Search for Flight MH370 to be suspended, possibly forever

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — The hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will be suspended once the current search area in the Indian Ocean has been completely scoured, the ministers of the three countries conducting the operation announced Friday, possibly ending all hopes of solving aviation's greatest mystery.

"In the absence of new evidence, Malaysia, Australia and China have collectively decided to suspend the search upon completion of the 120,000 square kilometer (46,332 sq mile) search area", Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said after a meeting with his Australiana and Chinese counterparts.

He said suspension of the search does not mean an end to it.

"Should credible new information emerge which can be used to identify the specific location of the aircraft, consideration will be given in determining next steps," he said, reading out from a joint statement. But it was clear that the searchers have given up hopes of finding the jetliner with less than 10,000 square kilometer (3,800 sq mile) left to be searched.

In their statement, the ministers acknowledged that "the likelihood of finding the aircraft is fading."

The Boeing 777 vanished more than two years ago while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. It is believed to have turned back and dropped into the Indian Ocean west of Australia, where the search has been concentrated.

Liow said the current search is being hampered by bad weather and damaged equipment, but still it would end by December.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-07-22

i understand the anguish of the relatives and it would be nice to know what happened, but the search went for about 18 months too long. Even if they found it, recovering it from the deep would be enormous. The fix to stop a repeat is to have failsafe locators that cannot be turned off fitted to all commercial aircraft, 2 years on and it still hasn't been done.

Give up the search and learn the lessons about how not to lose a plane.

Have cams recording cockpit and cabin beamed live to a control centre (they can send pictures back from Pluto, but not from a plane?).

Make cockpits remotely unlockable.

Test pilots psychometrically for mental stability.

And for pity's sake, make the black boxes tougher, with longer-life batteries, containing recording better quality information and that give out a stronger signal (none of those silly pings) - what is this, 1990?

Give up the search and learn the lessons about how not to lose a plane.

Have cams recording cockpit and cabin beamed live to a control centre (they can send pictures back from Pluto, but not from a plane?).

Make cockpits remotely unlockable.

Test pilots psychometrically for mental stability.

And for pity's sake, make the black boxes tougher, with longer-life batteries, containing recording better quality information and that give out a stronger signal (none of those silly pings) - what is this, 1990?

Great to have longer life batteries in emergency locators, but will they function in water 4 kms deep? The pings searchers thought were coming from the aircraft were in fact generated by the search equipment, weren't they?

If my memory is correct, the battery was way beyond its 'life' date. How do you ensure airlines replace when required?

Lets hope it does end like this.

Maybe the answers will be revealed long after we are all dead.

Lets hope it does end like this.

Maybe the answers will be revealed long after we are all dead.

Strangely enough, just as this is being announced Australian Airforce Aircraft has just gone missing.

Edit to say; Indian airforce, not Australian.

Dreadful for the families: the not knowing how and where must add to the loss.

Lets hope it does end like this.

Maybe the answers will be revealed long after we are all dead.

Strangely enough, just as this is being announced Australian Airforce Aircraft has just gone missing.

Edit to say; Indian airforce, not Australian.

In light of the 29 missing on the Indian flight I edit my post.

"I hope it does NOT end like this"

Much like the Titanic, one day technology will enable it to be found.

I feel sorry for the families.

so i pilot i know believes that this plane was shot down over disputed china seas. he was flying that day and even said he heard a lot of suspect radio chatter. he was absolutely convinced.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/mh370-pilot-flew-suicide-route-on-home-simulator.html?mid=twitter-share-di

Exclusive: MH370 Pilot Flew a Suicide Route on His Home Simulator Closely Matching Final Flight

...the charade is finally over....until the next one...

This is not a charade, it is a tragic accident & possibly a great mystery.

I believe all on board (including cockpit crew ) died 6 hours before ran out of fuel.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/mh370-pilot-flew-suicide-route-on-home-simulator.html?mid=twitter-share-di

Exclusive: MH370 Pilot Flew a Suicide Route on His Home Simulator Closely Matching Final Flight

It's "funny" how the announcement and this article were only days apart.

I would think that if they really did want the real answers, and let them be known to the world, they would exclude any further 'help' from the Malaysians. If the pilot in question is found to have any association with PAS (the Malaysian fundamentalist political party) it'll open a whole can of worms regarding airline crew security screening, worldwide.

Sounds like Lost.

This is not a charade, it is a tragic accident & possibly a great mystery.

I believe all on board (including cockpit crew ) died 6 hours before ran out of fuel.

the senior pilot Mr zaharia knows what happened!!!

so I guess all those 5+ samples of debris, off that beach in South Africa, came to nought!!

pity, as the tidal etc currents calculations apparently matched where debris would be expected to appear in the time frame of their discovery

Obvious why the Malaysians would want to suppress that information, but not sure why the FBI would keep it quiet too. I wonder if the Australians knew, seeing as the search was costing them most effort - and if so, why would they also suppress it...?

This also invites speculation as to whether Zaharie actually left a suicide note, because it seems that would certainly have been suppressed too.

Anyway, we've always known that Zaharie did it. He was a supporter of Anwar, and would have been deeply upset that Anwar had been convicted again. If Zaharia was gay (he looks gay in that photo) that would have doubly depressed him.