Hunt For Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight May Be Renewed A Decade Later

Officials in Malaysia said they may renew the search for the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that went missing 10 years ago, the Associated Press reports.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said he would invite Ocean Infinity to brief him on its "no find, no fee" proposal for a fresh search in the southern Indian Ocean after the Texas-based marine robotics firm initially proposed to relaunch the hunt in 2018. The Malaysian government had previously claimed it wouldn't support another search without specific leads on the location of the plane, which is suspected to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean in 2014.

Loke said, however, that he will seek Cabinet's approval to sign a new contract and relaunch the search if Ocean Infinity provides credible evidence.

“The government is steadfast in our resolve to locate MH370,” Loke said during a 10-year anniversary event marking the jet's dissappearance. “We really hope the search can find the plane and provide truth to the next-of-kin.”

Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777, vanished from radar just after taking off on March 8, 2014. The plane was carrying 239 people, most of which were Chinese nationals, during a flight from Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing.

The plane was reported to have deviated from its flight path to the southern Indian Ocean where it is suspected to have crashed, according to satellite data. A multinational search for the missing plane never found any clues, though debris washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands.