The Tyranny of Questions
Is the search proceeding as announced?
Have they found anything?
In the last six weeks, I have been asked these questions in multiple gatherings, by neighbours, friends and business associates. A part of me barely contains the irritation that arises. Don’t you follow the news on television? Have you stopped reading the newspapers? I am sorely tempted to throw the questions back at them, thinking that if there were genuine interest as a well-wisher, there are media, internet, and press sources they could have accessed to whet their curiosity. I quell my irritation because I know the questions come from a place of caring and concern, and are an expression of solidarity rather than just a passing interest or a conversation opener.
I also believe that from the early days after Malaysian Airlines MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014, people have harboured the notion that, as an affected family member, I am privy to more information and insight about the search and investigation efforts led by the government of Malaysia than the public. This has fed the myth that Kuala Lumpur has maintained regular and substantive communication with the 239 families of passengers on board, or that the families have access to the inside track on the search and investigation. This, for the most part, has not been the case. But there are moments when I hesitate to disabuse someone of the notion that I know more. My status as an affected party is also a privileged one in some senses, apparently!
My hesitation soon gives way to annoyance with myself. I tell myself—I wish I knew more. I wish I had convincing answers and well-rounded, settled explanations regarding the fate of MH370.
Getting You up to Speed
Where are we regarding the search for MH370? Before we answer that, let’s start with a recap—just like a multi-season television show.
The Disappearance
The plane took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing a little after midnight and disappeared within an hour, in the early hours of 8 March 2014, leaving very little tracking information. Later that month, on 25 March, families received an SMS from the airline announcing that the plane had met its end in the southern Indian Ocean (off the coast of Western Australia), and that survivors were unlikely. Families of passengers, in shock and disbelief, asked for evidence—debris or otherwise—and rejected the statement, while pressing for intensified search efforts. Australia managed the search efforts under the overall leadership of the flag state, Malaysia.
The Initial Search
After spending about USD 200 million on the search, which extended over 120,000 square kilometres of open ocean, the search was suspended in 2017 by the triumvirate of Malaysia, China and Australia, with a commitment to reopen the search effort should they find ‘credible evidence of the precise location where the plane can be found’. Meanwhile, aircraft debris was recovered along the shore of eastern Africa, and the islands of La Réunion and Madagascar, over 4,000 kilometres away from the supposed crash zone! Three pieces of debris were confirmed to be from MH370.
‘No, Find, No Fee’
January 2018 saw the first contract for search on a ‘no find, no fee’ basis with the underwater exploration company, Ocean Infinity. It was unsuccessful. In July 2018, the official Safety Investigation Report was released. There were neither definitive conclusions nor any direction (as far as I could tell) for further study or search efforts.
Meanwhile, experts—individuals, groups and institutions—continued to work with the limited available information about the flight, refining assumptions, exploring new approaches, methods and data sources to unravel the mystery and extrapolate crash-site coordinates. Some recommendations have found favour with the Malaysian authorities and Ocean Infinity, while some others haven’t been categorically ruled out. There are, of course, outlandish and incredulous hypotheses and conspiracy stories that routinely come up—nothing seasonal about it.
All Quiet on the Search Front
Between 2018 and 2024, the search remained suspended, perhaps allowing for a magical reveal of the precise location of the aircraft. Of course, no such thing happened. Meanwhile, about half a dozen new recommendations for probable crash sites came up, some of which interested Ocean Infinity enough to make a renewed bid sometime in mid-2024 for another ‘no find, no fee’ deal with Malaysia.
‘Search Season’ Again
Malaysia revealed that it was in discussions for a renewed search in December 2024. The deal was concluded only in March 2025, and gave little time to pick up the search that season. (Weather conditions in the search area (southern Indian Ocean) are rough and unsuitable for search from about mid-April till mid-December.) Why?
After the 2025 summer and monsoon, it was time to look forward to the new search ‘season’, and just when we were wondering about the resumption of the search came the announcement that the search would recommence from 30 December 2025. There was quiet prayer and tamped-down hope.
Nearly 12 years have passed, and affected families by now have learnt to reconstruct their lives rather than ‘suspend living’ while waiting for answers. The search remains important. It will forever be till we know where the flight and its passengers met their end, and what or who brought down the plane.
Information and updates regarding the ongoing search remain much sought after. For the families, it is the reassurance that the search and investigation is active, ongoing and continues to be invested in. A glimmer of hope that the coming days might bring long-awaited news.
Malaysia sprang a surprise this time with weekly emails to families with updates on the search—area covered, significant finds, weather conditions, and the prospects for continued search. Just when it seemed that they had taken the concerns and criticism of their communications and lack of transparency in previous years seriously and had made amends, the communications stopped.
End of a ‘Season’?
Accounts on social media tell us that after the first burst of search activity, the search ship, Armada 8605, returned to port (Fremantle?) in late January 2026, and after a few days there, set sail to western Samoa. Why? Adverse weather in the search area? Will Armada 8605 return to the search? What do weather forecasts foretell for the continuation of the search in this ‘season’? Will an alternate vessel sail to the search area? There might still be a month of agreeable weather fit for the search. There has been no word from Ocean Infinity. What we have is an information blackout. Silence from Malaysia. There is mounting curiosity, impatience and annoyance. Was this how it felt at air traffic control when the transponder went off, and MH370 became invisible and incommunicado on the night of 8 March 2014?
The families’ need for answers is not seasonal but perennial. The silence from authorities is perplexing. It feels cruel, and the remnants of goodwill one summoned for the government of Malaysia are slipping away one more time.
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