Malaysia Says Search For Missing MH370 To Resume December 30, More Than A Decade After Disappearance

Malaysia’s transport ministry announced on Wednesday that the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will resume on December 30, more than 11 years after the Boeing 777 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014. The flight was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members when it disappeared, sparking one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

The ministry said the new search will be conducted by exploration firm Ocean Infinity over 55 days, carried out intermittently in areas assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft. The precise location of the search zone has not been disclosed. The operation follows an agreement under which Malaysia will pay Ocean Infinity $70 million if substantive wreckage is discovered in the southern Indian Ocean, covering roughly 15,000 square kilometres.

Previous search efforts, including the latest in the southern Indian Ocean suspended in April due to poor weather, have failed to locate the plane. Ocean Infinity had also conducted prior searches up until 2018 without success.

Investigators have considered the possibility that Flight MH370 was deliberately taken off course. Debris, some confirmed and some believed to be from the aircraft, has washed ashore along Africa’s coast and on Indian Ocean islands. A 2018 report suggested that the plane’s controls were likely manipulated to deviate from its flight path, but investigators could not determine who was responsible, leaving the mystery unresolved pending discovery of the wreckage.

Authorities have said there was nothing suspicious regarding the background, financial affairs, training, or mental health of the captain and co-pilot.

The flight carried more than 150 Chinese passengers, along with 50 Malaysians and citizens from France, Australia, Indonesia, India, the United States, Ukraine, Canada, and other countries. Families of the passengers continue to seek compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and the Allianz insurance group.

The Malaysian transport ministry confirmed that the resumed search will follow the agreed terms with Ocean Infinity, aiming to finally uncover substantive wreckage that could solve the decade-long mystery of Flight MH370.

Melissa Enoch