It has agreed in principle to reopen its investigation into the disappearance of flight MH370, the country’s transport minister said today, more than 10 years since it disappeared from radar in one of the world’s greatest mysteries.
It disappeared while flying
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
Transport Minister Anthony Locke said the proposal to search a new area in the southern Indian Ocean came from marine research firm Ocean Infinity, which had also carried out the last search for the plane which ended in 2018.
The company will receive 70 million. dollars if significant debris is found, Locke said at a news conference.
“Our responsibility, obligation and commitment is to the relatives,” he said.
“We hope this time will be positive, that debris will be found and we will provide an ‘epilogue’ to the families.”
Investigators from Malaysia had initially not ruled out the possibility that the aircraft had deliberately deviated from its course.
The fruitless tracking searches
Debris, some confirmed to be from the aircraft and some believed to be parts of it, washed up along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean.
More than 150 Chinese passengers were on that flight, with their relatives seeking compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce and insurer Allianz, among others.
Malaysia commissioned Ocean Infinity in 2018 to explore the southern Indian Ocean, offering up to 70 million dollars if the plane was located, but two attempts were unsuccessful.
There had been previous underwater research by Malaysia, Australia and China in an area of 120,000 square meters. kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean, based on data from automatic links between an Inmarsat satellite and the aircraft.
Source: APE – MEB
