Flight MH370 was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board, when it disappeared and became one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.
Malaysian and international investigators believe the jet veered thousands of miles off course from its scheduled route before eventually plunging into the Indian Ocean. But no one knows why.
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In all, 27 pieces of aircraft debris have been collected from various places around the world but only three wing fragments that washed up along the Indian Ocean coast have been confirmed to be from MH370.
The next of kin said in a brief statement on Wednesday (Nov 28) that they would meet Malaysia’s Transport Minister on Friday (Nov 30) ”to hand over newly recovered debris”.
Calvin Shim, whose wife was a crew member on the plane, told Reuters that the group planned to hand over five pieces of debris found off Madagascar, where some debris has been found before.
The most recent discovery was in August, he said.
A press release issued in advance of Friday’s meeting with Mr Loke issued by Voice370: The MH370 Family Association said: “It is four months since the Annex 13 Safety Investigation team submitted its report.
The Malaysian International Civil Aviation Organisation’s Annex 13 Investigation team published a 449-page report in July.
However, its findings – including the conclusion that pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah should be absolved from blame – failed to satisfy independent experts investigating the jumbo jet’s disappearance.
“At the time of release of the Annex 13 team’s report, potential aircraft debris remained uncollected in Madagascar.
“There has been no word on further efforts/developments from Malaysia since the release of the aforementioned report.”
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Five new pieces of potential MH370 debris had been recovered since the publication of the report, including one which has part of a label still readable on it and another found in August.
Relatives will meet Mr Loke in the foyer of the Malaysian Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya.
Mike Exner and Don Thompson, both members of the Independent Group (IG) of investigators, have claimed the official investigation was “heavily politically influenced, and delayed”, while US-based colleague Victor Iannello has claimed the report was edited before publication.
The statement added: “Family members wish to discuss and seek assurances that the Government will continue the efforts to find a satisfactory resolution to the mystery of MH370’s disappearance.”
Sheryl Keen, who chairs the Aircrash Support Group Australia (ASGA), has been offering help and support to relatives of those on board, especially since the country spearheaded an exhaustive, but ultimately fruitless, search of the Indian Ocean.
She told Express.co.uk there were “between four and six items” that ASGA was “90 percent confident” security footage shot showed passengers bringing on to the aircraft.
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Large amounts of debris had been found washed up on Madagascar, but she pointed out there was no way of knowing how long they had actually been there, only when they were discovered.
In May, Malaysia called off a three-month search by US firm Ocean Infinity, which spanned 112,000 sq km (43,243 sq miles) in the southern Indian Ocean and ended with no significant findings.
It was the second major search after Australia, China and Malaysia ended a fruitless A$200mil (US$144.80mil) search across an area of 120,000 sq km (46,332 sq miles) last year.
Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said in May that the country would consider resuming the search only if new clues come to light.
