BEIJING — Jiang Hui remembers his mother waving him goodbye as she left for her Malaysia Airlines flight, a bag slung across her shoulder and promising to return with souvenirs from her trip.

Jiang Cuiyun, then a 72-year-old retiree, was one of 239 people aboard flight MH370 when it vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has not been found, and its enduring mystery remains a source of lasting pain for the victims’ loved ones.

“Who would have imagined that something so improbable would happen to their own family?” Jiang Hui, 52, told AFP at his home in Beijing.

He has spent more than a decade seeking answers alongside the relatives of other Chinese victims, who made up two-thirds of the passengers.

The Malaysian government recently announced that the search for the missing plane will resume at the end of December.

And a Beijing court ordered the airline this week to pay over 2.9 million yuan (RM1.7 million) in compensation to some of the passengers’ families.

But Jiang and other victims’ relatives remain frustrated by what they say is a lack of “openness” from the Malaysian government and the airline.

Jiang now runs a social media group where the families share news on MH370 developments and offer each other support.

They have asked for information including the coordinates of the new search area and the kinds of equipment and vessels being used, he told AFP.

“But we have still not received any response so far,” he said.

He added some families feel that the search may be “just for show and wouldn’t yield any results”.