9-yrs of MH370: Malaysia to consider search ops if viable info emerges

Malaysia will consider new search operations for Flight MH370 if "new and credible" information emerges about its location, Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke said, MalayMail reported.

The Malaysian Transport Minister's statement comes ahead of the ninth anniversary of the Malaysia Airlines MH370's disappearance in 2014. He also offered sympathies to the families of those onboard the Malaysia Airlines flight that vanished without a trace, as per the news report.

"As transport minister, I will not summarily close the book on this tragedy," MalayMail quoted Anthony Loke as saying.

"I reiterate the government of Malaysia's position that due consideration will be given to future search operations should there be new and credible information on the potential location of the aircraft's final resting place," he added.

At a special commemoration event called the 9th Annual MH370 Remembrance Event 2023 on Facebook, event host Grace Subatharai Nathan called for the search to resume for all the people who lost their family members in the flight, MalayMail reported. She asked for closure for the loved ones of the people onboard the flight.

"So much has happened in nine years. There was an unborn baby as a next of kin was expecting when the plane disappeared. That baby is now going to school and is in Standard One or Two, that's how much time has passed," MalayMail quoted Grace Subatharai Nathan as saying.

"I was a student at the time and now am a mother. Others are grandparents, husbands but what we've always said is MH370 is not history, it's the future. If we don't know what happened to MH370, we cannot prevent it from happening again," she added.

She said, "Today it's us, tomorrow it could be anyone who boards a plane and that should be prevented at all costs. This is not a mystery that should be left a mystery forever, it is just not acceptable."

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, when it went missing over the South China Sea, as per the news report. To date, the plane and the 239 people, which included 227 passengers and 12 crew have not been found despite a multinational search effort that lasted years.

Underwater searches have been carried out for the flight in the Indian Ocean that have covered 120,000 square kilometres and cost about A$200 million. The underwater searches were subsequently suspended indefinitely in January 2017. However, Malaysia accepted a "no-cure, no-fee" offer from US exploration firm Ocean Infinity in 2018.

The three-month search effort covered 112,000 sq km north of the original target area. However, no discovery was made during the search. The search was called off in May 2018.

An official 495-page report in July 2018 said that MH370 was deliberately taken off course by a person or persons unknown, MalayMail reported. It has been recorded as the most expensive search operation in aviation history.