Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The search for the remains of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in the southern Indian Ocean was suspended due to bad climatic conditions and will only resume at the end of the year, Transport Minister Like Fook said Thursday.
Flight 370, a Boeing 777, transported 227 passengers and 12 crew members when it disappeared on the road from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014, in one of the largest aviation mysteries in the world.
The minister, cited by the state news agency Bernama, did not say why such a prolonged delay was required. In the southern hemisphere, it is now autumn and poor winter conditions are expected to prevail for several months.
The United States exploration company in charge of looking for the remains of the plane, Ocean Infinity, did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
“I think this time is not the season. I think they (Ocean Infinity) have stopped the operation at the moment and will resume the search at the end of this year,” said Bernama, the Minister of Transportation, Bernama.
Last month, Malaysia agreed the terms and conditions of an agreement with Ocean Infinity to resume the search for the plane in an estimated new location to cover approximately 5,790 square miles in the south of the Indian Ocean.
The search is based on “not finding, not tariff”, in which Ocean Infinity will receive $ 70 million only if the remains are successfully located.
Responding to the news of the long delay, Kelvin Shim, whose wife was on the unfortunate flight, said he was not surprised since the climate in the southern hemisphere was changing.
“We have been waiting for more than 11 years, so these are just other months … I can still wait,” said the 50 -year -old man.
