New search for MH370 in ‘targeted area’ 11 years after Malaysia Airlines flight mysteriously vanished
A renewed search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will resume this month, more than a decade after the plane’s disappearance.
On 8 March 2014, the Boeing 777 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.
Despite multiple major search efforts, neither the wreckage nor the bodies have been found and it remains one of aviation’s most enduring mysteries.
Malaysia’s transport ministry confirmed the search will continue on the 30 December, after a recent attempt to search the southern Indian Ocean in April was suspended due to bad weather.
The ministry said: “The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia’s commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy.”
Exploration firm Ocean Infinity has confirmed it will resume seabed operations for 55 intermittent days.
The transport ministry stated: “The search will be carried out in targeted area assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft,” though no precise location for this new search area has been disclosed.
Under the terms agreed between the Malaysian government and Ocean Infinity, the firm stands to receive $70 million if substantial wreckage is discovered within a 15,000 sq km (5,790 sq miles) area of the southern Indian Ocean.
Despite numerous extensive search operations conducted over the years, all previous efforts to locate the aircraft have proven unsuccessful.
Malaysian investigators previously did not rule out the possibility that the aircraft was deliberately diverted from its course.
More than 30 pieces of suspected aircraft debris have been collected along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean, but only three wing fragments were confirmed to be from MH370.
Most of the debris was used in drift pattern analysis in the hopes of narrowing down the aircraft’s possible location.
Beijing has welcome the renewed operation, as Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “We appreciate the efforts made by the Malaysian side.”
The last transmission from the plane was about 40 minutes after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah signed off with “Good night, Malaysian three seven zero”, as the plane entered Vietnamese airspace.
