A woman is seated in front of a board filled with prayers and messages written by relatives of missing passengers from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.— AFP
Malaysia’s transportation ministry announced Sunday that the latest efforts to locate Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared 12 years ago, ended in January without any new discoveries. The Boeing 777, carrying 239 individuals, vanished from radar on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The passenger list was predominantly Chinese, comprising about two-thirds, with the rest including Malaysians, Indonesians, Australians, and nationals from India, the United States, the Netherlands, and France.
Despite extensive search operations, including the largest in aviation history, neither the aircraft, the passengers, nor the black boxes have ever been recovered. The most recent search, which started in December, covered roughly 15,000 square kilometers but did not produce any evidence confirming the aircraft’s location, according to a statement from Malaysia’s transport department.
This search was led by Ocean Infinity, a Britain and US-based exploration company, which concluded its efforts on January 23. On the anniversary of the disappearance—Sunday—the families of the Chinese passengers issued an open letter criticizing the lack of information provided during the recent search process.
“We empathize with the challenges of the search,” the families stated in a joint letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, expressing gratitude for his efforts. “However, since January 15, we have not received any further updates or briefings on the search.” They added, “Over the past two months, we have repeatedly contacted Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport through both Malaysia Airlines and the Chinese government, yet we have received no reply.”
In their ongoing effort to find the missing aircraft, Ocean Infinity deployed autonomous underwater drones capable of reaching depths of up to 6,000 meters (20,000 feet). Previous searches in 2018 and by Australia, which lasted three years until 2017, also ended without detection.
The families also shared that, over the past 12 years, they have received little genuine psychological support and simply ask to be acknowledged, heard, and treated with dignity and respect. They are scheduled to meet with China’s foreign ministry on Monday, as they do annually, before delivering their letter to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing for Prime Minister Anwar.
