Kuala Lampur, Malaysia (BBN)-Families of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have launched a $5 million crowd-funding campaign to hire private investigators and reward any whistle-blower who comes forward with information about the plane’s disappearance.
As the search for debris moves to a new uncertain phase covering a vast stretch of the Indian Ocean, some of the distraught families used the three month anniversary of the disappearance of the Boeing 777 to launch a “Reward MH370” campaign to try to unearth new clues, reports The Telegraph.
Despite intensive aviation and police investigations, authorities have been unable to explain why the plane carrying 239 passengers made a sudden turn westward and vanished.
Sarah Bajc, whose American partner Philip Wood was aboard the plane, said a group of families wanted to approach the mystery with “a fresh set of eyes”.
They plan to raise the money on fundraising website Indiegogo and use $3 million (£1.8m) as a reward for information and $2 million (£1.1m) on private investigators.
“Governments and agencies have given it their best shot but have failed to turn up a single shred of evidence, either because of a faulty approach or due to intentional misdirection by one or more individuals,” Bajc said in a statement.
Some of the families have accused authorities of a cover-up and claim the airline and governments have failed to release information about the flight.
Ethan Hunt, a technology company chief who is heading the campaign, said: “We are convinced that somewhere, someone knows something, and we hope this reward will entice him or her to come forward.”
The failure to find wreckage or confirm the plane’s whereabouts despite a massive international search has sparked numerous claims, sightings and conspiracy theories.
Mike McKay, a New Zealander who said he spotted the plane while working on an oil rig off the coast of Vietnam, was reportedly fired for making the claim.
McKay emailed his employer with the claim but was concerned no action was being taken and contacted Vietnamese authorities and the New Zealand embassy.
The alleged sighting, reported soon after the plane went missing on March 8, was then picked up by the media and reported widely.
McKay said that his contractor and rig owner, Songa Offshore, released him from his contract five days early and did not re-hire him after it was inundated with calls which blocked its communications.
“This became intolerable for them and I was removed from the rig and not invited back,” he told New Zealand’s Sunday Star-Times.
“Contracts meant little in the oilfield. The oil patch is a rough, unforgiving game.”
McKay reportedly made a statement to New Zealand police for Interpol when he returned home.
His sighting has largely been discounted because it is at odds with radar sightings which indicate the plane travelled west and then south, rather than head towards Beijing, its intended destination.
Authorities in Australia continue to believe the flight ended in the south Indian Ocean and have pledged to press ahead with the underwater operation, releasing a tender calling for companies to conduct the search.
The tender documents released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau say the search could take up to a year. Private firms have been invited to bid to undertake “an intensified underwater search” from late August. A lead contractor, to be overseen by the bureau, will be expected to “bring together and manage the expertise, equipment and vessels to carry out the search”.
BBN/ANS-08June14-10:58pm (BST)
