The latest search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been temporarily suspended, as it is currently “not the season,” according to Kuala Lumpur’s Transport Minister, Anthony Loke.
The minister announced this update in a voice recording sent to AFP on Thursday, explaining that the search operation will resume later this year.
Loke stated, “They have stopped the operation for the time being, but they will resume the search at the end of this year. Right now, it’s not the season,” during an event at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday.
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777, vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 people on board. Despite the largest search effort in aviation history, the aircraft has never been found.
The search had initially been led by Australia, covering 120,000 square kilometers (46,300 square miles) of the Indian Ocean over three years. However, this operation yielded little evidence, with only a few pieces of wreckage being recovered.
A 2018 search by the British-American maritime exploration company Ocean Infinity also failed to locate the plane. This year, Ocean Infinity had agreed to launch a new search, which has now been paused for the time being.
Authorities remain committed to finding MH370, and the search will resume later this year as the investigation continues.
