A new search to find a missing Malaysian Airlines plane has begun this week.
MH370 disappeared from the radar over the Indian Ocean in 2014, carrying 239 passengers.
Marine exploration company Ocean Infinity has been tasked with the new investigation, which will cover 15,000km².
A 2018 search by the company was unsuccessful, as was a multi-national investigation.
Background
In March 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from the radar partway through its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane was carrying 239 people.
After the disappearance, a large search was conducted by Malaysia, China and Australia. The search lasted four years and cost approximately $AU200 million.
In 2015, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said: “The disappearance of MH370 is without precedent, and... the search [is] by far the most complex and technically challenging in aviation history.”
New search
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In December 2024, Malaysia agreed to resume the search with maritime exploration company Ocean Infinity on a “no-find-no-fee” basis.
The Malaysian Government said the company will receive $US70 million ($AU111 million) if the wreckage is found within 18 months.
Ocean Infinity previously conducted an unsuccessful search in 2018.
This time, they plan to search 15,000km² which has not been investigated before.
Response
Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the company is “confident this area will come back with a positive result.”
“They have convinced us that they are ready to take the risk and to resume the search. That’s why the Malaysian government is proceeding with it.”
Grace Nathan, whose mother was onboard MH370, told international newswire AFP her family is “very relieved and pleased that the search is resuming once again after such a long hiatus.”
