MH370 victims’ families outraged as search for missing plane ends after three years

Victims’ families and support groups were outraged yesterday as the international underwater search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was suspended, nearly three years after it vanished without a trace over the Indian Ocean.

The leaders of the search, Malaysia, China and Australia, jointly decided to call it a day after scouring 120,000 sq km of open ocean, at a cost of US$135 million, to no avail.

“Despite every effort using the best science available, cutting edge technology, as well as modelling and advice from highly skilled professionals who are the best in their field, unfortunately, the search has not been able to locate the aircraft,” they stated in a joint communique. “The decision to suspend the underwater search has not been taken lightly nor without sadness.”

The Boeing 777 disappeared early in its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese nationals.

Fragments of the missing aircraft washed ashore, first on Reunion Island, and later along Africa’s eastern coast, prompting concerns as to whether the right area was being searched.

Expert analysis in a report last month by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau concluded that the wreckage of MH370 was likely to be located within an area of 25,000 sq km that is north of the search zone.

But with no action taken to explore the newly identified area of interest, the last search vessel pulled out yesterday.