The “no cure, no fee” deal is an appropriate approach to resuming the search for Malaysia Airlines jetliner MH370 which went missing in March 2014, aviation experts opine.

Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) test pilot, Prof Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian said the agreement inked between Malaysia and US-based seabed exploration company, Ocean Infinity Limited, to begin a fresh search in the southern Indian Ocean would ensure the government a fair deal in terms of monetary payment.

“No point in paying for services that would produce zero results, thus paying after gaining results is an optimum approach to reduce or avoid capital losses,” he told Bernama. 

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai recently announced that under the agreement, the search for MH370 would resume in mid-January in which the Seabed Constructor vessel would cover an area of 25,000 sq km within 90 days.

The primary mission of the ship is to identify the location of the wreckage and/or both of the flight recorders; the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR).

Mohd Harridon believes that this is a great initiative by the government and private sector to continue the search and solve one of aviation’s greatest mysteries. 

A researcher at a local airline, Ahmad Maulan Bardai echoed similar views,  saying that the deal related to the legality aspect.

He said there should not be any official search by the government as the official investigation closure had stated that the "aircraft is missing".

“Additionally, the government must not commit any further funding chasing the uncertain. Furthermore, this search and recovery funding has been the practice in the shipping industry, “ he said.

Ahmad Maulan opined that the decision made by the minister should be applauded in the name of the future of the global aviation industry.

He said there were many unanswered questions that could have major implications on the design, maintenance, operating procedure and practices of airlines and airports to ensure the safety of aircraft, passengers and crew.

“Not to mention the need to resolve the concern of the relatives of the passengers and crew affected,” he said, adding that all efforts must be made to find and recover the wreckage so that those questions could be answered.

Flight MH370 with 239 people on board vanished from radar screens while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, and was classified among the world's greatest aviation mysteries.

Australia, Malaysia and China jointly suspended a two-year underwater search for the aircraft in January last year. No sign of the plane was found in the 120,000 sq km search area in the southern Indian Ocean.

So far, only three confirmed fragments of MH370 have been found, all of them on the western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre wing part known as flaperon.

-- Bernama