MH370 Relatives Hand Over Five More Pieces of Debris to Malaysia Transport Minister [Video]

Today relatives of passengers and crew of missing flight MH370 met with the Malaysia Transport Minister, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, to hand over five more suspected pieces of MH370 debris found by members of the public on the island of Madagascar. The small debris pieces were found between December 2016 and as recently as August 2018 and followed a public awareness campaign visit undertaken by several relatives during 2016.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8th, 2014 while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The Boeing 777-200ER was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew. The aircraft is believed to have turned back off the coast of Malaysia 40 minutes after departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport, failed to contact Vietnam Air Traffic Control, and inexplicably flew for a further seven hours into the southern Indian Ocean without normal communications (radio and data reporting) except for a series of satellite pings (or handshakes) recorded by British company Inmarsat. Despite initial and extensive sea surface searches over a period of eight weeks and two subsequent underwater seabed searches covering almost a quarter of a million square kilometers in the Indian Ocean, no seabed wreckage site has ever been discovered.

However, since July 2015, 15 months after its disappearance, fragments of aircraft debris have been discovered on the coast of Africa and island states to the east like Reunion, Mauritius and Madagascar. Other debris pieces have been discovered on the coasts of Tanzania, Mozambique and as far as South Africa.

Officially, some 35 pieces of debris have been passed (or they are aware of) to the Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team. Two pieces remain under a criminal investigation in Madagascar following the assassination of  Malaysia consular Zahid Raza in the capital Antananarivo just before he was due to hand over the debris to a DHL depot for transport to Malaysia authorities. Police on the island of Madagascar do not believe Raza's assassination was related to the case of MH370. One other piece of debris, a right wing flaperon found on Reunion island, remains under the judicial custody of France, though it has be conclusively linked to 9M-MRO, the registered aircraft servicing flight MH370. Other debris examined by the Australian ATSB have also been identified as belonging to 9M-MRO or 'almost certain' to belong to it through part numbers, serial numbers, maintenance records or logo and stencil evidence.

One of the five pieces of debris delivered today by relatives to the Malaysia MOT has already been identified by Independent Group (IG) investigator Don Thompson. He quickly spotted a partial quality placard ID and discovered that the debris was in fact a floor panel used by Boeing in its 777-200ER production (BAC27WPPS61). Thompson's analysis report is available here and he has corroborated his findings with floor debris from the Ukraine crash site of MH17 bearing the same placard marking.

This latest debris is again small and highly fragmented. Internal and external. It consistently supports the hypothesis that flight MH370's end was catastrophic and a high-speed sea impact. There is simply no other conclusion to reach and speculative and fanciful theories of some form of slow-speed ditching are increasingly looking unfounded without any evidence to support them.

In July 2018, the MH370 Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team, headed by Kok Soo Chon (who attended the relatives' debris handover and press conference), delivered a full report from his investigation team but could provide no definitive conclusions about the missing flight and what caused the events of March 8th, 2014. His team could only conclude that investigators do not know what happened to the Malaysian Airlines plane and third-party interference could not be ruled out, but they found no evidence to support nefarious actions.

Minister Loke and Annex 13 lead Kok were somewhat muted today. There was little to be said beyond the consistently stated line that a new search must be approved by the Malaysia government cabinet, regardless of whether it a 'no-cure, no-fee' or not, and that a new search cannot begin without 'credible evidence' being produced and leads directly to the seabed wreckage. The implication is that the Malaysia authorities now want to be externally hand-held by independent parties and groups and almost taken to 'X' marks the spot without further effort on their part.

Today, you sensed that Loke was hosting a press conference at the MOT HQ for the relatives, like a reluctant host throwing a party he never wanted to have in the first place, but felt his office (work home) was somewhat duty bound. Once the photographs were taken for the gathered press, the small pieces of debris laid out on a polished wooden table, there came a few limited words, and then he slipped away out of view and reminded the relatives that this was their press conference with a wave of the hand on his turf. A kind of subtle - I'll leave you to it, so.

