Malaysia deploys new technological assets in plane hunt

As a new phase in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 begins, Malaysia today said government-furnished technological assets will also be deployed in the multinational search operation.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the assets, including the Multi-Beam Echo Sounder and Prosas Towed Side Scan Sonar, would be deployed for both the bathymetric survey and the search of the sea floor.

Hishammuddin said an expert satellite working group had been working for eight weeks and reviewed and refined all existing information to define the search zone along the arc in the southern Indian Ocean.

He explained that the refinement of the search area involved the expertise of Australia's The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, China's Civil Aviation Administration and Aircraft Accident Investigation Department, the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the US National Transportation and Safety Board and Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation.

"We are also receiving assistance from many more specialists from around the world," he said.

He revealed that the priority search area was now focused in an area up to 60,000 sq km on the seventh arc, where the aircraft last communicated with the satellite.

"This area is further south along the arc based on the calculations carried out by the expert satellite working group," he said.

"A search of the sea floor will be conducted based on analysis from the bathymetric survey. The underwater search is vital as any evidence found will assist in the search for MH370," he said in a statement.

Yesterday, Australian officials said the plane was "highly likely" to have been on autopilot as it flew over the Indian Ocean, as they decided to focus further south to locate the jetliner that vanished mysteriously over three months back.

After analysing data between the plane and a satellite, officials believe Flight MH370 was on autopilot before it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, along with 239 people on board, including five Indians, on March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.

The mystery surrounding the missing Boeing 777-200 continues to baffle aviation and security experts who have so far not succeeded in tracking the aircraft despite deploying hi-tech radar and other gadgets.