Multiple search operations for the plane have been carried out, but no trace of the main body of the plane or passengers has ever been found.
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will resume on Dec. 30, the Malaysian government announced, more than a decade after the Beijing-bound plane vanished in what is widely regarded as the world’s greatest aviation mystery.
The Boeing 777 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members when it disappeared 38 minutes after takeoff from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, on March 8, 2014.
It was flying over the South China Sea when it abruptly disappeared from air traffic control. Its last voice contact was made at 1:19 a.m. local time.
More than 150 Chinese nationals were passengers on the doomed flight, along with 50 Malaysians, including the crew, and citizens of the United States, Canada, France, Australia, Indonesia, India, Ukraine, and other countries.
Many Theories Advanced
Many theories have been advanced to explain how the plane came to crash into the sea, but without the “black box” flight recorder or recovery of major wreckage, they remain speculative. The majority of theories have focused on the pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.
Multiple search operations for the plane have since been carried out, but no trace of the main body of the plane or passengers has ever been found. Debris—some confirmed and some believed to be from the aircraft—has washed up along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean.
The most recent search in the southern Indian Ocean was called off in April after just a few weeks because of poor weather conditions.
British marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity has confirmed plans to recommence seabed operations for more than 55 days, conducted intermittently, Malaysia’s transport ministry said.
“The search will be carried out in targeted area assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft,” it said in a statement.
The Malaysian government’s 495-page report into the disappearance, carried out by an international team and published in 2018, found that the Boeing 777’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated as the plane made a turn back after going off course. Investigators believe the plane was manually turned around in midair and not under the control of autopilot.
The report said that the “possibility of intervention by a third party” could not be ruled out. Investigators found that although there was no evidence of a mechanical failure, this could not be definitively ruled out.
The report stopped short of offering a conclusion as to what happened, saying that could not be done without finding the main wreckage, including the black box.
Investigators have said they did not find anything suspicious in the background, financial affairs, mental health, or training of either the captain or the copilot.
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in February 2020 that Malaysian authorities suspected Shah of having murdered the passengers by deliberately crashing the plane.
“My very clear understanding, from the very top levels of the Malaysian government, is that from very, very early on, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot,” Abbott, who was prime minister when the plane went missing, told Sky News in the documentary “MH370: The Untold Story.”
The resumed search for the wreckage will be in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed upon between Ocean Infinity and the Malaysian government, the ministry said. The company carried out prior searches for the plane up until 2018 but failed to find substantive wreckage.
