MH370 Aircraft Search Operation Officially Stopped In Today's Memory, 17 January 2017

The Boing 777-200ER aircraft belongs to Malaysia Airlines. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA Memories of today, seven years ago, January 17, 2017, the search for the Malaysian Airlines flight number MH370 was officially stopped. The decision was taken because for three years the Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC) search agency formed by the Ministry of Transportation Australia, China, and Malaysia was fruitless.

Previously, the whole world was shocked by the mysterious disappearance of the Boing 777-200ER plane from radar in the South China Sea Area. The plane carrying 239 passengers allegedly crashed.

There is no strangeness that occurred at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014. All flight activities took place normally. The plane with flight number MH370 on the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route can take off at 01:01 local time.

The plane carrying 239 details, 227 passengers and 12 crew members are planned to arrive in Beijing at 06:30. However, problems arose. The MH370 aircraft lost contact at 02:40. The last location was in the South China Sea region between the east coast of Senenajung Malaysia to the southern tip of Vietnam.

News of the loss of MH370 aircraft spread throughout the world. The world of panic, especially the families of passengers. Various experts began to provide their perspectives regarding the disappearance of the plane. Some think the MH370 aircraft was hijacked. There are also those who think the plane was damaged.

The Malaysian government took a stand. They immediately joined ranks to find the MH370 aircraft. All of this was done to find out what happened to passengers. The search was carried out by the governments of Malaysia, Australia, and China by forming an institution.

JACC, his name. The search was also assisted by other countries as well. The collaboration is expected to make the presence of MH370 exposed. The cause of the plane's disappearance can then be analyzed via a black box.

However, finding the missing plane was not an easy matter. Malaysia Airlines is known to have not updated its communication system. As a result, the plane's footprint is difficult to find.

The plane carrying 239 passengers to Beijing was then detected turning to the Malacca Strait then turning again towards the southern Indonesian Ocean. Perhaps, this plane was hijacked. But the possibility of recent damage is getting stronger. The real incident will only be revealed after the black box was found, which could take months.

The plane is actually also equipped with aircraft communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS). Even if this device is damaged or intentionally turned off by the pilot, Boeing has made a backup tracking system. The problem is that Malaysia Airlines deliberately does not want to update its communication system even though the cost is only around Rp. 114 thousand per flight," wrote Tempo newspaper report entitled Trage on the MH370 (2014) aircraft.

JACC continues to search. However, the expected results never get a bright spot. The existence of MH370 is still a mystery. Instead of searching for only months, the search has actually entered three years.

JACC took a stand. They chose to stop the search from the MH370 plane on January 17, 2017. The option was taken with a heavy heart because it was fruitless, even the costs that continued to be incurred soared. Even though the decision was regretted by the passenger's family.

"Although it has used the latest technology and the best experts in its field, unfortunately the search effort failed to find the plane. The decision to end the search on the seabed was not taken easily or without sadness," said Joint Agency Coordination as quoted on the DW website, January 17, 2017.