KUALA LUMPUR: The individuals who led the Australian search for vanished Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 10 years ago have urged the Australian government to support a new search initiative.
According to The Guardian, Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) programme director Peter Foley stated that the Australian government needs to support any new initiative aimed at locating the aircraft.
"The longer any search is delayed, the smaller the chance that flight data recorders would still be useful.
"It's been six years. We know that it's close to the seventh arc in the southern Indian Ocean. We just need another search," he said.
Previously, experts believed that the aircraft was somewhere in the Indian Ocean, near the search area, as they found more than 30 pieces of debris, including the flaperon confirmed to be from MH370.
In 2018, Putrajaya collaborated with the marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity for a subsequent search, but it yielded no results.
Ocean Infinity chief executive Oliver Plunkett stated that a proposal for the new search had been submitted to the Malaysian government.
"We've been working with many experts, some outside of Ocean Infinity, to continue analysing the data in the hopes of narrowing the search area down to one in which success becomes potentially achievable."
"We hope to get back to the search soon," he said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that Malaysia is prepared to reinstate the investigation of MH370 if new and convincing evidence comes to light.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke reaffirmed his dedication to providing closure for the families of those affected by the MH370 tragedy two days ago. He disclosed that the government was contemplating restarting the search operation carried out by Ocean Infinity.
The search effort led by ATSB in the Indian Ocean began in May 2014 and continued until early 2017 in an attempt to locate the flight that disappeared on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.