And that is the way the relatives of 239 passengers and crew have felt for the past four plus years. We're done - we'll leave it to you and everybody else, and don't expect too much.

For now, I will leave it with the words of Sher Keen, president of Aircrash Support Group Australia (ASGA)...

On a no find no fee basis why on earth does there need to be new credible evidence? That's just bullshit, Malaysia has absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. If it were the government actually funding a search then their requirement for more solid evidence would be understandable, but this reluctance, when there's no cost to them is not the actions of a government that truly wants to find their aircraft.

Radio Espial: Episode 10 - Juanda Ismail Interview | Malaysia Airlines MH370

Pilot and flight instructor Juanda Ismail joins Radio Espial presenter Mick Rooney to discuss the latest news on missing flight Malaysia Airlines MH370.

 

www.radioespial.com
www.mas370.org/

MH370: Ocean Infinity search ends amid calls for new disclosures and further investigation - Annette Gartland

The American seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity, which spent three months searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, has ended its mission in the southern Indian Ocean.

Seabed Constructor – the vessel Ocean Infinity leased for the search – is now heading for the port of Dampier in northwestern Australia.

The company’s “No Cure No Fee” contract with the Malaysian government ended on May 29, but Ocean Infinity continued to scour the ocean depths with its state-of-the-art Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and only brought its search to an end early yesterday morning (Friday), local time.

The weather in the southern Indian Ocean will be too rough up until about November for any further underwater searches to be carried out.

MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board when en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Despite lengthy searches in the southern Indian Ocean – initially by an Australian-led team – not a trace of the plane has been found. The only debris discovered that is believed to have come from MH370 has been found off the coast of Africa.

The Australia-led search went on for 1,046 days and was suspended on January 17 last year. An area spanning more than 120,000 square kilometres was scoured.

Ocean Infinity has searched, and collected data from, an area far in excess of the initial 25,000-square-kilometre target. The company has not yet made a final announcement about the total area searched, but it is estimated to be at least 125,000 square kilometres.

READ THIS FULL ARTICLE ON CHANGING TIMES MEDIA.

A Renewed Search, A New Company, But the Search and Questions Go On For MH370 Families

Last week the Malaysia Ministry of Transport (MOT) and its Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) signed a deal to pay a Houston-based seabed exploration company, Ocean Infinity, up to $70 million (USD) if it is successful and finds convincing and credible proof of where the seabed wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 lies. And the contractual caveats? Ocean Infinity, and the 65-strong crew of its leased vessel, Seabed Constructor, must do it within 90 days of reaching the newly designated search area, identified by the ATSB and its partners when it published its Final Search report at the end of 2017. This area includes a 25,000-sq-km priority area and potentially beyond (separated into four divisions: primary, subsequent, tertiary and supplementary).

The public may not be aware that slides were presented at the contract announcement and media event.

Slide 1

Slide 2

Slide 3

Slide 4

THE REAL DEAL?

But there are a few more catches to this deal. It is based on what is known in the marine industry as ‘no cure-no fee’ – if you turn up nothing, you get nothing, and Ocean Infinity and its financers and shareholders will have to bear the brunt of all the operational costs, upfront. Oh, and Malaysia Transport Minister, Liow Tiong Lai, insists that this will also mean that Ocean Infinity must provide proof of aircraft seabed wreckage – without removing it from the seabed, unless Malaysia gives the okay – and convince Boeing, the manufacturer in Seattle, that it is from the ill-fated aircraft, registered 9M-MRO, the very Boeing 777-200ER which operated flight MH370 on the morning of March 8^th, 2014 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. So, no indistinct blurry images or ‘yep, it’s definitely down there – we saw it’ will see a single cent exchanging accounts with a spit and a handshake.

