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Searchers say MH370 hunt is off target, recommend another move
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INVESTIGATORS searching for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have recommended extending the search by 25,000 square kilometers, to an area further north in the Indian Ocean, after conceding for the first time they were probably looking in the wrong place.
Flight MH370 disappeared in March, 2014, with 239 passengers and crew on board, most of them Chinese, en route to Beijing from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. Its whereabouts have become one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.
The search coordinator, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, issued a report yesterday in which it said new evidence from ocean drift modeling and analysis of satellite communications with the aircraft and washed-up debris helped determine the new area.
But Australia, one of three search countries, rejected the recommendation citing a lack of “credible evidence” to extend the search, leaving it unclear whether Chinese and Malaysian search teams would finance a prolonged hunt.
“The report does not give a specific location for the missing aircraft and so we need credible evidence that identifies the specific location of the aircraft to extend the search,” a spokeswoman for Australian Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester said.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said it remained to be seen how the investigators’ report could help identify the specific location of the aircraft. He did not comment on funding.
A hunt in the current 120,000 sq km search area west of Australia is due to be completed in January, with no sign of the missing jet.
The recommendation to extend the search followed a meeting in November between investigators, satellite communication and aviation experts including Boeing and government representatives from Malaysia, China and Australia.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not have any details about the search.
“But what I want to stress is that since the MH370 incident, the Chinese government has paid great attention to this, and proactively participated in relevant work,” she said. “We will continue to maintain close communication with Malaysia, Australia and other parties, and cooperate with them.”
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it believed the plane was not in the current search area.
“Given the elimination of this area, the experts identified an area of approximately 25,000 sq km as the area with the highest probability of containing the wreckage of the aircraft,” it said.
The new search area is north of the current one, which has been the focus of the US$145 million effort. It would represent the second time the search has been extended.
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