The dramatic tale of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished into thin air on 8 March, 2014, is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in aviation history! No bodies were recovered and not a trace of debris from the plane has been found. Nothing seems more outlandish in the 21st century than a magnificent Boeing 777 simply disappearing!

Families of stricken passengers have, undoubtedly, spent the past year suspended in a limbo of acceptance, grief, anger and hope, fanned by a lack of answers.

Distressed by the shrillness of the early media attention, when TV cameras besieged grieving families, parents who lost their loved ones on MH370 speak of something that to them is far worse: deafening silence.

In the meantime, the world moved on as if this tragic episode is dead and done... but the families of those who perished cannot reach closure. Not until they know for certain what happened and why Flight MH370 found itself on such a spectacular diversion when its original flight path was simply from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Officials at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau leading the search say they are confident that the wreckage will be found by May, when the primary search area will have been combed meticulously by underwater drones. However, after a year of uncertainty, such pronouncements are meaningless, insulting and unacceptable.

Jos Edmond Zarb

Birkirkara