A new search for MH370, which disappeared almost six years ago with 239 aboard may be launched this year according to a new investigation by News Corp.
According to the report the search push is being prompted by new debris and new analysis
first revealed by AirlineRatings.com.
The News Corp article authored by Charles Miranda and Natalie O’Brien said it “can reveal behind the scenes talks have been underway with families and the Malaysian government to send world’s leading seabed searchers, Ocean Infinity, on a new quest to find the wreckage of the plane.”
READ News Corp’s full report here.
It added: “Critically, it is understood the last two pieces of debris found, are potentially an exciting discovery as experts have determined one piece is likely from the internal fin of the vortex generator.”
“Malaysian lawyer Grace Subathirai Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy was a passenger of the ill-fated flight, said yesterday lobbying for a fresh search has been continuing “quietly and privately” with Ocean Infinity, buoyed by a commitment from the 2018 newly appointed Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke.”
“We’ve had been getting things rolling so we can make an announcement
(this year),” said Ms Nathan, who has been the leading advocate for families.
However, the Malaysian government has previously rejected attempts to get another search started.
News reported that “Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett said the search was not imminent and the Malaysian Government had rightly set a high bar before committing again to a search on a no find no fee basis.”
Ocean Infinity conducted the last search on a no find no fee basis.
He told News, “as an organisation, we have heavily invested emotionally, as well as financially, in the search, as indeed have many others and consequently there hasn’t been a day since we concluded our search in 2018, that the possibility of a renewed search hasn’t come up in one form or another,” he said..
“To that end, whilst no new search is imminent, we continue to actively engage with a number of subject experts to identify where any new search might be focused. It was and remains our position that we hope to be able to offer our services to the Malaysian Government again at some point in the future.”
Earlier this month AirlineRatings.com revealed that a group of the world’s leading search experts for Malaysia Airlines Flt MH370 have defined new areas to be searched for the missing Boeing 777.
After extensive revision and refinement of data search experts Victor Iannello, Bobby Ulich, Richard Godfrey, and Andrew Banks have defined a new area for MH370 adjacent to that previously covered and have released the findings in a detailed paper.
This paper, “Search Recommendation for MH370’s Debris Field”, brings together all the independent work of these experts on MH370.
The paper states;
“The last search for MH370 was conducted by Ocean Infinity, who consulted with official and independent researchers and subsequently scanned the seabed along the 7th arc as far north as S25° latitude. Since then, independent researchers have continued to analyze the available data to understand what areas of the seabed are the most likely, and why previous search efforts have been unsuccessful.”
In September last year, Airlineratings.com revealed that new debris delivered to Malaysia could hold clues to the location of the Boeing 777.
Malaysian authorities received the debris that was handed to wreck hunter Blaine Gibson on Madagascar in 2017.
The debris, off one of the engines, is critical as it may hold clues to the speed and force of the impact which would help searchers refine the area where it crashed experts said at the time.
According to Mr Gibson in September, “this debris was handed to me by local people more than two years ago as a result of the 370 families debris awareness trip to Madagascar. They were supposed to be collected and delivered in August 2017 by Hon. Consul Zahid Raza, but he was tragically assassinated before he could do so. The two pieces were held in Madagascar for two years during the investigation into his assassination.”
Mr Gibson travelled to Madagascar in June 2019 and met and communicated with government officials at different levels in an effort to arrange the release and delivery of two pieces of probable MH370 debris.
“The baseplate of the vortex generator may provide valuable information on how the plane impacted the water. Mike Exner and Don Thompson of the Independent Group worked very hard to identify the debris from photos,” said Mr Gibson
