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The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 remains focused in the southern Indian Ocean -- where Malaysian investigators repeated today is the area where the plane crashed -- because new data shows it remains the jetliner's last-known position and since it had little fuel remaining and no nearby landmass in which to make an emergency landing, officials said.
In a news briefing this morning, Malaysian officials said detailed satellite data from the British firm Inmarsat showed that the plane flew south in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia.
Malaysia's Acting Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said "this type of analysis has never been done in an investigation of this sort" and that the search in the northern corridor had been called off.
"We are currently working to further narrow down the search area, using the four methods I mentioned previously -- gathering information from satellite surveillance, analysis of surveillance radar data, increasing air and surface assets, and increasing the number of technical and subject matter experts," he said.
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The search operation -- suspended today because of bad weather in the Indian Ocean -- is focused on an area that includes 469,407 square nautical miles and that officials are attempting again to "narrow down the search area," said Hussein.
A week ago, on March 18, officials had announced that they were looking at some 2.24 million square nautical miles.
Malaysian officials, in a detailed news release, explained that the new analysis pinpoints the directional arc in which the plane flew.
"As the search area has narrowed, new challenges have arisen, including managing resources in a remote search and rescue effort," the statement from Malaysian officials read. "We continue to work closely with our friends and partners as we seek to marshal more specific resources in support of the operations in that area."
The statement continued, "No response was received from the aircraft ... when the ground earth station sent the next log on/log off message. This indicates that the aircraft was no longer logged on to the network. Therefore ... the aircraft was no longer able to communicate with the ground station. This is consistent with the maximum endurance of the aircraft. This analysis by Inmarsat forms the basis for further study to attempt to determine the final position of the aircraft. Accordingly, the Malaysian investigation has set up an international working group, comprising agencies with expertise in satellite communications and aircraft performance, to take this work forward."
The multinational search, which includes 26 countries, now enters its third week after the Beijing-bound plane vanished March 8 with 239 people on board.
"If there is hope -- even against hope -- we will do whatever it takes," Hussein said when asked about finding the plane.
Hours before, an Australian official described the search as looking for a needle in a haystack -- and that they hadn't even located the haystack yet.
No evidence of debris from the plane has been identified or recovered in the search, Australian Defense Minister David Johnston told reporters in Bullsbrook, Australia.
"It's a massive logistical enterprise," Johnston said, and an "amazing example of international cooperation."
"We're not searching for a needle in a haystack. We're still trying to define where the haystack is," added Mark Binskin, vice chief of the Australian Defence Force.
Earlier today, Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya also held a news conference in Kuala Lumpur to outline steps the airline is taking for the families, including payments made to them and travel accommodations. The airline has offered family members $5,000 for each passenger aboard Flight 370 and additional payments as the search continues.
"My heart breaks to think of unimaginable pain suffered by all the families," he said.
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 remains focused in the southern Indian Ocean -- where Malaysian investigators repeated today is the area where the plane crashed -- because new data shows it remains the jetliner's last-known position and since it had little fuel remaining and no nearby landmass in which to make an emergency landing, officials said.
In a news briefing this morning, Malaysian officials said detailed satellite data from the British firm Inmarsat showed that the plane flew south in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia.
Malaysia's Acting Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said "this type of analysis has never been done in an investigation of this sort" and that the search in the northern corridor had been called off.
"We are currently working to further narrow down the search area, using the four methods I mentioned previously -- gathering information from satellite surveillance, analysis of surveillance radar data, increasing air and surface assets, and increasing the number of technical and subject matter experts," he said.
SEE OUR FULL COVERAGE OF FLIGHT MH370
Chinese Relatives of Passengers Protest at Embassy
Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane: Possible Debris Located in Search for Jet
The search operation -- suspended today because of bad weather in the Indian Ocean -- is focused on an area that includes 469,407 square nautical miles and that officials are attempting again to "narrow down the search area," said Hussein.
A week ago, on March 18, officials had announced that they were looking at some 2.24 million square nautical miles.
Malaysian officials, in a detailed news release, explained that the new analysis pinpoints the directional arc in which the plane flew.
"As the search area has narrowed, new challenges have arisen, including managing resources in a remote search and rescue effort," the statement from Malaysian officials read. "We continue to work closely with our friends and partners as we seek to marshal more specific resources in support of the operations in that area."
The statement continued, "No response was received from the aircraft ... when the ground earth station sent the next log on/log off message. This indicates that the aircraft was no longer logged on to the network. Therefore ... the aircraft was no longer able to communicate with the ground station. This is consistent with the maximum endurance of the aircraft. This analysis by Inmarsat forms the basis for further study to attempt to determine the final position of the aircraft. Accordingly, the Malaysian investigation has set up an international working group, comprising agencies with expertise in satellite communications and aircraft performance, to take this work forward."
The multinational search, which includes 26 countries, now enters its third week after the Beijing-bound plane vanished March 8 with 239 people on board.
"If there is hope -- even against hope -- we will do whatever it takes," Hussein said when asked about finding the plane.
Hours before, an Australian official described the search as looking for a needle in a haystack -- and that they hadn't even located the haystack yet.
No evidence of debris from the plane has been identified or recovered in the search, Australian Defense Minister David Johnston told reporters in Bullsbrook, Australia.
"It's a massive logistical enterprise," Johnston said, and an "amazing example of international cooperation."
"We're not searching for a needle in a haystack. We're still trying to define where the haystack is," added Mark Binskin, vice chief of the Australian Defence Force.
Earlier today, Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya also held a news conference in Kuala Lumpur to outline steps the airline is taking for the families, including payments made to them and travel accommodations. The airline has offered family members $5,000 for each passenger aboard Flight 370 and additional payments as the search continues.
"My heart breaks to think of unimaginable pain suffered by all the families," he said.
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