KUALA LUMPUR, 4 March 2018:
A search by a US firm for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to complete its survey by mid-June, the Southeast Asian nation said yesterrday, as families marked the fourth anniversary of one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.
Flight MH370, carrying 239 people, disappeared on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014.
Australia, China and Malaysia ended an unsuccessful A$200-million search across a 120,000 sq km area in the Indian Ocean in January 2017, despite investigators urging authorities to extend the operation 25,000 sq km north of the search area.
Earlier this year, Malaysia agreed to pay US firm Ocean Infinity up to US$70 million if it found the plane within 90 days. The search vessel, the Seabed Constructor, began its search on Jan 23.
The 90-day agreement, however, did not include days for the search vessel to travel to a port for refueling, said Civil Aviation Authority chairman Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.
“The vessel has a working cycle of 26 days before it needs to refuel and resupply,” Azharuddin said at a memorial event marking the fourth year of the plane’s disappearance.
Plans to recover the Boeing 777’s wreckage or its flight recorders, in the event the aircraft is found, will be finalised in two weeks, and will involve several Malaysian and Australian agencies, he said.
Malaysia will take custody of any parts recovered from the seabed, he said.
The Seabed Constructor has completed the first part of its search, covering 8,200 sq km, and has now moved into a new area, Ocean Infinity said in its weekly update on Tuesday.
It has not yet made any significant findings, the firm said.
Yesterday’s memorial event featured talks and musical performances, as families paid tributes to the passengers and crew aboard the aircraft.
“We want to remind everyone that MH370 is not history, it’s the future,” said Grace Nathan, a lawyer whose mother Anne Daisy was on the plane.
“It’s very important in the interests of aviation safety that we find MH370, so that we can prevent something like this from happening again.”
Investigators are divided on whether the aircraft suffered a mechanical failure or whether it was deliberately diverted over the southern Indian Ocean.
Debris has been collected from Indian Ocean islands and Africa’s east coast and at least three pieces have been confirmed as coming from the missing plane.
Meanwhile, Kamariah Sarip – whose son Mohd Razahan Zamani was also onboard the missing plane, said: “Mak (mom) will always wait for you, dear for as long as I live. I will never stop.”
Four years on, the 59-year-old woman had never stopped praying and hoping that her son and daughter-in-law Nurli Akma Hamid would be found safe and sound.
“I miss him dearly. I would hug and smell his clothes whenever I miss him. He went missing after his father’s death. Somehow, I feel like I have broken wings.
“Although there are quarters who would say bad things (about the missing plane), I will brush it off as I am confident that only God knows where they are… If he is dead, why isn’t there any death certificate?”
Apart from providing avenue for members of the public to give moral support to the family members, other activities held at the event included talks, performances and the writing and pasting of messages on the wall.
For Nurlaila Ngah@Awang, 44, wife of leading steward Wan Swaid Wan Ismail, said the incident forced her and the children to be stronger as days went by.
“We are getting stronger and stronger. Life goes on as usual although the deep sadness is still there. I still think of him and miss him to this day.
“Although I have to admit that it is pretty difficult to raise them (children) alone, I try to be stronger by attending religious classes and be closer to God. That makes me calm and feel blessed.”
– Agencies