Malaysia stops hunt for plane

A PRIVATE SEARCH HAS DRAWN A BLANK Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014.

Aprivate search by a US firm for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing in 2014 in one of the world’s biggest aviation mysteries, will end next Tuesday, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said yesterday.

Flight MH370, carrying 239 people, disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Malaysia agreed in January to pay Houston-based Ocean Infinity up to $70 million (R250 million) if it found the plane during a 90day search in the southern Indian Ocean.

The hunt for the Boeing 777 was previously expected to end in June, as the 90-day agreement did not cover time taken for refuelling and resupplying search vessel Seabed Constructor. However, Ocean Infinity finished scouring its targeted search area in April and requested an extension until May 29, Loke said.

“This morning I raised this (request) in Cabinet and we agreed to extend to May 29,” he told reporters in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative capital. Asked if that meant no further extensions, he said: “Yes”.

Newly elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had earlier said Malaysia would review and possibly end its agreement with Ocean Infinity amid other moves to cut government spending.

Mahathir, 92, ousted the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, led by ex-premier and former protege Najib Razak, in a stunning election upset on May 9.

Loke, who was sworn in as minister on Monday, said the government would release a full report on the investigation into MH370’s disappearance after the offshore search was completed, but had not yet determined a date for the report’s release.

Voice 370, a group representing the relatives of those aboard the flight, had called on the new government to review all matters related to MH370, including “any possible falsification or elimination of records related to MH370 and its maintenance”.

“I’m not privy to whatever details that may not have been revealed, but as minister, I am committed to releasing all details to the public,” Loke said.

The decision to engage Ocean Infinity came after Australia, China and Malaysia ended a A$200 million (R2 billion) search across a 120 000km² area in the Indian Ocean last year, despite investigators calling for the target area to be extended 25 000km² north.

The search has covered 86 000km² so far but has yet to identify any significant findings, Ocean Infinity said. –