By Joe EdwardsShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberMalaysian authorities are renewing efforts to locate Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, more than a decade after the aircraft disappeared.
Why It Matters
Malaysia's announcement to resume the search for MH370 marks a fresh development in one of the aviation world's most enduring mysteries. The disappearance of MH370 in 2014, with 239 people on board, has prompted international searches, theories and ongoing grief among families awaiting answers.
What To Know
The Malaysian Transport Ministry has confirmed that the deep-sea search for MH370 will recommence on December 30.
This decision follows more than a decade of attempts to locate substantial wreckage from the Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Of the 239 people on board, the majority were Chinese nationals, along with citizens from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, India, the United States and other countries.
According to the Malaysian Transport Ministry, the U.S.- and U.K.-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity will search intermittently from December 30 for a total of 55 days in a "targeted area assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft."
...In March, an agreement was finalized to conduct searches in a 15,000 square kilometer (5,800 square mile) sector of the southern Indian Ocean, with Ocean Infinity contracted under a "no-find, no-fee" agreement, the Associated Press reported. Malaysia will pay $70 million if wreckage is found, according to the outlet.
In April, an attempt to locate MH370 was suspended because of poor weather.
A 2018 report into the disappearance concluded that the aircraft's controls were likely deliberately manipulated but did not identify a responsible party or offer conclusive details, noting that definitive answers would require the wreckage to be located, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
What People Are Saying
The Malaysian Transport Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday: "The latest development underscores the Government of Malaysia's commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy."
Usama Kadri, a researcher at Cardiff University, previously told Newsweek: "Airplane crashes in the sea are rare and mostly found within a short time. Crashes involve many variables—from size, speed, to mode of impact—which can result in different signals to no signals at all."
What Happens Next
If the search does not yield results, families and the global aviation community may continue to await answers. But should substantive wreckage be found, it may provide closure for families and enable investigators to determine the cause of one of aviation's most confounding disappearances.
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