Australian Deputy PM Warren Truss: ‘MH370 Search Cannot Go On Forever’

The hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 “cannot go on forever.” Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said there are discussions to call off the search in May.

The Boeing 777 aircraft disappeared on March 8, 2014 a short time after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on its way to Beijing. Australia took charge of the search party a few days later, with the effort being focused in the southern Indian Ocean.

Truss told Reuters that Australia, China and Malaysia are discussing the end of the search effort in May. The investigators are currently searching MH370’s most likely resting place, the rugged 60,000 sq. km. patch of sea floor about 1,600 km west of Perth. If nothing is still found, they would have to decide on whether to continue the search into the 1.1 sq. km. area around the primary search zone.

“For many of the families on board, they won’t have closure unless they have certain knowledge that the aircraft has been located and perhaps their loved ones’ remains have been recovered. That is the strong feeling of many of the families on board. And we would like to be able to do what we can to give them that kind of closure,” Truss said. “But we can’t go on forever, and eventually a judgment has to be made.”

He said that the cost of the operation would have to be taken into consideration. While there are other countries that are willing to contribute financially and materially to the cause, Truss said Australia would have to consider how much more it would want to devote to the search and how much the other countries are willing to commit. The estimated cost of the search is $52 million, which Australia and Malaysia agreed to split evenly.

Meanwhile, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia will be taking part in a joint trial aimed to improve aircraft tracking. The deputy PM said under the new system, developed in response to the disappearance of MH370, planes flying over remote oceanic areas would be required to check in every 15 minutes, rather than the current practice of checking in every 30 to 40 minutes.

It is already being used by more than 90 percent of long-haul passenger aircrafts, and therefore would not require additional technology investment. The new approach would see air traffic control respond faster in times of irregular events.

In January, the disappearance of MH370 has officially been declared an accident, with the 239 passengers and crew on board are presumed to be dead. The search transitioned from a search and rescue operation to a search and recovery phase.