Malaysia to resume hunt for MH370: What do we know about one of aviation’s biggest mysteries

Previous searches in the southern Indian Ocean, where the Boeing 777 is believed to have crashed, did not find any sign of debris.

Only a few parts of the fuselage have been found washed up on beaches on Indian Ocean islands and in eastern Africa.

Here are some details of the search for MH370 and the unresolved mystery of what happened

What happened?

The Boeing 777 went missing on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. The last transmission from the plane was about 40 minutes after it took off.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah signed off with “Good night, Malaysian three seven zero”, as the plane entered Vietnamese air space.

Shortly thereafter, its transponder was turned off, which meant it could not be easily tracked.
Military radar showed the plane left its flight path to fly back over northern Malaysia and Penang island, and then out into the Andaman Sea towards the tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It then turned south and all contact was lost.

What has been done to find the jet?

Malaysia, Australia and China launched an underwater search in a 120,000 sq km area in the southern Indian Ocean, based on data of automatic connections between an Inmarsat satellite and the plane.

The search, which cost about $143 million, was called off after two years in January 2017 with no traces of the plane found.

In 2018, Malaysia accepted a “no-cure, no-fee” offer from Ocean Infinity for a three-month search, meaning the company would only get paid if it found the plane.

That search covered 112,000 sq km north of the original target area and also proved fruitless, ending in May 2018.

What did the investigation report say?

A 495-page report into MH370’s disappearance, published in July 2018, said the Boeing 777’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course, but investigators could not determine who was responsible.

The report also highlighted mistakes made by the Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control centres and issued recommendations to avoid a repeat incident.
Investigators stopped short of offering any conclusions about what happened to MH370, saying that depended on finding the plane’s wreckage.

What will the new search entail?

The new search, once a contract is signed between Ocean Infinity and the Malaysian government, would expand the previous search area by 15,000 sq km, according to Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

The contract would cover 18 months and the firm had indicated the best time for the search would be between January and April.