The search operation for the MH370 Malaysian plane, the first aircraft from Malaysia’s flight company that crashed in 2014 but is yet to be found, has entered a new phase which is underway in the Indian Ocean. Early Monday morning, the GO Phoenix search vessel arrived at the established search area in the southern Indian Ocean and commenced what might be a year-long search operation. GO Phoenix will be shortly joined by two other vessels and, together, will perform detailed sonar recordings of the ocean’s floor in an attempt to find the missing MH370 craft. The entire operation is led by Australian authorities as they are closest to the search area and they have previously conducted the first search mission which failed to show any results.
[ads2]
‘The complexities surrounding the search cannot be understated. It involves vast areas of the Indian Ocean with only limited known data and aircraft flight information. The current plan envisages that we will progressively cover our priority search areas over the course of about a year,’ stated Martin Dolan, head of Australian Transport Safety Board. Dolan is confident that the MH370 will be found soon. When the craft is found the operation will enter a new phase consisting of mapping and photographing the area. Depending on the results, further decisions will be taken in relation to the wreckage and the human remains it might contain.
On March 8 of the current year, the MH370 Malaysian commercial flight was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when, at 1:30 a.m., MH370 lost contact with Subang traffic controllers. Search operations ensued, first in areas of the South China Sea, the south of Vietnam and the Malaysian peninsula then in the Indian Ocean, west of the Australian coast. The search here focused on a 2000 km area known as the ‘seventh arc.’ Even though the latest technology, such as underwater drones, has been used to locate the MH370 and over 14 countries participated in what quickly became the most expensive search operation in history, these first attempts to find the airplane remained fruitless. The entire story surrounding the disappearance of MH370 has since become the biggest mystery of aircraft crashes.