Missing Flight MH370 Search To Resume With Private U.S. Technology

The search for long-missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was set to begin again — this time spearheaded by a private United States-based company. Malaysia approved a plan for the exploration firm to resume the search, an airline support group told families of those on board Friday, according to Reuters.

Ocean Infinity and the Malaysian government had been in talks since at least October after proposing the new search in August.

The MH Family Support Centre told families of the victims the government would allow Ocean Infinity to search once again. The search would be conducted on a “no cure, no fee” basis — in other words, the company would only get paid if the plane was found, Reuters reported.

Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers on board on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in March 2014. The search for the Boeing 777 was officially called off in January of last year.

Ocean Infinity made previous preparations for getting the contract before Malaysia made any official decision.

“With a relatively narrow weather window, we are moving the vessel, Seabed Constructor, towards the vicinity of the possible search zone,” a company spokesperson previously told Reuters. “This is designed to save time should the contract award be forthcoming, as hoped.”

The two-year search for MH370 was the largest in aviation history, at a cost of some $200 million. Despite scouring immense swaths of the ocean, little evidence of the plane was ever found. At least three pieces of debris, however, collected from the Indian Ocean, were confirmed to have come from the plane, according to Reuters.

“While I am hopeful of a successful search, I’m conscious of not raising hopes for the loved ones of those on board,” Darren Chester, Australia’s Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, said in a previous statement. “I hope that this new search will bring answers, both for the next of kin and for the rest of the world.”

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