It’s not a position Fugro Worldwide found itself in when in 2014 it was awarded the tender by the three primary nation partners involved (Malaysia, Australia, China), and Australia’s ATSB was tasked with overseeing the operational activities and search that covered initially 60,000-sq-km, later expanded in 2015/16 to 120,000-sq-km. Indeed, though constantly dealing with seasonal weather, a search that once began with four vessels – then there was one – and an extensive bathymetric seabed scan before towfish sonar could be deployed, Fugro never had a time constrain beyond getting the job done and finding the aircraft resting place.

Undeterred, and much to the credit of the Dutch-based company, Fugro, it did offer to search again, considering it had the experience and at least one vessel in place. The initial seabed search came to its conclusion in January 2017. Malaysia mulled and became silent but for another interim report on the third anniversary, which told the world little or nothing more, and then it fell silent for months.

VOICE370

Voice370, the official family support group for relatives of those on board MH370, began to sense an impending and permanent limbo, despite that the previous 12 months had seen the discovery of multiple pieces of debris on the east coast of Africa – some proven to be from 9M-MRO, some ‘almost certainly’, a few very likely to be aircraft composite pieces, still many pieces unknown and likely always to remain that way. The most significant pieces discovered were a flaperon, an outboard wing flap, and the now almost infamous ‘NO STEP’ and the painfully but humbly-referred-to piece of debris called ‘ROY’ (part of the engine cowling casing from one of Rolls Royce’s Trent 800s sporting its emblem manufacturer RR badge).

In a world where there has been so little information, so little data, so many unanswered questions, some of the relatives of MH370 took solace in being able to meet the crew of Fugro’s search vessel, the ATSB, and witness the outboard flap found in Tanzania in 2016 in Canberra, Australia later that year. Just to be in the ATSB’s facility, in the same room as a piece of 9M-MRO, was both a profound and upsetting experience to be so close to something which had itself been close to their loved ones on the morning of March 8^th, 2014.  

But Voice370 grew frustrated with the lack of information from Malaysia, increasing delays with debris being picked up from local civil aviation authorities and at the time of the third anniversary decided they would have to take matters into their own hands, having travelled to east Africa at their own expense to raise awareness about potential coastal debris, they began to reach out to aviation experts, oceanographers, wreckage hunters and influencers prepared to assist them in funding an independent search for the seabed wreckage and their loved ones.

While they began to reach out and explore this, they discovered that one company had already tabled an offer to the Malaysia government to search on, and it was not Fugro. Above all else, as the weeks and months passed, Voice370 discovered this offer was based on a ‘no cure-no fee’ basis. The group believed an announcement would surely be imminent. Then the ATSB released its final report, concluding new refinement of an area of 25,000-sq-km north of the original larger search site. Silence from Malaysia, a ministerial release that a tripartite meeting might happen, maybe October, maybe November, and they were preparing their own final report, maybe before the end of 2017. But nothing more.

Voice370 went public with what the little they knew about the offer by Ocean Infinity, but that it did exist and had for some considerable time. Ocean Infinity maintained its silence and continued to test its advanced AUV Hugin equipment. Sea wreck hunter David Mearns went public and made it clear he had been in contact with the group and was prepared to assist them with an independent search. David Gallo, of Woods Oceangrahic – which had been involved in the final search for Air France AF447 – joined the increasing pressure that something must happen and decisions needed to be made by those in charge of the investigation and search.

Voice370 members at the Ocean Infinity deal announcement

Ultimately, the lead investigative nation, Malaysia, knowing they had to deliver a Final Report to ICAO by mid January 2018, the one-year expiry after the official seabed search had been suspended, having somewhat slow-walked themselves down a dead-end alley, succumbed to the pressure, announced that, yes, they had been considering three possible offers of continuing the search, but had a preference for one. A lull of several weeks late 2017 was followed by an announcement that the Malaysia interior cabinet had approved the potential release of up to $70m, but only on the understanding a new search would be successful.

Almost immediately, Ocean Infinity, a company that did not exist a year ago, with a 6-year lease on a vessel called Seabed Constructor, which had been testing its 6 Hugin AUVs in the south English Channel, returned to Bristol port, and then departed across the Atlantic Ocean. The Chess Game began.

