By Rachel Roberts
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will resume on Dec. 30, the Malaysian government announced, more than a decade after the Beijing-bound plane vanished in what is widely regarded as the world’s greatest aviation mystery.
The Boeing 777 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members when it disappeared 38 minutes after take-off from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
It was flying over the South China Sea when it abruptly disappeared from air traffic control, with its last voice contact made at 1:19 a.m. local time.
More than 150 Chinese nationals were passengers on the doomed flight, along with 50 Malaysians, including the crew and citizens of the United States, Canada, France, Australia, Indonesia, India, Ukraine, and other countries.
Many Theories Advanced
Many theories have been advanced to explain how the plane came to crash into the sea, but without the “black box” flight recorder or recovery of major wreckage, they remain speculative. The majority of theories have focused on the pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.
Multiple search operations for the plane have since been carried out, but no trace of the main body of the plane or passengers has ever been found. Debris—some confirmed and some believed to be from the aircraft—has washed up along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean.
The most recent search in the southern Indian Ocean was called off in April after just a few weeks because of poor weather conditions.
British marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity has confirmed plans to recommence seabed operations for more than 55 days, conducted intermittently, Malaysia’s transport ministry said.
“The search will be carried out in targeted area assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft,” it said in a statement.
The Malaysian government’s 495-page report into the disappearance, carried out by an international team and published in 2018, found that the Boeing 777’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated as the plane made a turn back after going off course, with investigators believing the plane was manually turned around in mid-air and not under the control of autopilot.
While the report said that the “possibility of intervention by a third party” could not be ruled out. Investigators found that while there was no evidence of a mechanical failure, this could not be definitively ruled out.
The report stopped short of offering a conclusion as to what happened, saying that could not be done without finding the main wreckage, including the black box.
Investigators said they did not find anything suspicious in the background, financial affairs, mental health, or training of either the captain or the co-pilot.
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in February 2020 that Malaysian authorities suspected Shah of having murdered the passengers by deliberately crashing the plane.
“My very clear understanding, from the very top levels of the Malaysian government, is that from very, very early on, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot,” Abbott, who was prime minister when the plane went missing, told Sky in the documentary “MH370: The Untold Story.”
The resumed search for the wreckage will be in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed upon between Ocean Infinity and the Malaysian government, the ministry said. The company carried out prior searches for the plane up until 2018, but failed to find substantive wreckage.
No Find, No Fee
In a “no find, no fee” contract, Malaysia will pay the firm $70 million only if substantive wreckage is found this time during the new seabed search, which will take place in an area of the southern Indian Ocean covering 5,790 square miles.
Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett earlier this year said the company, which operates in the United States and the United Kingdom, had improved its technology since 2018. According to Malaysian media, he said the firm was working with various experts to analyze data and had narrowed the search area to the most likely site.
Following the flight’s disappearance, 19 vessels and 345 sorties by military aircraft searched more than 4.6 million square kilometers (1.8 million square miles) of ocean.
That effort was suspended in January 2017, after no evidence was found other than debris on the African coast.
It had been the most expensive search operation in aviation history, with Malaysia estimated to have spent $13.5 million, Australia around $132 million, and other countries involved having also contributed sizable sums.
A year after the official search was called off, Ocean Infinity announced plans to resume the search using the chartered Norwegian ship Seabed Constructor in a narrowed area of 25,000 square kilometers (9,700 square miles).
The Malaysian government gave the go-ahead on the condition that payment would only be made if wreckage was found. The attempt was unsuccessful and called off in May 2018.
There were several more formal investigations by various countries, including one by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Investigators said the inability to bring closure to victims’ families was a tragedy and “almost inconceivable” given the technology and resources available.
Lawsuits Ongoing
Relatives in China are involved in a lawsuit seeking compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce, and the Allianz insurance group, among others.
The families of those onboard have long campaigned for the resumption of search operations, saying that an explanation is needed to prevent another such tragedy.
MH370 family support group Voice370 released a statement on the 11th anniversary of the disappearance in March, expressing gratitude for the Malaysian government’s approval for the new search.
“One year ago, at our 10th Remembrance Event, our hopes of solving this mystery were buoyed by Ocean Infinity’s new offer to conduct another ‘no find, no fee’ search,” they said in a statement, reported by Malaysian news outlet The Star.
“It made our remembrance event meaningful, bringing renewed hopes for closure.”
Reuters and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
