It’s one of the biggest aviation mysteries ever, but could we be on the verge of finally finding the missing Malaysia Airlines plane MH370?

Flight MH370 departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 8 March 2014, with its destination being Beijing, China.

However, the aircraft would never arrive. What exactly happened next isn’t too clear, however, we do know the flight lost contact with air traffic control at 1:19am, while flying over the South China Sea.

Investigators believe the plane likely crashed into the Southern Indian Ocean, around 2,500km west of the Australian city of Perth, presumably killing all 239 passengers onboard.

It’s been over a decade since the plane vanished (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The bulk of the wreckage or remains of those onboard have never been recovered, prompting numerous conspiracy theories over what ‘really’ happened to MH370 over the years.

But without the wreckage, we’ll never know for sure.

However, one marine robotics company is hoping to change that.

Leading what is likely to be the last search for the doomed plane is Southampton-based company Ocean Infinity which is now combing the seabed of the Indian Ocean in search of clues.

According to The Independent, the company’s deep-water support vessel Armada 7806 was seen heading to various locations where researchers believe the plane may be. The vessel is expected to spend around six weeks searching in total.

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are then deployed to thoroughly scan the seabed floor, which are operated remotely from Ocean Infinity’s headquarters.

The Telegraph adds that the search is backed by the Malaysian government, who previously agreed to a ‘no find, no fee’ deal with the robotics company at the end of last year.

Meaning that Ocean Infinity will only receive a payout if it finds the wreckage. However, the company doesn’t appear to have signed a deal with Kuala Lumpur, with Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke confirming that an agreement was still to be made.

Plane debris believed to be from MH370 (ARIF KARTONO/AFP via Getty Images)

“Nevertheless, we welcome the proactiveness of Ocean Infinity to search for MH370 as this is great news for all the victims’ next of kin,” he said of the news, adding that Ocean Infinity and the Malaysian government were still ‘finalising the details for the contract to be signed’.

Relatives of the passengers previously welcomed the decision to restart the search, as it could mean the mystery of what happened to their loved ones is finally solved.

“I am so happy for the news… [It] feels like the best Christmas present ever,” Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of MH370 inflight supervisor Patrick Gomes, told the New Straits Times (via BBC).

“This announcement stirs mixed emotions – hope, gratitude, and sorrow. After nearly 11 years, the uncertainty and pain of not having answers have been incredibly difficult for us,” Intan Maizura Othaman, wife of cabin crew member Mohd Hazrin Mohamed Hasnan added.

Here are the final recorded words from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370’s pilots captured just moments before the aircraft – and all those onboard – vanished.

MH370 had departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the early hours of 8 March 2014 en route to Beijing, China. The flight was scheduled to land in the Chinese capital five hours and 34 minutes.

However, the flight would never make it.

MH370 last made contact with air traffic control while flying over the South China Sea, with investigators believing the flight likely crashed somewhere in the Southern Indian Ocean, around 2,500km west of the Australian city of Perth.

Minor fragments of the aircraft have since been recovered by investigators, confirming that MH370 likely crashed around 08:19 and 09:15 on 8 March due to fuel exhaustion.

It’s been over 11 years since MH370 vanished after departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Getty Stock Images)

All 239 passengers onboard are believed to have died.

Extensive searches have continued to take place in the Southern Indian Ocean, while a number of conspiracy theories have regarding what had ‘really’ happened to MH370 have circulated online over the years.

Final contact was made with the aircraft at around 1:19am, with Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah sending the following transmission about 38 minutes after take-off.

“Good night, Malaysian three seven zero,” he said in the transmission, moments before the plane entered Vietnamese air space.

Sky News added that the plane’s transponder was turned off shortly after the message was sent, meaning that it could not easily be tracked.

Military radars out later show that MH370 had veered off of its flight path and begun to head back towards Malaysia. The flight would exit Malaysian military radar range around 230 miles northwest of Penang Island in northwestern Peninsular Malaysia.

READ MORE:

THE THREE MAJOR THEORIES ON WHAT HAPPENED TO MISSING FLIGHT MH370

The recording was released more than 50 days after the flight vanished during a briefing with the families of the missing passengers. 150 of those onboard were Chinese nationals alongside 50 Malaysians and citizens of France, Australia, Indonesia, India, the United States, Ukraine and Canada (via Reuters).

Final communications with the pilots were released 50 days after the crash (ARIF KARTONO/AFP via Getty Images)

While we may never know what exactly happened inside the cabin of MH370 on that fateful night, investigators may be closer than ever to recovering the plane’s debris.

Back in February, it was revealed that Southampton-based company Ocean Infinity was using an ocean support vessel to comb the seabed of the seabed of the Indian Ocean in search of clues.

The Telegraph added that the search had been backed by the Malaysian government, who’d previously agreed to a ‘no find, no fee’ deal with the robotics company at the end of last year. However it is unclear if a deal was since been reached by the two parties.

