MH370 debris on display for public viewing

KUALA LUMPUR; For the first time ever, two pieces of debris from the missing jetliner Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, went on public display yesterday.

The two debris, namely flap and wing fragments, were shown at the MH370 Remembrance Event to commemorate the fifth anniversary since the aircraft went missing from the radar five years ago.

To date, only three wing fragments, known as flaperon, have been confirmed to be from the Flight MH370 which vanished mysteriously from the radar screen while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board.

Despite being put on public display for the first time, some next-of-kins (NOK) of the victims in the missing aircraft, were not amused.

A family member of one of the victims in the ill-fated flight, Jacquita Gonzales, 56, said even though she was glad to see the display, the search for the plane should continue.

"The debris are just fragments from the aircraft. It is not MH370. We don't know where the plane is. We need to keep searching.

“We hope the government will continue the search with 'no cure no fee policy' so that an independent searching entity can start their search,especially by (United States-based exploration company) Ocean Infinity,” said Jacquita, whose husband, Patrick Gomes, was MH370's inflight supervisor .

Meanwhile, another family member, Norazlinda Ayub, 44, said this was the first time she saw the debris and was a bit shocked as they were bigger than she had imagined.

"The debris was bigger than I thought. There must be more to be found out there. I hope the search will be continued," said the wife of a passenger, Junaidi Mohd Nasir.

Another family member, KS Narandran said the government should continue the search and look for any credible evidence to locate the Boeing 777 passenger jetliner.

"After five years, the plane is still yet to be found. We only found fragments from all over the world. I find it very hard to just forget this and get away with my life.

"I don't know about the government (whether to continue with the search) but I know they have a responsibility. It's frustrating for everyone (not knowing where aircraft is)," said the husband of Chandrika Sharma, one of the five Indian nationals missing in the tragedy.

Meanwhile, Jiang Hui, whose mother, Jiang Cuiyun, was on board, created a website; MH370.com.cn and www. malaysiaairlines.club in order to promote the search, investigation, collect information and communicate with other NOK of the victims in the ill-fated flight.

The deep-sea search mission carried out for almost three years to locate the missing Boeing 777 in the Indian Ocean, covered 120,000 sq km, involving Australia, China and Malaysia, ended fruitless.

It was reported that 27 pieces of aircraft debris have been collected from various places around the world, but only three wing fragments known as flaperon that washed up along the Indian Ocean coast have been confirmed to be from MH370.

On May 29 last year, United States-based exploration company Ocean Infinity, which conducted the last search for MH370 in the Indian Ocean, ended it after failing to find any debris.

Last July, the MH370 Safety Investigation Team, in its 449page report, concluded that they are unable to determine the real cause of the disappearance of the ill-fated flight, but did not rule out the possibility that ‘unlawful interference' by a third party had caused the incident.

On Nov 30 last year, five pieces of debris found at three locations in Madagascar, believed to be from MH370, were handed over to the Malaysian government. - Bernama