Malaysia Considers New Search For Missing MH370 Plane

4 Mar 2024

Forbes

Topline

Malaysia’s government is willing to reopen its investigation into the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines’ flight MH370 if new evidence emerges, the country’s prime minister said Monday, after another government official indicated a new underwater search may be conducted for the plane that went missing a decade ago.

Visitors are writing messages at the Day of Remembrance for MH370 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

NurPhoto via Getty Images Key Facts

On the sidelines of an ASEAN gathering in Melbourne, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told reporters that his government would “certainly be happy to reopen” the probe into the flight’s disappearance if there was “compelling evidence,” AFP reported.

Ibrahim added that this was an issue “affecting the lives of people and whatever needs to be done must be done.”

Ibrahim’s remarks follow comments by Transport Minister Anthony Loke on Sunday that he may agree to a new underwater search for the missing plane—which is widely believed to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

While addressing the passenger’s relatives at a 10th-anniversary memorial event, Loke said he was ready to meet with American marine robotics and deep ocean exploration company Ocean Infinity to discuss the firm’s “no find, no fee” proposal for a new search.

The minister said after talking with Ocean Infinity, he would take its proposal to the country’s cabinet for approval on the financial terms but added that cost was not an issue.

Loke said the government is “steadfast in our resolve to locate MH370” and hopes the search can find the plane, leading to “tears of joy” from some family members in attendance, the Associated Press reported.

News Peg

The Austin, Texas-based Ocean Infinity has submitted a proposal for a new underwater search for the missing airliner, the New Straits Times reported Sunday, citing the company’s CEO Oliver Plunkett. The company was involved in an unsuccessful deep-sea search for the plane in 2018. Plunkett said new technology and advanced robotics have enhanced its capabilities since then and the company is now in a “position to be able to return to the search for MH370.” The company’s chief said Ocean Infinity has worked with several experts to analyze available data on the missing plane to help narrow the search area “down to one in which success becomes potentially achievable.” The report didn’t mention any financial terms for the proposal, aside from the fact that it was “no cure, no fee,” which means the company will only be paid if there’s a successful outcome. Loke also did not divulge the fee Ocean Infinity has proposed for finding the aircraft’s remains, stating it was subject to negotiations, the AP report added.

Key Background

The Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight scheduled to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board unexpectedly disappeared almost exactly a decade ago. The disappearance remains one of the most confounding aviation mysteries of the last few decades as the flight’s remains and the exact location of its presumed crash have yet to be determined. Multination aerial, satellite, surface, and underwater search efforts have failed to yield any conclusive details about what happened to the plane and the location of its remains although it is widely presumed to be somewhere in the remote reaches of the southern Indian Ocean. A few pieces of debris which are believed to be part of the aircraft have turned up on the coasts of eastern Africa and islands in the Indian ocean. With the tenth anniversary of the disappearance coming up this week, families of the people on board the aircraft have been demanding a new search, something the government had previously expressed reluctance about.