OCEAN INFINITY

Malaysia stalled on a decision. Ocean Infinity upped its game, rolling out social media and website updates to show off its technology and that it was far ahead of what had already been deployed on previous sea search missions. Then at SUT, Senior Advisor Survey & AUV Operations Director at Swire Seabed (Norway), Jan-Ingulfsen, laid the path for Ocean Infinity, and it became very apparent that Ocean Infinity had very significant financial backers and stakeholders behind it, notwithstanding its existing partnerships with SeaTrepid and others. This was no longer a misty farm on the hills in winter with flying pigs and promises of a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow. One of the first questions Minister Liow asked Ocean Infinity in November in London was – can you assure us you can finance this and that it will not fail because you ran out of money? We cannot provide money at the end if you do not have it all at the start. He got his answer at that meeting. And the deal was done, bar him having to convince his cabinet colleagues a few weeks later. This was always shaping up to be a with or without you.

By the time of reaching Durban port, Ocean Infinity’s vessel, Seabed Constructor, received two new Hugins, which were loaded, as well as the vessel receiving Inmarsat high-grade antennas to its hull in dry-dock. The vessel departed Durban to conduct two sea trial tests, critically, to deploy all eight Hugin AUVs at one time and test the full operation, and to test them all at depths of up to 6,000 metres. As of January 13^th, these tests went well; though Ocean Infinity reported some minor glitches, and they decided to remain in the test area to resolve these first. This meant backtracking on some test areas to ensure everything was working. The vessel then departed for the priority search area late January 13^th and is expected to arrive there around the 20^th/21^st, a few days after they had hoped to arrive. However, given the 90-day timeframe, Ocean Infinity does not believe this will play any factor. They are hoping to complete the first phase of search within 26-28 days, but this will require one visit back to port to resupply.

     

SEARCH DETAILS

Ocean Infinity will be paid $20 million if the plane is found within 5,000 sq km, $30 million if it is found within 10,000 square km and $50 million if it is found within an area of 25,000 square km. Beyond that area, Ocean Infinity will receive $70 million.

I appreciate some of the below details may be difficult for some NOK, but the reality is that this search must have priorities, and any search after this period of time must have technical priorities. The priority is to locate – first the wreckage site, then to identify the data flight and cockpit recorders. If successful, Ocean Infinity will then, if time allows, try and grid the area.

Ocean Infinity will require authorisation to extract anything from the site, even though they have some equipment capable of doing that for small objects like the recorders. That authorisation will remain with the Malaysia government. Difficult as this is, extraction of human remains is not part of this search phase and will be dealt with at a later date when a full grid is provided of the seabed wreckage and an agreed salvage plan is implemented.

THE SEARCH OPERATION

Seabed Constructor carries eight AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) that will search the seabed with scanning equipment for information to be sent back for analysis. Once the AUVs are recovered by Seabed Constructor (SC), the data is downloaded onboard the vessel.

SC has 65 crew and almost half of Ocean Infinity’s staff (about 20) is onboard the vessel. There are two government representatives drawn from the Malaysian navy who will act as monitors for the Malaysia government. Some of SC’s crew also work for Swire and SeaTrepid because they have extensive experience working with this equipment. Like Fugro’s vessel staff, they are deeply committed to this and we should not underestimate the day-to-day risks they take. They have been training and preparing for this for months.

Further reading:

You can see my interview with Voice370 representative, Grace Nathan here  and also view Ocean Infinity

Radio Espial: Episode 7 - Grace Nathan Interview | Malaysia Airlines MH370

Grace Nathan of Voice370 lost her mother Anne Daisy on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. She joined presenter Mick Rooney on Radio Espial to discuss the journey for relatives of passengers and crew of the missing aircraft over the past four years. Last week the Malaysia government announced a renewed search for the seabed wreckage of the aircraft in the South Indian Ocean after it contracted exploration company Ocean Infinity.