Authorities leading the multinational hunt for the missing Malaysian jetliner say they are prepared to double the current search zone in the Indian Ocean, if nothing is found there soon. At a news conference Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Chinese, Australian and Malaysian officials said 61 percent of the original 60,000 square-kilometer search zone has been scoured, with no signs of the plane. If nothing is found by May, that search area will be expanded "in every direction," according to Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, who added the search would take the rest of the year to complete. Truss said the search is "hazardous, and needs to be undertaken with great care," but stressed no effort will be spared to find the plane. Those comments were echoed by Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai and China Transport Minister Yang Chuantang. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was carrying 239 passengers and crew when it disappeared from radar last March during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Though the airplane's traditional communications systems were disabled, satellite transmissions from the plane suggest it crashed in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean, about 1,800 kilometers west of Australia. The Malaysian transport minister said authorities are "confident" they are searching in the correct area, since the so-called acoustic "pings" believed to emanate from the plane are "very specific."
from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1INEhTL
from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1INEhTL
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