Overview
On December 30, 2025, a robotic vessel began scanning the ocean floor 4,000 meters below the surface, searching for wreckage that vanished eleven years ago. Ocean Infinity's Armada 86 is hunting for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared with 239 people aboard on March 8, 2014, after someone deliberately turned it around, severed communications, and flew it for seven hours into the southern Indian Ocean. No black box. No bodies. Just 30 fragments of debris that washed ashore thousands of miles away on African beaches.
The Texas marine robotics firm operates on a simple bet: find the Boeing 777, get $70 million. Find nothing, get nothing. They tried once before in 2018, scanning 112,000 square kilometers and coming up empty. This time they're targeting a new 15,000-square-kilometer zone called Blelly-Marchand, based on analysis suggesting the aircraft was deliberately ditched rather than crashing at high speed. It's aviation's most expensive search operation, and after a decade of theories ranging from pilot suicide to hijacking, families still have no graves to visit and no definitive answers about what happened in that cockpit.
Key Indicators
People Involved
Organizations Involved
Texas-based marine robotics firm specializing in autonomous underwater search and survey operations.
Australia's national transport safety investigator responsible for coordinating MH370's primary underwater search.
Malaysia's flag carrier airline that operated the Boeing 777 that disappeared in 2014.
Malaysian government team conducting official ICAO Annex 13 safety investigation.
Timeline
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Minister Confirms Seasonal Pause
Official StatementTransport Minister Loke announces search paused until year-end, stating 'right now it's not the season' for southern Indian Ocean operations.
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Search Suspended Due to Extreme Weather
Search OperationsOcean Infinity suspends search after 22 days due to waves exceeding 10 meters and seasonal weather changes; Armada 78-06 departs for Singapore.
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Ocean Infinity Begins 2025 Search
Search OperationsArmada 78-06 begins active search operations in Blelly-Marchand area, including infilling data in previously searched zones with challenging terrain.
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Search Contract Signed
Official AnnouncementMalaysia and Ocean Infinity sign no-find-no-fee contract worth up to $70 million.
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Deep-Sea Search Resumes
Search OperationsArmada 86 begins 55-day underwater search of 15,000 km² Blelly-Marchand area.
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Armada 86 Departs for Search Zone
Search OperationsOcean Infinity's robotic vessel leaves Kwinana anchorage for southern Indian Ocean.
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Malaysia Approves New Search
Official AnnouncementCabinet agrees in principle to Ocean Infinity's $70 million no-find-no-fee contract.
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Ocean Infinity Submits New Proposal
ProposalCompany proposes search of Blelly-Marchand area based on latest analysis.
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10th Anniversary Commemoration
MemorialTransport Minister Loke pledges continued commitment to search efforts.
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Australian PM Discloses Pilot Suicide Theory
StatementFormer PM Tony Abbott reveals Malaysian officials believed from start it was pilot murder-suicide.
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Malaysian Investigation Report Released
InvestigationMIASIT report confirms deliberate diversion but cannot determine who controlled aircraft or why.
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Ocean Infinity Search Concludes
Search OperationsPrivate search ends after scanning 112,000 km² in 90 operational days without finding wreckage.
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Ocean Infinity Begins Private Search
Search OperationsCompany starts no-find-no-fee search using vessel Seabed Constructor with autonomous underwater vehicles.
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ATSB Releases Final Report
Investigation440-page report details search operations but cannot determine cause without finding aircraft.
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Underwater Search Suspended
Search OperationsAustralia, China, Malaysia suspend search after scanning 120,000 km² over 1,046 days without finding aircraft.
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FBI Finds Simulator Route Match
InvestigationCaptain's home flight simulator showed Indian Ocean route matching MH370's suspected path.
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First Confirmed Debris Found
Physical EvidenceRight flaperon washes ashore on Réunion Island, later confirmed as from MH370.
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Malaysia Declares Flight Ended in Ocean
Official AnnouncementPM Najib announces flight ended in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors.
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Australia Leads Indian Ocean Search
Search OperationsSurface search begins in southern Indian Ocean; continues until April 28.
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PM Announces Deliberate Diversion
InvestigationMalaysian PM Najib Razak confirms aircraft remained in contact with satellites for hours, was tracked over Andaman Sea.
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Initial Search Begins
Search OperationsSearch-and-rescue launched in South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand.
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Final Satellite Handshake
Technical DataLast automated connection between aircraft and Inmarsat satellite, defining 'seventh arc'.
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Malaysia Airlines Announces Lost Contact
Public StatementAirline releases press statement confirming contact lost with Flight 370.
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Aircraft Vanishes from Radar
Critical EventFlight 370 disappears from Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic control radar screens.
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Final Radio Contact
CommunicationsCaptain responds 'Good night Malaysian Three Seven Zero' to air traffic control.
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ACARS System Disabled
Critical EventAircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System sends last transmission, then switches off.
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Aircraft Reaches Cruising Altitude
Flight OperationsFlight 370 reaches 35,000 feet.
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Flight 370 Departs Kuala Lumpur
Flight OperationsBoeing 777-200ER takes off for Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard.
