The most recent search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been suspended because it is “not the right season,” according to the Malaysian Minister of Transport. More than ten years after the plane disappeared, the fate of MH370 remains a mystery.
The search for the missing MH370 has been suspended again. “They have temporarily stopped the operation. The search will resume at the end of this year,” said Minister Anthony Loke in an audio recording sent to AFP on Thursday. “At the moment, it’s not the season.”
This news comes just a few weeks after it was announced that the search had been restarted. Previous attempts to locate the aircraft, including an Australia-led search over an area of 120,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean, only resulted in a few wreckage pieces. The British-American maritime research company Ocean Infinity, which previously searched for the aircraft in 2018 without success, began a new search last month. The operation is once again carried out under the “no find, no fee” principle: the Malaysian government only pays the company if the aircraft is found. “Whether the aircraft will ultimately be found, no one knows. That will only become clear during the further investigation,” Loke said on Thursday.
Uncertainty
Relatives of passengers who were on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in 2014 continue to demand answers from the Malaysian authorities. Despite the fact that it has now been more than ten years since the plane disappeared, the tragedy remains one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history. The disappearance of the Boeing 777, with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, has been the subject of speculation for years. The official investigation report from 2018 concluded that the plane’s course was manually adjusted and that errors were made in air traffic control. However, the exact reason for the disappearance remains unclear. Investigators do not rule out the possibility that someone other than the pilots diverted the aircraft.
Pressure from Relatives
During a memorial gathering marking the tenth anniversary of the disappearance, families of Chinese and Malaysian passengers gathered in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. They remembered their loved ones but also emphasized that the grief and uncertainty continue to this day.
Two-thirds of the passengers were from China. The remaining passengers came from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia. Last month, relatives of Chinese passengers gathered in Beijing, outside government buildings and the Malaysian embassy, demanding clarity.