Eight years on, the disappearance of MH370 remains a mystery

IPOH: Today, at about 1.30 am, marked the eighth year since the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 after departing the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for Beijing, China.

Each year the same questions are raised about its whereabouts, cause of the disappearance and the fate of the 239 passengers and crew of the Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

And as the anniversary of the disappearance of the ill-fated aircraft approached, there would certainly be claims of new findings.

Last December, a British space engineer, Richard Godfrey said he had made estimates on the final location of MH370.

He claimed that the aircraft had crashed about 2,000 kilometres west of Perth, Australia in the Indian Ocean.

Commenting on the claim, the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB) Chief Commissioner, Angus Mitchell said ATSB had searched the important areas of the search zone suggested by Godfrey.

ATSB urged Australian Geoscience to review the data it had from its search to reconfirm that no related objects were detected in the area.

Commenting on the development, aviation expert Prof Dr Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian said Malaysia must be given the opportunity to participate together with the Australian search team so that the search process would be more transparent and for monitoring to be done together.

"This can avoid suspicion and deviated perceptions by certain quarters who assert that this new search is merely a show or a conspiracy to claim money from the search fund," said the Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) test pilot.

He said that if a search was to be conducted again, it would be better for new indicators to be shared so that they could be analysed together to give justice to all.

Among others, he said that it would be to ensure the indicators were accurate, not disorderly and consistent in terms of investigation methodology.

He said it was also to ensure that financial resources were spent optimally and not wasted on weak indicators and those not in line with scientific methods.

Meanwhile, flight investigator, Captain (R) Abdul Rahmat Omar Tun Mohd Haniff said if there were new indicators it would be good if the search was done based on the new clues concerned.

"Any effort to bring to conclusion this unfortunate episode must be done," said the former Royal Malaysian Air Force investigating officer.

He said Malaysia must also be actively involved whether directly or in terms of providing funds for the search especially if the indicators were thought to be able to lead to the debris of the aircraft.

In a recording yesterday in conjunction with the eighth anniversary of MH370's disappearance, Minister of Transport Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong reiterated the Malaysian government's fervent hope of detecting the missing aircraft.

Expressing his sympathy for the loss and sufferings of those affected following the tragedy, Wee said Malaysia was also keen to consider studying all new reliable information to identify the location of the aircraft.

-- BERNAMA