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Australia says no time limit yet for MH370 search

Source: Xinhua | March 31, 2014, Monday | Online Edition

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Tony Abbott said today there's no time limit yet on the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Speaking at a press conference in the Pearce air force base, Abbott pledged to get to the bottom of the MH370 mystery, saying that if it is solvable, "we will solve it."

Australia is working with all available resources on all possible leads in the search, said Abbott, adding that the country has brought "the best brains" to the mission.

Today's search and recovery operation in the Australian Search and Rescue Region for the missing jet resumed at 9am AEDT today (2200 GMT yesterday), involving 10 aircraft and 10 ships from seven countries.

They include one Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion, a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P3 Orion, one Japanese P3 Orion, a Japan Coast Guard Gulfstream jet, a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Ilyushin IL-76, a Republic of Korea P3 Orion, a United States Navy P8 Poseidon, two Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130 Hercules and one civil jet acting as a communications relay.

In addition, a total of 10 ships have also been tasked with today's search. This includes HMAS Success and HMAS Toowoomba, seven Chinese ships and a merchant vessel.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in its latest update that some parts of the search area will experience low cloud and rain throughout the day.

AMSA also confirmed that the Australian Defence vessel Ocean Shield is scheduled to depart from Perth today. It is now fitted with a black box detector and an autonomous underwater vehicle.

Meanwhile, a new group of relatives of Chinese passengers on MH370 arrived in Malaysia from Beijing yesterday, demanding more definite answers from the Malaysian side on the disappearance of the jet.

Jiang Hui, representing the relatives, said at a press conference that the families have three requirements.

Firstly, they hope the Malaysian side could release all data in a timely way, he said.

Secondly, they ask the Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government to apologize for the confusing information released in the first week after Flight MH370 went missing, and for the delay in the search and rescue operations, he said.

Thirdly, they demand an apology from the Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government for hastily drawing a conclusion that the plane had "ended" in the Indian Ocean, with little proof at hand, said Jiang.

He said the families also call for a meeting with aircraft manufacturers and service providers such as Boeing and Rolls-Royce.

"We want the evidence, we want the truth, we want our families," said Jiang, stressing that they hope the Malaysian side could communicate with them with more sincerity.

The Malaysian government promised yesterday to give detailed information to the relatives of Chinese passengers aboard the jetliner.

Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang and head of the Chinese government joint working group Guo Shaochun conveyed the Malaysian pledge when they met with 29 relatives upon their arrival in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The Malaysia Airlines said yesterday in a media statement that it will send family members to Perth of Australia, where the current international search team is based, once it has been authoritatively confirmed that the physical wreckage of MH370 is found.

David Johnston, Australia's defense minister, said there are 100 people in the air and 1,000 at sea scouring the new search area in the southern Indian Ocean.

Morale is high, Abbott told reporters, adding that the magnitude of the search "is increasing, not decreasing."

The whereabouts of the missing Boeing 777 jet remain unknown despite the massive multinational search that has been under way since the plane mysteriously disappeared early March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"The accumulation of evidence is that the aircraft has been lost and it has been lost somewhere in the south of the Indian Ocean," Abbott told reporters at the Perth military base, echoing his Malaysian counterpart's view that the plane ended in the sea.

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