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New Delhi: The quest to answer one of the world’s most elusive aviation mysteries is about to start again. Malaysia’s transport ministry on Wednesday confirmed that a deep-sea hunt for the now mythic Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will resume December 30. It has reignited hopes of finally locating the aircraft that vanished without a trace more than a decade ago.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite one of the largest and most expensive multinational search operations in aviation history, the reasons behind its disappearance and its crash site have never been found.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which was a Boeing 777 plane, disappeared from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014. It was carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals on a flight from Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane turned from its designated path, heading south to the far-southern Indian Ocean.
The crew of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 last spoke to air traffic control about 38 minutes after taking off, while the plane was flying over the South China Sea. Soon after that, it disappeared from civilian radar. However, Malaysia’s military radar continued to track it for almost another hour. The last known radar contact was roughly 200 nautical miles northwest of Penang Island, after which the jet vanished without any further trace.
After it went missing, one of the largest and most expensive multinational search operations in aviation history commenced. From the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait to the Indian Ocean, no definitive crash site was ever found. After three years of extensive search operations, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre heading the operation suspended its activities in January 2017.
The complete absence of reasons and the fact that a crash site was never found has made the MH370 one of the most intriguing and long-standing aviation mysteries of modern times. Despite the total lack of answers, the fact that some aspects were known or assumed, made it a point of global speculation and conspiracy theory. Radar systems information, satellite tracking gaps, last cockpit communications and probable flight path speculations have made the MH370 one of the most talked about aviation incidents in the world.
With newer technology now coming in, like advanced methods of interpreting satellite data, ocean drift modelling, and advanced deep-sea scanning technologies, proposals to resume the search for the missing aircraft have been going on for some time now.
It is in context to this, that the announcement to renew the search by the Malaysian government is important. As the country’s transport ministry said in a statement, the US-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity will search intermittently from December 30, for a total of 55 days. It will restrict the search in targeted areas believed to have the highest likelihood of finding the missing aircraft.
“The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia’s commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy,” the ministry said. Malaysia’s government reportedly gave the green light in March for a “no-find, no-fee” contract with Ocean Infinity to resume the seabed search operations. Ocean Infinity will reportedly be paid $70 million only if wreckage is discovered.
