Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance declared ‘accident’

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has officially been declared an accident, almost a year after the jetliner fell off air traffic control radars. 

Malaysian officials said Thursday they conducted an exhaustive search for the plane, although it turned up few answers. 

“The governments of Malaysia, China and Australia have spared no expense and resources in the search for MH370,” Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said in a press conference. 

{mosads}“This has been done with the paramount aim to find the aircraft and to seek answers,” he continued. “It has been done in hope of bringing some solace to the families of the passengers and crew on board MH370, which we respectfully refer to as the ‘next-of-kin.’ We have endeavored and pursued every credible lead and reviewed all available data. Despite all these efforts over the last 327 days [as of 28 Jan 15], the search unfortunately has yet to yield the location of the missing aircraft.” 

Malaysia Airlines said Thursday that the declaration will make it easier for relatives of people who were on board the vanished airplane to receive compensation packages. 

“Malaysia Airlines and the world are in mourning after the declaration of the accident to flight MH370 today. It has been more than 10 agonizing months since the ill-fated flight went missing,” the airline said in a statement. 

“Following the announcement today, Malaysia Airlines’ representatives will be contacting the appointed next-of-kin to proceed with the compensation process,” the statement continued. “The airline remains steadfast to ensure that fair and reasonable compensation is paid to the families of all MH370 passengers in accordance with the applicable laws.” 

The flight, which was carrying 239 passengers and crew members at the time of its disappearance, was last detected about an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing on March 8, 2014. 

Officials from multiple nations conducted a prolonged search for the plane, focusing first on the Gulf of Thailand and later on the southern Indian Ocean.

The disappearance of the flight, which was being operated on a Boeing 777 airplane, has mystified U.S. and international aviation experts for the better part of a year. 

The disappearance of Flight 370 was the first of two major accidents that Malaysia Airlines suffered last year. The company’s Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine in July during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Amsterdam.