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A Texas-based company is restarting the search for Malaysian flight MH370 today. The plane was on a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing more than 11 years ago when it vanished with 239 people on board. NPR's Jennifer Pak has more.
JENNIFER PAK, BYLINE: Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur after midnight in the March of 2014. Less than an hour in, the plane disappeared. Many more hours passed before American passenger Philip Wood's partner, Sarah Bajc, heard anything from Malaysian authorities.
SARAH BAJC: And then all they had to say was, we're not sure. We'll call you back. Like (laughter), that was it
PAK: For years, families of those on board have waited for accurate news about their loved ones. But Malaysia's government says it's committed to finding the Boeing 777 and now has tasked the marine robotics company Ocean Infinity to resume the search in the southern Indian Ocean. Professor of coastal oceanography Charitha Pattiaratchi at the University of Western Australia says the task is enormous.
CHARITHA PATTIARATCHI: They're going to look at an area of about 10,000 square miles. And this is roughly the size of the island Tasmania or the island Sri Lanka.
PAK: He says not much changes at the bottom of the ocean so plane parts could still be found, like the engine, which is similar to the size of a small bus. So imagine that bus is plopped on the ground.
PATTIARATCHI: And you're trying to, up in a helicopter about 2 1/2 miles up. And you're looking on the land to find this bus. Except that imagine you're doing it with your eyes closed because in the ocean, you can't see it.
PAK: But he says the technology has improved a lot. If Ocean Infinity finds the wreckage, it will be paid $70 million. And the passengers' loved ones might get some answers - why did the plane go missing? Again Bajc, whose partner, Philip, is among those missing, says he was a serious person who was also sometimes silly and playful.
BAJC: The ambiguity of really not knowing still is still painful.
PAK: This latest search provides families with a moment of hope, one of many over the last almost 12 years.
Jennifer Pak, NPR News.
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