Watch “Vanished: The Mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370” Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.
Australia’s transport safety chief has always described himself as a pessimist.
But Martin Dolan, Chief Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, says that as search teams scour the depths of the Indian Ocean for any sign of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, he is confident they will find the plane, if the aircraft is in the areas where they are looking.
“If anything, I’m slightly more optimistic than six months ago, because we have more confidence in the data, and we have proven the search equipment and techniques work to the necessary standards,” Dolan said.
But as the first anniversary of MH370’s disappearance approaches, with no trace of the missing plane found, not everyone shares his outlook.
Vanished without a trace
That includes many of the relatives of the 239 passengers and crew on board, who say not a single day goes by without wondering what happened to their loved ones.
And for many, the decision in late January by Malaysia to officially declare MH370 an accident, enabling the insurance payout process to begin in accordance with international protocol, was painfully premature.
“How can they say that, when there is no proof that the plane has crashed?” asked Wen Wang Cheng, whose son Wen Yung Sheng was one of 153 Chinese nationals on board. “We have to get the facts,” Wen said.
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Aviation experts say there is a key reason the search should continue until MH370 is found.
“Without knowing what caused it, you can’t fix it, you can’t make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Soucie. “And I think that’s really the biggest tragedy of this, if they don’t find the airplane.”
For the families of the 239 passengers and crew on board, who have had nothing but hope and prayers to carry them through the past year, it’s about finding answers.
“It’s very difficult to hear the world closure, when there is no closure,” Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of lead steward Patrick Gomes, told CNN’s Andrew Stevens.
And while Gonzales says she holds out hope her husband could return home alive, she is prepared for a difficult discovery.
“If it’s there and there’s debris, we can have closure and we can lay him at peace. Because I don’t think he’s at peace right now.”
The search for MH370 continues.
CNN’s Andrew Stevens, Anna Coren, Tim Schwarz, Felicia Wong, Chieu Luu, and Judy Kwon contributed to this report.
