Private search mooted for missing Flight MH370 in southern Indian Ocean
Experts want to expand the search area to a more northern site off the coast of Western Australia.
As the official search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 winds down, reports of a private search funded by Boeing have surfaced.
A former member of the US National Transportation Safety Board, John Goglia, is said to have originated the project.
Meanwhile, the underwater search in the southern Indian Ocean — jointly funded by Australia, China and Malaysia — is nearing its end.
“The search will continue ... but it will be a privately run,” Mr Goglia is quoted as saying, adding that Boeing will most likely take the lead.
“It’ll be smaller and more focused but that’s probably better.”
Boeing has not confirmed the report.
Experts' conclusions
Last month, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released the result of findings from a three-day meeting held in Canberra in early November by parties involved in the two-year search for the missing Boeing 777.
“There is a high degree of confidence that the previously identified underwater area searched to date does not contain the missing aircraft," the report stated.
“The experts concluded that, if this area were to be searched, prospective areas for locating the aircraft wreckage, based on all the analysis to date, would be exhausted.”
The ATSB, which is leading the $A145 million search, says the operation will be suspended if there are no credible clues as to the plane's whereabouts after the completion of the underwater search of an addition 25,000sq km.
The new area adjoins an area searched in 2014 and takes into account additional information from a CSIRO ocean drift study.
Minister has doubts
However, Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester has thrown doubts on whether this search will go ahead.
His view — and that of China and Malaysia — is that the new search area is not specific enough.
Nor is it part of the 120,000sq km area of Indian Ocean already searched without any aircraft debris being found.
More than 20 items of debris have been recovered and identified as likely to be, almost certainly or definitely originating from MH370, including parts the wing.
Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Nevil Gibson
Tue, 03 Jan 2017
Tue, 03 Jan 2017
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Private search mooted for missing Flight MH370 in southern Indian Ocean
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