August 2017: A new report into the MH370 crash by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was released. Source: PerthNow
The fate of missing flight MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on-board, "can't remain a mystery", the wife of one of the passengers says.
Sunshine Coast woman Danica Weeks told news.com.au she has made a promise to her husband Paul that she will never give up until she knows whathappened to him and the plane, which vanished after taking off from Kuala Lumpur airport on its way to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
"We have no closure and with that there is no peace," Weeks said.
"Every minute of every day is marred with MH370 and what happened to Pauly.
"It's heartbreaking, horrendous and an emotional rollercoaster that we cannot be released from until we have the right of process, and Paul has that, and all other 238 families have that."
Her comments come as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) today published its final 440-page report into the search, which spanned 1046 days from the time the Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared on March 8, 2014, until it was suspended in January.
"We ... deeply regret that we have not been able to locate the aircraft, nor those 239 souls on board that remain missing," the report said.
The search for MH370 was the largest of its type in aviation history, covering several million square kilometres of the ocean's surface and below.
It came at a cost of $200 million, and involved Australian, Chinese and Malaysian authorities.
"Despite the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of people involved in the search from around the world, the aircraft has not been located," the report said.
ATSB chief commissioner Greg Hood described the search as "an unprecedented endeavour" but said the situation remained "a great tragedy".
"We wish that we could have brought complete closure to the bereaved," he said.
"I hope, however, that they can take some solace in the fact that we did all we could do to find answers. Governments from around the world contributed to the search, with extraordinary expertise committed to the task."
The ATSB acknowledged that it was "almost inconceivable and certainly societally unacceptable", in an era where 10 million passengers fly daily, for a large commercial aircraft to still be missing.
"And for the world to know with certainty what became of the aircraft and those on board," the report read.
At least 20 reported remnants of the plane, including a flaperon, have washed up on the shores of Madagascar and Reunion Island off the African coast since it disappeared.
Weeks said she commended the ATSB for its "vast commitment in searching for the plane over the last 1046 days".
Paul Weeks. Picture / Philip Goste
"They've really been a point of great information for us," she told news.com.au.
"The folks that have actually searched have put their safety in jeopardy to find the plane and I can't thank them enough for what they've done."
But for her, and the other families of the missing, the ordeal will not be over until the plane is found.
Weeks said she wants the Australian government to now put pressure on Malaysia to find MH370.
'FIND THE PLANE AND BRING OUR PAUL WEEKS HOME'
New studies have pinpointed the plane's most likely location down to an area half the size of Melbourne after having eliminated most of the high probability areas, according to the ATSB.
An analysis of satellite images from 2014 last month revealed the area was less than 25,000sq/km.
"The understanding of where MH370 may be located is better now than it has ever been," the report released today said.
Weeks, who recently moved from Perth to the Sunshine Coast with her two young children, said it was Malaysia's responsibility to locate the plane but that the government's silence on the matter was deafening.
"It's their investigation ... it can't end here," she told news.com.au.
"We have an actual piece of debris and information that has narrowed the search area to a 2500sq km zone that needs to be searched.
"Coming into summer, it's the best time to search the area because the south Indian Ocean is a treacherous place."
Weeks said she had spoken to "one of the best shipwreck finders of our time" who assured her the plane could be found and that it was "just a matter of elimination".
"I can't see how (the Malaysian government) cannot be forced to continue searching. It can't remain a mystery."
The Malaysian government is continuing work on its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of MH370, according to the report.
But, it conceded, the cause can't be established with certainty until the aircraft is found.
The ATSB said the incident has led to the development of improved systems for tracking and locating missing aircraft on flights over deep ocean areas.
"Steps are being taken to advance other aircraft systems including emergency locator transponders and flight recorder locator beacons," a statement from the ATSB read.
Meanwhile, Weeks is determined to fulfil the promise she made to her husband and said she will never give up the fight for answers.
