Malaysia agrees to resume search for missing passenger plane

The Malaysian government says it has agreed in principle to continue the search for a passenger plane that disappeared a decade ago in one of aviation’s biggest mysteries.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Efforts to locate the Boeing 777 wreckage have failed over the years and hundreds of families of the passengers on board are still haunted by the tragedy.

On Friday, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the Cabinet had approved in principle a $70 million (£56 million) deal with US marine research company Ocean Infinity to search for the plane.

Under a “no find, no fee” agreement, Ocean Infinity will not be paid until the wreck is found.

A 2018 search by Ocean Infinity under similar conditions ended unsuccessfully after three months.

A multinational operation that cost $150 million ended in 2017 after two years of searching vast bodies of water.

While the government has accepted Ocean Infinity’s offer “in principle”, Loke said negotiations on specific terms of the deal were still ongoing and would be completed early next year.

The new search will cover a 15,000 square kilometer area in the southern Indian Ocean and is based on new data that Kuala Lumpur has found “credible”, the minister said.

“We hope that this time there will be a positive outcome,” Loke said, adding that the discovery of the wreckage would bring closure to the families of those on board.

Relatives of MH370 passengers welcomed the Malaysian government’s approval of a new search.

“I’m so happy about the news… It feels like the best Christmas present ever,” Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of MH370 flight chief Patrick Gomes, told the New Straits Times.

“This announcement evokes mixed emotions – hope, gratitude and sadness. After almost 11 years, the uncertainty and pain of not having answers has been incredibly difficult for us,” Intan Maizura Othaman also told the newspapers. Her husband, Mohd Hazrin Mohamed Hasnan, was a member of the cabin crew.

Jiang Hui, whose mother was on the plane, told Reuters the Malaysian government needed to take a “more open approach” to the search to allow more players to take part.

Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett called the Malaysian government’s decision “great news” in a statement, adding: “We look forward to providing further updates in the new year once we have finalized the details and the team is ready to go.” is.”

Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of March 8, 2014. Less than an hour after takeoff, he lost communication with air traffic control and radar indicated he deviated from his planned flight path.

Investigators generally agree that the plane crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean – although it is unclear why it happened.

Debris believed to be from the plane washed up on the shores of the Indian Ocean in the years following its disappearance.

Numerous conspiracy theories have arisen surrounding the plane’s disappearance, from speculation that the pilot intentionally crashed the plane to claims that it was shot down by a foreign military.

An investigation into the plane’s disappearance in 2018 concluded that the plane’s controls were likely intentionally tampered with to throw it off course, but did not reveal who was behind it.

Investigators said at the time that “the answer can only be conclusive if the wreckage is found.”