Finding Flight MH370: Malaysia in Talks To Renew Search Efforts for Missing Aircraft Decade After Disappearance

Malaysian officials are reportedly in talks to renew efforts to search for the missing flight MH370, a decade after the aircraft's disappearance.

The country's government said on Sunday that the discussions come after a United States technology firm proposed a fresh search in the southern Indian Ocean. This is the region where the plane is believed to have crashed a decade ago.

Finding Flight MH370

(Photo : Arif Kartono / AFP) (ARIF KARTONO/AFP via Getty Images)
The Malaysian government is said to be in talks to renew search efforts for missing flight MH370, which disappeared a decade ago.

Anthony Loke, the transport minister of Malaysia, said that Texas-based Ocean Infinity has proposed another "no find, no fee" basis to search the seabeds and expands from the site where it first searched in 2018.

The official said that he has invited the American company to meet him to evaluate new scientific evidence it has to find the plane's final resting place. He added that if the evidence is credible, he would seek the Cabinet's approval to sign a new contract with Ocean Infinity in order to resume the search for the missing aircraft, as per Politico.

Loke said that the Malaysian government is steadfast in its resolve to locate flight MH370, adding that they are hoping the new search efforts can find the aircraft and provide truth to the next of kin. His remarks were made during a remembrance event to mark the 10th anniversary of the jet's disappearance.

The controversial flight was a Boeing 777 plane that was carrying 239 people onboard, most of whom were Chinese nationals. It took off from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and was heading to Beijing, It vanished from radar shortly after it took off on Mar. 8, 2014.

Satellite data showed that the plane deviated from its flight path and was believed to have crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. Following the incident, the world over was rife with conspiracy theories and bizarre explanations for the disappearance of the aircraft.

Malaysia's Renewal of Search Operations

The families of the passengers of the missing plane have called for a renewed search operation as they gathered ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the incident. They argued that they needed answers for the future of flight safety, according to The Guardian.

Hundreds of relatives and supporters gathered on Sunday at a shopping center near Kuala Lumpur to pay their respects to the victims of the incident. Jacquita Gonzales, whose husband Patrick Gomes was an inflight supervisor onboard MH370, said that every year when Mar. 8 draws near, all of what happened on the day of the incident rushes back to him.

Gonzales recalled watching the television hoping for good news about her husband that never arrived. She said that the only way to solve the problem was to find the plane that her husband was on. She argued that this was why it was important to continue search efforts and not let the dead remain a mystery.

Bai Zhong, who is from China and whose wife was on flight MH370, said that it did not matter whether it was 10 years or 20 years. He said that as long as they are alive, they will not stop to press for the truth behind the incident, said the Associated Press.