Scenarios
Ocean Infinity Locates Wreckage, Black Boxes Recovered
Discussed by: Aviation analysts, oceanographers, families' representatives including Jiang Hui who predicts discovery 'within five to ten years'
The Blelly-Marchand area proves correct. Autonomous underwater vehicles detect debris field at 4,000-meter depth, leading to black box recovery. Flight data and cockpit voice recorders—if intact after eleven years underwater—reveal what happened in the cockpit after communications went dark. Whether it confirms pilot suicide, hijacking, or another scenario, families finally get definitive answers. Ocean Infinity collects $70 million. The discovery forces aviation authorities worldwide to implement real-time aircraft tracking that the 2018 Malaysian report recommended. Most likely outcome given new search methodology and refined target area.
Search Finds Nothing, Mystery Deepens
Discussed by: Skeptics of controlled-ditching theory, analysts questioning WSPRnet and other unconventional tracking methodologies
The 55-day search scans 15,000 square kilometers and finds nothing. Ocean Infinity loses millions on another failed attempt. Families face renewed disappointment. The failure either means the aircraft lies outside the searched areas—calling into question Captain Blelly's trajectory analysis and the controlled-ditching theory—or the wreckage scattered across a wider debris field than expected. Malaysia faces pressure to authorize yet another search area or finally declare the case closed. Without physical evidence, competing theories about pilot suicide versus hijacking versus mechanical failure remain unresolved indefinitely.
Partial Debris Found, Black Boxes Missing
Discussed by: Deep-sea search experts familiar with Air France 447 recovery challenges, marine archaeologists
Autonomous vehicles locate wreckage at the ocean floor but the critical components—flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder—are missing or too damaged to recover data. Ocean Infinity finds enough to claim the $70 million payment, but families and investigators are left without the cockpit recordings needed to definitively answer what happened. The scenario mirrors fears that eleven years underwater may have destroyed the black boxes' data storage, or that they separated from the main wreckage and lie elsewhere. Physical evidence confirms the general crash location but leaves the why unanswered.
External Interference Theory Gains Support
Discussed by: Independent researchers analyzing satellite data, cybersecurity experts studying Boeing 777 vulnerabilities
If wreckage is found with physical evidence inconsistent with pilot-controlled ditching—such as high-speed impact damage or signs of in-flight breakup—it could revive theories of external interference, mechanical failure, or hijacking. Some researchers have proposed the aircraft's satellite communications could have been compromised. Discovery of wreckage showing explosive damage, structural failure, or other anomalies would shift investigation focus away from pilot suicide toward scenarios Malaysian and Australian investigators largely dismissed. This outcome depends entirely on what the physical evidence reveals.
Historical Context
Air France Flight 447 (2009)
June 1, 2009 – April 3, 2011What Happened
An Airbus A330 crashed into the mid-Atlantic Ocean en route from Rio to Paris, killing all 228 aboard. The aircraft vanished from radar in a storm. Despite recovering some surface debris within days, the main wreckage and black boxes lay at 13,000 feet depth. Multiple search efforts using underwater locator beacons failed.
Outcome
Short term: After nearly two years and $40 million, autonomous underwater vehicles located the debris field in April 2011. Black boxes revealed pilot error during an airspeed sensor malfunction caused the crash.
Long term: The successful recovery using advanced AUV technology and Bayesian search analysis methods became the template for deep-sea aircraft searches, including MH370. It proved that aircraft could be found years later in extreme depths.
Why It's Relevant
Ocean Infinity uses the same AUV technology that found AF447. If it took two years and multiple attempts to find a crash with a known general location, MH370's mystery is even harder—the Indian Ocean search area is vastly larger and the crash location remains disputed.
Amelia Earhart Disappearance (1937)
July 2, 1937 – PresentWhat Happened
Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished over the Pacific Ocean during an attempted round-the-world flight. Despite immediate search efforts covering 250,000 square miles, no confirmed wreckage was ever found. Theories range from crash-and-sink to castaway survival to Japanese capture.
Outcome
Short term: The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard suspended the search after two weeks, declaring Earhart and Noonan lost at sea. She was officially declared dead in January 1939.
Long term: Eighty-eight years later, the disappearance remains unsolved despite dozens of expeditions. Advanced sonar and underwater robotics have searched proposed crash sites without definitive results. The case became aviation's most enduring mystery—until MH370.
Why It's Relevant
MH370 risks becoming the modern Earhart—an unsolved aviation mystery that spawns endless theories but no proof. If Ocean Infinity fails again, the Boeing 777 may join Earhart's Lockheed Electra as aircraft that vanished and were never found despite massive search efforts and advancing technology.
EgyptAir Flight 990 (1999)
October 31, 1999What Happened
A Boeing 767 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 60 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 aboard. The aircraft descended rapidly from cruise altitude. U.S. investigators recovered the flight recorders within weeks from 270-foot depths.
Outcome
Short term: Cockpit voice recorder revealed the relief first officer repeatedly said 'I rely on God' while disconnecting the autopilot and pointing the nose down. NTSB concluded probable pilot suicide.
Long term: Egyptian authorities rejected the suicide finding, insisting on mechanical failure. The dispute highlighted how politically sensitive pilot-suicide conclusions become—relevant given Malaysia's reluctance to officially blame Captain Shah despite private beliefs disclosed by Australia's former PM.
Why It's Relevant
Like MH370, EgyptAir 990 involved suspected pilot suicide that authorities initially resisted acknowledging. The difference: EgyptAir's black boxes were recovered quickly, providing definitive evidence. Without MH370's recorders, the pilot-suicide theory remains circumstantial, allowing Malaysia to avoid the politically explosive conclusion while families demand proof.