The decade-long mystery of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 remains one of the deadliest cases of aircraft disappearance.

227 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Boeing 777 were presumed dead after travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March, 2014.

MH370 lost contact with air traffic control at 1:19am, over the South China Sea, while investigators believe the plane deviated from its planned route and flew west for several hours before vanishing.

The new search for MH370

Southampton-based marine robotics firm, Ocean Infinity, is resuming its mission in a new area in the southern Indian Ocean.

If the company – who ended a previous search in 2018 – is able to locate significant wreckage, it will be awarded $70 million (£56 million), according to Malaysia’s transport minister Anthony Loke.

“Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next of kin,” Loke said.

“We hope this time will be positive, that the wreckage will be found and give closure to the families.”

MH370 theory 1: Hijacking

There are main three theories on what happened to the missing MH370 flight (Rob Griffith-Pool/Getty Images)

There are some suggestions that the incident was an ‘act of war’, as mentioned in Netflix’s 2023 documentary MH370: The Plane That Disappeared.

Aviation journalist Jeff Wise noted that another incident involving a Malaysia Airlines Flight could have been the result of MH370 being hijacked.

MH17 was scheduled to fly from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17 July 2014, before it was shot down by Russian-backed forces.

All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed, as a surface-to-air missile in Ukraine shot the plane.

In terms of MH370, however, Wise suspected that international spies were on board the flight and went into the electronics bay underneath the plane to operate the computers which control the plane’s flight system.

MH370 theory 2: The pilot was involved

The wing flap found on Pemba Island, Tanzania, which has been identified a missing part of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 (Adli Ghazali/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

When taking a look into the pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, Wise speculates that he purposely took down the plane.

Instead of heading to Beijing as planned, the journalist thinks Shah may have turned the aircraft around to head south so it would eventually run out of fuel and crash.

But following further evaluation, Wise was more convinced by theory number one above.

MH370 theory 3: Plane interception

Last, but not least, is the theory set out by French journalist Florence De Changy.

In the Netflix doc, she believed that it was NATO or US Air Force planes with AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System), who ‘jammed’ the plane’s communication system.

This was because they, allegedly, picked up that there was suspicious cargo on board.

And in the third episode of the series, De Changy says that this led to the aircraft getting ‘lost’, which would have been the perfect opportunity for interception.

“More than anything, we want to pull the hidden truths about MH370 out from the carpet under which they’ve been swept, and remind people that this is still a story with no ending, a mystery that hasn’t been solved, that somebody out there knows more than the world has been told,” producer, Harry Hewland, said.

MH370: The Plane That Disappeared is available to watch on Netflix now.

A man has told how he received a text from his wife who was travelling on the American Airlines flight moments before it collided with a US military helicopter.

The Bombardier CRJ700, which was operating as American Airlines 5432, collided mid-air with a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington DC on Wednesday (29 January) night.

The incident occurred at around 9pm local time as the passenger plane was approaching the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

The jet – which had departed from Wichita, Kansas – then smashed into the Potomac River, with NBC 4 Washington reporting that the aircraft ‘split in half’ and is ‘seven feet underwater’.

A passenger plane collided with an Army helicopter in Washington DC on Wednesday night (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

It collided with a Sikorsky H-60 which was carrying three US soldiers, the Pentagon said. Rescue efforts remain underway, with emergency responders trawling the water for survivors.

According to the BBC, 18 bodies have been pulled from the Potomac River so far.

Hamaad Raza explained that he realised ‘something was up’ when his replies to his partner, who was one of the 64 people onboard the plane, didn’t ‘get delivered’.

He has said he is ‘praying’ that his wife has survived the tragedy in an emotional interview. Speaking to news outlet WUSA, he revealed that he had been conversing with his spouse in the moments before the crash.

“I’m just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now,” Raza said. “That’s all I can pray for.

Hamaad Raza said he realised ‘something was up’ when his text messages to his wife weren’t going through (WUSA9)

“She texted me that they were landing in 20 minutes. The rest of my texts did not get delivered. That’s when I realised something might be up.”

According to US officials, the Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in the incident was on a ‘training flight’.

A military spokesperson told Fox News (via The New York Post): “We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir during a training flight.

“We are working with local officials and will provide additional information once it becomes available.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C.: A man waiting at the airport tells local news wife was onboard the aircraft and texted him shortly before crash. “I’m just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now.”

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11:18 PM · Jan 29, 2025

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The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will also be investigating the cause of the crash.

President Donald Trump said he had been ‘fully briefed’ on the incident in a statement shared on Wednesday (29 January) night.

“May God Bless their souls,” he said. “Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”

American Airlines CEO, Robert Isom, has also expressed his ‘deep sorrow’ in a video posted to the company’s website.

In a statement, the airline said: “Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are in contact with authorities and assisting with emergency response efforts.

“If you believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342, call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215. Those calling from outside the U.S. can visit news.aa.com for additional phone numbers.

“Family members in Canada, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands can call 800-679-8215 directly.”