(Reuters) — The Malaysian husband of a cabin crew member aboard missing flight MH370 said on Wednesday (January 18) that he hoped to meet Prime Minister Najib Razak to discuss the possibility of extending the search for the missing aircraft.
The suspension of the search for the plane that vanished in 2014 with 239 people on board was announced on Tuesday (January 17) by Malaysian, Australian and Chinese authorities in a joint statement.
Calvin Shim whose wife Christine Tan was a stewardess on MH370, said he hope that Najib would consider the recommendation by the Australian Transport Safety Board to extend the search area by 25,000 square kilometers north of the previous area where the plane was believed to have crashed.
“We would like to explore that with the Prime Minister also with regards to the additional 25,000 square kilometers northern from the current search area, because that piece of information was released by ATSB, they called it the First Principles’ Review. So is it reliable? How reliable is that piece of information and whether it is worth to look into that and search that area,” he said.
Malaysia, Australia and China agreed in July to suspend the $145 million search if the plane was not found, or if new evidence that might offer a clue as to its whereabouts was not uncovered, once that area had been checked.
“I feel a bit disappointed of the statements that being released yesterday, because the aircraft cannot be found in the priority area. And according to the statement, the authorities remain hopeful that new information will come up in the future. So for me, it is as good as you know not doing anything but waiting for new information. I mean in the two and a half years, it’s already you know two and a half years, I’m wondering what kind of new information that could come up anymore,” he added.
The location of Flight MH370 has become one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries since the plane, a Boeing 777, disappeared en route to Beijing from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
The last search vessel left the area on Tuesday, the three countries said, after scouring the 120,000-sq-km (46,000-sq-mile) area of the Indian Ocean sea floor that has been the focus of the almost-three-year search.
