Image copyright Blaine Alan Gibson Image caption This piece of possible debris was found in Madagascar in June 
 
 I've not seen anything like it before. 
 
 An aircraft accident investigation driven not by experts, but by a group of the bereaved and an amateur American sleuth who hankers for the truth. 
 
 As I write, eight people who lost loved ones on board missing Malaysian flight MH370, together with self-funded traveller and mystery solver Blaine Alan Gibson, are trawling remote beaches in Madagascar, finding what might be parts of the plane. 
 
 They've been there for a week and have come across a number of possible pieces so far. 
 
 Grace Subathirai Nathan's mother vanished without trace in March 2014. She was one of the 239 people aboard the routine Malaysian flight. 
 
 Grace has posted these photos on her Facebook page: 
 
 Image copyright Grace Subathirai Nathan/Facebook 
 
 "NEW Piece of potential mh370 DEBRIS found on Riake Beach, Isle St Marie by one of our next of kin Jiang Hui two hours ago! First time a piece was found by one of us. Such mixed feelings now for all of us - pain, sadness, confusion, hope," she writes. 
 
 One of those pieces, or a combination of them, could eventually hold the key to unlock this mystery. So far it's the debris washed ashore and found by the public, not the huge underwater sea search, that has given us the best idea of what may have happened on board. 
 
 Parts of the wing flap system found on beaches have allowed investigators to surmise that the aircraft came down quickly and out of control, rather than in a gentle controlled glide. 
 
 When I spoke to Grace on the phone she told me about their incredible, unique trip. 
 
 "Only one local person had even heard of MH370. Some had probably never seen an airliner, but they all understood the pain of loss," she said. 
 
 They want locals to become their eyes and ears, looking out for possible plane debris long after the families have returned home. 
 
 "We've had brochures printed in English, French and Malagasy. It's a step-by-step guide to what to do. How to handle debris if you find out. To photograph it, and how to get it to the right people. 
 
 "It's laminated so fishermen can have it on board without it getting wet. The local tourist board also helped us make a video in Malagasy that we can show people. Some might not be able to read". 
 
 Image caption Grace Subathirai Nathan is one of those campaigning to make sure their relatives are not forgotten 
 
 They've also recruited the local mayor, who will look after pieces in his office until they can be shipped to experts in Malaysia. 
 
 For months now, the families have been questioning why it's down to them, rather than Malaysian officials, to co-ordinate the beach search around the world. 
 
 Grace is in Madagascar with a group of relatives from Malaysia, China and France. None of them knew each other before the tragedy. Now they've formed a team that's determined to keep the hunt for clues alive. 
 
 The sea search is being wound up soon, so in a couple of months, they'll be the only people looking. The bits they are finding still need to be analysed by experts to see if they are from the missing airliner. 
 
 They're washing up thousands of miles from where investigators are convinced the aircraft came down, yet it makes sense when you know how the oceans work. 
 
 After months of experiments, scientists have shown that the currents and winds would have carried small, floating parts across the Indian Ocean, to the coasts of South Africa, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique and Reunion Island. 
 
 The very places bits are turning up. 
 
 It's likely that thousands of clues are lying around undiscovered, because no one is looking for them. Some might be personal effects from passengers. Others might hold small clues to what happened. If it's fire damaged for example, that could point to an accident, not a deliberate act. 
 
 It's one the world's biggest mysteries, yet it's coming down to the loved ones, the bereaved, and an American who craves the truth, to keep this search alive. ||||| Piece of board found by one of seven relatives who flew to Indian Ocean island to raise awareness of need to hand in debris thought to be from plane 
 
 A Chinese man who travelled to Madagascar in search of answers to the disappearance of his mother on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has found a possible piece of debris from the plane during a search of the country’s beaches. 
 
 Jiang Hui, 44, is one of seven relatives who flew to the Indian Ocean island on Saturday to raise awareness of the debris that has been washing up on its beaches in ever-increasing amounts and conduct preliminary searches. 
 
 ​The man on a solo mission to find ​the wreckage o​f​ flight MH370 Read more 
 
 He found a small white and sand-coloured piece of board in a rocky cove at the end of Riake beach on north-eastern Île Sainte-Marie, where a significant amount of the debris thought to be from MH370 has already been discovered. “I felt excited but at the same time it was saddening,” he said. “It is a small piece and will not really be able to show what happened to the plane but I hope so much that the authorities of Malaysia, China and Australia will try to find more so they can find out.” 
 
 The piece has been handed to an official from the Malaysian investigation, said Blaine Gibson, a Seattle lawyer who has found 16 pieces of debris thought to be from the plane in Mozambique and Madagascar. 
 
 Following Jiang’s discovery, Gibson said he had stumbled upon a larger object in the same area. He said both pieces appeared to be from the cabin of a large airliner. 
 
 “[The find] just shows how important it is that these beaches are checked daily, and that local people keep their eyes open,” Gibson said. “It also shows how important this visit by the families is for raising awareness.” 
 
 
 
 Jiang lost his 73-year-old mother, Jiang Cuiyun, on the flight and has been prominent in the relatives’ campaign amid a lack of openness – and seemingly of action – from the Malaysian-led official inquiry. 
 
