Australia should back new search for MH370, top official who led first effort says

The Australian government should get behind a new search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the man who headed up the initial search says, now that new equipment and data is available. Peter Foley was the program director for the international effort, led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, to find the plane. MH370 went down on 8 March 2014 with 239 people on board. The disappearance of the plane is one of the world’s greatest enduring mysteries. Foley hopes pressure from families and the upcoming anniversary will push things in the right direction. “I want to see the Australian government push for another search and support a search when and if one gets up and running,” Foley said. “There are a lot of people who contributed to the original search and everyone who’s been involved in the search is really keen to get answers for the families.” The search was suspended in 2017 “in the absence of credible new evidence”, after failing to find the wreck in the area of the southern Indian Ocean, in Australia’s search and rescue zone. The government said at the time the search was not terminated. MH370 went missing 40 minutes into a six-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Most passengers on board were Chinese, but there were more than a dozen nationalities represented including dozens of Malaysians and six Australians. Australia had put $90m towards the cost, China $20m and Malaysia the balance.<br/>