Three years ago, Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 passengers went missing over the South China Sea.
Two reports prepared by Geoscience Australia and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) were released today on the information regarding the search for MH370. While underwater search had been suspended in January 2017, Chief Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Greg Hood, reported that residual analysis activity was continued.
The images that were captured by satellite are dated March 8, 2014 – two weeks after the aircraft had gone missing. Hood added that the French authorities assisted ATSB in acquiring the satellite imagery which were located outside but close to the underwater search area, narrowing it down to 5.000km² or just above the size of Lombok island in Indonesia.
The ASEAN Post spoke to Jacquita Gomes, 55, the wife of Patrick Gomes, the in-flight supervisor of the ill-fated flight MH370, and she says any new information on the search will always bring hope, but with the overall authority and responsibility of the aircraft belonging to the Malaysian government. Gomes hopes that with these reports they can work together with the private US seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity that has offered to continue the search to bring a faster homecoming to the families.
"If the government wants to wait for a confirmed location, it might take another 3 years. I just hope they can find it in my lifetime" she added.
The reports by Geoscience Australia has yet to confirm that the satellite imagery are debris from MH370, however it has been classified as probably man-made.
Malaysian government released a statement late this evening acknowledging the release of the CSIRO reports.
"We remain to be guided as to how this can be used to assist us in identifying the specific location of the aircraft", said the director general of the civil aviation department, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, who also acts as head of the MH370 Response Team.
"The MH370 Response Team has received several proposals from interested parties to search for the aircraft", he added. According to the statement released, the team is in the midst of assessing the offers based on the available information including the released reports from CSIRO, and seek the opinion of Australia and China in regards to this matter.