Relatives left frustrated as report into missing MH370 reveals 'nothing new'
Families of those on-board the plane were left in tears at the lack of progress made by a new report into why it went missing.
Wednesday 19 February 2020 15:46, UK
Relatives of the 239 people on-board Malaysia Airlines flight 370 have expressed frustration that a new report into its disappearance has revealed "nothing new".
Some of the next of kin left the briefing at Malaysia's ministry of transport in tears, telling awaiting media teams they were devastated that after four years they still do not know what happened to their loved ones.
The aircraft went missing on 8 March 2014, on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.
Investigators previously found that the plane turned west off its predetermined route, heading back over Malaysia.
A media briefing by the Malaysian safety investigation team said the plane was under manual control when it turned back, rather than flying on autopilot.
It said it could not exclude the interference of a third party, but concluded it was unable to determine the real cause of the disappearance.
Calvin Shim's wife, Christine Tan, was a member of the crew.
He admitted he expected nothing new to come from the report, but told Sky News his family would continue to fight for answers until the wreckage was found.
"It's difficult because we have to live with not knowing why my wife has gone missing," he said.
"We need closure. I can't even tell my children what happened to their mother. We can't even have a proper ceremony or a proper place to remember my children's mother.
"I just want to find the plane and then whatever data we can get from the sea we can find what actually happened. I need the government to proactively be looking for clues and continue the search.
"We want the answer of why the plane has gone missing and where it has gone. As soon as all my questions are answered it will be finished for me. As long as there is still some hope, I will still pursue it."
On 29 May, Malaysia called off a three-month search by US firm Ocean Infinity, which had spanned 112,000 square kilometres (43,243 square miles) in the southern Indian Ocean and ended with no significant findings.
It was the second major search, after Australia, China and Malaysia ended a fruitless AUS$200m (£112.8m) search across an area of 120,000 square kilometres (46,332 square miles) last year.
Families said the new report pointed to mistakes by the Malaysian air traffic control centre.
It showed there were only two attempted phone calls made to the aircraft from the ground, four to five hours apart.
Grace Nathan, a lawyer whose mother, Anne Daisy, was on the plane, said: "We hope that these mistakes will not be repeated and that measures are put in place to prevent them in the future."
Friends and relatives of 53-year-old pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah also expressed their dissatisfaction.
Peter Chong, who became friends with Mr Shah after meeting him at a community project, told Sky News: "I feel sad for the next of kin of MH370.
"After all the hype and expectations, the report released brings forth nothing new. They are nowhere near to closure.
"[It is] just another round in the emotional roller-coaster ride. I am happy to note there is no blame apportioned to anyone. However, there are also no answers as to what happened to the flight."
Next of kin living in Australia and Beijing are angry that they only heard about the briefing late last week, meaning they did not have time to attend.
The investigator in charge, Kok Soo Chon, agreed this "was not fair", but explained he was not in control of invitations.
He confirmed that the team would travel to China later in the week to present to report to relatives in Beijing.