KUCHING: Nine years on, families of passengers still missing Malaysia Airline Flight 370 (MH370) are appealing to the federal government to resume the search for the missing plane.
Voice370 – an association for families of the passengers and crew on board of MH370 – while thanking federal Transport Minister Anthony Loke for his continued support and openness to a renewed search, also urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to renew the support he showed families in the early days by being open to accepting any forthcoming proposal by Ocean Infinity (a marine robotics company founded in 2017 based in Austin, Texas, United States and Southampton, United Kingdom).
“Ocean Infinity, over the last 12 months, has made real progress working with many people to understand what happened, enhancing their knowledge of the event in 2014.
“Ultimately, this has greatly improved their chances of conducting a successful search on a ‘No Cure, No Fee’ basis, which they hope to resume as early as summer of 2023/2024.
“It is our fervent hope that 2023 will lead to a search that marks the beginning of the end of the search for Malaysia’s missing MH370,” it said in a statement.
It also said while the next of kin of the passengers and crew on board attempt to rebuild their lives, the threat to global aviation safety remains a live issue.
“As long as we remain in the dark about what happened to MH370, we will never be able to prevent a similar tragedy.
“Accordingly, we believe that it is a matter of paramount importance that the search for MH370 be carried out to its completion,” it said.
Voice370 also expressed its appreciation for the efforts of scientists, technologists, investigators, journalists, the media and concerned citizens all over the world who continue to stay engaged, provide insights and peer review that continue to help keep the effort to find MH370 alive.
“We thank one and all for your support and solidarity through these nine long and weary years,” it said.
MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, before it went off radar and disappeared.
The search for the missing plane was suspended after three years on Jan 17, 2017.
Andrew Peter Nari, who was the chief steward on flight MH370, was the only Sarawakian on board.
