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Associated Press

Families of those onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 said Monday they will mount a debris-hunting trip to Madagascar to search for clues to what happened to the missing plane.
Investigators have identified six pieces of wreckage to have either definitely or almost certainly come from the jet, which vanished with 239 people while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.
Voice 370, a family association, said the debris collected so far has all been found off Africa’s east coast.
“Despite these hugely important finds, there has been no systematic, organised search by any responsible party. This leaves the (next-of-kin) no other choice except to take it upon ourselves to do something to find answers and closure,” it said in a statement.
An ongoing search in the southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is believed to have crashed, has been fruitless and could be suspended soon.


Grace Subathirai Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy was on the flight, said she will be going to Madagascar with three other Malaysians, two Chinese and a French next-of-kin. She said the group is financing the December 3-11 trip from their own pockets.
“We hope to mobilise the fishing villagers and coastal population to be on the constant lookout for new debris that could become new credible evidence,” she said.
The Voice 370 statement said the seven-member team will focus their search along high potential sites based on drift modelling, largely focusing in areas on and around Ile Saint Marie, a tropical island off Madagascar’s east coast.



The group said they may set up an incentive system using their own funds to encourage the search for debris, and will aim to set up a notification system and local collection point for potential aircraft debris.
So far, none of the six pieces of debris has helped narrow down the precise location of the main underwater wreckage. Investigators need to find that in order to locate the flight data recorders that could help explain why the plane veered so far off course.
MH370 wreckage hunter Blaine Gibson won’t give up until mystery solved
Search crews are expected to finish their sweep of the 120,000-square kilometre search zone in the Indian Ocean next month.
Oceanographers have been analysing wing flaps found in Tanzania and on the French island of La Reunion to see if they might be able to identify a potential new search area through drift modelling. But any new search would require more funding. Malaysia, Australia and China said in July that the $160 million hunt will be suspended once the current stretch of ocean is exhausted unless new evidence emerges that would pinpoint a specific location of the aircraft.


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Malaysia resumes MH370 search with Ocean Infinity in Indian Ocean after more than a decade

Malaysia Airlines flight 370

Frustrated by search efforts, MH370 families will launch own hunt for aircraft debris in Africa

A piece of suspected aircraft wreckage found off the east African coast of Mozambique. Families of those onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 said Monday they will mount a debris-hunting trip to Madagascar to search for clues to what happened to the missing plane. File photo: AFP

epa05613903 A handout photograph made available by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) showing investigators inspecting a wing flap on 20 July 2016, which was found off the Tanzanian coast. The ATSB state in a report released on 02 November 2016 that Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 most likely made a rapid and uncontrolled descent into the Indian Ocean. The Boeing 777 disappeared while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board in March 2014. EPA/ATSB / HANDOUT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

epa05446817 Chinese relatives of passengers missing on Malaysia Airlines MH370 hold up signs during a protest outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, China, 29 July 2016. Relatives of Chinese passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 protested at the Chinese Foreign Ministry after a Ministerial Tripartite Meeting involving China, Malaysia and Australia in Putra Jaya on 22 July announced that the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will be suspended upon completion of the 120,000 sq. km search area. Dozens of relatives held up protest signs outside the ministry before meeting with officials to submit an appeal letter urging authorities to continue the search for their missing relatives. Flight MH370 disappeared when flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 08 March 2014, and had 239 passengers and crew on board. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Photo taken on March 21, 2016 at Klein Brak River near Mossel Bay, shows a piece of suspected aircraft wreckage found off the east African coast of Mozambique. Two pieces of debris found in Mozambique are "almost certainly" from MH370, Australia says, after technical analysis of the wreckage that provides the latest clue to the fate of the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777. / AFP PHOTO / Neels Kruger / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NEELS KRUGER" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Grace Subathirai Nathan

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