Search resumes for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in Indian Ocean
Nearly eleven years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished, a new search effort is set to begin in the southern Indian Ocean.
(NBC)- Nearly eleven years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished, a new search effort is set to begin in the southern Indian Ocean.
The renewed mission will focus on a 5,800-square-mile area off the coast of western Australia — a region believed to offer the highest likelihood of locating wreckage from the aircraft. The search will be led by Ocean Infinity, an American marine exploration company, using advanced underwater drones and deep-sea scanning technology.
The company will only be paid if the aircraft is found. Officials have not confirmed whether new evidence prompted the renewed effort, but Malaysian authorities say they are committed to doing whatever is necessary to bring closure.
The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8, 2014, while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board. Less than an hour into the flight, the plane vanished without a distress call.
A multinational search covering more than 46,000 square miles of ocean ended in 2017 without locating the aircraft. Since then, only scattered debris — some washing ashore as far away as Réunion Island — has been recovered.
Aviation experts say advances in technology could make the difference this time.
“There’s reason to be hopeful,” said NBC News aviation analyst John Cox. “They’re using the newest technology, they’re searching at a good time of year, and they know where they’ve already looked.”
For families of the victims, including Americans, the renewed search brings both hope and painful memories. More than two-thirds of those on board were Chinese nationals. Just this month, a Beijing court ordered Malaysia Airlines to pay compensation in several cases — though families say money cannot replace answers.
“Only by finding the plane and our relatives will this ever be resolved,” said Jiang Hui, who lost his mother on the flight. “Otherwise, it will always weigh on everyone’s hearts.”
The search is expected to last up to 55 days and reach depths of nearly six miles, as investigators once again try to solve one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.
