restart the search for a passenger jet that vanished ten years ago, a case that remains one of the most perplexing mysteries in aviation. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 during its journey from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China, with 239 people aboard. Efforts to recover the wreckage of the Boeing 777 have been inconsistent over the years, leaving hundreds of families affected by the incident still in distress. On Friday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that the cabinet has, in principle, approved a $70 million (£56 million) agreement with the US marine exploration firm Ocean Infinity to locate the aircraft.
Ocean Infinity operates under a “no find, no fee” policy, meaning they will only be compensated if the wreckage is located. In 2018, Ocean Infinity undertook a search for the MH370 wreckage under similar conditions, but this effort was unsuccessful and lasted three months. Furthermore, a multinational search that cost $150 million (£120 million) concluded in 2017 after two years of searching extensive ocean areas. The involved governments of Malaysia, Australia, and China indicated that the search would only recommence if credible new evidence regarding the aircraft’s location were to emerge.
A new search operation is set to take place over a 15,000 square kilometre region in the southern Indian Ocean, following the acquisition of new data that Kuala Lumpur has classified as “credible,” as reported by the minister. Minister Loke conveyed his hopes for a successful outcome, remarking that locating the wreckage would offer closure to the families of those who were on board.
Flight MH370 launched from Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of 8 March 2014. Shortly after takeoff, it lost contact with air traffic control, and radar tracking indicated a deviation from its designated flight path. Investigators predominantly believe that the aircraft crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, although the reasons behind this occurrence remain ambiguous. In the years that followed its disappearance, several debris items, thought to be from the aircraft, have been discovered along the Indian Ocean coastline.
In 2018, an investigation into the disappearance of the aircraft revealed that the controls were likely manipulated with intent to change its course; however, it did not provide any conclusions regarding the perpetrator. Investigators noted at the time that “a conclusive answer can only be reached if the wreckage is found.”
