Study calls for new search to find Malaysian Airlines flight MH370

by

The head of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 search is calling for a new investigation based on new evidence suggesting the wreckage of the Boeing 777 may be at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, a report said.

Peter Foley, who led the Australian government’s search for the doomed jet, which disappeared on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board, told The Times of London that he agreed to new research from oceanographers and aviation experts.

The flight, which took off for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, had mysteriously changed course and flew south until it ran out of fuel.

Australia was working on behalf of Malaysia and failed to locate the aircraft during the largest search in aviation history before it ended in 2017. A second search, led by US firm Ocean Infinity, also came empty.

But 33 pieces of debris – confirmed or classified as most likely from the jet – have been found in Mauritius, Madagascar, Tanzania and South Africa, The Times reported.

A woman lights a candle as Chinese relatives of passengers on Malaysia Airlines' missing flight MH370 attend a prayer service at the Metro Park Hotel in Beijing on April 8, 2014.
A woman lights a candle as Chinese relatives of passengers on Malaysia Airlines’ missing flight MH370 attend a prayer service at the Metro Park Hotel in Beijing on April 8, 2014.
WANG ZHAO / AFP via Getty Images

Part of a spoiler was found in South Africa in August 2020.

On Monday, a report released by an independent group of experts said the damage indicated it was ripped out of the plane during an uncontrolled, high-speed dive – contradicting alternative theories that a rogue pilot dumped the plane, the outlet said.

Operators track TAC stations aboard an RNZAF P3 Orion as they search for wreckage and debris from Malaysia Airlines' missing flight MH370 in the South Indian Ocean on April 4, 2014, near Australia.
Operators track TAC stations aboard an RNZAF P3 Orion as they search for wreckage and debris from Malaysia Airlines’ missing flight MH370 in the South Indian Ocean on April 4, 2014, near Australia.
Nick Perry – Pool / Getty Images

Analysis of ocean anomalies and a review of a revised flight path released late last year found that the MH370 likely sunk about 1,200 miles west of Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.

Foley, who oversaw a sonar survey of nearly 50,000 square miles of ocean floor, said a new survey should inspect the sea floor 70 nautical miles on either side of the target area.

A relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crying at a local hotel where families gather on March 9, 2014 in Beijing, China.
A relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crying at a local hotel where families gather in Beijing on March 9, 2014.
Feng Li / Getty Images

“Major tracts have not been fully searched,” he told The Times.

Blaine Gibson, 63, a US attorney who has spent a lot of time searching for the wreck in recent years, said the updated models by Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi, an oceanographer at the University of Western Australia, strongly advocated a third search.

A relative of a missing passenger on flight MH370 weeps outside the main entrance of the Lama Temple on March 8, 2015, in Beijing, China.
A family member of a missing passenger on flight MH370 weeps outside the main entrance of the Lama Temple on March 8, 2015, in Beijing.
Kevin Frayer / Getty Images

Pattiaratchi had predicted where the wreckage would be found a year before the first piece was found.

The Malaysian government has said it needs compelling new evidence before it can search again.

Source