 Relatives of those who were on MH370, which disappeared while flying to Beijing on 8 March 2014, have criticised the Malaysian investigation for failing to collect debris found on Madagascar six months ago. Malaysia is now sending investigators to Madagascar but insists the timing is a coincidence. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Relatives of some of the passengers on MH370 who are searching for debris from the plane in Madagascar. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters 
 
 Jiang spoke briefly at a press conference held in the capital, Antananarivo, on Sunday as the relatives began their search. “In order to look for my mum, I have come here but my English is poor,” he said, before switching to Chinese to appeal for help in finding more evidence of the plane. 
 
 Grace Nathan, spokeswoman for the Voice370 campaign group, said the discovery of debris potentially from the plane brought “mixed feelings” for the whole group. 
 
 What happened to MH370? Malaysia Airlines flight 370, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished on 8 March 2014. There was no trace of the plane until a flaperon washed up on Réunion in the Indian Ocean in 2015. Several pieces of debris found around east and south Africa have since been assessed to be from the missing aircraft. A seabed search led by Australia, backed by Malaysia and China, is due to continue until early 2017. Theories – all unproven – have ranged from crew involvement or hijacking to onboard fire or catastrophic technical failure. 
 
 “First time a piece was found by one of us. Such mixed feelings now for all of us – pain, sadness, confusion, hope,” she wrote on a Facebook page where the relatives share updates with others bereaved by the incident. 
 
 It is thought unlikely the small fragment found by Jiang would ever be definitively linked to MH370, but Gibson said it was washed up on the same part of the beach where he found items including a seat back – complete with coat hook and frame for an in-flight television screen. 
 
 The find comes after the families divided into three groups to visit the stretches of coastline where current and wind analysis has predicted most debris could wash up. 
 
 In Nosy Be, Tamatave and Île Sainte-Marie, they have met local officials, tourism and fishery associations as well as journalists to raise awareness about the need to pick up and hand in potential debris. 
 
 One local boat owner lent his vessel for free to Nathan and her father so they could search offshore islands. Homemade fliers she printed showing what the debris looked like and how it should be preserved have run out and had to be reprinted. 
 
 Ghislain Wattrelos, a French national who lost his wife and two teenage children, said the relatives had been moved by the outpouring of public sympathy. 
 
 “It was the right move to come,” he said. “We have had a very nice response from everyone, we have been very well-received.” ||||| SOLVING the world’s greatest aviation mystery, the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, has come down to one boat, a last “deep dive” on a few places of interest and the weather. 
 
 Search vessel MV Fugro Equator left Fremantle last night to conduct a final sweep of deep sea ravines that may be hiding the remains of the ill-fated jet that disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people aboard. 
 
 The Chinese vessel, Dong Hai Jiu 101, is heading home, leaving the Fugro Equator as the only dedicated vessel scouring the 120,000 sqkm search area. 
 
 If MH370 is not found in the next few weeks, the search will be abandoned by late January or early February. 
 
 Rather than using deep-tow vehicles with sonar scans and multi-beam echo sounders that can search big areas at a time, the search has come down to about 200 small areas which were either too deep for the first sweep or have not been properly examined because of bad sonar readings. 
 
 The Fugro Equator will use its autonomous underwater vehicle to re-examine these few remaining spots in the hope of finding a trace of MH370 in an area almost 3000km south-west of Perth. 
 
 media_camera Onboard Dong Hai Jiu 101 with the Phoenix search crew. Picture: Supplied 
 
 This sweep has been deemed a “last series of mission”. 
 
 The Fugro Equator recently completed a series of AUV searches that averaged 23 hours each but with no sign of MH370. 
 
 Under an agreement between Australia, Malaysia and China approved in July, if there is no “credible new evidence” of a specific location for the plane the search will be called off. 
 
 It would resume if new information emerged. 
 
 Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester said he remained hopeful the search, conducted in conditions that have included 20m waves, would turn up some details of the missing plane. 
 
 media_camera Remnants discovered along the way. Pictures: Supplied 
 
 He said the Government was always mindful of the anguish facing the family and friends of those lost when the plane disappeared. 
 
 “It has been an heroic undertaking but we have to prepare ourselves for the prospect that we may not find MH370 in the coming weeks, although we remain hopeful,” Mr Chester told The West Australian. 
 
 One insider said the search region was the equivalent of an area between Sydney and Melbourne, including the terrain of the Great Dividing Range. 
 
 The resolution of images taken during sonar sweeps of the seabed shows the extent to which investigators have used cutting-edge technology to pursue every possible lead. 
 
 media_camera Ship debris including an anchor from a wooden vessel circa 1850s-1860s discovered during the search. Picture: Supplied 
 
 media_camera A ship from 1850s-1860s was discovered during the search. White sea stars can be seen on some of the debris and black objects believed to be lumps of coal. Picture: Supplied 
 
 The search has uncovered the wrecks of two ships — one wooden-hulled vessel dating from the 1850s or 1860s and an iron-hulled ship from the early 1900s. 
 
 These ships have not been properly identified but the fact searchers have found wooden-hulled sunken vessels but not chunks of a modern airliner has greatly frustrated the search team. 
 
