Noora Mykkanen
Published December 3, 2025 11:14am
Updated December 3, 2025 11:28am
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Previous Page Next PageEfforts to solve one of aviation’s biggest mysteries will restart after confirmation that the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will resume soon.
The families of the 239 people who vanished on board the Boeing 777 plane have not had closure since the jet’s disappearance en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing almost 12 years ago.
The plane was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members representing 14 different nationalities when it diverted from its flight path on March 8, 2014.
Previous search efforts focused on a 46,000-square-mile patch of the Indian Ocean, but failed to find any sign of the wreckage in the sea, which can reach depths of 24,442 feet.
Search teams from Australia scoured the Indian Ocean off the coast of Perth last year in a bid to find any sign of flight 370 (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
Now the families of the missing have been given renewed hope after the Malaysian Transport Ministry confirmed it will relaunch the search in targeted areas.
‘The search will focus on targeted areas assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft,’ the Transport Ministry said in its latest update on the mystery flight.
Ocean Infinity, a US marine robotics firm, will resume scouring the seabed for the plane wreckage on December 30 after it paused the search in March.
Families of the people who went missing with flight 370 have not had closure (Picture: AP)
Where was the last contact made with MH370?
The aircraft had departed the Kuala Lumpur International Airport around 40 minutes before air traffic controllers lost contact with it.
Everything appeared to be normal on board the routine flight when the captain of MH370, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, responded to Malaysian air traffic controllers ‘Good night. Malaysian Three Seven Zero.’
These were the final words heard from the cockpit of the doomed flight.
Military radars then spotted it crossing the Malay Peninsula after it had made a sharp left turn, veering off the official flight path.
MH370 families still don’t know what happened to their loved ones (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
It then continued flying over the Andaman Sea before it disappeared from the military radar and continued to fly for hours before it is thought to have run out of fuel and crashed into the vast Indian Ocean.
Why did the search stop?
The disappearance and likely crash sparked one of the most expensive searches in civil aviation history involving teams from more than 20 countries.
Over the years, the teams combed through around 46,000 square miles of seabed using sonar and robotic technology, but the search was called off in early 2017.
The latest search, carried out by Ocean Infinity under a ‘no find, no fee’ arrangement in March, was called off due to poor weather conditions.
The firm has paid for the search itself and it will receive around £52 million ($70 million) only if the wreckage is located. Click here to see the search area map.
The vessel, Seabed Constructor, used in the previous search for flight MH370 (Picture: Ocean Infinity)
Why are they resuming it now?
The plan was to postpone the search until the end of this year during better weather.
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Ocean Infinity has remained hopeful that its robotics and mapping technology can locate the plane in the deep-sea conditions.
It revealed fresh plans to the Malaysian government last year showing a refined search area based on new surveys and analysis of ocean currents, satellite data and past search results.
The disappearance has fuelled several conspiracy theories, including speculation that the pilot brought down the plane on purpose or that it was hijacked.
However, Australian investigators have debunked the speculation over the pilot’s involvement, saying he was unconscious during the final moments when the plane fell into the water.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
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