It's been over a decade since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished on its journey from Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport to China's Beijing Capital International Airport. With its 239 occupants never being found, nor any sign of the wreckage, it remains one of aviation's biggest mysteries.
Now, a renewed interest in MH370 has led to a jaw-dropping $68,800,000 payout if its wreckage can be found.
Taking off from Malaysia on March 8, 2014, no one heard from the 227 passengers and 12 crew ever again. The last communication between air traffic control and MH370 happened around 38 minutes after takeoff as the plane was flying over the South China Sea. This has led to speculation that something went wrong and a wreckage could be lying at the bottom of the ocean.
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Marine robotics company Ocean Infinity is resuming the search for MH370, and after previously taking part in searches that ended in 2018, the company hopes to find the plane and bring closure to the families. Malaysia Transport Minister Anthony Loke told a news conference that Ocean Infinity has agreed in principle to searches in a new area of the southern Indian Ocean, with nearly $70 million being offered if it can locate the missing plane.
As the most expensive search in aviation history, the initial hunt for MH370 focused on the South China Sea and Andaman Sea. A closer look at the plane's automated communications with an Inmarsat satellite suggested that it was heading toward the southern Indian Ocean, which led to a whole new search area. Although unsuccessful, pieces of debris confirmed to belong to MH370 washed ashore in the western Indian Ocean in 2015 and 2016.
Despite a three-year search covering 120,000 sq km the Joint Agency Coordination Centre that headed up the operation originally suspended the search in January 2017. Ocean Infinity's first search started in January 2018 but was called off after just six months.
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The 'no find, no fee' arrangement means Ocean Infinity will only get paid if it can find MH370, with the latest search covering a 15,000 sq km area in the southern Indian Ocean that's based on 'credible' data from Kuala Lumpur.
Loke said: "Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next of kin. We hope this time will be positive, that the wreckage will be found and give closure to the families."
There are plenty of theories about what happened, with everything from accusations of a cover-up from the Chinese government to a murder/suicide theory from someone inside the cockpit, or potential issues with a cargo of lithium-ion batteries.
While a new search is seen as positive for many, it's stirred up mixed emotions for relatives and loved ones of those onboard. Speaking to the New Straits Times, Intan Maizura Othaman, wife of cabin crew member Mohd Hazrin Mohamed Hasnan, said: "This announcement stirs mixed emotions - hope, gratitude, and sorrow. After nearly 11 years, the uncertainty and pain of not having answers have been incredibly difficult for us."