The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines’ flight MH370 may go down as one of the great mysteries of the 21st century as authorities officially end the underwater search.
Families of the 239 passengers and crew, who went missing a little under three years ago when the Boeing 777-200ER fell off the radar, may never know what happened to their loved ones after being notified this week that investigation teams had called it quits by order of Australian, Chinese and Malaysian governments.
The aircraft was less than one hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared over the South China Sea. It was tracked by Malaysian military for another hour, but they eventually lost contact somewhere near the Andaman Sea.
Search parties from China, Australia and Malaysia have worked closely together since 8 March 2014 to locate the wreckage, but were only able to confirm a single piece of debris, a right wing flaperon, which was discovered on a beach in Saint-Andre on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean.
In a statement, Malaysia Airlines System Berhad (MAS) said the search over the last two years and 10 months has been “thorough and comprehensive”, covering nearly 120,000 square kilometres of the South Indian Ocean.
Malaysia Airlines’ parent company said it shares “in the sorrow that the search has not produced the outcome that everyone had hoped for”.
“MAS remains hopeful that in the near feature, new and significant information will come to light and the aircraft would eventually be located.”
Malaysia Airlines System Berhad
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are affected by this tragedy. We have lost a part of our family and they will forever be remembered.”
Since the announcement, families of missing passengers and even politicians have expressed their disappointment in the decision, saying there’s a duty to the travelling public to locate the aircraft remains and determine the cause of the crash.
Voice370, a representative of the next of kin, demanded the three governments reverse the decision and expand the search by another 25,000 square kilometres area, ABC News reported.
“In our view, extending the search to the new area defined by the experts is an inescapable duty owed to the flying public in the interest of aviation safety.”
Voice370
“Stopping at this stage is nothing short of irresponsible, and betrays a shocking lack of faith in the data, tools and recommendations of an array of official experts assembled by authorities themselves.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott voiced disappointment on Twitter, saying it should continue if “some experts think there are better places to look”.
Disappointed that the search for MH370 has been called off. Especially if some experts think there are better places to look.
— Tony Abbott (@HonTonyAbbott) January 17, 2017
In the three years the aircraft has been missing, various theories have emerged to try and explain the plane’s disappearance including one from Maldivian locals that say they saw a large jet on 8 March that was flying low enough for them to make out the Malaysia Airlines white, red and blue livery.
A Malaysian satellite expert, Zaaim Redha Abdul Rahman, said in August 2015 that he believes the plane may have glided into the water, “floated for a while” and then sunk in one piece, which would explain the struggle in locating scattered debris across the ocean.
There was also a Canadian safety expert who believes MH370 was deliberately flown into the ocean, however, this was ruled out by Australian investigators who said the aircraft was not brought down by a suicidal pilot.
