It was supposed to be a routine flight between the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, China. But after 40 minutes in the air, the plane's transmitter was turned off and the flight disappeared from air traffic control screens.
Military radar managed to locate the plane. At that time, it had veered sharply off course, heading west toward the vast Indian Ocean. Then it disappeared without a trace.
Wreckage from the plane has washed ashore along the east coast of Africa, but all attempts to find the plane itself have been fruitless.
Now the British-American company Ocean Infinity will try to solve the mystery. Using advanced underwater drones, a large area of the seabed will be scanned. Where the search will be carried out has not been made public, writes CBS.
If the company succeeds, it will receive $70 million, approximately 645 million Swedish kronor. If it fails in its mission, it will receive nothing.
Given the enormous sums that have been invested in the search effort so far, $70 million is not a huge sum, and the greatest achievement of a possible successful mission would be to solve one of the greatest mysteries of modern times.
