KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — As a tripartite meeting to discuss the next course of action in search of the missing aircraft MH370 starts in Putrajaya today, the next-of-kin of passengers and crew expressed “growing distress” at the possibility of a termination of the search.
The international network of the families called Voice370 pleaded with the authorities to extend and expand the search, taking into account independent experts and analysts’ opinions.
“The families of passengers on board MH370 note with growing distress that the search for the plane in the extended search area off the West Coast of Australia has yielded nothing till date and there is very little of the search area left to be covered.
“What is even more alarming to the families is the often repeated phrase that if no new credible evidence is found, the search will be terminated once the 120,000 square kilometers designated search area is fully searched,” it said in a statement today.
Malaysia will host a two-day meeting with Australia and China to discuss the next step in a so far fruitless search for the aircraft which went missing in March 2014.
The three countries have said previously they will call off the Australian-lead hunt for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 if nothing is found in a designated search area in the remote Indian Ocean.
Voice370 in its statement said that independent experts have raised questions about the preciseness of the official analysis and its follow-up action on new information such as recent debris as well as the discovery of flotsam in dispersed locations.
“These have not been responded to satisfactorily or contested with more substantive data or analysis.
“We wish to express our concern that till date, we have not heard of any organised plan to systematically comb these far dispersed localities. This lack of initiative begs the question — how sincere are the relevant parties about solving this mystery?” it said.
A piece of flaperon was discovered on Reunion Island which French authorities confirmed to be part of the missing aircraft; other pieces have been picked up in Mauritius, Madagascar and along the Southeastern coast of Africa.
The group said that any decision to end the search would be a “cruel response to a desperate human crisis” and sent a message that financial considerations trump the flyer’s safety and security.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 people — including 152 from China — aboard.
The cause of the disappearance of Flight MH370 is still unknown.
