Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Mysteriously Went Missing in 2014 With 239 Passengers

Malaysia’s Transport Ministry announced that the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is kicking back up on December 30, more than ten years after the aircraft vanished with 239 people aboard. The operation will be spearheaded by Texas-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity.

MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing. Radar contact was lost about 90 seconds after the aircraft exited Malaysian airspace, and despite a massive multi-national, multi-year search effort, no confirmed wreckage site has ever been found. As a result, the disappearance remains one of the most persistent mysteries in modern aviation.

Though previous searches have been, for all intents and purposes, unsuccessful, officials have still collected significant evidence over the years. Investigators determined through satellite analysis that the Boeing 777 diverted from its planned route and flew south into the remote Indian Ocean. The aircraft is believed to have crashed in some of the deepest and most inaccessible waters on Earth. Several pieces of debris confirmed to be from MH370 washed ashore along the coast of East Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean, but none led to the main wreckage.

According to the Transport Ministry, Ocean Infinity will conduct a targeted 55-day deep-sea search in areas considered to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft. These zones were identified through updated modeling and previous search data. The ministry emphasized that the renewed effort aims to provide long-awaited clarity to families who have spent more than a decade without answers.

The operation will be carried out under a “no-find, no-fee” agreement, meaning Ocean Infinity will be paid up to $70 million only if the wreckage is located within the designated 5,800-square-mile search area. Malaysia granted final approval for the effort earlier this year.

The upcoming search is Ocean Infinity’s second chance to find MH370. The company last looked for the flight in 2018 and, obviously, didn’t find much… but this time around, it claims its autonomous underwater vehicles and data-processing capabilities are much more advanced.

"The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia’s commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy," the Transport Ministry said.

FMI: https://oceaninfinity.com