Search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight resumes using state-of-the-art tech to try and find lost aircraft
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to resume today, more than ten years after the plane vanished with 239 people on board, sparking one of the greatest mysteries in the history of air travel.
Listen to this article
The Boeing 777 was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board when it went missing on March 8, 2014.
Despite multiple search efforts, neither the wreckage nor any bodies were found.
A renewed search will begin today, December 30, led by Ocean Infinity, a UK and US-based marine robotics company.
Read more: Urgent search launched for two men missing in sea after Christmas morning dip
Read more: UN confirms planetary defences will observe interstellar comet racing through Solar System
The firm was initially set to begin its search in April 2025, but it had to be called off due to bad weather.
Now, Ocean Infinity will begin a new 55-day hunt under a “no find, no fee” contract with Malaysia.
The company will scour a new 5,800-sq-mile area in the ocean and earn a £52 million finder's fee if the wreckage is finally located.
Despite numerous extensive search operations conducted over the years, efforts to locate the aircraft have been unsuccessful.
The firm will deploy its Armada 7806, which is armed with state-of-the-art autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
Over 30 pieces of suspected debris have been collected along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean over the last decade, but only three wing fragments were confirmed to be from MH370.
The flight had departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am local time on 8 March 2014 on its way to Beijing.
It was last seen on military radar at 2.14am but half an hour later, the airline announced it had lost contact with the flight, which was due to land at its destination about 6.30am.
A report into the disappearance released in 2018 suggested the flight's controls were likely tampered with after its trajectory.
But during investigations, officers were unable to identify anyone responsible. Checks on the captain and co-pilot revealed no suspicious elements in their background, financial affairs, training, or mental health.