 Only last month the search team discovered a 200-litre oil barrel at a depth of 3.7km. 
 
 Debris from MH370 has washed up in Mozambique, Tanzania, Madagascar, Reunion Island and Mauritius. 
 
 Some of the parts have had burn marks. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Dutch vessel Fugro Equator is the only ship still involved in the search operation 
 
 The one remaining ship still looking for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 has begun what is likely to be its final search. 
 
 Dutch-owned Fugro Equator left the Australian port of Fremantle on Monday. 
 
 Several ships have combed the seabed of a vast search area in the Indian Ocean since the plane disappeared in 2014. 
 
 The Fugro Equator is expected to finish scouring the final portion of the search area by early 2017. 
 
 Officials say they will suspend the search if the plane is not found by then. 
 
 Not a single piece of wreckage or any clues to the whereabouts of the plane have been found so far by the operation. 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption The search for the Malaysia Airlines plane is due to end in early 2017 
 
 "It has been an heroic undertaking but we have to prepare ourselves for the prospect that we may not find MH370 in the coming weeks, although we remain hopeful," Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester told the West Australian newspaper. 
 
 Several countries including Australia and China have taken part in the underwater search. 
 
 Earlier this month the Chinese vessel Dong Hai Jiu 101 completed its mission and is returning to Shanghai, leaving the Fugro Equator as the last ship scouring the vast 120,000 sq km (46,332 sq miles) search area. 
 
 Whether the Fugro Equator's voyage is the ship's final month-long deployment would depend on the weather, the office of Mr Chester told AP news agency. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Passengers' families looked for clues on Madagascar's beaches last week 
 
 MH370 was carrying 239 people when it disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. Many of the passengers were Chinese. 
 
 Last week family members of some passengers journeyed to Madagascar to look for clues on the plane's whereabouts. 
 
 A few aeroplane fragments confirmed to be from MH370 had been found by members of the public on the East African and Madagascan coasts in recent months. 
 
 The location of the debris is in line with drift modelling patterns based on the theory that MH370 went down in a part of the Indian Ocean near Australia. 
 
 The families have expressed frustration at the lack of concrete evidence turned up by the official search, and have called for a coordinated effort to search beaches for debris. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 After more than two years, an estimated $150 million, and not a trace of wreckage found, the final ship searching for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 departed Tuesday for likely the last time. 
 
 Four specialist vessels have been scouring the Indian Ocean for debris from the Boeing 777, which vanished in March 2014 between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing with 239 people on board. 
 
 Three of the ships have since left the search, and on Tuesday the final vessel, run by Dutch company Fugro World Wide, left the Australian port of Fremantle on what's likely to be its final outing. 
 
 The Fugro Equator returns to Fremantle for resupply in August 2015. Paul Kane / Getty Images 
 
 Australian Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester said in a statement Tuesday that this would depend on the weather, as the search area contains some of the world's roughest seas. 
 
 The ship, the Fugro Equator, is set to complete its mission early next year. 
 
 "In the absence of credible new evidence," the statement added, the voyage would be its last in the hunt for the airliner. 
 
 Chester's office confirmed to The Associated Press that the ship had departed Tuesday. 
 
 Exactly what happened to MH370 is still confounding experts. It vanished from radar but was confirmed to have crashed after several pieces of debris from the airliner washed up on Indian Ocean islands. This has led families of the victims to call for the search to be extended. 
 
 But the detailed underwater search — which officials hoped would uncover the fuselage and black boxes — has so far returned no trace of the plane. 
 
 The four ships, three from Fugro and one supplied by the Chinese government, have been searching in some of the roughest seas in the world and using sonar to scan the seafloor more than three miles under the surface. 
 
 They have searched an area of some 46,000 square miles, around the size of Pennsylvania, and the total cost of the operation is estimated to be around $150 million, according to the Australian government, which is coordinating the search.
– A Pennsylvania-sized patch of the Indian Ocean has been combed in a $150 million search effort for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370—and that search is now coming to a close with the mystery still unsolved. The last boat still looking for the plane left the Australian port of Fremantle on Tuesday to scan areas that might have been missed during the initial search because of sonar issues or too-deep water, reports Perth Now. If no fresh evidence or trace of the plane has been found once its month-long mission wraps up, no future search missions will likely follow, reports NBC News. Though officials "remain hopeful," Australia's transport minister says that "we have to prepare ourselves for the prospect" that MH370, which disappeared in March 2014, will not be found, per the BBC. Relatives of MH370's 239 victims plan to continue hunting for evidence of what happened to their loved ones, however. Frustrated by a lack of activity from Malaysian officials, family members from Malaysia, China, and France have banded together to search for debris, including on remote beaches in Madagascar, where Jiang Hui, 44, of China says he recently found a possible plane part. "I felt excited but at the same time it was saddening," he tells the Guardian. "It is a small piece and will not really be able to show what happened to the plane, but I hope so much that the authorities … will try to find more." Relatives have also handed out brochures in three languages that explain to locals what to do if plane parts are found, per the BBC. (Here's what debris has revealed so far.)