MH370 search finally ends
Saturday, 18 Jan, 2017
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The mystery over the whereabouts of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may remain just that.
The search for the doomed jet which went missing in 2014 has finally ended.
In a joint statement, Australia, Malaysia and China said the decision to end the search for MH370 was taken with ‘sadness’.
It comes after a fruitless search of more than 120,000 sq km of the Indian Ocean in an area where the aircraft is thought to have come down.
Australia’s transport minister Darren Chester said cost was not a factor.
"It has been a costly exercise but it hasn’t been a factor in the decision to suspend the search. We’re in a position where we don’t want to be providing false hope to the family and friends."
It had been flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it deviated from its flight path before disappearing.
Seven pieces of debris, thought highly likely to have come from the Boeing 777, have been recovered, leading investigators to conclude that the aircraft probably crashed into the Indian Ocean.
The statement issued today said that no new information had been discovered to determine the specific location of the aircraft.
It said the three countries ‘remained hopeful this would happen in the future’.
However, Voice370, a support group set up by the families of those onboard, called for the search to continue and be extended to include an area of 25,000 sq km further north of the current one, recommended by a report released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau last December.
"Stopping at this stage is nothing short of irresponsible, and betrays a shocking lack of faith in the data, tools and recommendations of an array of official experts assembled by the authorities themselves," it said.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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