09/06/2014 10:22
MH370 families seek $5 million for investigation, 'whistle blower' reward
Three months to the day after a Malaysian jetliner vanished, relatives of those aboard are set to launch an effort Sunday to raise $5 million for investigations and a "whistle blower" reward, CNN reported.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 people aboard.
A multinational effort to scour the choppy waters of the southern Indian Ocean has turned up no signs of the jetliner.
After weeks of grueling underwater searches, authorities said the four acoustic pings used to narrow down the location are no longer believed to be from the plane's onboard data or cockpit voice recorders. The underwater search was postponed in late May.
But relatives demanded answers, prompting the Reward MH370 fundraiser. It is expected to launch on the crowdsourcing website Indiegogo.
"This mystery is unprecedented in the history of aviation, and we need to work as a collective community with one goal of finding the truth, the plane and the passengers," said Ethan Hunt, the project leader.
He said someone knows where the plane is, and the money will be an incentive for that person to come forward.
"Utilizing the immense potential of the crowd, we believe we can achieve our primary goal of recovering the flight where others methods have failed," Hunt said.
A global investigation firm will follow up on credible leads and work with authorities to find the plane, he said.