Flight MH370 Update: Authorities Ignoring Debris, Say Victims’ Families

The families of those on board missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 have expressed their anger over what has been perceived as the authorities ignoring the possible plane debris found over the last few months. Australian authorities have identified five debris pieces that are "almost certainly" from the Boeing 777-200.

Malaysian authorities, who are in charge of coordinating the examination of any debris found, have cancelled two trips to collect the pieces found by an independent searcher, BBC reported Friday. The next of kin of the victims have complained that potential clues have been ignored for weeks despite the underwater search yielding no concrete direction on what may have happened to the jet, which went off radar on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"Credible evidence is turning up, why are they not investigating it?" Grace Subathirai Nathan told the BBC. "From day one we've had the notion they want an end to it, to sweep it under the rug. How can potential evidence be unattended for a month? It's becoming a farce."

Nathan's mother Anne Daisy, was on Flight MH370 when it disappeared two years ago.

American Blaine Gibson, who has been independently searching for MH370 debris, sold the family home to fund his search. Gibson found the piece of debris in Mozambique that investigators say is linked to the missing jet. He later travelled to Madagascar where he discovered more potential evidence.

Gibson told BBC that Malaysian investigators were scheduled to fly to Madagascar to collect the debris on June 16. They later changed the date to June 21, following which they cancelled the trip at the last minute. He also said Malaysian authorities turned down his offer to hand over the debris to them by himself.

"Australia is leading the underwater search for MH370 but it is Malaysia, as the investigating body, that retains authority for coordinating the examination of debris," the Australian Transport Safety Board told the BBC.

The multimillion-dollar search for the plane in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean, where the jet is believed to have gone down, has been ongoing for more than two years. So far, more than 42,471 square miles area of a total 46,332 square miles area has been scoured by search vessels. The search was set to conclude in July but bad weather conditions have delayed the operation for six to eight weeks.