MH370 search to resume Dec 30: New mission to solve aviation's greatest mystery

The decades-long mystery wrapped around the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to unravel on December 30, after 11 years of missing.

Considered as one of aviation’s greatest mysteries, the plane disappeared with 239 people onboard.

A UK-US-marine robotics company, Ocean Infinity, had restarted search earlier this year. Unfortunately, the search was postponed in April on the grounds of harsh weather conditions.

Earlier this month, the Malaysian transport industry announced plans to restart search after months of halt.

Expected to resume on Tuesday, December 30, the search of the seabed would be conducted intermittently over 55 days.

Under the new “no find, no fee” contract with Malaysia, Ocean Infinity will search a new 5,800-sq-mile site in the ocean. In the case of a discovery breakthrough, the company will be paid $70 million.

What happened to Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight?

MH370 flight was enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 when suddenly the flight vanished from air traffic radar along with 227 passengers and 12 Malaysian crew. Passengers onboard belonged to China, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, India, France, the US, Canada, Russia, and Taiwan.

Previous efforts to find MH370 flight

In the wake of the mysterious disappearance, the world’s biggest underwater search operations were conducted.

Australia in collaboration with China and Malaysia covered more than 46,330 sq miles of the seafloor in a far-off area of the southern Indian Ocean. The search was proved futile in 2017.

Ocean Infinity in 2018 carried out a three-month search, which also proved unsuccessful.

Theories wrapped around enigmatic disappearance

A 2018 report prepared by the Malaysian authorities concluded that someone manually steered the plane off course; it was not flying on autopilot. Moreover, the possibility of “unlawful interference by a third party” cannot be ruled out.

However, the report dismissed theories related to mechanical failure and the crashing of the plane by the pilot on purpose.

After more than a decade, the relatives of the missing people are still awaiting answers.

Danica Weeks, whose husband, Paul, who was a passenger, said this month her family have “never stopped wishing for answers”.

She said, “I truly hope this next phase gives us the clarity and peace we’ve been so desperately longing for, for us and our loved ones, since March 8th 2014.”