‘Can’t fail again’: New search planned for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

Experts who have spent almost a decade searching for downed flight MH370 believe they need just one more mission to solve the tragic mystery.

It’s the world’s most enduring aviation mystery – the downing of flight MH370 in 2014 that killed 239 people.

But the experts who have been searching for the plane for almost a decade claim they need just one more mission to find its resting place.

Ocean Infinity, a marine robotics and underwater specialist company that has conducted a number of searches for MH370, hopes it will have an answer for grieving families by next year, after it committed to a new search for 2023.

Ocean Infinity has conducted numerous searches for the plane. Picture: Supplied

There have been a host of theories over the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane.

The company failed to find the aircraft in 2018 after a six-month search. But now research from retired aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey, who believes he needs one more search of the Indian Ocean to find the plane, led the privately run marine experts to commit to a new mission.

“It is our hope and desire to be back carrying on the search, at some point certainly in the first half of 2023,” Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett told 60 Minutes.

The new search, which is expected to cost around $30 million, will be conducted by the company’s autonomous marine robots, as well as remotely operated ships that are in the middle of being built.

“They’re probably the most modern, cutting-edge ships in the world. And one of the things we’re working on is the regulatory framework for a ship that can be driven with no person on board,” Mr Plunkett said.

Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett. Picture: Supplied

The autonomous robots from Ocean Infinity used to search the sea floor. Picture: Supplied

Peter Foley, the former head of the Australian Transport Security Bureau (ATSB) search for MH370, said he hoped next year’s mission would provide answers.

“It would mean that 239 families would finally have answers and I think everyone involved in the search is motivated by that. Bring those people home,” Mr Foley told 60 Minutes.

“By continuing the search, we get closer and closer to getting a result and we need to be successful this time. We can’t fail again.

“We must continue and find that aircraft.”

Last month, Mr Godfrey identified a 300sq km area that he believed was the likely final resting place of MH370.

The plane, which was carrying 239 passengers and crew, took off from Kuala Lumpur Airport on March 8, 2014 and was headed to Beijing Capital International Airport when it vanished from the skies.