The search must go on

And there is no more high profile or baffling a disappearance than MH370.

In September some of the relatives of passengers aboard MH370 made a heartfelt plea to the governments of Malaysia, China, Australia and other countries to continue the search.

Malaysian Grace Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy was on MH370, appealed for help to find more evidence before the search ended in December.

“It is our understanding that if they dismantle the whole search, it will take a very long time to remobilise it because they will have to have the assets come back to the location and that will take time,” she said.

“It’s in everyone’s best interests that something comes up sooner rather than later. ” And of course December through May is the best time to search because of the calmer sea conditions.

The relatives praised the Australian Government, which has contributed $60 million to the $180 million search and were also very pleased with the efforts of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

But they were very disappointed with the Malaysian Government’s handling of the tragedy.

Nathan said the Malaysian officials leading the investigation into the aircraft’s disappearance had refused to meet victims’ relatives despite repeated requests.

“We don’t understand why they never want to see us, speak to us. We struggle to come to terms with this,” she told The West Australian.

Gibson and other searchers are finding credible evidence in the form of shattered debris almost every week with 27 pieces so far recovered.

However, Gibson told Contrails that five pieces he recovered in Madagascar three months ago have not been picked up by Malaysia.

It is little wonder that the relatives are distraught over the actions or inaction of the Malaysians who have bungled this investigation from the start.

Blaine said that it is time for the International Civil Aviation Organization to step in to make Malaysia more accountable or hand this investigation over to either Australia or the US.

And Blaine said that it is also time for other countries that had nationals on board to step up to the mark.

As well as Chinese, Malaysians and Australians there were also nationals of Indonesia, India, France, the US, Ukraine, New Zealand, Iran, Canada, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Russia and Taiwan on MH370.

“All countries involved should chip in,” he told Contrails.

China in particular, which has only contributed $20 million to the search, needs to shoulder far more responsibility as the flight was a code-share with China Southern Airlines, which is why 152 Chinese were aboard.

That airline sold tickets for the flight as if it was its own. With that comes responsibility.

And the latest find by Gibson opens the possibility for a change from the widely held view that the captain was responsible for the disappearance of MH370.

The latest find – if confirmed – of burnt debris opens the possibility of a flash fire in the avionics bay of the Boeing 777 that started a cascading series of failures that led to the loss.

The new piece found on Madagascar has wide ramifications, Gibson said.

“If it was a fire in the avionics bay of the Boeing 777 it is imperative that we find the reason to ensure it does not happen again,” he said.

The burnt piece examined by Contrails is certainly aeronautical in origin and scorched with some areas showing signs of melting.

It is not structural but typical of underfloor sidewall panels.

Of course Blaine agrees that the scorching may have occurred when the aircraft crashed.

Gibson handed the piece directly to the ATSB rather than Madagascar authorities as he feared Malaysia would never pick it up.

The search must not be stopped and Malaysia must be stripped of the investigation.